Left foot cowbell clave practice ideas?

As I mentioned before, I recommend starting with accented eighth notes, like those in Syncopation, along with the 256 great-sounding two-measure patterns from my Time Initiation drum book.

Having worked extensively with both the clave and The New Breed 1 & 2, I can now easily sight-read while playing the clave, though I wouldn’t specifically recommend that approach to someone just starting out with the clave.

My next book, which is about to be published, includes left-foot clave in 12/8 and offers a fresh approach to rhythmic exploration. However, it’s not meant as an authentic study—it’s a collection of rhythms not tied to any particular style. It’s also material I continue to work on myself.

Your skill-set is amazing Alain!.......... awesome stuff 😄

Some of your ideas may be a little advanced for me, but I've ordered The New Breed and I'll have a crack at some of the more basic parts maybe (if there is any easy parts).
 
I agree that studying authentic material is essential, but I recommend starting with something simple, like accented eighth notes—that’s what worked for me. While I don’t have Dafnis Prieto’s book with me right now, I believe he also uses Syncopation in his approach, so there’s nothing wrong with that.
I agree with starting with something simple, so yes, timbale transcriptions would definitely be on the very advanced side. Accented eighth note patters would be fine, I would advice the accents are “ in clave” and not just some random ideas from an old drum book. Two bar phrases, such as the ones in your book are good too, since most typical Afro - Caribbean patterns are 2 bars in length ( cut time). I do suggest that one should be aware of the clave direction of the phrases and patterns that is being played, so the correct clave 2/3 or 3/2 is being correctly played.

Regarding Dafnis Prierto: He has incredible independence and technique, which he displays in such a creative and artistic way. I’m pretty sure he uses the eighth note section of Stick Control and what he calls “ rhythmic cells” rather than Syncopation to develop independence. The material is too much for me to chew on at this point, but it’s on my list.


Victor Rendón has a great series of books that have tons of assessable yet authentic material that clearly states the clave direction ( 2/3 or 3/3) .

Books are great but make sure you’re listening lots of Latin music as well. It wouldn’t hurt to learn to dance salsa too!
 
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Regarding Dafnis Prierto: He has incredible independence and technique, which he displays in such a creative and artistic way. I’m pretty sure he uses the eighth note section of Stick Control and what he calls “ rhythmic cells” rather than Syncopation to develop independence. The material is too much for me to chew on at this point, but it’s on my list.
I do have his book but didn't take the time to really study it and it has many pages.
Victor Rendón has a great series of books that have tons of assessable yet authentic material that clearly states the clave direction ( 2/3 or 3/3) .
I have one of his books, The Art of Timbale, I will have a closer look at it soon! It seems that he wrote other books that are out of print.
 
I purchased a Gibraltar pedal cowbell thingamajig a few days ago.

I've been exploring the 3/2 clave pattern ostinato against a basic slow money beat as I'm just starting.

I can play a single paradiddle over it as well.....a bit wonky mind you.

I'm exploring some upbeat 1/8 notes against a 6/8 bembe.....and that's about the limit of it all so far.

Anyone else wants to share some good ideas/exercises to build proficiency?

Maybe some simple ideas first.

Thanks everyone.
I know it's a clave (played with your hands) but you can play that same pattern LLL LL and then add a pattern with the bass drum in between, and whatever you are capable of playing with your hands after that because it becomes a pretty hard polyrhythm.

 
I know it's a clave (played with your hands) but you can play that same pattern LLL LL and then add a pattern with the bass drum in between, and whatever you are capable of playing with your hands after that because it becomes a pretty hard polyrhythm.


Thanks doggy.

Great video.
 
Go through the first 6 pages of Stick Control with....
  • left foot son clave in 3:2 and 2:3 direction with downbeats in the right foot
  • left foot rumba clave in 3:2 and 2:3 direction with downbeats in the right foot
  • right foot son clave in 3:2 and 2:3 direction with downbeats in the left foot
  • right foot rumba clave in 3:2 and 2:3 direction with downbeats in the left foot
  • Do everything, above, with 6/8 clave in the feet.
 
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