The pattern
120 BPM · 4/4 · 32 step
| Instrument | Beat 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Step 4 | Beat 2 | Step 6 | Step 7 | Step 8 | Beat 3 | Step 10 | Step 11 | Step 12 | Beat 4 | Step 14 | Step 15 | Step 16 | Beat 5 | Step 18 | Step 19 | Step 20 | Beat 6 | Step 22 | Step 23 | Step 24 | Beat 7 | Step 26 | Step 27 | Step 28 | Beat 8 | Step 30 | Step 31 | Step 32 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kick | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest |
| Snare | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest |
| Rim shot | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest |
How to play it and where it comes from
Tango has no drum kit: the pattern represents the rhythm section of the orquesta típica (double bass, the piano's left hand, bandoneons). Bar 1: marcato en cuatro (four accented quarter notes, kick lane), with the violins' 'chicharra'/strappata on 2 and 4 (rim lane). Bar 2: síncopa 3+3+2 (hits on 1, 2& and 4), a legacy of the habanera. Snare lane = the 'arrastre' (drag) of the double bass or the bandoneons that leads into the next downbeat. Orchestras alternate marcato in 4, marcato in 2 and síncopa depending on the phrase; the tempo is often flexible (rubato) in lyrical passages.