Customer Reviews

The Essence of Afro-Cuban Percussion and Drum Set: Includes the Rhythm Section Parts for Bass, Piano, Guitar Horns & Strings

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I simply can't sing enough praise for Ed's book. I've been playing djembe and congas for a couple years, and I've always wanted a comprehensive book that covered the history, rhythms, and instruments. Finally I have one. This book describes the background in terms of history and culture that birthed Afro-Cuban music, then takes a structured approach through all the instruments.

The breadth of coverage on the instruments is fantastic. Not only are there the basic rhythms, but with Ed's approach, you see how they all fit together. It even has a whole section on the non-percussion parts of the rhythm section (piano, bass, etc.) and how the songs of various styles are structured. I've never found this kind of information elsewhere. For people who don't have a background in these musical styles (like me), this is wonderful. Then there's a whole section on adapting these styles to drum kit.

The audio examples are the best I've heard in any book/CD combo I own, by far. They are far more comprehensive than any other, and they support what you're learning in the text. The synergy between text and audio makes this a gold mine.

While this book is more expensive than most music books, it has several times the value of any other book I've seen. I so much wish I had this from day one. Even getting it now, it's filling in the (many) gaps in my learning, and will surely be the most essential book in my collection for a good long while.

This is a must for all musicians interested in afro cuban rythms or latin music overall. The percussion section is super broad and detailed. I'm currently learning bass guitar, the section is very goood as well. It also have rythm sections, horns, piano, and strings.If you are learning conga, bongo or timbales you must have it. It is hard to find, but worth the wait.

So you already have a fairly good understanding about how to play your drums and now you want to learn some Afro-Cuban rhythms? This is the book for you.

The author clearly goes over the parts for clave, palitos, cowbell, bombos, bongos, congas, timbales, guiro, maracas and shekere for many traditional songs: Danzon, Son, Cha-cha, Mambo, Guaracha, Bolero, Conga, Mozambique, Rumba, Guaguanco, Abakwa, Bemebe, Songo, Merengue, Plena, Bomba, Calypso and more. Scores are provided that include parts for bass, piano, horn and guitar and other strings. There is also an extensive section for the drum set with these songs. It is the best book I have seen so far for learning these songs.

2CDs included with short demonstrations of above.

I had the privelege of studying with the author, and I can tell you, there is no better teacher and no better method available for drummers and percussionists than this book. Trust me, I've looked. This material goes very deep, and Ed makes it all accessible. A must own for the serious player!

This has got to be the best book on the subject;
not only has a thorough but concise history of all the drums and styles, but a great discussion of the roots, practice and variations of the clave and other rhythms...

Instructions and exercises are clear with good illustrations;
Numerous musical examples, written and on CD, are given to add to the reader's repertoire and understanding. Five stars!!!

Incidentally this book was recommended to me by a top New York City Afro-Cuban percussionist.

Even though this book is mostly for the percissionist, it has valuable information about afro-cuban music and covers a bit on other non-percussion instruments. If you need background information about this kind of music and how percission fits with various instruments, then this book is for you. It's a bit techincal at times but overall it would be a great book to own. I highly recommend it!

This is a very good book, packed with concise information on latin rhythm section. It is not for beginners, as you need to be able to read music and know the basic technique for instruments, but it is a very good reference for anyone wanting to play in a latin band (and not only percussionists, but bass, piano and horn players as well should have a look at it). It covers all the classic popular styles up to songo and delves a bit into some of the folkloric genres too. Can't say anything about the drumset section, as I'm only learning the percussion.
I'm giving it four stars only because the bongo section is disappointingly short compared to congas and timbales. There's more to this instrument than just couple of martillo variations!

Really a masterpiece! It learns you everything about afro cuban drumming/percussion. I like especially the background information and it pays a lot of attention to playing together. Most afro cuban methods don't learn you anything about playing together, this method really does. It will give you lesson material for years!

If you're looking for reference or study books for afro-cuban percussion, Ed's book is very good. It contains rhythm scores for several important instruments such as congas, timables, bells, bombo, guiro, clave and pailitos, as well as scores for many different song styles for these instruments. Styles include son, son montuno, bolero, yambu, guaguanco, columbia, guiro, abakua, mozambique, songo, bombo, and calypso. Ed also includes many hand exercises that are worthwhile, I'm a guitarist of many years, and learning hand independence and percussion rhythms and rudiments has been invaluable for me. I practice on congas, cowbells, claves, drum sticks (pailitos) and bass drum several times a week, and regulary use this book as reference for different songstyles. There is of course much more to the book (and of course no one can include everything) but for what I use it for I consider it a great reference book from a very talented teacher.

This book and CD provide the aspiring conga/drumkit player with the historical and technical abilities to begin an exploration of Afro-Cuban techniques. If you spend a year or two going through the exercises in this book, you'll come out the other end with technical skills (especially independence related) that will amaze you. More importantly, it is very likely that your groove will be much deeper when your done and that will produce benefits in whatever style you happen to be playing in.