Who's the best teacher of this forum - teaching a slap

[JohnnyConga]

My dyslexia is showing again ..I meant the Cha cha for the Itotele....my bad...."JC" Johnny Conga.... :;):

[rumbaman]

The three slaps are open , dry and closed . And also you have a slap that my ' rican teacher taught me , the one JC describes in the middle of the drum . My present instructor also introduced me to a slap but actually not a slap for rumbas it consists of a grab of the drum head that he calls grabing el parcho .

rumbaman

[Tone]

Hello conga fraternity. I hope you are all doing well!

I am not an accomplished pro, but as a dedicated student I looked into the very elusive slap more than I would have liked to. I still am, and probably will be for a while.
First I think that there is no magic bullet and like everything else it requires ever more practise. You don't suddenly get it and acquire the killer slap that will hit perfectly everytime. It is a progressive thing. Even with the best advice you still need to translate advice into sensations and brain rewiring and that takes time, loads of it. So don't despair you don't always see it but you are probably making progress.

Now I will share a bit of advice which I am surprised doesn't come at the top of everybody's recommandations and that's : relaxation.

I find that if you can really have your hands totally relaxed your sound will open up, it really help the slaps but also everything else including, can you believe it, time and groove.

Now being relaxed is easier said than done, even when we think we are loose, chances are there is some little tension lurking in a knuckle somewhere. When you alternate strokes and move around the drum or even change drum you create little tensions. Even the slightest tension can alter the sound dramatically.
That is why when I play I try to remind my self of playing with what I call the dead hand to try to eliminate all tension.

It is quite amazing the difference it can make. You will see dramatic improvement in your sound if you try to focus on this as well.

my ten shillings.

tone

[akdom]

AHHHHHHHH Slaps

We will never end with these....

Here are some ideas and technics I learnt or saw.

I personally think (I might be wrong) that bringing the hand towards the outside of the skin as mentionned before is a mistake.
Slaps are usually played at the exact same spot as the tons or even closer to the center of the skin. The higher pitch given by the edge of the skin can't give a sharp and crisp sla.
Thoses who have an African background will often play the slap at the exact same spot as the tone. The only difference being in the fingers. For the tone, fingers are joined and fairly firm to give a sharp round sound.
Foe the slap, they will let the fingers in a natural position (slightly sprear) and won't even cup the end.

Others will cup the hand (this is the way I play slaps).

BUT, technics are very personals. I saw congueros such as Ray Barreto play slaps even on the front side of the skin (after the actual center of the skin on the oposite edge) with his right hand AND with his left hand while playing the "bascule" (heel and finger) motion. This lets him play slaps while keeping the time with the heel and finger time keeping technic.

I a few words, technics has to be learnt and then adapt.

See ya

B

[rumbaman]

Hey rumberos all the blessings to you guys . I agree with Tone. The slap should be played exactly where you play your open or tone note. That is what i was taught ,not easy but thats what my instructor says . You have to fluctuate from a knuckle hit to make your tone to a finger tips to make your slap . This is kind of hard to ewxplaine 'kause im not an instructor but try these exercises ,

oooossssbbbbssss

try those without stopping for a while

rumbaman :p

[JohnnyConga]

