congaplace.com

Posted: **Sat Oct 29, 2005 7:38 pm**

Hello to all, it has been a while since I have posted anything on this forum. My question is this, Can somebody post some excercises. Ex. t t h t t t h t
r l r r l r l l
I read this forum daily. I always practice any notations that I see on this site. The ones that I can understand. I have been playing now for about 2 years and often find myself driving my wife out of the house because I practice so much. I don,t know how to read music but the Ex. above I can understand. Thank you and keep on drumming.
Dantino

Posted: **Sun Oct 30, 2005 9:22 pm**

well ... if you can tell what kind of exercises you need , it will be easier to help you .
But her's a nice one that I like :

O O H T H T O O H T H T O O H T
r r l l r r l l r r l l r r l l

Of course you should practice the same exercise starting with your left hand too .
Keep practicing & good luck !

Posted: **Sun Oct 30, 2005 10:19 pm**

Thank you for your reply Soungalo. I will practice this until I can develope speed, and and maybe add some slaps in there. Also, I practice theese notations on my Pearl practice pad while at work, seems like lately that is the only place I have had time to practice he, he, he. Often I try to make up some on my own. Ex. O O S O O S H T H T O O S
R L R L R L R R L L R L R

Thats on Ex. let me know what you think
Happy drumming
Dantino

Posted: **Mon Oct 31, 2005 11:31 am**

It will be easier to read if you write it like that :
O O S O O S H T H T O O S
r l r l r l r r l l r l r
I think I didn't understand the exercise , though . It has 13 strokes , which means it is either in 13/8 time (which I doubt) or some of the strokes are "longer" . I can guess that the break is in the end , am I correct ?

Posted: **Mon Oct 31, 2005 6:07 pm**

Hey Brothers,

Make it easy on yourself, try using Capital letters for strong hand and lower case for weak hand. No problem with having to line two rows up. We had a discussion in 'easy conga pattern transcription' on this furum
It will look like this OoSoOsHThtOoS

Hope that helps

Diceman

Posted: **Thu Nov 10, 2005 10:15 pm**

Hi

I am a beginner myself, but here are some exrecises I have found so far

Check out the 'Stoned hand drum' exercise book in pfdformat.
http://www.iwaynet.net/~bjacoby/
(the link seems dead at the moment, but lets hope it is a temporary failure, I can email you the pdffile otherwise).
It contains tons of free exercises.

Also of course:
http://www.congaplace.com/instrument/congas/index.php

Cheers

Posted: **Fri Nov 11, 2005 4:13 am**

Alafia Abure Dantino!
I hope that you are well and in an abundance of blessings my friend!

You know, you seem to be doing well with what you've managed to do so far. You may want to try and work in "counting" with your strokes/exercises (I believe that brother Soungalo may have been trying to point this out).

I have a 6yr old daughter whom I am teaching percussion to, and when I give her a lesson (always at her leisure of course), I do so by counting it out to her. Example:

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + (the count, one, and two, and three, and four and)
h t s t h t o o (the technique: h=heel, t=toe/fingertips, s= slap, o= open tone)
L L R L L L R R (the hand assigned to the technique; L=left hand, R= right hand)

Keep in mind that the nomenclature, or the symbol of the technique can vary, as brother Diceman pointed out, as long as it makes sense to you and whoever you are trying to work with. Brother JC, a well respected master on this forum has developed a great style which he teaches known as S.T.O.M.P. Search the forum for his information. He will be having a DVD coming out pretty soon that will show you this stuff also.

If you notice there are "eight" beats to the count, "eight" assigned hand techniques, and "eight" exercises involving the left and the right hands. They should each align right under the count. This is what is commonly referred to as a one bar phrase. After you reach the +(and) of 4 (four), you repeat it over again.

Playing notes randomly is fine if you're just getting used to hand techniques such as tones, slaps, muff tones, etc., or just developing muscle memory. You will need to begin at some point, counting in order to learn various rythms, and also learn to play with others (drummers, musicians)

Learning clave is also very critical, I believe that there are some posts in this forum which address the signatures of clave, 3-2, rumba clave, son clave, boss nova clave, etc.

Be patient, practice on your desk, on your lap, at a stop light. Listen to music every waking minute of the day. It will help to drive clave, and rythm concepts into you, especially if it's music that compliments what you like to play.

Hope that you find this helpful!

Many blessings, and welcome to the forum!

Suave!
Onile!

Edited By onile on 1131683299

Posted: **Tue Nov 15, 2005 4:40 pm**

Hey how you guys doing today great i hope . Dantilo onile just gave you the rudiment exercise for el tumbao . I know that it is hard to learn by oneself but it can be done. I have been lucky to find teachers in my area to help me , yes it has cost me money but nothing comes cheap . I can post my lessons for you but how can you be shure if you are sounding the way you should . That is the main question you should ask. We all can post rythums and exercises but how can you make shure you are doing it right . I think that it is very important to take some kind of lessons from a pro . Some type of interaction from someone who knows .

rumbaman

Posted: **Tue Nov 15, 2005 5:04 pm**

well ... it sounds like he knows , generally what congas should sound like . I mean , he gave me the impression that he knows how to produce a slap , open tone heel-toe etc .
So exercises like Onile & me have given him might be helpful to improve the technique .
However , I agree that you should consider taking lessons with a pro so he can fix your sound & teach you rhythms .

Posted: **Tue Nov 15, 2005 5:43 pm**

Hy all . Learning to play in clave is difficult , because you have to find the groove by yourself . It was very challenging for me . Feel the rythum and play it with your rudimentary technique . If this sounds difficult try to pick it up from the videos . I could'nt to say the least . I neaded an instructor to to teach me .

rumbaman

Posted: **Tue Nov 15, 2005 6:11 pm**

Rumbaman where are u located???...."JC" Johnny Conga...

Posted: **Wed Nov 16, 2005 5:00 pm**

onile,
chevere saludarte!!! tell me where do you got those nice greeting frases at the begining of all your posts. i guess is in african language. is it??i like the way it sound!! áche and my best to you. much blessing to you too. tu pana, franc

Posted: **Wed Nov 16, 2005 5:49 pm**

Alafia Abure Frac! (paz perfecto mi hermano Frac!)
¡Hace tiempo que no he podido saludarte, espero que todo este bien contigo mi pana!

"Alafia" is used as a greeting which also, in the oracle known as "Obi" means perfect peace!
"Abure" is brother/sister (non-gender specific).
The combination of the two is intended to convey a wish for perfect peace to you and to all my brothers and sisters on this forum.
¡Del Corazón mi pana!
and Yes, it is from African culture. I've grown up with this spiritual descipline in my family!

Suave!
Onile!

Edited By onile on 1132163418

Posted: **Thu Nov 17, 2005 1:38 am**

onile,
it must be of great spiritual inner peace and satisfaction to you having knowledge in african and cuban culture. of course very proud we are of our own culture and history. but really like you i am very proud also of the roots, where this beautiful and satisfying journey began. thanks again , ''mi Abure onile!!!. i love african, afro cuban, afro puertorican music to the core. again thanks for contributing in self peace and knowledge. mucho blessing and happiness to you and family. áche!!!! franc

Posted: **Thu Nov 17, 2005 3:23 am**

¡Vaya Franc!
One must always practice being “Iwa Pele” (de buen carácter)

Everyone on this post is just that.......of good character

Now, we just need to keep on drummin’, keep on drummin’
And continuing to help one another with techniques, knowledge, and how to just have fun with the drums we play!

¡Hecha Pa’lante mi pana!
Oh! by the way, did you receive the PM I sent you? If so, great!

Onile

Edited By onile on 1132198030

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