Included with your membership

Listening Playlists for Latin Percussionists

We put these Spotify playlists together so you can practice everything you’ll learn in a musical context. Members find them as suggested listening alongside courses, grooves, Quick-Tips and masterclasses.

60+ playlists4 groups1 public playlist
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Listen to one of our Congas 101 Playlists →

What you get

These are the records our lessons grow out of. Hearing a rhythm in real music before you play it gives you a sound to aim for. Choose a group to see its playlist titles. The full collection is included with membership.

Course playlists

36 playlists

Recordings that go with the lessons in the courses, from Congas 101 to the Timbal Groove Toolbox. Most are named for the lesson they match.

Congas 101 & Conga Fundamentals

2
  • Tumbao Pattern Afro-Cuban
  • Hand to Hand Grooves and Tumbao Pop/Funk/R&B

Conga Groove Toolbox

10
  • Lesson 1: Martillo Adaptation
  • Lesson 2: Motown Conga Groove
  • Lesson 3: Tumbao Patterns
  • Lesson 4: Merengue Pattern
  • Lesson 5: Makúta Pattern
  • Lesson 6: Bomba Sicá Pattern
  • Lesson 7: Rumba Guaguancó Pattern
  • Lesson 8: Baião Pattern
  • Lesson 9: Plena Pattern
  • Lesson 10: Candombe Pattern

Conga Soloing 101

4
  • Moderate Tempo Quinto
  • Medium Tempo Conga Solos
  • Up Tempo Conga Solos
  • Cha-Cha Tempo Conga Solos

Bongos 101 & Bongo Fundamentals

4
  • Bongos 101 Martillo
  • Bongos Pop/Funk/R&B
  • Old School Salsa Bongo Language
  • Early Modern Salsa Bongo Language

Timbales 101 & Timbal Fundamentals

4
  • Timbales Cha-Cha-Cha
  • Timbales Pop/Funk/R&B
  • Timbales Guaguancó Pattern Adaptation
  • Timbales Cascara and Contracampana

Timbal Groove Toolbox

12
  • Lesson 1: Danzón
  • Lesson 2: Cha-Cha-Chá Variations
  • Lesson 3: Cascara Variations
  • Lesson 4: Contracampana Variations
  • Lesson 5: Funk Patterns
  • Lesson 6: Bomba Sicá
  • Lesson 7: Plena
  • Lesson 8: Bembé in 6/8
  • Lesson 9: Pilón
  • Lesson 10: Guaguancó
  • Lesson 11: Mozambique
  • Lesson 12: Conga de Comparsa

Grooves playlists

11 playlists

Listening for the Grooves section, with playlists for the conga and timbal patterns.

Conga grooves

  • Backbeat Based Patterns
  • Festejo
  • Merensongo
  • Rumba Columbia
  • Samba
  • Songo & Songo-Bota
  • Three Drum Tumbaos

Timbal grooves

  • Backbeat Pattern
  • Creando Pattern
  • Double-Bell Pattern
  • Merensongo Pattern

Quick-Tip lesson playlist

1 playlist

A playlist for the whole Quick-Tip series, with tracks to work on the fills, variations and other patterns from the lessons.

Quick-Tip series

  • Fills and Variations

Masterclass playlists

16 playlists

Several instructors share the records that shaped them, and there are playlists of them playing. Marc Quiñones has four: conga, bongó, timbal and all percussion.

Marc Quiñones

  • Marc Playing Salsa on Conga
  • Marc Playing Salsa on Bongó
  • Marc Playing Salsa on Timbal
  • Marc Playing Salsa on All Percussion

Luisito Quintero

  • Luisito Quintero on Percussion

Bobby Allende

  • Bobby's Favorite Influential Records
  • Bobby Playing Bongó
  • Bobby Playing Congas

Gilmar Gomes

  • Gilmar's Favorite Influential Records
  • Gilmar on Percussion

George Delgado

  • George's Favorite Influential Records
  • George Playing Percussion

Chino Díaz, Roberto Vizcaíno Jr., Jhair Sala and Papo Pepín

  • Chino's Favorite Influential Records
  • Roberto's Favorite Influential Records
  • Jhair's Favorite Influential Records
  • Papo Playing Percussion

“I have been enjoying the CongaChops playlists so far. They really helped me to understand and study! I have struggled to find especially traditional music examples of various grooves for years! Thanks so much for the work, that means a lot to me!”

Timothy W., CongaChops member

Hear the music behind the lessons

Your 7-day free trial opens the full member area, playlists included. Start today and open them from your member dashboard.

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What else membership includes

Courses and lessons

300+ lessons and 75+ hours of video, from first strokes to soloing.

See the courses →

Masterclasses

Nine masterclasses with leading Latin percussionists.

See the masterclasses →

Practice loops

100+ loops to play along with, in a range of grooves and tempos.

Hear the loops →

Member dashboard

Save lessons and pick up where you left off, on any device.

See the dashboard →

Quick Answers

Where do I find the playlists?

On the Playlists page in the member area. The playlists open in Spotify.

How are the playlists organized?

The same way the site is: by course, by Grooves pattern, by the Quick-Tip series and by masterclass instructor. Most titles name the lesson, pattern or player they go with.

Are the playlists included with the free trial?

Yes. The playlists are part of the membership, and the trial gives you the full member area for 7 days.