Scribd Logo
Carica

Benvenuto in Scribd!

  • Paoli Mejias Conga Exercises

    Caricato da

    Maxi Toro
    816 visualizzazioni7 pagine
    ejercicios conga

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Formati disponibili

    PDF o leggi online da Scribd

    Hai trovato utile questo documento?

    Questo contenuto è inappropriato?

    Segnala questo documento
    ejercicios conga

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Scarica in formato PDF o leggi online su Scribd
    Segnala contenuti inappropriati
    816 visualizzazioni7 pagine

    Paoli Mejias Conga Exercises

    Caricato da

    Maxi Toro
    ejercicios conga

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Scarica in formato PDF o leggi online su Scribd
    Segnala contenuti inappropriati
    di 7
    Photos by JUAN FIGUEROA hen aol Mejias tals about how Latin musics ara «roma with one wry leting vo a Kind of roundabout svhere fic els wunefly but endlesiy Inthe sme pacten, while che ther points coma unlined poe drough ne tection witha, hee ae wo way rood. ‘One wold be nod nd lok need ile hinking, “Tis news? Haver we be lng abou tif a rr decade lai The other would be ro spin hie ate CD, Trance and eal tae tere plenty alle about hee afer al. Both responses, incidentally ae cont Yes Aft: Caribbean music and jz have a long aeqsintanes, going back nota 0 DiztyGilspe but firth all he way #0 che ginning, actly a centary ago, when Jelly Roll Moron sare talking show "the Spanish cnge” whose infusion wich blues and European traditions provided the or thal forthe birch of Amer’ music in, New Orleans (Over the past couple of decades, chat tinge has opened into a rainbow of variation, il minazed by historic and ever-changing influ: ‘ences from Cuba, Brasil, New York, and else ‘where. For ayriad reasons, though, Puerto Rigo has provided an especialy seady stimu Tus. Some of has to do with the easy acess tha exss berveen the island, due ois com ‘mocwealth status, and the U.S, Much more is owod to its folk traditions, primarily is ‘connections between religion and music. ‘All ofthis can be heard in the musie of ‘Mejias In ct, e insists thar no matter ‘where his explorations led, he could never Tose touch with is roots, even ifke should want to, But that doesnt mean thar these ties are tethers to that tradition: think of ther, instead, as lifelines cha sustain the 36-year-old congueto as he pushes fora. ‘Already he's gone a long way since he sxarted playing local gigs in his hometown, acage 14, His fret high-profile affiation ‘was with salsa keyboardist Eddie Palmieri; his eight-year cun with that band took him throughout the world and sex him for work with many of che rop players in Latin mu- sic. The ls, sell growing, now includes PAOLI'S PERCUSSION RIG paces LP 14H" Galey Ghovnni Donto Mare Anthony, Paquito D’Rivera, Chick Corea, and dozens mote, with che Grammy- winning Manerpiece, featuring Palmieri and Tito Puente, and Alex Acufils Grammy- rominated Aewerla de Tambores among the highlights in his caalog. Tes his work a leader, though, that best reflects the importance of Mejias a a force within and beyond Latin music. He fronts his own band, based in Puerto Rio, and has recorded two CDs unde his owa name. These two releases ~ Mi Tiombor, which e- ctived a Grammy nomination in 2005, and "0G' Trentcend map out the direction he's chosen to follow, which in basic terme in volves drawing from as many syle a poss ble, including even Indian tabla, and chan- neling asound chat’ personal and universal acthe same time. “Lbelieve Ihave a concept and a vision that's diferent,” he isis, “And a lr of chat bas 1 do with being a bandleader. Weve los Ray Barcero, Tito Puente, and other percussionists wha have led their wa np. A changing ofthe guatd is happen ing, and Pike to take my place with them asa member of the younger generation.” ees B16" AAEISeborGrash 11.781 50" Galay Gover Stes Wood (Quine) : 3 5 11.78%430" Galo Govern See Weod Conga Segue?) 