Learn More About… Manufacturers Cymbal Companies Drumhead Companies World Instruments Misc.
Get the Latest Drumming News
Bongo Lessons
Contents
I’m currently working on bringing you the best bongo lessons available. I recently purchased a new set of bongo drums and am working on making some videos. While I do have a few beginner lessons up, there are a lot more online lessons I want to put up. In the meantime, there are a few youtube videos below that cover a few of the basics of bongo drumming.
Online Drum Lessons For Bongos
Lessons are presented in an order that assumes you have no knowledge of bongo drums whatsoever. So, feel free to skip to the harder ones (as soon as I get them posted) unless you feel like reviewing.
Bongo Parts:Covers the difference between Hembra and Macho, tuning parts and drum heads.
Proper Drum Position:Demonstrates both the correct and incorrect way of holding the bongo set.
Bongo Basics:Online drum lesson shows you the basic tones you can achieve with the bongo. Video tutorial included.
How To Read Bongo Music:Learn how to differentiate between hembra/macho notes and how to strike the drums.
Martillo Bongo Beat:Teaches you the basic Martillo rhythm and includes a few exercises demonstrating variations.
Bongo Techniques:Covers the heel-toe method for one handed drum rolls and how to play a rimshot on the bongos.
The best videos I found for this instrument come from Trevor Salloum who has authored several books under Mel Bay Publications. Some terms that may come up when playing are hembra and macho. Hembra refers to the larger diameter shell while macho is the smallest.
The first video focuses on the Martillo, considered to be the most basic rhythm in Cuban music.
The second video focuses on the Repique rhythm. Here you accent macho (the small one) on the upbeat after 4 (&).
The final video demonstrates bossa nova rhythms.
If you prefer to learn through written material, check out some of the books available below.
Instructional Books
You can find more bongo books and dvd lessons here.