Customer Reviews

Poncho Sanchez' Conga Cookbook: Develop Your Conga Playing by Learning Afro-Cuban Rhythms from the Master

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Not for the Beginner nor Intermediate player (for a 2+ years)
Obviously Poncho knows it very well but the book does not do him justice.
It appears to me that it was not pilot tested on Improvers, shame a bit more thought would have
made this an excellent reference. I did appreciated the legend to the notation Key.
It is poor in communicating the foundation of each style/pattern and has a confusing variations of each pattern.
Full marks though for the PLAY ALONG and instruction for for each pattern - Top of the class.

I would also recommend Poncho Sanchez's excellent PlayAlong DVD - 'Fundamentals of Latin Music for the Rhythm Section' [Cherry Lane] ISBN:1575607565 giving an exellent overview of how the pieces of the orchestra fit together.

I would also recommend Basic Afro-Cuban Rhythms by Ricardo Monzon ISBN: 087639030 to start with and
Conga Drumming: A Beginners Guide to Playing With Time Alan Dworsky, Betsy Sanby ISBN: 0963880101 for beginner and Intermediate Conga players also Play Congas Now: The Basics & Beyond (Paperback)by Richie Gajate-Garcia ISBN: 0769296572.

I reviewed this book upon receiving it and was very impressed by
the overall layout.Included in the book is a history & evolution
of the congas that helps any beginner appreciate the instrument.
For those of you who like cooking,there are many Latin-style
dishes to try out.I haven't tryed the recipies so I can't comment
on the flavors.Also,the examples in the book are all laid out in
a very easy to understand manner.Only bad news is you'll need to
read standard drum notation as there are no conga tablatures.The
best part is that you can switch the conga track off by adjusting
the balance on your stereo and you can play along with the other
recorded musicians.This is the closest it gets to playing with
"real" musicians even if you don't have anyone to play with.This
is a truly great book and I would recommend it to anyone who has
interest in Afro-Cuban Druming.Last but not least,the CD recorded
has great sound so turn up your stereo & play with the examples!

Having bought the Conga cookbook recently, it is with pleasure that I am able to recomend this excellent title.
It has been my experience with conga books that many tend to lack any real depth. Especially for those who may be starting out. Some contain many exercises, but few actual grooves. One such title had a list of more than 100 rhythms, which turned out to be very simple break downs that eventually only led to a few true rhythms. The Conga cookbook is quite different in that not only does it have basic exercises, but also many rhythms. Many of the exercises are so good that they make wonderful rhythms in themselves.
There are no less than 62 tracks on the accompanying CD, matching what is in the text. Add to this the band performances and one is left with not only an instructional CD, but also a highly enjoyable one.
Beginners should have no trouble reading the notation due to it being very clear what each note represents. This looks to me to be an ideal introduction to those unable to read music. It is that clear.
Poncho also includes a history of the conga, recomended recordings that helped him on his way through his own learning process, and his own insights into those he has worked with and admired.
But wait, there's more! If you have ever wondered what linguine and clam sauce tasted like, the secrets lie within. All in all there are 6 recipes, refried beans and Spanish rice, chicken corn and calabasita (zucchini), chile con soul, posole, and albondigas (meatball soup).
Co-writer of this book is the venerable Chuck Silverman. I am sure many are familiar with his own educational releases for drumkit.
Very highly recomended.

I just don't get it. This book has ONE line (pp15) on how to tune your Drums and six half-pages of cooking recipe. How about give us some real recording music of Conga Drum? Instead, this book has all piecemeals of beats that the Author expects the readers to learn. I appreciate all the beautiful pictures of the Author and his son, but frankly speaking, I am not interested in his autobiography; I just want to learn CONGA.

I'm taking a conga lesson at college with one of the percussion professors here and he required me to get this book. The book is an easy read, with a bit of history at the beginning and then LOTS of exercises. Every sound that is generally used on the drum is defined and then the book leaves you on your own. The accompanying CD has many of the exercises on it so you can analyze how the exercises should sound as opposed to what you sound like. Every exercise is notated with the type of stroke to use and which hand it should be played with. There are preliminary exercises for each pattern covered, along with variations of the patterns. The book says on the front that each chapter contains a favorite recipe from Poncho, and literally that's what is in there. I was reading through chapter 1 and was very surprised when I got to "Refried Beans and Spanish Rice." I thought the book had meant some cool conga beat recipe, but no, it was food! I highly recommend this book as I'm getting a lot out of it, but you cannot develop correct playing technique from this book without the guidance of a good teacher.

First of all let me say that this is not a conga rhythms encyclopedia, if you are looking for that get Ed Uribe's "Essence of Afrocuban percussion" book, and even that is not complete. So, you only find a few styles here, but the ones covered are done nicely. In the book you'll find Cha cha cha, Mambo, Merengue, and 6/8. Now, keep in mind that the difference between cha cha cha and mambo is very subtle as far as congas go, so these tumbaos can be applied to Son, Guajira, Rock, and a myriad of rhythms. In cuban music many times what changes is not the conga pattern but the tempo and other instrumentation of the song, and voila! you have another style there. For example, nobody will shoot you if you are playing the traditional afrocuban tumbao to a Cha cha cha, in which the only difference is an open tone on the "and" of the second beat, but somebody will surely kill you if you were playing clave instead of guiro in Cha cha cha. Another instrument that changes in this rhythm is the bongos, they are not played in Cha.... but Timbales are. Anywyas, inside you'll find lots of biographical notes and pictures from Poncho's collection. It has a good history of the congas as well. One thing you'll find here that you don't see very much is an extensive section on soloing, which although it won't make you Poncho in a day it'll give you a good start. Most books just cover patterns and exercises, not this one. This book also gives you some useful Merengue patterns with the stick to be played in the abscence of a Tambora, this is rare to find also. The included play along and demonstration cd is top notch, none of that midi programmed nonsense that sounds like a cheap nokia cellphone, these are real musicians playing real instruments. Get this book!

Good lessons. Easy to follow along and learn from. I met him in person a few times and he is very nice!

Great book, for all kind of experienced musicians, begginers or advanced. the only thing is that you should know every hand drum beat, such as slap, open an heel/tip tones.
GREAT GROOVES IN IT!!!!

First, although there is a cursory presentation of 6/8 rhythmic exercises, there is no specific coverage of Guagancó, Rumba, Columbia, Songo, etc. This lack of attention to Eastern Cuban folklore (for example, in the Matanzas region) is troubling. There is not even coverage of the simple yet fundamental Cumbia pattern (yes, Cumbia is from Colombia, South America; however, merengue is from the Dominican Republic and not Cuba, yet it is included in this book and in most "Afro Cuban" topics), and the merengue section is merely two pages. The teaching quality of the material in this book is very poor also. If you want to really learn to play congas and Afro Cuban rhythms then get Tomás Cruz's Volume II - it doesn't have "filler" material on cooking and other trivia.

The fire of Latin rhythms need fuel to sustain the groove. This book was well balanced in both. I learned plenty from exposure to this book and will take these treasures with me on my percussive/culinary journey. Good fuel, good fire. Mongo would be proud!