INDEPENDANCE - hand independance exercises

[franc]

J.C and CJK, you are great. thanks for the wise advice. i will practice and practice. i'll promise you. i always want to tap the clave with my foot. now thanks to you ''two greats'' i will make sure to learn. thanks always. and ache to you and all in the forum. your friend, franc

[franc]

congacaja, hope all is well!! i forgot to mentioned that i am in the intermediate level in conga playing. i am excelent on keeping up with the beat of the pulse. i used the beat of the pulse with my foot to do my ''phrasing and solos'' . you know that i didn't know that your first three exercises on tapping the rumba clave with foot where easy for me. with a little practice i got to do the rumba patterns with ease. i just began the rumba clave with the first pulse , then an eigth note before the second pulse and third pulse and a quater note before the fourth pulse and a quater note on the fouth pulse. does it make sense??? thanks ''great rumbero'' your friend, franc:cool:

[CongaCaja]

hello again franc,

I am happy to know that you find my posts useful and that you are practicing, however, I need to ask a favor. Please don't refer to me as a "great". While I have extensive training and teaching experience in some areas of music (theory, composition, drum corps, orchestral, jazz, etc.), but when it comes to afro-cuban, I am simply a student with only a few years of study behind me... and good luck to have a superb teacher living nearby.

On the other hand, J.C. is a real pro and teacher with decades of experience, touring and recordings to his credit. Simply put, I'm not in his "league".

So, although J.C. and I both have something useful to contribute to the forum, we are really coming from different perspectives ... and variety is good for a forum.

Finally, I'm glad that some of the steps are going easy for you. I wrote each step to advance "poco a poco" (little by little) because everyone starts at different levels. I think it is better to break down things a little too much rather than pile on complexity too fast. The latter usually only frustrates students.

buena suerte...

your fellow student...cjk



Edited By CongaCaja on 1095754319

[franc]

CJK, thanks again for your post. please, a least for me your a great. you have directed me in a direction of knowledge . i do appreciate that deeply. thanks again. your fellow student, franc. ''ACHE TO ALL IN THE FORUM''!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D

[burke]

Hi all,

There has been some fantastic responses about a difficult and high level (at least for me) aspect of drumming.

Here is a low-level little trick/thing I learned about hand independence and polyrhythms some years back.

When I didcovered there were such things long ago, I tried to work it out and my mind and hands would not do it. I talked to a jazz drummer friend about this and he showed me the following.

To play 3 against 2 is "moms apple pie"
Both hands together on 'Moms' and the rest comes naturally!

3 against 4 = "Pass the Goddam butter"

4 against 5 = "Pass the Goddam butter again"

Almost instantly I could do it!

To this day if I try to 'think' it - it's no go.

Anybody else got any vocal or word rhythm stuff like this?

Darrell

ps. Any thoughts on my santana post ... If I've embarassed myself with something too basic, please feel free to send me a note suggesting I let it go. My ego will survive!

[JohnnyConga]

Gracias CongaCaja.....but I myself am just a humble servant of the drum and to this "drum family"......I'm just from another "skool" of learning.......and WE ALL have something to contribute on this forum. So just keep it up guys, I'm having fun even when we have some occassional static,,, ...I guess that's DA Bronx in me....."variety" IS the "spice" of life!.....unpa kinni kinni ko....."JC" Johnny Conga......