In music of afro-Cuban origin, tumbao refers to the basic rhythm played on the tumbadoras
Conga
The conga, or more properly the tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed Cuban drum with African antecedents. It is thought to be derived from the Makuta drums or similar drums associated with Afro-Cubans of Central African descent. A person who plays conga is called a conguero...
Bass describes musical instruments that produce tones in the low-pitched range. They belong to different families of instruments and can cover a wide range of musical roles...
The conga, or more properly the tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed Cuban drum with African antecedents. It is thought to be derived from the Makuta drums or similar drums associated with Afro-Cubans of Central African descent. A person who plays conga is called a conguero...
the drum is struck on every 8th-beat in the measure in the following sequence:
1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . Count
H T S T H T O O Conga
L L R L L L R R Hand Used
Key:
L: Left hand
R: Right hand
H: Heel of hand
T: Tip of hand
S: Slap
O: Open Tone
There are many variations on the basic tumbao, including playing the tumba
Conga
The conga, or more properly the tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed Cuban drum with African antecedents. It is thought to be derived from the Makuta drums or similar drums associated with Afro-Cubans of Central African descent. A person who plays conga is called a conguero...
The clave rhythmic pattern is used as a tool for temporal organization in Afro-Cuban music, such as rumba, conga de comparsa, son, son montuno, mambo, salsa, Latin jazz, songo and timba. The five-stroke clave pattern represents the structural core of many Afro-Cuban rhythms...
. For example:
1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . 1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . Count
X X X X X Son Clave
X X X X X Rumba Clave
H T S T O O H T S T H T O O Conga
O O Tumba
L L R R R L R R L L R L L L R R Hand Used
or
1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . 1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . Count
X X X X X Son Clave
X X X X X Rumba Clave
H T S H T O O H T S H T O O Conga
O 0 Tumba
L L R R L L R R L L R R L L R R Hand Used
Bass Pattern
The basic tumbao on the bass (Originally a marimbula
Marímbula
A marímbula is a folk musical instrument of the Caribbean Islands . The marímbula is usually classified as part of the lamellophone family of musical instruments. With its roots in African instruments, marimbula originated in the province of Oriente, Cuba in the 19th century...
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
or electric bass) is best visualized in cut time. It's notable in its avoidance of the down beat.
1 . 2 . 1 . 2 .
G C G C
Key:
G: The dominant (i.e. G in the key of C)
C: The tonic (i.e. C in the key of C)
