To Read or Not To Read

[afrocubarico]

J.C.,
As always brother, good lookin out. Baya!

afrocubarico

[akdom]

Hi

I might repeat a bit what was already said, but reading is a big plus.. and for us percussion players, it is much easier anyway.. It helps when working on songs, it helps your timing, it help giving input when composing with a band etc...

and many alternative ways of writing exist so you can read easily.. you can also invent your writing too...


B

[JohnnyConga]

Here is the book that helped me..."JC" Johnny Conga...

Attachment: http://mycongaplace.com/forum/eng/uploa ... o_read.jpg

[deadhead]

Reading music and reading rhythms is different. Luckily for us, percussionist have it easy. Unless you are playing marimba or xylophone or steel drums or something you don't need to be able to read music. Knowing what notes fall on what line of the staff makes absolutely no difference to a conga player. However to be a successful percussionist you better be able to read the rhythms. Its not hard at all and if you can count to 4 (sometimes higher in certain situations) then you're half way there. Start by writing the number of the count underneath the corresponding notes like:

Quarter notes are counted 1 2 3 4
Eighth notes are 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
16ths are 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e and a
Triplets are 1 trip let 2 trip let 3 triplet 4 triplet

After a while you just get used to seeing it and it becomes natural and you won't need the numbers to help. Theres no shame in writing out the rhythms in a way that you can understand them. When I'm messing around at home and come up with a cool rhythm on congas I'll write it out so I don't forget it. Sometimes I write it in notation form, sometimes I write it out in words, and sometimes I use grids and symbols. Whatever works best for you. Traditional tabla rhythms are writen almost exclusively in words and syllables. The first djembe rythm I ever learned was just a set of syllables:

Olun Kati Za Mubalati - Put your down beat on the first letter of the syllable, this is a cool rhythm. In this situation, and as well with tablas, the syllables not only help you understand the rhythm, but also the tones can be understood. Os, OOs, Us, Ah sounds are usually bass tones, while sharp sounds like Ka, Ki, Ti, etc are slaps. In most cases you can understand the complete rhythm by just reading the phrase.

[CongaTick]

Deadhead,

Are you familiar with (I think) Konnakol Rhythm Language (not sure if right name) . I have a cut of it and will post. Fascinating stuff!

[deadhead]

Deadhead,

Are you familiar with (I think) Konnakol Rhythm Language (not sure if right name) . I have a cut of it and will post. Fascinating stuff!

Not sure if I am failure with that one or not, but please do post it.

I just got home from a Bata master class with a fantastic bata teacher. One of the very first things he said when he started the class was "Bata is a tonal language, its not written or read, it is sung."

[pcastag]

Who's teaching Bata in Austin?
PC

[deadhead]

Who's teaching Bata in Austin?

My teachers name is John Skozen. He studdied under A guy named Dave, sorry I can't remember his last name. PM me and I'll give you better information.