The tumbao rhythm is one of the fundamental patterns for congas. Learning how to play tumbao on congas is critical for players who want to level up their drumming.
Conga tumbaos incorporate slaps, open tones, heel, toe, and touch strokes to establish a balance of strong and weak sounds on the drum. It’s the pattern used in modern salsa and timba bands, for example, as well as other popular music derivative of Afro-Cuban traditions.
Strong and Weak Sounds
For lack of a better term, I call the open tones and slaps strong sounds and the heel, toe, touch, bass, and mute tones weak sounds. But they are anything but weak. I promise.
Don’t take “weak sounds” for granted.
The slaps and open tones are used to create a backbeat rhythm with melodic variations that support the style of music you’re playing. Some styles require fewer variations, while other styles like timba or songo have room for almost infinite melodic possibilities on the drums.
The weaker sounding strokes (heel, toe, etc.) are the “marcha” sound of the pattern. Although they don’t project as much as the tones and slaps, they are equally as important to the tumbao as any of the stronger strokes. These strokes establish an underlying thickness to the sound and blend well with other instruments like the timbale pailas, guiro, and maracas.
Origins and Evolution of the Tumbao
The word tumbao must come from the Spanish word “tumbar,” which means to knock out. Other forms of the word refer to laying down. So, a tumbao — whether played on bass, congas, piano, tres, etc. — refers to the syncopated rhythm that establishes the foundation of the song.
In other words, the musicians playing tumbaos on their instruments are the ones “laying it down.”
The origins of the use of conga tumbaos is a bit clearer than the nomenclature. According to Jose Luis Quintana “Changuito,” the beginnings of modern conga tumbao can be traced back to the orquestra tipicas of the 1940s.
Today, congas are used in salsa, timba, and other forms of Latin jazz ensembles. The drums and tumbao patterns have also been adapted to popular music all around the world.
Basic Tumbao
The basic tumbao comes from the earliest use of the conga when congueros often only had one drum. Despite the lack of drums to establish parts with conversations on various sides of the clave, conga drummers used all of their strokes to make new tumbao phrases.
Strokes
Conga drumming has between seven and nine basic strokes that most drummers follow. I focus on eight sounds, and the strokes vary from one to the next based on the following criteria.
- Hand stays on the drum and muffles the sound.
- Fingers are kept straight or relaxed.
- Location of the stroke on the drum.
For more information, check out this article on the specific strokes and how to play them.
Clave Rhythms
The conga tumbao accents certain clave hits. For example, the bombo note is the and of beat two on the three side of clave. It’s accented with the tumba drum, among other ways, during louder sections of a song.
The ponche is another clave accent. It’s on beat four of each measure, and it’s used to phrase ensemble breaks and other phrase markers. The conga tumbao phrases with the ponche very consistently with open tones.
This is why it’s important to understand clave and follow the guidelines that developed from Cuban sacred and secular music alike.
This article explains clave in more detail, including a video with demonstrations for how clave fits with tumbao.
Basic Pattern
The basic tumbao for congas includes a slap on beat two, two open tones on beat four, and it’s filled in with heel and toe strokes.
- H = heel
- T = toe
- S = slap
- O = open tone
Setting Up Multiple Conga Drums
Everything I’ve read points to Carlos “Patato” Valdes as the first conguero to add multiple drums. He plays a different setup than the more conventional because he approaches congas like a bass player, using four congas to play melodic tumbaos.
The conga sits between your legs, and the tumba, a larger drum, sits to the side. If you are left handed, you may choose to place the tumba on your left side.
A third drum, usually another conga, can be placed on the side opposite the tumba. Some players use a quinto as a third or even a quinto as a primary drum (shown below).
Play around with these setups. The only rule is to arrange the drums to make it easier for you to play well.
Conga Tumbao Variations
The conga tumbao rhythm variations are often slight from one to the next, yet they make a noticeable difference. This is exactly why it’s important to develop good technique on conga drums — every stroke counts.
Most variations replace a tone with a slap or weak sound. As you add more drums to the tumbao rhythm, notice that the hand-to-hand patterns change as well as the type of stroke you might use to transition from one drum to the next.
One Drum Tumbao Variations
A single conga drum is all any drummer ever needs. If you can get the job done with one drum, adding more drums and variations comes easy.
Basic One-Drum Tumbao Rhythm
Variation 1
Variation 2
Variation 3
Two Drum Tumbao Rhythm Variations
The second drum is often a tumba. The bombo hit on the three side of clave sounds great on this drum. But this isn’t to say you can’t play a conga and quinto.
Basic Two-Drum Tumbao
Variation 1
Variation 2
Variation 3
Variation 4
Variation 5
Variation 6
Variation 7
Three Drum Tumbao Rhythm Variations
Patato played melodic tumbaos like bass lines or montunos. If he wasn’t the first conguero to add a third drum, he was one of the first, for sure.
I particularly like playing songo variations with three drums. Some of the variations below are from Giovanni Hidalgo (variation 3) and Pedrito Martinez (variation 5).
Variation 1
Variation 2
Variation 3
Variation 4
Variation 5
Songo and Timba Variations
Songo was developed by Los Van Van and Juan Formell with Changuito and other rhythm players. It’s a style of tumbao that blends the marcha of tumbao rhythms with folkloric drum parts (conversations).
Songo Variation 1
Songo Variation 2
Timba
Timba is a Cuban music that blends salsa, folkloric Cuban, rhythm and blues, and funk into a modern evolution of a genre.
The variations are only two examples. The best way to learn songo patterns is to match the conga pattern with clave. This relationship with clave is key and must avoid being crossed.
Timba Variation 1
Timba Variation 2
Final Thoughts
Conga tumbaos are where individual players find their sound. Whether it’s salsa, timba, or an R&B group, these conga patterns have evolved into modern forms.