Bossa nova, samba, afro cuban, latin beats/exercises??

[Pearlrules]

I've only just been introduced into playing these different styles of music so I'm unaware of knowing how they should be played.
I'd appreciate if someone could give me some exercises I could work on or some beats that I can learn to play with these different styles.
Bossa nova, samba, afro cuban, and latin.

[Pearlrules]

35 view and 0 replies?!
C'mon guys!
I need your help with this.

[jonescrusher]

C'mon man, you've got the answers already:
http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15906&highlight=latin+exercises

[KCDrummer]

I study with a guy here in KC named Doug Auwarter and he's written a book called "Essential Latin Styles for Drumset". It's sort of half method book, half text book. It's full of Afro-Cuban and Brazilian patterns and styles, and he writes great explainations of them. You not only learn the patterns, you learn about their history, what instruments they were originally played on, what types of groups they were used in, etc. I highly recommend it, you can find it at dougauwarter.com. He's got some audio on there too. It's kind of funny--he's the whitest, squarest-looking dude you've ever seen, not someone you'd expect to be a Latin master.

Another good book for the Afro-Cuban stuff is "Conversations in Clave" by Heracio Hernandez

[figure_02]

I think the main foot pattern in almost all sorts of latin music is:

BF: |x-x- - x-x- -x-x- - x-x- - |
HF: |- - -x- - - -x- - - -x- - - -x|

It's pretty though to get that pattern going on, and make it really groove. You should practice on that, and let the hands do whatever they want to.

[Korompay]

http://www.freeweb.hu/prodrum/latin.pdf

[Korompay]

http://www.zen30989.zen.co.uk/index.htm

[geek_boy_in]

Friend ... to get a feel for these beats you are talking about like Samba, bossa, nanigo, salsa ... the ideal book for your kind of audience is a DVD with music charts by Tommy Igoe called Groove Essentials. .... search google you will get from where to get the best deal ...

and if you are a bit advanced then try Funkifying the Clave by Lincoln Goines and Robby Ameen
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0769220207/104-3024378-2731949?v=glance&n=283155

[joaocalminho]

If you are really interested in Brazilian stuff, have a look at Henrique de Ameida's "Brazilian Rhythms For The Drumset". There is enough material there for years of practice and development. Pages of notated exam[ples for each rhythm, plus two CDs.

He goes into different samba and bossanova styles, with sticks and brushes, also other rhythms such as baiao, jongo, samba funk, samba reggae etc.


There is another good one by Duduka de Fonseca.

[KCDrummer]

I think the main foot pattern in almost all sorts of latin music is:

BF: |x-x- - x-x- -x-x- - x-x- - |
HF: |- - -x- - - -x- - - -x- - - -x|

It's pretty though to get that pattern going on, and make it really groove. You should practice on that, and let the hands do whatever they want to.

Ummm...I have no idea what this is supposed to be. There is no single pattern--foot, hand or otherwise--that fits into ALL sorts of Latin music.

[Just Drums]

Afro-Cuban Rhythms For Drumset is a pretty good book to become exposed to a lot of different styles.

[Pearlrules]

Well, can someone tell me what the feet are doing during a Afro-cuban, samba, bossa nova, and latin beat?

[thegatekeeper]

Hey I'm brazilian the easiest way to get some samba going for me is by doing doubles on the bass drum and hihat. Start with this little thing

1 e + a 2 e + a
B| x-----------x || x---------x|
H| ----x---x-----||-----x--x---|

And eventually getting rid of the hi hat on e

1 e + a 2 e + a
B| x-----------x || x---------x|
H| ---------x-----||--------x---|

That should get you started on the foot let me know how it goes and I'll show you what to do with the hands. Sorry I'm not so good with the tabs

[RudimentalDrummer]

Get this Book - " Beyond The BackBeat: fm Funk to Jazz & Latin" by Larry Finn, Beklee Press (Include a CD) and cost USD19.95 only. EASY TO UNDERSTAND.

This book gives you many Basic Variation initially to make you get used to the different feel ..the......

It talks about Various Styles may sound different but they have much in common and is performed with a good sense of time, touch, dynamics and feel. Because all music shares the same basic rythmn and these rythmns may be used & emphasized differently, but the closer you listen, the more you will hear the same patterns.

It's about Groove and this book leads the rock funk drummer to different styles by "morphing" rock/funk beats to other styles - Swing, Brazilian, Afro-Cuban & others. By playing grooves that combines the contempory sound of rock/funk with other styles, one will enrich their own individual unquie voice in drumming.

The Exercises (that comes with a CD in this book) introduce and start of with 13 Basic Rock/Funk Beats, follow by 14 Basic Shuffles, 4 Basic Half-Time Shuffles then to.....

Chapter One:(many exercises) - MORPH: Rock Shuffle to Swing, Swing Variations. = Swing Feel

Chapter Two:(many exercises) - MORPH: Funk to Samba & Variations, Parito Alto, Bossa Nova = Brazilian Feel

Chapter Three:(many exercises) - MORPH: Funk to Songo (play along with Son Clave/Rumba Clave-2/3, 3/2 Pattern), Funky Songo, New Orleans Second Line Groove etc.= Latin Feel

Chapter Four:(many exercises) - MORPH: Funk to Up Tempo Swing, Swing & Hip Hop = Up Temp Swing Feel

Chapter Five:(many exercises) - MORPH: Half-Time Shuffle to Brembe & Variations. = Alfo Cuban Feel

Chapter Six (many exercises) - MORPH: Rock Shuffle to Swing Variation, Funky Swing = Swing Feel

Chapter Seven (many exercises) - MORPH: Rock/Funk to Mambo = Latin Feel.

