This.
I've seen numerous attempts at it, and they all (in my opinion) fail.
Every attempt I've seen says something to the effect:
"This is the clave, it's the heart and soul of the rhythm, ok, now here is an advance beat.." and then go on to show off their flashiest chops.
They all just goes from point 1 to point 100 without bothering to explain points 2, 3, 4, thru 99.
Even at PIT way back when, they hired a name player, who's concept of beggining latin was to demonstrate drum solos and polyrthyms to a room full of teens who'd barely figured out a basic 6/8 beat. (no, not Chuck Silverman, he wasn't there the year I was)
It would be great if someone would take the point of view a space alien landed on earth who's never heard any Earth music, and has asked you to teach him enough latin to get through the average casual, while resisting the urge to show off flashy fills and solo ideas in the lessons.
Hi DED: I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN- Im sorry that happened to you. It happened to me as well.
The topic of instruction in African Descent styles was one that frustrated the heck out of me!
When I was learning it was double fold...because we had no DVDs, no proper books, and most of the time the cats that played that stuff...almost had this concept of stringing you along and not reaaallyy showing you what you needed to know. Very secretive...very sparse information and almost always wrong!! They showed you what i call...."Tourist Latin" - To be honest this was to keep you from obtaining the knowledge and out of the competition for gigs!
There are many contradicting things to what the different cultures have to say about clave in particular as well...so the whole thing ...unless you speak spanish...can get very very confusing. The music itself went through a stage of "wash out" in America...it got watered down so that "consumers" could easily digest the music. That was a short sighted attempt by the music industry to try to package and sell this music to different cultures. ( Carmen Miranda etc) It was a major blow to musicians because what this did what pervert the beauty of the music and insult the people and culture it came from. The result...total confusion for non native musicians about the style. (Remember those organs on the 70's, with the first drum machines built in? Push the " Latin button" hahaha and out came this horrific wrong jive ridiculous noise. Who knows what guy programmed that)
ON top of that... The people involved in it themselves are always arguing about something or other haha! Cultures clash...So imagine me back then trying to learn vocabulary to solo over 2 -3 clave. Or even to do fills that fit and didnt sound like funk fills or jazz. As an adult...Once at a rehearsal I witnesses 2 knuckleheads get in a 1/2 hour argument about which way the clave sat in a Merengue groove. Thats how much confusion there is within the ranks of the average "Latin" musicians themselves sometimes!
The knowledge I gained in learning Afro Cuban music (just to be able to function in it) took 10 years to obtain!!! And that was busting down every door I could imagine! When Luis Conte got a hold of me and taught me what was up, thats when, for the first time...these doors started to breakdown. But it was an absolute nightmare trying to learn. The only thing that pulled me through was the love of the music. Not even the most bitter so called "teachers" could kill that joy for me. So it was a very personal labor of love all this.
Keeping all this in mind.... my DVD "Afro Cuban Drumming" ...was produced with the spirit of sharing this journey with a person who loves this music. Once you learn basic patterns..the next question is ...What you do with them! There is no other method that shows how all the percussion works together. This is another issue entirely. To function in a rhythm section...all the parts of the puzzle have to be clear. You have to know all the patterns that are played on other instruments in order to function on the drumset.
My suggestion is to check out my dvd...and then let me know how you feel.
If any one is interested ...I will breakdown the mechanics and major stages of learning these styles. it cannot be taught the same way we learn Funk or rock. So if enough people are interested maybe i will make a clip about it.. Its waayyy to much to type.
This is my first attempt at writing today...I hope it all made sense lol!
Peace
pm