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Learning
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Sounds Rudiments Rhythms Care
SAMBA
Brazil
Conga
drums
in Brazil are called "atabaque" named after the conga-like drums
of the northern style of Candomble. The original atabaque come in three sizes
and are linked to the African Yoruba tradition. Today modern congas and bongos
are common for all Samba as well as Baiao and Brazilian jazz
and funk.
The basic samba rhythm is commonly described as "one, uh
two" or "boom chicka boom" where the "a" of chicka corresponds to the "uh" of
"one, uh two". (The "chick" simulates the high-hat sound of a drumset player in
a Latin dance band. Such drumset patterns are beyond our scope here.)
The driving force of the Samba comes from
the low drum pattern. In marching samba the low drive comes from bass drums
known as surdo played with one mallet and the hand (usually wearing a glove to
damp the drum) A Conga low part example with a more interesting rhythm than the
basic above is shown below:
Variations on the
low drum pattern
The flavor of the
samba comes from the high drum parts. A samba high part with common variations
is shown below:
Variations on the high drum pattern
Below are some two conga Samba patterns
| O
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S
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<
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<
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O
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<
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O
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S
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S
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<
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O
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<
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O
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Samba rhythms can
get exceedingly complex.
Needless
to say, the various music
styles and patterns we have presented so far have barely scratched the surface
of musical styles and rhythms for conga drums. We have hardly mentioned
traditional African patterns at all! However, we hope that this has perhaps
piqued your interest and hopefully will inspire further investigations.
Next Care of your conga
Drums
|
Ben Jacoby |
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