Hopes this help.

[delliejonut]

It depends on what kind of latin groove you're talking about. All the latin grooves are cousins, meaning they're related but don't serve the same musical purpose. For example, the bossa nova and samba share basically the same foot pattern, bass drum on 1,2,3,4 and the a's, and high hat foot on the 2 and 4.


H |- - - - x - - - - - - - x - - - | - - - - x - - - - - - - x - - - | -
B |x - - x x - - x x - - x x - - x | x - - x x - - x x - - x x - - x | x
__|1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a | 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a | 1


It can be more complicated than that, of course. Most rhythyms in latin grooves are based around the clave pattern i.e. 3-2 or 2-3 clave feel. This pattern is the backbone of most, if not all latin grooves, and while latin percussionists are known for being rhythmically adventurous, they don't do anything at the expense of the clave. The standard clave pattern in a bassa nova pattern would be played like this, with one hand playing the ride (R), and the feet of course on the bass (B) and high hat (H). The cross stick on the snare (C) is playing the clave pattern.

3-2 clave bassa nova


R |X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X |X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X |X
C |O - - O - - O - - - O - - O - - |O - - O - - O - - - O - - O - - |O
H |- - X - - - X - - - X - - - X - |- - X - - - X - - - X - - - X - |-
B |X - - X X - - X X - - X X - - X |X - - X X - - X X - - X X - - X |X
__|1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a |1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a |1

2-3 clave bossa nova

R |X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X |X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X |X
C |- - O - - O - - O - - O - - O - |- - O - - O - - O - - O - - O - |-
H |- - X - - - X - - - X - - - X - |- - X - - - X - - - X - - - X - |-
B |X - - X X - - X X - - X X - - X |X - - X X - - X X - - X X - - X |X


Other variations of this include playing the clave pattern on the high hat instead of the crosstick, and doing variations and improving with the cross stick.

The samba has the same basic foot pattern as the bossa nova, but instead of being at about 130-140 bpm, it's played much faster, anywhere from 200 to 300 bpm. Also, the ride pattern is slightly different. Instead of playing all the 16th notes, the ride plays in groups of three, in sync with the feet. If you've heard the squire playing coconuts (horse hooves) on Monty Python and the Holy Grail, then you know the way it's played. A basic samba pattern would look something like this.

R |X - X X X - X X X - X X X - X X |X - X X X - X X X - X X X - X X |X
C |- O - - O - O - O - O - - O - O |- O - - O - O - O - O - - O - O |-
H |- - X - - - X - - - X - - - X - |- - X - - - X - - - X - - - X - |-
B |X - - X X - - X X - - X X - - X |X - - X X - - X X - - X X - - X |X


The most important thing to remember when playing the samba is to keep everything rounded and even. It's easy to try to squeeze out the bass doubles and start getting a big ungainly marching band drum sound. You don't want that. It's all about taste and dynamics and roundess. It needs to sound like it has foward momentum and is balanced. If you can't play it with a balanced sound then you'll kill the groove. Every note should flow into the next like butta. And how do you achieve this? Simple. As with every groove, practice slow. As in play it slower than a bossa nova until you get the roundness and even dynamics across all 4 limbs, then slowly bring it up to speed. On a side note, you'll notice the cross stick isn't playing the clave pattern. In the faster samba pattern, the cross stick helps to fill in the gaps and make it flow better. You'll see what I mean when you get that up to speed.

I'll be back later on the Afro Cuban

[RudimentalDrummer]

Thanks Bro delliejonut - that was a very good info and I needed that very much.


Eric

[MadJazz]

Great posts!

On the sideline of latin drumming, what drum specs are typical for this varied style? I see soft cymbals and smaller drums, especially small snares (love em!)

[Deathmetalconga]

I'll be back later on the Afro Cuban

Wow, thanks for the great transcriptions. Very good stuff. I am printing it out.

[h3r3tic]

Check out Akira Jimbo's video "Independence". It's all you need for your independence. And it's all related to Afro-Cuban music but it can be aplied to any style of music ;) check it out, very excelent exercises to work ith all 4 limbs.

[Auger]

Props to jazzgregg for showing me these by one of his former teachers, Some very good stuff here:

http://www.vicfirth.com/education/drumset/hadden.html

hope this is helpful!

[mikeray]

Henrique De Almeida's Bossa Nova and Samba Grooves for Drumset is an amazing book.. .very deep. . .there's a lifetime (Henrique's) in there. . .lots of different ostinato exercises as well that are, of course, useful everywhere. . . .

[techristian]

I have a few exercises with sheet music posted at http://teachmedrums.com/bossanova.html

Dan

[Garvin]

Wow! Some refreshingly great and helpful posts from some folks I rarely see around here.

These are good transcriptions. Another great resource would be Phil Maturano, who has a page here as well. He's put out a couple books and videos that I've used a lot. Great excercises for understanding how clave fits in with all this as well. There are tons of great books and videos out there, you just gotta pick one and really work on it. So far any of the suggested materials would be great.

It would benefit you greatly to do a lot of listening. Just as with any other genre, the feel is extremely important. Working on the independence is a great starting point obviously but ultimately you want to round out the sound by implementing the proper feel. Listen listen listen...

Good Luck!