Updated 21 March1999

Yes friends, I've finally found some time to get a new lesson online! Thanks for all of your emails with your kind and thoughtful comments. It is so great to be able to reach all of you! I'm experimenting with Real Audio files and I hope you can listen to the lesson here. Thanks for your requests for this and I'll try and put up as many sound files as I can. I'm having some problems with the sound files. Give me some time and I hope to have it together.

 

I would like to subtly remind all of you who visit my online lessons that a lot of the concepts taught here can be learned more intensely from my books. You can check my books out at my Books site. The books can be ordered right from my website. How nice! I'll be updating that page soon, with more music and audio.

I've placed a Previous Lessons archive here. Enjoy!

From Uruguay - Candombe

Some of the first music that I listened to, with a "latin" groove, was music from Uruguay, called candombe. A great band from Uruguay, called Opa, was my influence. These great musicians, including the wonderful and funky Osvaldo "Jorge" Fattoruso on drums, released two albums, GoldenWings and Magic Time. They also appear on the Airto Moreira recording, Fingers. Find these recording and ingest them!

Let me tell you, I know what I know just from listening to this music. I've not yet been to Uruguay. Someday!!

Candombe has the clave! This pattern is called madera. There are several madera patterns. I called Osvaldo Fattoruso in Montevideo, Uruguay, sjust to make sure I was disseminating the correct information!

Here is the clave (madera #1) with another madera pattern.

 

Listen to the pattern here. You'll need the Real Audio Player for these sound files. Downolad it at RealMedia.

Now, we look at and listen to the drum called the "chico". As with other drum cultures, there are three drums in the family that plays candombe. The chico is the smallest drum. It's pattern is definitely different. You'll notice an accent over the first 16th note. This really "masks" the downbeats, creating a lot of tension and a great groove.

 

Listen to the pattern here.

 

The "piano" is the name for the largest drum of the family. There are many patterns for this and the other drums and madera. Here are three patterns.

 

 

 

Real Audio is here!

And now, we put the patterns together on the drumset. After I sent this file to my friend Juan Médica in Montevideo, he informed me that it's more common to hear the drumset playing alone, and not with all the percussion. Well, excuuuuuuse me!! Hope you enjoy it!

Check out the Real Audio files here!

 

The drum which has not been transcribed is called the "repique" It's the solo drum. I'm learning more about this drum and I'll put up some solo ideas and practical applications within the next months.

 

YOUR ASSIGNMENT

I would like for you to practice these ideas and begin to think about ways to apply them to your playing. I've come up with some very useful ideas that work very well as grooves. I'll be posting them here.

Thanks once again for visiting my lessons page, and for checking out the website. If I can be of any help to you, please drop me an email. And don't forget to check out the books, CDs, and videos available here. Thanks!

If you enjoy these lessons, and develop your own grooves, please share them with us! You can mail me your applications of these lessons to:

Previous Lessons

Select an Archived Lesson! Groovin' Independence Basic Brasilian Rhythms Double Bass Cowbell Lessons Latin Hand Patterns Latin Rudiments 5 against 2 Hand Patterns Changuito Melodic Independence Cascara Funk Lesson FunkyTwist!

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