Funk Congas Lesson; How to adapt a funk pattern with a drum set player

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In this lesson I go over a funky conga pattern inspired by the Marvin Gaye song "What's Going On." Shout out to Meziek Jazowski who suggested I go over this rhythm. There are many ways to play congas in any popular commercial style of music (non-traditional), and the same goes for funk, Gospel, and other styles of Soul music. This pattern and variation is only one way, however it may help add another tool to your toolkit when it comes to playing solo or in a band.
Also I believe the percussionist that originally recorded on this tune was Bobbye Hall. If anyone knows for certain if it was Bobbye Hall or Ralph Macdonald please let me know.

[@lindasmith6668]

So very very helpful. Your explanation made sense.

[@patriciamahoney1229]

Love funk and trying to learn to find a good teacher! Have subscribed and think I can learn from you. Need to practice my rudiments, timing, and your suggestion to practise and count with metronome isn’t new to me.... but a great reminder! Thank you! You explain yourself well.... and keeping it simple and basic is great.... and adding flavour a feeling thing which is what makes every percussionist or artist unique??? Correct?

[@WilliamJohnsonmusic]

Absolutely! Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@blairmacewancrosbie8646]

Always wanted to get this rhythm right but could not. Thanks for the instruction William. Clearly explained and demonstrated.

[@WilliamJohnsonmusic]

Hello Blair! Thank you for sharing that and thank you for watching! I am glad to be a help!

[@blairmacewancrosbie8646]

Thanks William. I have watched many of your videos and gained a lot of useful knowledge from them. I always use your 'from the centre outwards' technique when i practice. There are a lot of conga tutorials on YT some of them very good others not so. I find the videos of Eric Perez enjoyable and instructive, as yours are.It is obvious that you put your heart and soul in to your conga playing. Eric mentioned that you go back a long way. I look forward to your future posts. regards and respect. Blair MacEwan Crosbie.

[@WilliamJohnsonmusic]

That is awesome to hear! I LOVE what Eric Perez is doing with his KZbin channel. I have been following his online conga playing for several years now. We definitely have been connected for a good amount of time. He is an amazing percussionist. Thanks again Blair!

[@Beepbeep113]

Greeting from Hong Kong! Crystal clear Thanks for share!

[@WilliamJohnsonmusic]

Thank you!

[@BrotherKaban]

Great material. Thank you for sharing

[@WilliamJohnsonmusic]

Thank you and thank you for watching!

[@gtyson188]

The Conga player you're referring to was Eddie “Bongo” Brown. Funny thing is he couldn't even read music but he was pretty good lol.

[@WilliamJohnsonmusic]

Thank you 🙏🏽

[@RolloHeads1]

Yeah, let’s Funk! Thank you!

[@WilliamJohnsonmusic]

My pleasure!

[@artjunkie19]

Excellent! Thank you!

[@WilliamJohnsonmusic]

Thank you for watching!!!

[@bradbraddy3020]

Nice lesson bro.

[@WilliamJohnsonmusic]

Thanks Brad!

[@FUNKDADDY40OZ]

Classes are outstanding. Would u give the class on GO GO congas

[@WilliamJohnsonmusic]

Thank you! I will consider that.

[@FUNKDADDY40OZ]

@@WilliamJohnsonmusic Do it for Washington , DC GO GO crank nation chocolate city aka DC FUNK

[@mongofan1]

Excellent lesson, William. Thank you. Have you seen Sheila E's workshop in which she discusses playing this rhythm for Marvin Gay's band? She is describing to students that they may have to conform to the band leader's expectations. She then describes how when she first started playing with Marvin, she was playing this rhythm for this song and at one point, threw in her own fill for just a second, just a tiny deviation from the basic rhythm (which doesn't vary in the original recording). Marvin stopped her, somewhat upset, and said that she couldn't stray from the basic rhythm at all, that the conga rhythm had become the key to the piece, expected by every audience. She was not to stray from that. In the workshop, she laughs and says that she played it strictly every night, never straying ... Marvin was the boss, so ... :)

[@WilliamJohnsonmusic]

I did! I love that video. Marvin was the man! Amazingly there is a video with Quest Love where they break down this song with the original tape. The congas are solo'd out and you can hear some fills and variations but they are very slight and only during the bridge, and transitions (or leading into one), instrumentals sections, etc. never over the verses. That is some serious discipline and musicianship.

[@WilliamJohnsonmusic]

Thank you for watching!

[@mongofan1]

I'll look for the Quest Love video. Thanks! :)

[@WalterHemingway]

Anyone know where we can find these videos? Are they on KZbin or purchased elsewhere?