Yo my brothers the Slap is forever!...I have to admit at the age of 57 (and i for one have always been "curious" about life) am still learning, as Brother Onile brought up. The drum IS Life, and it will be with you until the end. But in the meantime we feed our hunger with knowledge, as it should be. My point is , "you never stop learning" now if you can get past that, cause some guys just get tired of learning and just want to play, which is ok, but why wouldn't you want to be a "better" player and more "knowledgable". In 1980, I was like super bored with all the tumbaos, I had learned,I was looking for something different in the drum, until I saw Daniel Ponce, who I saw before I ever saw Gio. What Ponce did for me was to show me the potential of playing up to 5 congas, and play in a variety of ways,which I had never seen before. Well It was the most motivating and "enlightning" experience. Which is what we all need at times, that push to keep going and studying the drum...can I play 5 congas now? Yes, but I'll be damned if it aint a lot of work, it kicks my ass!....so i feel more comfortable with up to 4. But it was the experience. And yes when Gio showed up you either gave the drum up hahahaha, or you you were motivated to learn more, and he has been very inspirational to a couple of generations now and continues to expand the drum into the Universe.....also understand that Gio's approach has incorporated "tabla" method ,being he studied with Zakir Hussain, when they traveled with "Planet Drum" for a year.....so it's back to the practice room.....SS TT SS PP , ALWAYS DO UR EXERCISES.....the Cubans practice from 5 to 8 hours a day!....so we got a lot of catching up to do......my 4 congas...."JC" Johnny Conga....

[onile]

!Ashe mi hermano! Ashe!

Onile!

[akdom]

Hi Johnny

You are soooo right.

One is always learning!

Now I need to mention that YES we are always learning BUT it is very easy to catch bad habits and very hard to change them.
So when it comes to slaps, it is better to try to learn hem right at first.
I come from an African background (djembe) and had a hard time to get "good" slaps on congas at first. It's been a lot of work.

I now tend to play slaps on djembe like on congas lol!

The bottom line is that one has to find HIS slaps and try to stick to it.

You mentionned Giovanni Hidalgo. He plays slaps and tons at the exact same spot on the skin. You can see that on his DVD travelling through time.

See ya'll

[SkinDeep]

an old panita of mine whose name i don't even remember was the one who showed me how to slap. we went to a shop he took that drum showed me once, i did it wrong than he showed me one more time the second time he showed me he said 'coño man con ese golpe ,you can knock somebody out.
the funny thing is that he was a piano player. HAY QUE TENER MAÑA!!!

[JohnnyConga]

WELCOME TO OUR FAMILY OF DRUMMERS SKINDEEP....WHY NOT TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOUR PLAYING BACKGROUND AND ABOUT YOURSELF......HAPPY HOLIDAYS!....CON PAZ Y TUMBAO..."JC" JOHNNY CONGA.....

[door]

thank you guys for all the information, I learn very much from your replies.
for me it was the last weeks a interesting thing to think about: Where do you put your weight in your hands when you hit your drums. Is it possible that

1. when you play a slap, all the weight is in your top of the fingers
2. when you play a tone, all the weight that you move sit in the middle of your hand between fingers and wrist
3.when you play a bass, all the weight is in your wrist

for me this information gives a new point of view to think about how I play my sounds. and teaching it to others.

good luck to everybody,
happy christmas and good new year for in a few weaks

Sorry for my "impotent" english
(I know that word from my spam-mail.)

http://www.ritme.be

[SkinDeep]

THANKS FOR THE WARM WELCOME JC. MY PLAYING BACKGROUND IS NOT A BIG ONE SINCE I'M STILL A BEGINNER. I'VE DONE LITTLE BIT OF PLAYING WITH A JAZZ GROUP ONCE OR TWICE AND THAT'S ABOUT IT. BORN EN LA ISLA DEL ENCANTO AND GREW UP IN BEANTOWN. MY MAIN CONCERN RIGHT NOW IS DOING MY EXERCISES AND LEARNING MY PATTERNS, DISCIPLINE IS THE KEY. LOOKING FORWARD TO YOUR INSTRUCTIONAL DVD. PAZ Y TUMBAO

[Zig]

Hello all
Great forum
Does anyone know of any Conga tutors here in the UK (Birmingham West Midlands Area)
I have been playing for quite a few years and recently discovered that my "slap" was not really a slap at all and so I am now busy trying to unlearn my bad technique.
I real feel I could use a bit of one on one tuition.
Any help gratefully received.
Great site
Thanks.

[verticalgil]

practice,practice,practice,thas the name of the game for a good slap.:0