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Hi,
I am utilizing the awesome conga book that is available from Conga Man and other wonderful people who have made available exercises and rhythms. I just want to say thank you very much!

And I have a question and need some help on notation. I know that tumbao fingers is the triangle pointed down. But what is the 'light touch' quarter note? Or the stem with no dot? is it a difference in style that would make you use the light touch instead of the muted tone? How are they different? I was looking at the 6/8 exercises and noticed the notation is not only different, but the D and S is used instead of L and R? At first I thought it was dead tone/slap tone, but realize the author printed this in a different language and translated it to English. So, I am just trying to make sure I understand correctly. Please advise me on what D and S means. And the techique differences when reading the stem without a quarter/eight note dot. And Ghost note? is that the same as H/F or P/F?


Thank you,
congabebe

Congabebe,

D means right, S means left - I suspect that rhythm is in Spanish but I know that the words for right and left in Latin are dexter and sinister respectively so I'm prepared to bet it's derived from that.

As for the technique question, that's somewhat trickier. I feel that there is a definite difference between the light touch and the muted tone. The muted tone to me is much more of a "tone" (well, duh) - it has a definite place in a rhythm whereas light touches are usually just used to keep the rhythm kicking along and are rarely heard by anyone other than you.

In playing the muted tone try to play exactly like an open tone but leave your hand on the skin. The touch is quite hard to get right in that it must have none of the fundamental tone in it but it is awkward to keep the hand on the skin to dampen it. The way my teacher taught me to play touches is not to think about them - just to concentrate on the other tones (the accents if you will) and let them fill out the rests.

Reading over you post, I must admit I'm a little confused by your syntax. You mention ghost notes. Ghost notes are another name for the touches (Sorry, I'm not sure if you knew that or not). You also mention the tumbao fingers. This differs from the tones mentioned above in that it is played towards the top of the drum while the others are played roughly in the same position as the open tone. Also it is designed to be the second part of a two-part technique (heel and fingers). Thus it becomed awkward if it is played continually without heels interspersed. In sound it is similar to the touch but is used in different circumstances.

Hope something here helps....

Fish

Thanks Fish,
That was the information I was looking for. Thank you for your help.

Peace,
Congabebe