[@WilliamJohnsonmusic]

Hello! Do you mean the Sheila E video? Look for Sheila E at Guitar center here on KZbin

[@Squirrelconga]

Hey! Great vid! The way you broke it down with the touches made me realize a similarity with cajon that i had never really considered mentally. Thanks! It was already in there, just never thought of it that way. I'm sure it will open up something new! I think it's Eddie "bongo" Brown you are talking about. Not many.live performances on here, sadly. Bongo looked like Ralph, when Ralph had hair! Lol Ps: I am actually a southpaw who plays "righty" also!...on congas, anyways. It gets kinda complex, when i am playing multiple instrumemts, though

[@WilliamJohnsonmusic]

Hey! Thank you! Thank you for the info on the player for the groove. Yes it does get tricky with the different hands haha

[@Squirrelconga]

@@WilliamJohnsonmusic Yes sir! Eddie Bongo Brown was the conga player on nearly all of the Motown stuff, until he passed. As far as I know, that groove came from him...don't see any roots of it anywhere. Itnis kinda close to some Caribbean stuff.. The fact that he is unknown is criminal. ..can't even find a shirt with the man's face on it. I used to play ALOT like that, then some Latin players got in.my head, and I scrapped it completely. Now, I am re learning it! Lol Thanks 4 posting it! Now that someone showed it to me, it's legit!

[@samuelalvarez5571]

thank you bro... Im in Wiston Salem NC..... I noticed your plate in the backround.. Im in the Jazz scene here, be well.. hope we can jam someday

[@WilliamJohnsonmusic]

Hello! I am not far from you. I do events in Winston Salem from time to time. God bless you!

[@WilliamJohnsonmusic]

Yes sir!

[@reynaldonegron3304]

Professor Johnson excelente!

[@WilliamJohnsonmusic]

Thank you and thank you for watching!

[@derekirons2615]

Great bra! Keep on singing too!

[@WilliamJohnsonmusic]

Thank you! That is super encouraging.

[@andrewoleshko9616]

Hey William! Great video and exelent explanation. It would be lovely to add drum beats on background just to hear how it fits. Also your sound of congas is great! Can you explain how you tune and put microphone, because it is possble to hear slightlies touch of yours. Thanks :)

[@WilliamJohnsonmusic]

Hello Andrew. First of all thank you for the compliments! Great ideas. I have done so with the drums in the background on previous videos about playing congas in gospel and funk styles however I think I can do an updated version slowed down and with more detail or emphasis on the track. Great idea. I will try and do a video with just that. Also yes I will make a note of adding some tips for sound when it comes to recording the congas. Honestly there is some clipping on the congas here and I think they could have been recorded better so I am very encouraged by your comment. I basically just placed a tube condenser microphone facing at a slightly downward angle to capture both my vocals and the drums. For my videos it helps that I am in my studio and I have taken a couple years of fine tuning the acoustics including acoustic panels and acoustic material in the wall. That being said there are still some things that can be done to help. I will talk briefly about that in a future video. Thanks again for watching and the positive feedback!

[@DMPusur]

For the left hand isn't heel finger tech possible to insert instead of those finger touch?

[@WilliamJohnsonmusic]

Great question! Absolutely! I actually do both; alternating between a palm finger motion and the finger touch. I aimed this however towards the beginner and decided to keep it very basic. I believe that the more the heel toe or palm finger is used, practiced and developed, it becomes a natural progression to implement in such rhythms/playing style. Thanks for watching!

[@acala09]

What tune should give my 2 congas for funk music?

[@WilliamJohnsonmusic]

Great question. Do you mean tuning the drum, or actual funk tunes (songs). Either way it is a great question and I am going to consider making this the subject of the next video! Thank you for the question!

[@acala09]

William Johnson Music the tuning of the drum for funk songs or different genres. Last night at open mic I went with C conga and G tumba. It was okay, I guess it depends on the other instruments playing along too? But I’d like to know from a more knowledgeable person like yourself on how you tune. I just go by ear right now.

[@WilliamJohnsonmusic]

@@acala09 excellent question! Honestly I just tune by ear. For me it really depends on the songs we are playing, the way I am mic'd, If I have two drums or three, and how the room sounds. Another factor is if I am not mic'd to a point where I can be heard. In this instance I have to compete with other loud instruments such as the drums and amped guitars. In this context I usually tune the smaller drum much higher to cut through. Also tune the congas to compliment the drums... instead of it sounding just like the drum set you want it to be noticed... sometimes. Think contrast. G is usually a great spot for the low drum. If you are playing a lot of different melodies with the congas then you may want to tune them at least a fourth apart and keep the conga and rumba on the lower side so they resonate a little more. Experiment. Let me know if this helps.

[@chriscrichton98]

" makes me want to holler the way they do my life ! " cool i have always been interested in this beat . i wish you would have broken it down showing each hit . its a little to fast for me .

[@WilliamJohnsonmusic]

Thank you for watching! Thank you for the feedback.

[@chriscrichton98]

i got it . my friend showed me .

[@WilliamJohnsonmusic]

That's great to hear. It's great to have friends who can help.

[@solomongrundy6806]

Hi Chris, when they are going fast in a video you can also hit the gear icon on the lower right corner and then set the speed of the video to a lower set. Hope that helps you!.

[@Luizdesigner1]

Pdf das partituras transcrição

[@WilliamJohnsonmusic]

Thank you! I will see what I can do. 😇

[@TheJudy2004]

what kind of head is that white one ?

[@WilliamJohnsonmusic]

It is a remo fiberhead. I just removed the exterior layer.