Conga drums one-on-one lessons
with Maurizio Ravalico
Face to Face / Zoom
What I teach
To beginners:
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A solid introduction to the instrument’s basics:
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- - how to hold the drum
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- - how to tune the drums
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- - how to correctly draw the basic sounds constituting the core syllabus of conga drums, and how to find your own unique sound and position on the instrument
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- - what and how to practice.
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An ample introduction to the main rhythms and genres from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Colombia and Santo Domingo, which form the root lexicon of conga drums. Special attention is given to Cuban rhythms and genres, their history and evolution (see list 1, below).
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The principle of claves, its relationship to all rhythmic parts and melodies, and its pervasiveness and omnipresence (explicit or not) in practically all African-rooted music worldwide.
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Introduction to the more African-rooted Cuban genres (on list 2).
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If needed, I will teach you the basics of music notation. This will first only consists of elementary regular subdivisions, and will only concerns rhythmic solfeggio (no harmony involved) so to facilitate the exchange of written material from the very start.
To intermediate and advanced students:
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Routine warm-ups. Sound and timing maintenance
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Opening the setup: how to play with three, four and five congas.
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Advanced technique:
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- - development of symmetry
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- - organic playing (independence).
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Transposition of traditional congas’ ensemble rhythms (two, three or more players) onto a one-man setup of three, four or five drums.
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A more in-depth analysis of the folkloric Cuban congas-based genres, and a study of their respective soloist drums
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Analysis of salsa and Cuban music tunes:
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- - listening sessions
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- - transcriptions
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- - breaking down the different sections in a tune, focusing on how to switch from one to another, follow and support the melody, how to deal with breaks, blocks and stabs.
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Relationship of conga drums with bongoes, timbales, bass and the rest of the classic salsa ensemble.
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Negotiate the rhythm space with timbales and bongoes in the classic salsa line-up.
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Conga drums in soul, funk and jazz. Relationship of congas with the drum kit and the bass.
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Analysis of key Cuban and Puerto Rican historic players (see list 3, below).
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Overview of key contributors to defining congas in soul music, funk and jazz (see list 4).
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Creative ensemble music, beyond the tradition. Bespoke congas duets and trios.
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Extended techniques.
To all levels’ students:
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The study of congas’ pure technique (unrelated to traditional or modern repertoire) will focus mainly on the large body of studies contained in The New Conga Lab platform, and each student will have full access to the website subscribers’ area (normally £10 pcm) for the duration of our teacher/student relationship.
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In addition I will point you to current external publications and online resources which might deal with topics I don’t cover extensively, or might take such topics from a different angle.
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I will introduce you to my own system of notation, which, rather than a departure, is at once a simplification, an expansion and a consolidation of most of the systems currently in use. All studies from The New Conga Lab platform and all our lessons and transcriptions will make use of such system (which, to be clear, is based on conventional music notation).
Each student is different, and the lessons are tailor-made to suit your specific level and requirement.
I have divided students’ proficiency in two levels, where intermediate and advanced students are grouped in one single category. I have done that for a reason: once the initial phase of basic apprenticeship is passed, each student becomes a musician with his or her own unique, continuously evolving personality, and can from then on carry on his or her lifelong learning path in any or multiple directions. It is my opinion that from that stage onwards everybody has something to learn from everybody else. A young player with not many years of experience may have a natural ease or a particular interest on aspects of the instrument’s playing which other people find unfriendly, or downright uninteresting. The same applies to a career professional with decades of experience, who might excel in traits that may be underdeveloped in another player with the same amount of experience, and viceversa.
We’re all different, and one of the beautiful things of music is that there’s no fixed path, and it can be approached and practiced in a myriad of ways. As a teacher I’m committed to instigate a genuine passion for finding your own unique informed way.
About me
I have been playing percussion professionally since the age of 24.
Between 1989 and 2000 I have repeatedly visited Cuba, studying Afro Cuban percussion with Tomas “el Panga” Ramos, Changuito and Los Chinos, among others.
