How to Find the Beat in Salsa

This video will help you practice finding the beat to salsa music and rhythms of the steps you have learned, helping you mark your timing with your salsa dance basic steps. We use two rhythm tracks (2-3 clave) from our app Pocket Salsa. The first is the 'Montuno Basic' and the second one, faster, 'Descarga Montuno' salsa music track.

This video is for the On1 timing (sometimes called L.A. Style Salsa). The most important aspect of finding the beat is to make sure you are using the "Clave" instrument to determine timing. The tracks played in the salsa video are based on the 2-3 clave timing, which means that your salsa steps 2 and 3 should be taken when you hear the double clave hit ("tap-tap") in the track. If this was a 3-2 clave (reverse), the double clave hit would mark your steps 6 and 7.

Practice tip

Use this lesson as a repeatable practice module: review the explanation, run the movement slowly, and revisit it before class or a social. Short, frequent review is what turns app-based study into real progress.

Why this helps on the social floor

These short lessons work best as reinforcement. Learn one useful idea, test it in real dancing, then come back and clean up what felt uncertain.