Remembering the breaks.

[bongosnotbombs]

I've been rehearsing a lot of salsa tunes lately, and some of them have some pretty complicated
breaks. Others are of course more simple, breaking on the one, etc.
The salsa tunes are a lot different than the jazz tunes that I have more experience with.

We are doing this one tune, Spain, by Chic Corea, well it's a pretty complicated tune for me at least,
so I need to follow along on the chart to keep track of the changes.

Other songs I count measures between the breaks, and on others I can just listen to the melody to hear when they
come. The funny thing is if the horns or keyboard messes up somewhere in rehearsal, no big deal, but if I mess up
a break a little bit. ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE!

what methods do you guys use to remember the breaks in a song?

[Thomas Altmann]

Hi Geordie,

what about reading? - At least until you have learned them.

Don't worry about the HELL. Everybody makes mistakes every now and then.

Thomas

[bongosnotbombs]

I do read the chart to Spain, and on some others. I'm kind of using a variety of techniques depending on the complexity of the song. I wanted to hear what methods the more experienced guys were using.

You know sometimes I get told I don't need a chart, and just to follow along! Try telling that to the horn players! Is it somehow less cool for the percussionist to want to work off a chart?

[Tonio]

If you have a chart, thats cool until you memorize the tune/breaks.

With Salsa, the breaks are the movements in the tune, so ya gotta nail em- but everyone makes mistakes or can't remember every tune. Thats where rehearsal is key. The break is normally used to resolve the clave cycle due to un even bars in the ryhthm section vs. the melody/vox , and/or accentuating the format transitions.
You need to watch some as they do not follow the clave rule (2/3 vs 3/2) and resolve by the melody/format bar lengths.

T

[JohnnyConga]

..how about recording the rehearsals? so you can hear what you sound like,learn the breaks(thru repetition of playing over and over) and judge your approaches to the tunes....repetition of practicing to the tunes is how you learn to put it to memory with or without a chart...My musical memory has at least over 50,ooo tunes memorized from the 50's to today...in most categories except for country, which i never listened to except if it made the 'top 20' back in the(my) day, and I also recognize it as a 'gift' of musical memory, that I have, not everyone has.......also learn the 'form' of the tune..all tunes have a beginning a middle, and an end, with the variety in between the arrangement, put in simple terms...also how will you play the break.? On one conga 2 congas 3 congas?..will it call for you to end it on the low drum, middle drum or high?...will you use slaps,tones,palms,or muffs for the breaks?...or a combination of them?..are there any rudiments involved in the break? ..these are some of the questions you should ask yourself when learning breaks and tunes in general... IMHO...."JC" Johnny Conga

[Thomas Altmann]

Is it somehow less cool for the percussionist to want to work off a chart?

As a timbales player I used to read. As a conguero or bongocero, I find it weird to read, because the job is so physical and because I usually sit more in front of the stage. I am conditioned to communicate and project in these chairs, so a music stand disturbs me and at the same time blocks the energy from the view of the audience; that's what I feel at least. That's why in major pop acts the band is supposed to play without written music in front of them - for the show.

I imagine that if you manage to find your way and get your performance right across with a music stand at the side without sacrificing your energy or your awareness, people would buy it. You will soon find that you can do it as well (even better) without looking at the sheet; so it's just there for your security. Once you forget your charts for the first time, you won't want to bring them anymore, and you're free again.

TA

[bongosnotbombs]

Right now we are just rehearsing, getting the repertoire down. I don't plan on performing with a chart myself, mainly for the reasons you describe T.A. Actually one of my favorite practice aids is youtube when I can find a good version of a tune we are working on.

[willie55]

great thread, is there any video on you tube didicated to all the different types of breaks in salsa, as a percussion ensemble or individual instrument, Conga, Timbal, Bongo? if none that be a good project for someone in the forum to tackle...

[danno]

I'm also learning a couple of tunes with lots of breaks that for me are complicated. Con la Conciencia Tranquila by Paulito FG and Y Que Tu Quires Que Haga by Isaac Delgado. I don't get to play a lot so these tunes are pretty challenging for me and I don;t read charts. Like you say, you gotta hit those breaks! I play with a bunch of seasoned pros who all play jazz regularly. When they throw a salsa gig together I get the call and I'm a little out of my league to say the least.
My approach is to listen over and over again and then sit down and figure out each small section one at a time, playing that section over and over until its really familiar. Baby steps working through the tune one small section at a time, until I've worked through the piece. Its time consuming but it works.

There is a fantastic book which has helped me understand how the brain learns things. How we lay down the roads in our brains, literally, with myelin, an electrical insulation that coats the roads we build in our brains Music is a perfect example and going slowly, a little bit at a time is the trick it seems. Its a fantastic book, reads like a long magazine article so don't be intimidated by the subject. I bought a copy on itunes for my iphone and listen on long drives when I have jobs out of town.

Here is a link to the book: http://thetalentcode.com/book/

I highly recommend it!

[pavloconga]

With me it depends on the gig I'm playing and how well I know the material.

The answer for me to learn the breaks is rehearse, rehearse, rehearse.

Added to that listen to the songs many, many times and practice on top of that.

When I was first learning a repertoire of about 60 songs for one band I put them all on my phone and would listen to them constantly whether I was driving, walking or wherever.
With some songs I might write out the form of the song with the breaks as an aid but I am needing to do this less now.

