Conga Lecture Potsdam March 05

8/9/2019 Conga Lecture Potsdam March 05

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/conga-lecture-potsdam-march-05 1/8

Afro-Cuban Percussion Instruments

These examples are taken largely from: The Essence of Afro-Cuban

Percussion & Drum Set by Ed Uribe. It is a great book and covers these

instruments in much more detail than I have shared here (it also covers

arranging and drumset with the same thorough approach!)

Clave

“ La clave es la llave, la llave es la clave.” [The clave is the key, the key is the clave.]

There are 4 clave rhythms: 2 in Duple meter and 2 in 6/8 meter. The 2

variations in duple meter are called Clave de Son and Clave de Rumba. The 2

6/8 variations are the predecessors of the Son and Rumba claves.

Clave Examples

Clave is broken into two bars: fuerte and debil. Fuerte--is the strong bar with

three notes. Debil--is the weaker bar with two notes. Clave follows a definite

tension-release or strong-weak pattern. Clave can be designated 3-2 or 2-3depending on which bar comes first.

The Son clave came to exist with the music of the Changui and Son

groups. Since the Son style is one of the most influential in the development of

Afro-Cuban music, it only follows that all of the styles that were derived from



the Son styles use the Son Clave. Consequently, the Guajira, Cha-Cha, Bolero,

Son Montuno, Mambo and many others are all played with the Son Clave.

The Rumba Clave developed with both the secular and sacred styles of Cuban

drumming but did not have a presence in popular dance music until the

1960’s. Today it is the prevalent clave in most rumba styles as well as in many

commercial and Latin Jazz instrumental styles.

Bombo Note--Beat two-and on the three side of clave. All four variations have

this note. This is the note that the bass drum of the rumba styles

emphasizes. However, it is not only a note played by the bass drum, it is an

inflection that can be articulated and/or emphasized by any instrument, and it

clearly identifies the three side of the clave.

Ponche Note--the third beat of the three side of clave. The ponche (punch) noteis a strong accent point, take-off point, target point, and cadence point.

Conga Rhythm--both Ponche and Bombo together. This was defined by Dr.

Fernando Ortiz and is also referred to as Tumba--although the term tumba is

also used as the name for a conga drum pattern played by any rhythm section

instrument. Irrespective of the names you must be aware of these aspects of the

clave.

Tresillo--the triplet: first bar of clave.

Cinquillo--the quintuplet: the clave pattern rounded.



Shown below, Uribe compresses this pattern into a 2/4 bar and states that it fits

in the three side of clave; and, the third variation is a rhythm played by the

timbalero called Baqueto and it is used in the song style Danz’ n.

“ May the clave be with you ( and more importantly) may you be with the

clave.”



Conga Drums

Conga drums--or tumbadoras--as they are traditionally called, are direct

descendants of the conical hand drums--makuta drums--of the Congolese

Africans.

Congas typically come in three sizes--from largest to smallest: Tumba, Conga,

Quinto.

Sounds

Open Tones--played with the fingers and palm towards the edge of the

drum. These tones should ring and produce a nice round open tone.

Closed/Palm and some variations of Tapado Tones--played with the palmand/or fingers on various parts of the head--edge, center, or anyplace in

between--depending on the sound desired. These tones are muted and don’t

ring. Palm tone is specifically played with the palm.

Bass Tones--Played with the heel of the hand just slightly off center.

Heel-Toe Motion--the Marcha--Played by rocking between the heel and toe

of the hand (although the true sound is really the entire palm of the hand for the

heel strokes and the fingers and palm for the tip/toe strokes.)

Tapado--the word itself means “capped” or “topped”--is a unique stroke in that

it can be an accented sort of slap tone, but can also be a muted tone that still

rings the fundamental of the drum but in a kind of “choked” or “covered” way.

Closed Slap/Tapado--One hand slap that ends on the head.

Open Slap--round hand slap that rebounds from the head allowing it to ring.

Muted Slap--Place one hand on the head to mute it--play the slap with the

other hand.



Basic Tumbao Patterns



Rumba Guaguanc



Rumba Columbia



Conga de Comparsa

Conga Lecture Potsdam March 05

Documents

Transcript of Conga Lecture Potsdam March 05