Introduction to the Conga Drum

There are a lot of these out there; people/videos that want to teach you how to play congas (or something). Tomas Cruz's stuff is okay but hard to follow. He doesn't explain the strokes very well and for an Anglo English speaker like me, he's very difficult to understand. And, as others have stated, you get 1 camera angle so when he's (Tomas) is playing with his right hand its tough to tell what stroke he's using. Now to Michael Spiro. He impresses me as someone who really wants to teach; LIKES to teach and does everything he can to make sure you get it right. And the exercises are actually fun! Imagine That! The strokes are abundantly clear, his technique is clean and concise, and he doesn't sugar coat it. You want to learn? you need to practice. I set aside 90 minutes a day and I can see that time frame increasing as my playing becomes more demanding. He also emphasizes left hand technique. You want to do this right, develop the left (or weak) hand or forget about it. He advises practicing twice as long leading with the left hand as with the right, and it ain't easy. There are no short cuts. You want to play the congas? put in the time. And if playing fast is your bent, prepare to spend hundreds of hours in practice or you'll just be a fast, bad, player. If you're serious about playing this ultra cool instrument, Michael is your guy. He also has an advanced book/DVD on the market but give yourself some serious time with this one before you even think about it.

The first two segments alone (describing how to play the open and slap/seco tones, respectively) were worth the price of the DVD, and provided me with a broader and more educational introduction to playing those two conga tones than two years of paid lessons. The instructor provides excellent instruction and insight into shoulder position, elbow angles, wrist and hand placement, wrist movement, back posture, thumb placement (especially the problem of smashing it against the conga rim). Early on, Spiro reveals that many of his live gigs can last up to 4 hours at a time. Having played that length of time (with, as it turned out, poor technique), I have a much better understanding of the reasons for my fatigue and how good technique enhances sound and endurance simultaneously.Spiro's approach is a nice combination of geometry -- demonstrating proper angles for your hand, elbow, and body -- technique, and muscular conditioning. What I found particularly important was the cumulative approach Spiro takes to help incorporate these core principles into a worthwhile and fundamentally sound, comprehensive practice regimen.I have purchased -- but not yet fully viewed -- other instructional videos, so I cannot compare this video to some of the others at this time. But for beginning conga players -- players who are brand new to the drum; or players who (like me) who started playing, but did not receive the proper instruction and guidance at the outset -- this DVD is invaluable. Highly recommended.

Mike's instructional video is well done and offers any Conga player a good overview of style, form, and practice instruction for the serious enthusiast.I got a set of Melnl marathon congas for Xmas so this is the way to go for starters.One note about a Amazon drum set order I made. They shipped me one drum at a time and couldn't get the order correct so I had to order from another online supplier. I paid more than the Amazon listed set price but after three tries with them I gave up. I have prime so they paid a lot of money to ship and return multiple orders.This is an exception to their good service as I've been a commited patron for several years.

I thought this video was OK. There's some good stuff in there. But...I stress....this is not for a beginner. You have to have some background in music. Mainly you have to know what a quarter note, half note, eighth note...etc. Also, it helps if you know how to tune your conga. Mr. Spiro doesn't really cover this. I have yet to find an instructor that goes over tuning as a beginner.

I've watched it from start to finish a couple of times and I've I've watched individual chapters on their own, several times. This gentleman knows what he is talking about and has a knack of being able to communicate it without wandering off on a tangent.I feel as though my playing has moved up a couple of notches already.

I'm not a musician, but I bought this as a gift for the hubby who does hand percussion and he loved it. He says the techniques are shown well and explained so that he knows why he is being told to do things a certain way. It is the best video instruction for hand drums he has seen.

I have only started to use this, but what I've learned so far has been very informative. You learn how to do the basic strokes without hurting yourself. Having tried to learn on my own and banging up my thumb, I can testify as to how important this is. I'm looking forward to incorporating his other exercises and improving my technique.

This DVD was hands on!! He was very specific on teaching every single step. Mike spiro took his time and actually teaches you how to play the conga drums. My 3 year old son was able to follow his instruction and was simple and easy. This DVD was excellent.

très facile à suivre. Les explications sont claires et détaillées