by Kaban » Fri Jan 13, 2012 5:02 am
I did it! Today I got educated from Johnny Conga himself, he came all the way to my basement in Chicagoland (via the internet).
I have had lessons before; but John is more methodical, scientific, patience, and uses EVERYTHING known to man to teach (linguistics, standard teaching, NLP, concepts, gradual steps, positive encouragement, and demonstrations).
John has a talent for teaching; patiently/gently/nicely pushing you to your limit; I was burnt out after the hour and a half! He also spotted details in my technique that are poor, and things I do good that need polishing. After the lesson, he even gave me a history of a few popular conga players and their not well known practice habits. Today I got a college level, master's program lesson (meaning it was serious and comprehensive). All for the price of lesson from your local park district; in other words very reasonable.
I will never forget what he said, after showing him what I got; "your tumbao is good, but that don't mean nothing, now lets take you to the next level."