| Ben Jacobys Conga Book Preface | Conga Book Intro
Introduction to Ben Jacoby's Conga Book
The
following is a collection of information and miscellaneous lore that the author
has collected from a variety of teachers and sources including "being shown a
thing or two" by a couple of authentic Cuban players. However, not being Latino
nor raised in the traditions, no claim is made for the authenticity of the
information. T...
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| Conga Book Introduction | Conga Intro
Sounds Rudiments Rhythms Care
Preface
The
following is a collection of information and miscellaneous lore that the author
has collected from a variety of teachers and sources including "being shown a
thing or two" by a couple of authentic Cuban players. However, not being Latino
nor raised in the traditions, no claim is made for the authenticity of the
information. ...
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| Conga tones | Conga Slap, Bass and Open Tone
Sounds
Rudiments Rhythms Care
Conga Tones
The expressiveness
of hand-drums comes from the ability to get a wide variety of sounds according
to the manner in which the hands strike the head. The following is no substitute
for being shown how to get the various sounds from someone who knows how, but
may give the beginner a hint on to how to proceed.
Every person is
differen...
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| Conga Rudiments | Conga Rudiments
Sounds Rudiments Rhythms Care
Hand-drum players who also play drumset or marching snare
will be familiar with a set of drum strokes known as rudiments (rude-uh-ments).
These are the basic strokes for the snare
drum
of which there are 13 basic patterns and 13 standard extended patterns. There is
an American standard naming and numbering system for these 26 rudiments.
Whil...
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| Conga Notation | Conga Notation
BOX NOTATION
We will be using what has become more or less a standard "tablature"
notation for hand-drums. A measure or two of the rhythmic pattern is
divided into boxes where each box represents an eighth note. (Where a
single "measure" is counted "one and two and three and four and"...)
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| Conga Tumbao | Conga Tumbao
Sounds
Rudiments Rhythms
Care
Conga rhythm
Tumbao
- Single Drum Tumbao - Two
Drum Tumbao
TUMBAO
Tumbao is an even pattern of 1/8th notes played in a band on the
bass and conga drum. Unlike some hand-drum traditions where a given name
refers to a certain rhythm (usually associated with a certain dance or music),
tumbao is a collection of diff...
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| Conga Chachacha | Conga Chachacha
Sounds Rudiments Rhythms Care
Cha Cha Cha: Another dance that is very
popular in this country in the club scene and even in international ballroom dancing as
well as the Latino dance scene is the Cuban dance known in English as the Cha Cha. The name of
the dance in Spanish is the Cha Cha Cha. The name is said to come from the
noise the slippers the Cuban dancers used to wear made on ...
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| How Many Rhythms | How Many Conga Rhythms?
Sounds Rudiments Rhythms Care
This is a sort of fun question. Consider playing a snare
drum in a drumset. If we divide a measure of 4/4 music into 1/8th
notes, in our box notation we will have 8 boxes to fill. Since
generally a snare drum has a single sound (we will ignore rim shots)
the first box can either be a note or a ...
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| More rhythms | More Conga Rhythms
Sounds
Rudiments Rhythms Care
<Calypso Reggae Funk
CALYPSO
(Trinidad-Tobago)
Basic Calypso Rhythm
Conga
<
O
<
<
<
<
O<
...
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| Conga Samba Variations | Conga - Samba Variations
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.
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| Conga Book Articles | Conga Book Articles
Book 1
Introduction
The sounds
The
rudiments
Book
2
Rhythms
Tumbao
Chachacha/Rhumba
How Many
Rhythms?
Calypso
Reggae
Funk
Samba
Care of your drums
And Finally...Should you shake a Conguero's hand
...
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| Conga Maintenance | Conga Maintenance
Conga Maintenance
Conga drums are quite strong and stable and do not normally require a lot of maintenance. Conga heads are usually made of cowhide or water buffalo hide and are quite thick and strong. Mule hide is said to be the best natural material for conga heads, and is also quite thick and strong.
For this reason and the relatively low head tension used to tune the drums, cong...
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| The Congueros Hand | Congueros Hand
SHOULD
YOU SHAKE A CONGUERO'S HAND?
Lastly, never
forget that as a hand-drummer your hands are part of your instrument. They
determine your sound and you must protect and preserve them the same as your drums
The
drumheads pull oil from your hands which must be replaced. Each player seems to
have a favorite hand oil.
African
shea butter, cocoa butter, lanolin, castor...
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Learning at the Dojo 
