by BMac » Thu Jan 31, 2008 5:36 pm
Without permission from the masters and vintage players, I play with my elbows about two-to-three inches higher than the head of the conga, when the conga is placed flat on the floor. So my arms slope slightly downward to the head. From there, I do lean the drum forward to open up the sound. In that position, the weight of each arm is generally supported by the drum itself so my shoulders don't get tired quickly. I discovered this position by trial and error when I finally demanded heel-finger technique in my playing after years of goofing around by monkey-banging mostly tones and big open bass strikes ... you know, the kind of silly stuff you see at drum circles. One day, I discovered, with this new playing position, that I had suddenly enhanced comfort and longevity and heel-finger technique became natural and comfortable.
What I discovered, again, without any permission from those toward whom I am unworthy, is that at a higher playing position, my shoulders are relaxed and my hands are lifted more by wrist movement than by shoulder strength.
Furthermore, I can better balance and rock the drum to open and close the bottom for tonal fluctuations ... and no, I ain't lifting my congas for tonal fluctuation ... I play Mopercs ... them's heavy tubs my friend. I have one stool for my 28 inchers (Matadors, CP's), and another stool for my 30 inchers (Mopercs). Can you guess which stool is two inches taller? ... you guessed it ... my torso is the same lenght no matter what drums I play, so the stool for the Mopercs is the taller. Both stools are taller than typical house chairs and park benches. Now when I see someone sitting in a regular chair playing conga, I think to myself "man I'm glad I ain't that guy."
I never heard the phrase "begging the drum" prior to now ... but it's descriptive of the more popular playing level. I have to ask myself, is the lowered playing position somehow advantageous or have the hot players who've mastered it simply overcome a handicap? I ask myself, are many players just too absent-minded to find their own most comfortable playing height? I take that back. I don't ask myself these questions anymore ... I've answered these questions to my satisfaction. Regarding vintage posture ... I don't ever see any serious conga players strapping a conga under their shoulder and playing like you see in pictures of Chano Pozo. So, if we gonna talk like old school is the only school, why we talking 'bout sitting down at all?
In any event, if you haven't at least tried a higher playing position ... I urge you to so do. Imagine suddenly increasing your comfortable playing time from a few minutes to two hours ... without months of training at the gym. If you can imagine that, go get yourself an adjustable stool and jack that sucker up. If you don't like adjustable stools ... I don't like 'em and don't own one ... try piling phone books on a chair and experimenting to find your own comfortable height. Once you've found a preferred posture, get a tall bar stool and cut it to match the height of your pile of phone books. Sure, you could post a reply here and say your teacher told you to "beg the drum" by sitting in any old conveniently available house chair or park bench, and I could post a counter-reply reminding you that people used to think the world was flat ... or ... we could just each say "Peace to you brother, play how it suits you!"
Cheers,
BMac
P.S. You could even try my approach without even telling your teacher ... ssshhh ... I won't tell ...
P.P.S. Holy Smokes! I got on youtube looking for conga playing demos and was pleasantly surprised to find a plethora of clips. It's a great resource especially for folks like me who don't have a lot of serious conga players around to learn from ... and I gotta admit ... the hot players on youtube sit lower than my currently preferred position ... hmmm ... where's that saw ... might have to look into lowering the stool ... we'll see ... what else can I learn from those clips?
Edited By BMac on 1202165332