mangorockfish wrote:... Like I said in another post, I just play at home and maybe a couple of songs with some friends when they come over to jam. We mainly play 50s, 60s & early 70s rock-n-roll. I know I'll never be a GREAT conguero, just want to know my way around my instrument. Thanks
Assuming 70s rock includes Santana, Mandrill, Earth Wind & Fire, and other fusion and R&B styles, you want to know a few basic rhythms on congas. For now,forget learning rumba, guarapachangueo, songo etc, you may decide to learn those later.
First learn how to hit the conga so you can get a clear tone and a clear bass with each hand. Then start working on your slaps, which usually take a few weeks to get, a few years to play consistently well and many years to really master. Get a metronome and learn to play the downbeat with a stick on a table or chair so precisely that even playing soft you can extinguish every single metronome beat. I highly recommend getting a teacher to at least occasionally critique your playing and make sure you are not developing bad habits or hitting in a way that can cause injuries to your tendons or joints.
One step at a time. Get a CD of Cachao Descargas Cuban Jam Sessions in Miniature with Tata Guines on congas and learn tumbao well. When you wear the CD out, call us back (just joking, we used to wear out the LP version of that record and still couldn't sound exactly like Tata. I don't think anyone ever learned to sound exactly like Tata). Then learn to swing the tumbao to play along with a jazz/blues swing feel. Lots of R&R songs have that swing feel (although you should not feel obligated to play congas on every song, it doesn't always fit). Work on playing in time, playing clean, a few fill ins, and fitting in with the other instruments. That should take you about a year if you work hard. Good things take time. If you play with a drummer, make friends with him or her so he or she doesn't beat you up all the time and gives you some space. Then reassess what else you want to learn. Meanwhile listen to congas a lot, especially Cuban music like rumba, bata, and timba, and also listen to salsa and R&B that have good conga players. Listen to the best and decide what you want to sound like.