Another vote for Stagnaro's book which I've worked with for over a year now. He says more than once throughout that you must learn to feel the one, mainly because so many measures are tied over and the one seemingly isn't there. It's there but you must learn to account for it though nothing may not be played on it. To quote him, this in reference to basic tumbao, " Even thought the "1" is not being played, you must be able to feel where it is in every bar."
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How to internalize the Clave???
- Thread starter phillipkregg
- Start date
It just takes time and immersion. It's like learning a new language. You don't and won't get it in a few hours. I was lucky enough to live in Miami and got to hear some amazing Latin music live. I groove with the percussion, but it's just an internal feel you get eventually. You might try working with a drum machine or other metronome and just try jamming with it to get a feel. Thst way it's stripped down and not so "cluttered" as you were experiencing. It will come with a little time.
I've also heard a concept where the bassist can treat beat 4 like a "movable 1".
Afro-Cuban tumbao pattern puts emphasis on beat 4, the way rock music puts emphasis on beat 1.
Learning to play basic tumbao patterns while tapping the clave is also a great way to internalize where the tumbao fits in relation to the clave.
And as quite a few posters have already said: start SLOW!
Good luck!
Afro-Cuban tumbao pattern puts emphasis on beat 4, the way rock music puts emphasis on beat 1.
Learning to play basic tumbao patterns while tapping the clave is also a great way to internalize where the tumbao fits in relation to the clave.
And as quite a few posters have already said: start SLOW!
Good luck!
While not exactly on topic, this video is worth watching. It’s from the site I posted earlier. Hope some of you dig it!
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Update:
So I spent about 40 hours this past week working through the music using some of the tips here and I can say it was a vast improvement!
The latest rehearsal went great and we got a lot accomplished. The head instructor - also a long time Latin bassist - told me I was 90% of the way there
I'll add one thing that I did that really helped a lot...
There is an app that I downloaded for my macbook called "AnyTune" that allows you to import songs and change the key, slow them down without changing pitch, and other sonic modifications. I downloaded all of the songs into files that I could import and used a feature that allowed me to isolate the bass track and lower the volume substantially so that you can't hear it while playing but you can here it a little when you stop. Using this, I was able to still hear the piano, melody, and all the percussion and play along with the bass part and whenever I felt like things may be a bit "off" I could stop playing and hear where the bassist in the recording was in relation to where I was at.
This seemed to help a great deal and got me used to hearing how all the other parts fit in relation to my part.
Give me another 40 or 50 hours and I might be 95% there.
So I spent about 40 hours this past week working through the music using some of the tips here and I can say it was a vast improvement!
The latest rehearsal went great and we got a lot accomplished. The head instructor - also a long time Latin bassist - told me I was 90% of the way there
I'll add one thing that I did that really helped a lot...
There is an app that I downloaded for my macbook called "AnyTune" that allows you to import songs and change the key, slow them down without changing pitch, and other sonic modifications. I downloaded all of the songs into files that I could import and used a feature that allowed me to isolate the bass track and lower the volume substantially so that you can't hear it while playing but you can here it a little when you stop. Using this, I was able to still hear the piano, melody, and all the percussion and play along with the bass part and whenever I felt like things may be a bit "off" I could stop playing and hear where the bassist in the recording was in relation to where I was at.
This seemed to help a great deal and got me used to hearing how all the other parts fit in relation to my part.
Give me another 40 or 50 hours and I might be 95% there.