In 1991 I moved permanently to London (UK), where I collaborated with a wide array of music acts, among which: Jamiroquai, Paul McCartney, JTQ, Snowboy, Alex Wilson, Tumbaito, Herman Oliveira, Paul Young, Greg Osby, Kaidi Tatham, Dego McFarland, Finn Peters, Barak Schmool, John Edwards, Steve Beresford, Dele Sosimi, Oren Marshall, Pat Thomas, Shabaka Huchkins, Andrea Parkins, Eska Mtungwazi, Fred Thomas, Orphy Robinson and Rotary Connection 222.
Please visit my artist’s website for the complete discography and list of collaborations and projects.
Whereas conga drums are the single instrument I have studied and played more extensively, my range of interests and collaborations spans in fields as diverse as contemporary composition, free-form improvisation, jazz, experimental percussion, dance and theatre.
In 2024 I have released A Thousand Rawhide Diaphragms, an album of music composed and performed entirely on congas.
Over the years I have created, published and managed The New Conga Lab, an online platform containing a collection of studies for conga drums, with accompanying videos.
The studies consist largely of tables of permutations, along the lines of manuals like the Stick Control and Joe Morello’s Master Studies, and it is extensively employed as a complement to my teaching programme. The system at the the basis of The New Conga Lab’s studies is one heavily rooted in the traditional Cuban technique, branching out from there to generate purely technical material, which can then be applied to any style and also suggest new adventurous approaches to the instrument.
Part of my teaching program includes an in-depth study of the material contained in The New Conga Lab platform, through which I will teach you how to create your practice routine and incorporate the studies into your playing.
The studio
Both face-to-face and online lessons are held in The New Conga Lab studio in Haringey, North London (N4).
The studio is a spacious 4.40 x 4.40m room, equipped with a wide array of professional quality congas:
Sonoc, wood (Cuba):
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1 quinto
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2 congas
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1 tumbadora
Timba, wood (USA):
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1 conga
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1 tumbadora
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2 supertumbas
JCP, wood (Italy):
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1 conga
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1 tumbadora
LP Original model, fiberglass (USA):
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1 conga
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1 tubadora
That said, students are welcome to bring their own instrument if they wish so. Free parking is available (on a first come first served basis) within the studio complex.
The lessons have a duration of 60 minutes and can be purchased individually or in blocks of four.
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Single lessons (1 x 60 Minutes): £45
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Block lessons (4 x 60 minutes): £150
Every student will have full access to the subscribers’ area of TheNewCongaLab.com (normally £10 pcm) for the duration of our teacher/student relationship.
INTRODUCTORY OFFER:
Buy two 60 minutes lessons for £75 (normally £90)
Second lesson must be taken within one week of the first one.
Offer limited to new students.
Prices
Appendix (lists)
List 1:
Congas legacy: the rhythms and genres which form the core of congas’ lexicon
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Chachacha (and its origin from the Danzon)
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Bolero
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Son Montuno
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Mambo
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Guaracha
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Charanga
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Guajira
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A Caballo
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Pilon
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Afro
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Dengue
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Mozambique (Pello el Afrokan)
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Conga de Comparsa
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Songo
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Mozambique (Porto Rico)
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Bomba
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Plena
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Merengue
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Cumbia
List 2:
Cuban African-rooted styles
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Guaguancó Habanero
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Guaguancó Matancero
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Yambú
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Columbia
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Guarapachanguero
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Abakua (Habanero)
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Abakua (Matancero)
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Palo
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Makuta
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Yuka
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Ararà
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iyessà
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Toque de guiro
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Overview of batà drums
List 3:
Key Cuban and Porto Rican conga players (in no particular order)
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Chano Pozo
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Eddie Montalvo
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Ray Barreto
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Tata Güines
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Jorge Alfonso “El Niño”
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Changuito
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Daniel Ponce
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Jerry Gonzales
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Eladio Perez
List 4:
The funketeers and the jazzers
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Don Alias
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Bobby Thomas Junior
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Eddie Brown and Bobbye Hall
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Henry Gibson