[burke]

I asked a salsa question awhile back which kind of touched on this - later I posted this:

"Ed Uribe's "Afro-Cuban Percussion and Drum set" and the section titled: 'Arrangements,Charts, Notation, and Terminology'. The whole section is about who plays what and when in a "Salsa" chart and how to read it. With the help of my far more musically educated wife, I learned DC al Coda means and how and when to flip back and forth ... a bit heavy but highly satisfying when I finally 'got it'. For self taught readers like me it's hard but with a guide you can get it and come out the other end with a much better idea of how those squiggles work!"

In terms of learning a lot about the mysterious and somewhat scary world of charts ...working through that section of Eds book with a reader was a real eye-opener and de-mystifier.

Happy Canada Dan! ... and all the other northern CP members.

Darrell

[Dicemanb]

Going back a couple of posts to Danno's last, I downloaded an audio copy of the Talent Code and started today in the car. Excellent insights already, I think I'm going to enjoy the rest of it. Thanks for the heads-up Danno.

Its been said before, but remembering patterns, break etc is about three things- practice, practice & ..........
One trick give to me by a wise man, is to try and invent a verbal phrase to fit the break, it could be anything silly or otherwise, but just the act of analysing it into words somehow makes it stick better. Works for me but it may help some people not others. I still need to work more at that but IMHO its worth a go.

Great thread BTW

[danno]

The Talent Code is a great book. Here is a quote about practicing:
From a classical music camp...

A 500 percent boost in learning velocity doesn’t happen by magic. It’s a “turn inward,” according to Meadowmount teachers, where the students don’t practice harder, but deeper. This means:

Practicing more slowly. Then still more slowly. Then even MORE slowly. The rule of thumb: If a passer-by can recognize the song, it’s not being practice properly. Skill circuits don’t “care” how fast you go – what matters is firing it correctly – the same rule followed by tennis players at Spartak (link).
Breaking the skill into chunks, then reconstructing it. Meadowmounters scissor their sheet music into strips, learn each strip, then rebuild the entire piece. This reconstructive act (which, btw, is exactly how teenage Ben Franklin taught himself to write essays) works because it exactly mirrors and reinforces the desired skill-circuits – which are, after all, literal connections in our brains.
Locating errors. Meadowmounters practice what they call “discernment”: finding the mistake, and using it to navigate toward the right notes – the basics of deep practice.

[CaymanCongas]

Hi BNB and All;

Good question. Spain is a tricky number. Though I havent performed it, I'm familiar with a couple of versions.

Tonio's take on segmenting the clave cycle to mark the trickier breaks is a good trick I've been using in some adaptations our Jazz band has been working on lately.
Johnny Conga's thoughts on recording, repeating and understanding your particular approach to the break is very valuable information as well.
Definitely some cool info on understanding how we understand things and of course, listening to the material and "practice long, play strong" is a mantra it seems we all should live by. My tip sort of ties into Dicemanb's verbalization technique.

I have a trick I've been using with some breaks that don't fall on an even upbeat, downbeat or have a direct clave reference.
I kind of "sing" or hum my part leading up to the break in my head, creating a melodic line with whatever I'm playing.
Then I'll use a certain "note" in the "melody in my head" to mark a point just before the break or at the break. This doesn't have to reflect exactly what you are playing, just the general flow and feel of your part.
Then I'll structure my approach to the break point a bit more along the lines of the song melody and the other instruments, particularly the bass and rhythmic piano/ guitar phrasing. This takes the tricky part out of the context of just being another part of my rhythmic patterns and makes it stand out in my memory.
"If you can sing it, You can play it!" I "sing" my line and somehow the break comes more naturally and cleanly to me and its easier to deconstruct the bars leading up to the break to establish a creative interaction at the break.

I just started using this method with an original number that we've been doing for like 2 years, which has multiple breaks that lead back in with a different feel than before the break, taking the song through its movements.
After a few rehearsals, I was hitting the breaks pretty cleanly and coming out pretty clean but for like 1.5 years, I've felt like I was just concerned with nailing the breaks and the pick-up and not very satisfied with my actual playing, voicing and musical interaction around the breaks and pick-ups.
Then my friend told me how he remembers new patterns by hearing them as a trumpet line in his head. This made me go back to the rudiments of singing/ humming my parts but with more a PRONOUNCED melody and VOILA!
All of a sudden possibilities opened up because in my own head, my rhythmic role was tied more to the melodic cues that my bandmates go by. Not only was I cleaner in the breaks, but had more creative choices and felt the dynamics of the song more naturally. So I could apply the hands+heart+mind with a more comfortable feel.

Hope this helps some and hope I explained it clearly. Its a very tricky thing and music is infinite- NO ONE ever knows it ALL

By the way, I'm new to this forum. I'm Eden, a full-time percussionist in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. I've been drumming for about 15 years and performing live with anyone who'll have me here for the last 8 years (Jazz, Reggae, Caribbean Folk Music, Drum Ensembles, Acoustic Small Combos, Live accompaniment with DJs, even some country etc, etc) mostly Congas, but Djembe, Bongos and a bit of Cajon as well... I love to learn, talk percussion and trade tricks and secrets!
This forum is awesome!

One World _ One Music
Peace...

[Dicemanb]

Welcome to the greatest collection of like minded percussionists on the planet and thanks for your take on the question.
This site is an absolute goldmine and any more nuggets are always welcome