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NEW TO CONGA CHOPS
CHINO DÍAZ “TIMBAL SOLOING LANGUAGE” MASTERCLASS
Our brand new Conga Chops Masterclass featuring master Timbalero, Patricio "El Chino" Díaz is live! We’ll get to dig deep into Chino's creative process, as he breaks down his approach to soloing step-by-step, giving us key exercises, phrases and concepts that we can apply immediately to our timbal solos. What we cover in this Masterclass can of course also be applied to improvising on any instrument within the Afro-Cuban tradition, making it a must-watch for Timbaleros, Congueros and Bongoseros alike!
GILMAR GOMES “THE ART OF BUILDING GROOVES” MASTERCLASS
We’re Incredibly excited to share a brand new Conga Chops Masterclass “The Art of Building Grooves” featuring the one and only, Gilmar Gomes! Gilmar has brought his magic to sessions and performances with everyone from Richard Bona and Meshell Ndegeocello to Enrique Iglesias and Daniela Mercury just name just a few. I’ve always been at a loss of words to describe the level of groove, musicianship, and beautiful energy that Gilmar emanates when he plays, and now we’re lucky enough to sit down with him to learn how he goes about building his grooves step-by-step. A true master at work!
MASTERCLASS SERIES LAUNCH WITH MARC QUIÑones
This is something we’ve been wanting to do for the Conga Chops community since it’s inception. Now that we’ve built up a solid foundation for the curriculum on Conga, Bongó and Timbal, I’m honored to have the legendary percussionist Marc Quiñones as our first Masterclass Series Guest Artist! Marc is one of the most sought after latin percussionists of all-time, with performance and recording credits spanning four decades with artists like Marc Anthony and DLG, to the Allman Brothers and Doobie Brothers! Learn all about him, how his playing helped shaped the Modern Salsa Era, and take an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at his approach (with 1000s of records to his name) to working in the studio!
THE CONGA CHOPS PRACTICE LOOP APP HAS ARRIVED!
After two solid years in development I’m ecstatic to announce the arrival of the Conga Chops Practice Loop App Vol 1— 19 of our exclusive Practice Loops featuring our Grammy-Winning cast of musicians with the ability to mute, mix, pan, and solo each individual instrument channel! We’ve also included PDF transcriptions of the percussion parts on each track. A truly indispensable practice tool that I wish I had access to growing up. Click here to download it!
NEW CONGA SOLOING 101 COURse and playlists
I’m incredibly excited to share with you the world’s first comprehensive guide on learning how to take a Conga Solo from square one! Tediously mapped out with a focus on developing the strong foundation that every improviser needs, using our sound, ideas, and influences as a vehicle for self-expression. All while relying on some legendary conga solos rooted in the Afro-Cuban percussive tradition, to give us a solid and actionable framework for learning how SPEAK on our instrument. Take at LEAST a week to master the material in each lesson before moving to the next one, and get ready to de-mistify conga soloing!
NEW TIMBAL GROOVE TOOLBOX COURSE
Twelve brand new incredibly in-depth step-by-step timbal lessons just went up! This course will give you a solid foundation of versatile rhythms to use in almost any musical situation. Marcos breaks down each groove and variation, and gives you a little structured improvisation at the end each lesson. Check out his monster FEEL! Make sure to take your time with each groove, and spend some extra time checking out our hand-picked Playlists for each individual lesson. Time to get to work!
NEW TIMBAL LESSONS ON SALSA DURA AND MODERN SALSA
We just uploaded to brand new Timbale Lessons to the Timbales Fundamentals Course! They are step-by-step guides analysis for playing through an arrangment in the Salsa Dura and Modern Salsa Styles. You’ll also get to watch Marcos Lopez play a timbal cover each song that incorporates everything you’ll study in the lesson. Enjoy!
BONGO LESSON LAUNCH!
Two incredibly in-depth courses for beginner and intermediate Bongo players, detailing all of the ins and outs of getting started playing this incredible instrument! Posture, sound, technique, grooves, language and song analysis all broken down step-by-step over the course of six hours by the newest member of the Conga Chops family, Marcos Torres! Shoot over to the Community Forum and let us know what you think!
BONGOS 101 & BONGO FUNDAMENTALS PLAYLISTS
Four brand new Spotify Playlists to accompany our Bongo Courses, make sure to check them out in detail, listen, analyze and really dive in to the feel and of course the bongo language on each track!
QUICK-TIP LESSON PLAYLISTS
A collection of some of our favorite songs where you can find many of the concepts, variations, and fills that we covered throughout our first twenty Quick-Tip Lessons. Listen carefully to what’s happening in the rest of the band when these figures are used, and really do your best to lock up with the FEEL when you’re playing along. Enjoy!
QUICK-TIP LESSONS - SIMPLE FILLS
Looking for some simple fills to spice up your conga playing? You’ve come to the right the place! In the following weeks we’re checking out some super tasty fills, how they work in respect to the clave, and how you can start to develop some fills of your own!
QUICK-TIP LESSONs - TRANSITIONAL FILLS
Now that we have a solid foundation of some different Tumbao Variation in our Quick-Tip Lesson series, it’s time to dive into some of the nuances of modern conga playing, starting with Transitional Fills! Swing by the Community Forum and let us know what you think!
QUICK-TIP LESSONs - tumbao variations
Our brand new Quick-Tip Lesson Series is live on the site! We’ll be adding a new tutorial each week focusing different variations, patterns, and concepts that you can incorporate into your conga playing right away. So far in these first six lessons, we’ve covered some SUPER IMPORTANT variations and concepts as they pertain to playing your tumbao. We’re doing our best to complement the curriculum that we already have here on the site, so if you have a minute, please swing by the Community Forum and let us know what you think, and what you’d like to see next! Enjoy!
NEW “SOUND ESSENTIALS” COURSE FOR CONGAS
We just uploaded our brand new Sound Essentials Course for congas! It’s our most detailed course to date, featuring a ton of challenging exercises, fills, and solo phrases, all covered step by step, to really help you polish your sound. I also address some of the most frequently asked questions in regards to our sound. Including questions concerning hand positioning, thumb placement, finger separation, and of course ghost notes. You can find it in the "Advanced" tab of our Conga Coursesi