This week, we're gonna work on a couple of simple fills that we can use to add a bit of intensity in the "up" section of an arrangement.

Now, remember that the fills we'll work on today, and in the following weeks, will take us away from our tumbao pattern a bit and create some tension within the groove, and should therefore be used sparingly in our playing. Generally only once in an entire song. So we'll check a shorter fill first, and then use that same shape as inspiration to work a bit longer fill.

So for the first fill, we'll start off by using the "and" of three on the two side of the clave as our jumping-off point. Since we'll be working on a four-bar phrase in 2-3 clave, our fill will start in the third bar. Let's check it out.

So I decided to play a little open tone flam on the "and" of four in the fourth bar of the phrase, just to switch things up a bit, but you can of course feel free to play a single open tone there instead. Now, this fill can be a bit tricky to pull off at first, so take a second to work out the sticking, and make sure you take the time to go back and listen to the example, and clap the clave along, so you can really start to understand where the accents lie in respect to the pulse and the clave.

Now, because this fill is pretty busy and takes us away from our tumbao pattern, we have to make sure that we're very careful with where we decide to play it in the course of a song, so that we don't clash with any of the other instruments or vocals.

For this next fill, we're going to use the fourth bar of our last example as the foundation. With one exception: instead of finishing off with an open tone flam, we're gonna play a low-drum open tone on the "and" of four, to lead us into an open tone on the downbeat of the following bar. We'll also completely switch up what we're playing in the previous two bars to create a new, longer and more involved fill.

So you can see that we took that same three-note shape from the fourth bar of the phrase, a low-drum open tone followed by two open tones, and played it in the third bar starting on the "and" of two, instead of the "and" of one. Now, using small figures as inspiration and displacing them within a longer phrase or fill gives us a sense of continuity and allows us to develop a motif to use within our playing. Now, this is something that you'll hear across music from all eras and genres: the repetition and variation of small figures or motifs, whether they be rhythmic, melodic, or harmonic, to help create longer phrases that can complement and, at times, act as counterpoint to one another.

So now that we're comfortable with the sticking, the tones and where the accents lie, let's work on these back to back as an eight-bar phrase over one of our exclusive CongaChops practice loops.

Both of these fills can work great in specific situations, we just have to make sure that we're paying attention to the clave, and of course the style we're playing in, and what the rest of the band is playing. Now, these could work well in certain sections where the conga has a bit more space to play freely, in a Latin jazz setting for example, or tastefully placed in a modern salsa or even an old-school salsa context.

One of my personal favorite conga players that uses these types of longer fills tastefully and with incredible facility and swing is the legendary Papo Pepín. You can check out some of his incredible and super swinging playing on some old-school records like Rafael DeJesus's "En Grande" and Tito Allen's "Untouchables," as well as in a more modern, early timba context on Isaac Delgado's "Otra Idea." His aggressively creative yet tasteful style of conga playing paved the way for many of my favorite congueros in these genres, which belong to the generation just after his, such as Marc Quiñones, Bobby Allende, Sammy Garcia, Jimmie Morales, Georgie Delgado, and Luisito Quintero. Now, these are all household names that every percussionist should be hip to, so if you haven't already, take a second to research each one and really dive into their unique playing styles.

Remember that you might use the types of fills we covered in this lesson just to add some intensity to a particular phrase or section, or as a musical response to something that's played by any of the other instruments in the band, including the vocals. So, try to see if you can spot where these types of fills may be used as you're listening to your favorite recordings, always paying attention to any contributing factor that you feel may have influenced the conga player's decision to play a particular fill or phrase. Now, by doing this, you'll start to develop an understanding for when these types of fills can feel natural to play throughout the course of an arrangement.