Newbie Question - Remembering Basic Martillo Variations

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Newbie Question - Remembering Basic Martillo Variations

Postby Mister Pablo » Thu Aug 27, 2020 8:41 am

Hi Guys,

I thought that I'd introduce myself: I'm new to hand percussion, the forum and [of course] playing the bongos :) As I've only been playing for a month or so, and because of the olde covid thing I haven't been able to find myself a bongo sensi just yet, so have picked up a little stuff from YouTube, and have been working through the 'Progressive Steps to Bongo and Conga Drum Technique' book by Ted Reed; which has been really helpful.

I've mostly been taking it slowly and working on my timing and counting with a metronome to try and get my eighth notes even and on beat. Although I can play the martillo and the 6 basic variations in the book OK[ish!], plus a couple of basic fills; I can only do this for the variations with the book in front of me. Can anyone suggest a good way to practice these to embed then mentally; or is it just something that will develop over time? Id like to be able to throw in the basic variations on the martillo to break things up whilst slowly getting to grips with the more complicated [to me] fills.

Any tips or advice would be much appreciated :D

Pablo
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Re: Newbie Question - Remembering Basic Martillo Variations

Postby Beatnik07 » Thu Aug 27, 2020 1:29 pm

Speaking for myself (being still what I definitively consider a beginner), what works is practice, practice, practice !!
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Re: Newbie Question - Remembering Basic Martillo Variations

Postby Juaort » Fri Aug 28, 2020 2:00 am

Pablo, Welcome to the forum. I agree with Beatnil07. The three P’s are key. Practice, practice, practice. I Like to practice to some old 70’s Guaguanco and play along to it. You can put what you’ve learned to the test since you’ll be able to hear La Clave and keep time while playing along.

Don’t hesitate to ask any questions. We’re one big community.

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Re: Newbie Question - Remembering Basic Martillo Variations

Postby Mister Pablo » Mon Sep 07, 2020 9:57 am

practice.jpg
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Beatnik07 wrote:Speaking for myself (being still what I definitively consider a beginner), what works is practice, practice, practice !!


@Beatnik07 - Apologies for the tardy reply, busy with the olde work business! Cheers for your comment :-) I'm still hard at it; I'm aiming to get in 30-40 minutes of practice a day, it's funny where the time goes when I'm practising, it can easily drift to an hour.
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Re: Newbie Question - Remembering Basic Martillo Variations

Postby Mister Pablo » Mon Sep 07, 2020 10:02 am

Juaort wrote:Pablo, Welcome to the forum. I agree with Beatnil07. The three P’s are key. Practice, practice, practice. I Like to practice to some old 70’s Guaguanco and play along to it. You can put what you’ve learned to the test since you’ll be able to hear La Clave and keep time while playing along.

Don’t hesitate to ask any questions. We’re one big community.

Juaort


Hi Juaort :-)

Likewise apologies for the late reply, and thanks for your nice comments and advice, I've been thinking that it would be good to have some tracks to play along to to get the 'feel' for the clave, and how it fit's together. Would you be so kind as to recommend a few tracks? This is all still pretty new to me.

Many thanks,

Pablo
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Re: Newbie Question - Remembering Basic Martillo Variations

Postby Chtimulato » Mon Sep 07, 2020 8:28 pm

Hello everybody.

Late reply for me too, I've been quite busy these days, and it's not over.
There are now several threads here which are waiting for my 2 cents, and I still didn't find the time to answer... The one about racism in Europe and USA, Thomas' questions about clave for instance, and others...

Mister Pablo, I can suggest you, amongst others, son recordings. Arsenio Rodríguez for instance. It's a gold mine. Or Cachao, Beny Moré, and so many others. Buena Vista Social Club, Afro Cuban Allstars, there are so many...

Stay safe, folks.
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Re: Newbie Question - Remembering Basic Martillo Variations

Postby Thomas Altmann » Mon Sep 07, 2020 9:25 pm

Correct! I would first go by recordings, enjoy, select what I like, and then practice the respective passages in order to reproduce them. Most certainly, questions arise how to incorporate them in the basic comping pattern. And that's where teachers, videos and books can be helpful.

However, there are probably many ways to get where you want to be. I am currently listening extensively to old Cuban recordings, like Arsenio, but also many other conjuntos and septetos, as well as big bands like Julio Cueva, Casino de la Playa, Riverside, Benny Moré. I am taking notes and putting together my personal bongo-pattern-fakebook, only to get that done once. I'm even considering to publish it some day, but I will contemplate this very critically ...

(Take it easy, Chtimulato. I'd be interested in your point of view on the racism thing. As to the clave post; I just wrote it because I felt responsible for Faniatic and other readers that may have never posted anything. I'm not afraid to concede mistakes on my side, because we are all learning and contributing to a common knowledge. My post did not really await any response. I felt I had to modify what I and others have verbalized on clave in the conjunto / son montuno period, and I proved it. In the meantime I have found one more example of clave deviance, without really searching. Maybe it's not 10% that disregards the clave, but 5%, which is still a lot. As I said, I'm not going to write a dissertation on this.)

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Re: Newbie Question - Remembering Basic Martillo Variations

Postby Mister Pablo » Wed Sep 09, 2020 4:39 pm

Chtimulato wrote: Mister Pablo, I can suggest you, amongst others, son recordings. Arsenio Rodríguez for instance. It's a gold mine. Or Cachao, Beny Moré, and so many others. Buena Vista Social Club, Afro Cuban Allstars, there are so many...


Hey Chtimulato :)

Many thanks for these recommendations: These are largely new to me and are indeed a goldmine. Arsenio Rodríguez! What an amazing sound; could be my new favourite, so thanks for these tips, much appreciated :)

Best wishes,

Pablo
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Re: Newbie Question - Remembering Basic Martillo Variations

Postby Mister Pablo » Wed Sep 09, 2020 4:51 pm

Thomas Altmann wrote:Correct! I would first go by recordings, enjoy, select what I like, and then practice the respective passages in order to reproduce them. Most certainly, questions arise how to incorporate them in the basic comping pattern. And that's where teachers, videos and books can be helpful.

However, there are probably many ways to get where you want to be. I am currently listening extensively to old Cuban recordings, like Arsenio, but also many other conjuntos and septetos, as well as big bands like Julio Cueva, Casino de la Playa, Riverside, Benny Moré.


Hi Thomas,

Many thanks for these comments also. I do need to get myself a teacher sorted out to be fair. I'm likewise really enjoying the early Cuban recordings: I like to look to the roots of things before I progress to the branches, flowers and fruits. I think that you get a better feel for the principles and rudiments that way (or maybe that's just me)

Cheers for your thoughts anyways; very useful :)

Pablo
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