How to play congas from scratch

First Online Class for Beginners

Focus on Playing only in One Drum, “The Conga”

As you can see here, we have two drums: Conga and Tumbadora, but for a “Conguero, no matter if he is a beginner or advanced player, the conga is the operation center. 

To understand this idea we can make an analogy with the Snare Drum and the Drumset.  In both cases, this is the drum in which you’re going to play most of the stuff that you’re going to play and the rest you´re going to use to improve rhythmically and musically what you play. 

So, at the beginning, one drum is more than enough to start learning and playing.

And don’t worry, because there are a lot of rhythms that you can play in one drum before you move forward to a “Two Drum Setup”. 

Also, a lot of the rhythms that you can see played in two drums actually are the combination of two individual rhythms that are played by the Conga and the Tumbadora separately in the traditional percussion ensemble.

Let me show you an example of what I’m talking about. I am going to play you the Rumba Guaguancó Rhythm, which is a traditional rhythm from Cuba. The traditional ensemble is built in this way:

first, you have a rhythm played in the Conga called “Tres Golpes”

and you have another rhythm played in the Tumbadora that is called “Salidor.

So you can play these two rhythms, separated and combined in a “Two Congas Setup”.

So, by focusing just on playing one drum first, you’re going to make things easier for you. Because when you are beginning to play the congas, maybe playing in a “Two Conga Set Up” is too much. Also, learning to play each one of this rhythm separately is going to give you a better understanding of what you’re going to play when you move from one conga set up to a two conga set up.

Start playing and practicing simple rhythms in the congas

And by simple, I mean:

1) Rhythms played using the 1&1 digitation
rhythms that have a simple music configuration
2) Rhythms that are short and repetitive
3) Rhythms that avoid hand repetition
4) Rhythms that are played at “friendly tempos”
5) Rhythms that are played in one drum only

Let me give you an example of a simple and easy rhythm.

If you want to learn more Easy and Simple Rhythms to Play in the Congas, you can watch this video. 

Checklist of Conga Playing Best Habits

To improve your playing skills in the congas we don’t just have to move our hands. Yes, we have to do that, but with a musical and rhythmic sense and in that way, we are going to be able to develop our Conga Walking and flow better while we play the conga.

To achieve that we have to keep present these “Conga Hand Technique Best Practices”:

1) Break the “Dominant Hand Trap”

To do that, you must stimulate both hands equally in order to match their sound and energy when you play. 

2) Release your hands from the drum

The right hand motion to play is “Hit and Rebound”. Your hands are always in motion and ready to play and move in a cycle in which when one is hitting the drum is preparing itself to play. 

3) Activate your wrists to play

Wrists are the key factor to improve your playing skill, both the sound and the speed you play your drum. Using them give us the time and space to place our hands correctly in the drum and gives us control over the strength with which we play the conga. 

4) Work in your “Hand Dynamic Range”

You have to be able to control the volume and energy of each hit you play in the conga. To do that, we have to be able to manage the height and distance that our hands go through when we play the drum. -show short example- 

Let’s see how to put together all this advice in playing a rhythm over a song. 

Metronome is the percussionist´s best friend

Metronome is a must have to any percussion player. Because, at the beginning of your learning part with the congas, It’s going to be the tool to help you to develop your tempo, sense and ability that is fundamental to any conga player. 

So my best advice to you is never play anything in there. What I mean is without an external source of tempo.

There are several ways to practice with a metronome. In here we’re going to see the basic ones, that are: 

1) Playing the congas with the metronome playing the beat, so the metronome is going to be set in Quarter Notes.

2) Playing the congas with the metronome playing the subdivision, so the metronome is going to be set in eighth notes.

If you want to learn more about the Basic Rhythm Theory you must know to play percussion you can watch this video.

Practice on congas playing songs improves your playing and musical skills

Songs are another external tempo reference that we can use to practice and improve our playing skills in the congas. 

However, the practice around them is different than the one that we can do with the metronome, basically because there are more elements involved. So playing over songs has to be the closing stage of any rhythm or musical piece you learn to play in the congas, because playing songs is a step in which you put everything you learned into practice to make and play music with the congas.

So this is the end of the video. 

I hope you find it useful and entertaining, and that it helped to start your learning path with the congas. 

Any comments or questions that you have are on the different matters I went around in the video, please leave it in the comments. 

I see you in the next video.