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I noticed that Eric said he was haveing trouble with his heel toe. What I have seen with new players, myself included, is probably caused by a misconception of the word, heel toe. It should probably be called foot toe, because the hand should be held flat and the entire palm makes initial contact with the head the fingers will naturally bounce up and then you strike them down. Do not arch the hand and strike with the heel of your hand and the tips of your fingers. This is the most common mistake I see. Start slowly, your speed will increase. This I picked up from an Anga Diez Tape.
Another thing, do not injure your hands. There are alot of Macho players who will tell you you need to condition your hands by hitting the rim or some other foolishness, don't. If a man cannot easily make a fist or move his fingers do not listen to him no matter how good he plays. I am not an expert, but I know and play with many who are, some will disagree but this is my advise and opinion.
Bill Losh

I agree with Bill about the heel toe. It's a very common mistake so if you are a beginner make attention that your whole palms hit the skin when you're practicing the tumbao technic (in Cuba the Tumbao is called Palma-Dedos).
stay tuned!
paulo

Now this really makes sense. I was rocking my hand on heel-toe and really didnt think the sound was that good when using just the wrist end of the palm for a heel shot.

Using the whole palm was a much better sound, though the fingers for the toe shot dont have so much distance from the surface of the skin to make their strike from. Seems to be that you pull your palm away from the drum quite sharply whilst hitting with the fingers. That right? :0

Also some of the warm ups with heel toe slap toe heel toe open open are easier...im sure none of that made sense..

Hey Guys if you really want to be technical about it, "Heel " is the bottem part of your hand that connects to the wrist. Heels are also on shoes. But your hand is a hand ,not a foot so the finger "tips" is the other term. therefore Heel and Tips.....At your Service...JC JOHNNY CONGA...... The other term for the use of the Heel-Tip motion is called "a Shuffle".......

Question for Johnny or anyone who knows. Thinking of Afro-Brazilian playing, is heel-toe on conga primarily an Afro-Cuban thing? I ask this because a) many Brazilian patterns are written with left/right hand touches to get the chatter and fill the rhythm, and b) because I saw a good Brazilian bossa group in Portugal I don't remember the conguero doing any heel-toe stuff.

Simon B

Good Evening,

I have a Technique question. So, H F, in notation, when playing what creates the volume? If I keep my hand close to the drum, seems more quite. I was remembering someone saying that the art of playing hand drums was like throwing a ball, the whole hand and wrist moves like a whip, ? So, I can get a good muted slap, but my open slaps stink and when listening the H F, don't have a great sound so I have been playing with this, not sure what is good. I have been trying to learn different patterns and using Richie Garcia's book 'Basics and Beyond', there are some patterns that seem like they would have more punch and they are too muted so I must not be doing this right. When doing a heel doesn't have any punch, should it be a thud or a thungk? Do you throw your palm into the drum pushing away or down? When doing the F (fingers), do you tap or pop and pull them toward you? And how close to the drum head H F, is usually quite but when playing loud what is the best technique.

Thank you,
Congabebe

Gentleman we are talking the hand here. "Heel" of hand,"Tip" of finger. In latin drumming the "Shuffle" of the "Heel/Tip" movement is your time keeper and not necesarrily to be heard if not at all. It's to keep you in time with the rhythm section and is part of the over rhythmic pattern that is called for in playing Latin Dance rhythms,which is what they are. Unfortunatly in some videos the "theory" of playing congas is not explained for the "student" of the drum. There is a lot more to it than just UN-paKin!...At your Service....JC JOHNNY CONGA.....

To answer Simon B....latin dance rhythms are the only style of drumming that incorporates the left hand "Shuffle". African is more "open" or "split hand" style. Brazilians have more of an African approach also to their drums. Haitians have a style that does incorporate with the same hand a stick pattern that may be similar only in that it is a time keeper,for the battery of drummers/or particular pattern common to ritual drumming. Just like in the tambora part for a Merengue band, he just plays a repetitive pattern over and over which creates the "pulse' for the Dance. Hope that helps...At your Service...JC JOHNNY CONGA...