Super Newbie

[nobleway]

Hey all!

I've been salsa dancing 2 years, and looking for something new I decided to explore the music that I love to dance to so much. I took my first conga lesson this past Sunday night. It was a bit overwhelming but good fun. Last night I rode out to the burbs to buy a 11 3/4" Meinl Marathon Conga. I came home wiped so tonight I spent 25 minutes working to get and to repeatedly practice the basic tones. I also messed around with the tumbao. It's ugly folks! Give me some time... Peace!

[bongosnotbombs]

Don't ever give up. I've bought two drums from salsa dancers that decided "to give the congas a try".

[Novato]

I'm also a newby. I think that it is trully an advantage that you have been dancing Salsa, because you feel the msic you dance to so to speak. That will help you a lot with your timing. Speed will come naturally, so keep focusing on sound.
My skills are far from perfect, but I've noticed measurable improvement in my playing since I started playing this past June. It's adictive. You will play a lot at first, and there will be times that you don't practice as often, but once you realize that you can hang in there, you won't miss a day if you could help it and when you do, the next time you play you will beat the heck out of those skins without regard for your hands. It's tons of fun. I never would have imagined that I would have improvd so much in such a short period of time.
Cheers hermano.
Bernardo

[nobleway]

Thanks for the encouragement gentlemen!

Today I ordered Tomas Cruz's book/cd combo volume 1, and next week I take another conga lesson on Wednesday though it'll be with a different guy. I decided to check out 2 teachers and see what's the best fit.

Peace!

[JConga]

Hi SuperNewbie....keep in mind because someone might be able to play ..'does not make them a teacher" of the instrument....they must have "methods" for teaching and have a curriculum or can work around your needs...what u need to work on first is 'technique and sound development"....exercises/drills are necessary to improve your skills....the Tomas Cruz books are good...it doesnt show u how to apply the knowledge or when really, or dynamics or counting, but it's a start...a "mentor" is what u need to "guide" u thru the learning process...let me know how ur lessons are going and what ur learning....Johnny Conga

[alabubba]

Hi SuperNewbie....keep in mind because someone might be able to play ..'does not make them a teacher" of the instrument....they must have "methods" for teaching and have a curriculum or can work around your needs...what u need to work on first is 'technique and sound development"....exercises/drills are necessary to improve your skills....the Tomas Cruz books are good...it doesnt show u how to apply the knowledge or when really, or dynamics or counting, but it's a start...a "mentor" is what u need to "guide" u thru the learning process...let me know how ur lessons are going and what ur learning....Johnny Conga

What Johnny says, but from another relative newbie! Johnny introduced me to a mentor back in August, this was the best thing that could have happened for me - now I don't waste time wondering what to do or if I am doing it correctly. If my technique is incorrect, he is there to help me make the right adjustment. I spend my practice time at home practicing the drills and patterns from the lessons that we've had, I also play along with CDs as I develop my comping ability, etc. All in all, this has started me on a path of progress like you wouldn't believe!

[nobleway]

Thanks JConga and alabubba!

Well I took my second lesson with a different teacher. Like the first he charged me $40 for an hour and I very much enjoyed the lesson. We reviewed the basic tones and did drills together. He showed me some basic drills to practice. He patiently repeated himself when I didn't quite get what he was talking about. Since I knew the tumbao he reviewed it showing first an easier way that eliminates the first tip of the second measure and then we added that when he saw that I was comfortable with the bass tip. My slaps often rode toward the center and he kept reminding me to minimize movement and to keep the slaps toward the edge. Though i have one drum which I brought with me he showed me on his drums the tumbao on 2 drums in a way that marked the clave and then he showed me the old school way of doing the tumbao on 1 drum to sound like 2 drums marking the clave by raising the drum with the feet while doing 2 bass tones on the conga where one would do 2 slaps on a tumba. He repeated emphasized having every tone distinct and the necessity of practicing daily even if the practice was brief in order to master the tones, especially the slap. He tuned my drum up in pitch to match his drums so our drills together were in harmony. He spent about 2 hours with me though I paid for one hour. I'm thinking I had fun, learned alot, and appreciated his patient style and generosity. I plan to go back. Peace!

[Derbeno]

You hit the nail on the head. Tone clarity and separation is what it is all about. I too come from the Salsa world, so we know about the dancers that want to do a ton of patterns but they do not look good because they execute them with bad technique and no musicality. They would look a lot better if they executed a few simple patterns with style and panache.

Same applies to Conga drumming.

[alabubba]

You hit the nail on the head. Tone clarity and separation is what it is all about. I too come from the Salsa world, so we know about the dancers that want to do a ton of patterns but they do not look good because they execute them with bad technique and no musicality. They would look a lot better if they executed a few simple patterns with style and panache.

Same applies to Conga drumming.

That is wisdom. There is a large body of history, culture, tradition and knowledge, and it would be nice to soak it all up like a sponge. That being said, it takes time and practice to learn each step along the way. I find that when I am introduced to some new pattern or exercise, there are several phases:

1) brain freeze - this is when you choke repeatedly even though you think you should be able to do it. The way through that is slow it down, slow it way down, and repeat it a few hundred times (for me often over the course of a few days) until you don't have to think about it.

2) poor execution - after getting over the brain freeze, while being extremely critical of my tones, I continue slow execution for many reps over many days until I am thinking that the sound is right

3) fine tuning - I demonstrate to my teacher and let him listen, observe, correct and improve. This is important - I find that this step usually results in a giant step forward, because there is always something that I am doing that needs correction/impovement, and sometime just one little thing that he suggests puts the style and substance into it that I have missed, and it becomes far more musical. Once I get a thumbs-up from my instructor my confidence goes through the ceiling. Because I know that to play anything well, it is important to play with authority and confidence. Tiptoeing through the tulips doesn't cut it when playing with others.

4) Practice practice practice - find suitable material to play along with that enables you to play the pattern within a musical context. Slow is much better at first; so many on this board will tell you that speed shows up when it is ready, but you lay the groundwork for it by practicing slowly. The practice of everything on a regular basis is important, because it keeps things fresh, improves skill, and maintains competence in performance.

So go for it! Each time you add another thing to your body of knowledge and your body of skill, it will bring you great satisfaction! This is an on-going journey, where the joy comes from the musicians you play with, the places you play and the music you participate in making along the way.