Believe it or not, there are various Latin rhythms that can be played on just one conga. Here are a few of my favorites (note that the . is a blank space, a single beat where you don't play).
MERENGUEBefore the congas became so universal to Latin music, merengue was played with a two-sided, very drum called a tambora. Its very conga-like sound makes it a perfect rhythm to try on congas There are 2 ways to do this:
Bare hands: SOOOO...S...HS..
Drumstick and hand:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq7x_lKZLesNow in general I'm not a big fan of drumsticks on congas, but I've tried this and it really does sound like a tambora drum. Also, if you're with other ppl playing merengue you can do this:
.S..HS.O.S..HS.O
This is what some call the "2 side of the clave" in merengue. This is technically incorrect, but if you play this half of the merengue pattern repeatedly what you'll do is match your rhythm with the rest of the band. And often congueros with 2 drums will do that on some parts too.
PLENAThe plena is a rhythm from Puerto Rico and is traditionally done on drums called panderetas or pleneras (they're basically like a tambourine but without the jingling). In plena each drummer plays a different beat, depending on tuning.
if your conga is lower, it might look like this:
O..HO.S.
If you've got it tuned a bit higher you can do this:
S.OOS.OOS
The way these two rhythms interlock is really cool. Here's what it kinda looks like on 2 congas (the lower-case O's are open tones on the conga).
O.OoO.S.OoOS.SOoO
Also when you're with other pleneros (plena drummers) you can just improvise. This is especially true if your drum is tuned high but works anytime.
CUMBIAThis Colombian rhythm is probably the simplest you'll get:
OSS.
If you play that over and over again you're basically playing a one-drum cumbia. You can also do some fills to shake it up (in fact that's probably a good idea for all rhythms and set-ups). Here's one fill I do when playing cumbia:
OSS.OSS.OSOSOSS.
Some would argue that that's the basic pattern and not a fill, and when I play on 2 drums I'd agree, but if you're only playing on 1 that's a nice way to add some spice
BOMBALike plena, this beat is from Puerto Rico, and also like plena each drum plays an important part in the overall rhythm. The most common variation of bomba (to my knowledge) goes something like this:
H.HOHOO.
Now there are several variations of bomba for one drum here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YIoP9OyuPs
Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 1:00 pm