Hey guys, Paulo from CongaChops.com here,

welcome back to our quick tip lesson series.

Now before we get started, make sure you hit like, and subscribe,

and turn on your notifications for the channel, so you know when our next lesson drops.

This week we’re gonna work on a simple phrase

that we can use in the “up” or “down” sections of an arrangement.

Now if you need a quick refresher on what we’re referring to,

check out the lesson from a couple weeks back on tumbao variations.

Now, this phrase is gonna work equally well on either side of the clave.

So let’s hear what it sounds like if we play it on the "two side" of the clave over our modern one-drum tumbao.

So to accommodate this variation, I played the last four notes in the first bar as all single strokes:

right, left, right left.

And started the following bar of the phrase with a right-hand ghost tone,

before jumping back in to the common sticking for our one drum tumbao.

Now let’s hear what this figure sounds like when we play on the "three side" of the clave.

We’ll work on it as a four-bar phrase and alternate it with one of our common two-drum tumbao patterns.

Now that we’ve got the basic figure down,

I want us to look at a couple different to displace it in the bar to create some different shapes.

Now, the tones will stay exactly the same,

all we’re gonna do is change up where we start the phrase in the bar,

and of course adjust the sticking if we feel the need to.

So far in this lesson, we’ve played the figure starting on the “and” of three

on both the "two side" and the "three side" of the clave.

So now let’s hear what it sounds like if we start the figure on the “and” of four

on the "three side" of the clave.

And right after we play the variation, we’ll follow it with two low-drum open tones on the "two side" of the clave.

So again we used four single strokes, at the end of the second bar

to make it a bit more comfortable to get into our phrase.

And we started the third bar right, left, left,

to make it easier to get over to the tumbadora with our right hand.

Now getting comfortable transitioning from our tumbao pattern to keeping time with single strokes,

will allow us to play all sorts of different shapes and figures in different parts of the bar,

with the option of keeping a constant flow of eighth notes.

So for this last example, let’s work on playing the same figure

this time starting on the “and” of two on the "three side" of the clave.

And check out how I accommodate the sticking to make the pattern flow a bit better.

I’ll also add a couple of open tones on my main drum before I play the tumbadora,

to help connect both ideas, and create a longer more fluid phrase.

So now let’s combine the first exercise from this lesson

with the most recent displacement that we just worked on.

We’ll play these as two back to back four bar phrases.

And check out how using the same figure in two different places in the bar

in consecutive phrases really creates an interesting shape.

So let’s work on it over one of our Eddie Palmieri Inspired Loops from CongaChops.com

This is a great example of how playing around with where we place a particular figure in a bar,

can help us create some simple, yet super tasteful varations in our tumbao playing.

Now this last example is something you might only want to play once in an entire song.

And don’t forget work on it slowly, to make sure that you’re very secure of where the accents lie

in respect to the pulse, and how they fit in with the clave.

Now the more you listen to and analyze different players, songs and styles

you’ll start to develop a feel for when and where to use the types of variations.

And since these figures do create some accents that take us away from our more simple tumbao flow,

we have to be very aware of what’s going on with the rest of the band and the vocals,

so that we can play them in a way that doesn’t overpower or distract too much,

when a more constant groove is needed.

If there’s some more open space like during a mambo section for example,

or just somewhere in the song where you’re not clashing with the lead vocal,

make sure that you do approach these deviations from the groove, with conviction.

The best accompanists in these idioms, always find a tasteful place to play some super hip variations,

in a way that adds something meaningful to that musical situation,

without getting in the way of the song, in a broader sense.

Now If you wanna learn more about what we do on Conga Chops,

and how you can take your playing to the next level, come check us out at CongaChops.com,

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over 10 hours of exclusive practice loops like the ones you heard in this lesson,

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as well as get 1-on-1 feedback on everything you’re working on.

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Thanks for watching!