How to Play Congas and Shaker At The Same Time

One of the abilities that all percussionists should be able to do is play congas and shaker at the same time. It's really more than just congas and shakers. We should be able to play multiple instruments, but this video focuses on how to play congas and shaker.
00:00 Intro
01:32 Advice from my Percussion Teacher
02:20 Shaker and Conga
03:30 Evaluate Your Playing
03:56 Tambourine and Conga
05:30 One Shot and Conga
// Lesson PDFs
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// My Gear
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// Conga Drumming Guide
⭐ congaguide.com
// Downloads (sheet music, lessons, other resources)
🔽 gumroad.com/rhythmnotes
// Related Videos
"Congas and Bongo Setup - Percussion Lesson"
▶️ • Congas and Bongo Setup...
"Best Shaker For Any Song - 5 Tips That Work"
▶️ • Best Shaker For Any So...
// Related Articles
"How to Play Shaker Like a Pro"
🎵 rhythmnotes.net/how-to-play-s...
// Demo Song (play-along tracks)
"OTE" by Sea Lion via Epidemic Sound
"Let Me Off" by Sniffer Dogs via Epidemic Sound
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[@SalimRezaNewton]

Superb sound, Kevin. You are awesome. Please accept my hearty respect.

[@RhythmNotes]

I appreciate the kind words!

[@revkelly58]

Some of us conga/percussion players aren’t kick set drummers at all and the world of four different limbs doing different things is a new. I watched another video about developing hand independence where the guy played quarter notes on cowbell and a simple one handed tumbao on one conga. I started practicing that and I thought it would take forever to do this. Within a week of practicing I had it down. Now I am doing the same practice, with two congas, shaker or tambourine. I am also working on doing shaker and more complex cascara rhythms on cowbell and shaker, clave and shaker,. I thought I was bad-assed when I could play clave on and old iron ago-go and do the shaker as well. My favorite exercise is hitting the tambourine on the 2 and the ‘and’ of 3, along with the ‘and’ of 4. Also inverting it, the ‘and’ of 1 along with the ‘and’ of 2, then the 4 . Will try this as a bell rhythm too. Also doing clave on the bell with congas. Once I started a simple practice of doing those independence ‘exercises’ it seems another world of sound ideas has opened up for me, more sounds to choose from, more variety in my playing! Develop the skill of playing the basic conga rhythms with one hand and your other hand can fill in with all kinds of sounds.

[@RhythmNotes]

You’re 100 percent correct, Kelly. Thanks for sharing your story. It’s inspiring, for sure!

[@reddfyareddfya]

Thank you for your post as a beginner of playing the congas this is great information

[@RhythmNotes]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@xave9989]

Great rythm that I have just adopted ! Thanks so mutch!

[@RhythmNotes]

You are very welcome!

[@talesofterune873]

lovely!! just what I was looking for.

[@RhythmNotes]

So glad!

[@M0NN1]

Good stuff. You sound great. Ive also experimented with this, but havent got that far yet 😅

[@RhythmNotes]

"Yet" is the operative word. Thanks for watching!

[@Beepbeep113]

Great tutorial. Thanks for your share

[@RhythmNotes]

You’re welcome 😊

[@tamastraveladventures383]

Great video!

[@RhythmNotes]

Glad you like it!

[@joshfynbos]

Wow incredible content. Thank you

[@RhythmNotes]

You’re very welcome! I’m glad you like it.

[@macfinster3]

great!

[@RhythmNotes]

Thanks!

[@KhanhNguyen180594]

Thank you so much love your all lessons for beginner ❤️

[@RhythmNotes]

You are so welcome!

[@JosephDarmenia]

Thanks for sharing....

[@RhythmNotes]

My pleasure

[@garrydaniels7767]

Hey Kevin, can I ask a completely off the wall percussion question, as you're the best qualified person I know of. Here goes - in the song 'Just The Two Of Us' (original version) there's a mysterious percussion instrument that kicks in around 02:30 (Not the steel drums). I cannot figure what it is. Can you shed any light please? Maybe agogo bells or wooden xylophone?

[@RhythmNotes]

It sounds like agogo bells and claves. If they are rosewood claves like mine, that might be the “xylophone” you are hearing, as a lot of xylophones are rosewood. The clave rhythm is all of the second and fourth sixteenth notes (e / a). The agogo are sixteenth notes low low high high and might be doubled by some low and high wood blocks. I would have to experiment a little. It’s a really cool part. I love percussion that is prominent yet tough to perceive and distinguish. Thanks for sharing.

[@garrydaniels7767]

@@RhythmNotes Appreciate you taking the time, thanks so much Kevin.

[@bilbowaggins3036]

This might be a dumb question, but do all hand drums have their own special kind of sheet music? I mean, if you wanted to write out the same beat on a conga, cajon, and darbuka, would the sheet music be the same for all of them?

[@RhythmNotes]

Sheet music is a reference. It’s also the writer’s choice. There are some best practices, but I try not to make it too complicated. I include a notation key for my sheet music. I don’t include it on the videos because viewers can see and hear what I’m playing so it’s not necessary. I learned Afro-Cuban music without sheet music. And many of the studio sessions I’ve done included a general rhythm section chart. So the short answers to your two questions are no and yes. I would write the sheet music the same for all of those drums. I would only differentiate if all of those drums were on the same chart, which would require a key.