4 128"80" Guay Gowen Saree Wood Temacors 7 LP Poruesin Table: Guo, = aba, Tambourine, Chines, s Shakers, and Toys aol Meas also uss LP stan, Remo oads, Vater sch, anda ansenftz practice pal 125" 80 Geary Given Saree Wood Tuibesors Bj) 14° Tio Puente Gormemoratve Branca Tala 114° The Penta Commamaratve Bronce Tinbala 82 DRUM! swwrcdrunmagae.som 5. Mejs is good a candida at anyone for taking the cen in this revoltion~ nat ‘only because of his exceptional chops ‘whether messed by velocity, costal of dynumics and command of wne, bata byviztue of having been bom in Duero Rico. Tha alone, he woud ini, gave him ahead star “Here in Puerto Rico,” “musi is very important. to lve music. We have matic for crcrything in our lives, and aloe of ‘centers on the drum." So twas in the Mis household Neither of his paren played a insru- ment, but fom his easly Years upto age sve, is Rio Piedras and through the rest his childhood in Carolina, nea the Lis Muon Matin Aigpor, thete was aways something playing thesteeo, There was musi (00, 8 the ees and ney atthe a Veede “Music was extremely important to my family because we all love to dance .. It was our way to relax” om ASO) beach, Ona epical day air school, ‘Mejias would join other kids on thet bikes and ride our to the ocean, where ddrumamess would play rumba, bomba, and plena parterns against che thunder and his of the waves. Now and then. Ihe would heid further eas along the coast to Lota, a predominandly black town whose ancestry dates back to ‘Yoruba sets in the sizeenth centu- rys here, the African stain i the Afio- Caribbean groove was expecially sxong, and, to Mejis,inciguing "Music was extremely important 10 ny family because we all ove ro dance,” he sys. "They lscened only co the music of Puerto Rico and the ‘Caribbean: the old sls payer, ike Edie Palmieri and Israel Rivera che Fania AllStars, Hector Lavoe, Tito Puente meringue. That’ what J heard Orange county ners = = fe e3 Now Serving avers We're Here For All fear Drum ai Percussion Needs ‘CALL TOLL FREE 1-877-WCDRUMS~~—---~~“ WWW.WESTCOASTDRUMS.COM 13606 5. nrietol st, ~ Santa Ana, C2 92704 Power®anc. cocty day a was growing up Ita our way to rag, clebace, and hang out.” Even a i, when iecame eo drumming, hhe war atake charge guy, especlly when ‘Christmas season rolled around,“ always or- tanned the paranda, with my tiend” he Sys sling “A puranda is scenade,whete you go from house to house, unannounced, ny time afer midnight berween the middle ‘of December to the middle ofJaruay gather ny Bends, wed cake pot and pans nd anything that could make noise, and wed sp and wake people up by singing wadional songs or even aking up ong of cur own. ‘Baie wa all bused on thychm” ‘When hammering on his mothers poss and pans and cscrbing the peace began to lowe their appeal, Mas went out at age anid go hitsel job delivering newspapers Some ofthe money ke earned went coward seating and expanding his own record cal lection in which kere, Carlos “Puao” ‘Valdes, Batsbumbele, and rumba bands were PRACTICE TIPS “We lived in a lower-class neighborhood. I would play and play, which would connect me to my instrument and disconnect me from the outside world.” Attu ‘ell represented. Buc he set the rest aside tunl he was able eo buy himself his fs in- seruraent~a single conga drum. DOIT YOURSELF. With that, Mejias be- {an is serious selFeducaton, by lining tecords and playing aloog wit them. Right from che stare felt a contradictory pall o- ward digging deeper ino the history bind the music and going past hat nc uockared tory. The ain eason fo his pl he sow understands was tat he was an impro- ‘ser at hear as much then ashe is oday. ener The folowing exarlas sould he practiced slowly focusing on precision ofthe it and ually ‘Gf eound Then gradual nroace speed andthe length of tine spent racing each exes ‘wou pactce anyone ef these aerises fornia cf entofiteen minutes, erp use the exercise nx 1 towarm yp the freas and wits before @ perermance or cnt Keep you shoulders relaxed stat sow and contre, ar Keep the fhm steady and even es best you practice bus exarise wih armetvonome Concentrate on apg the sound even while gradual iereabngthe speed "Srength Builders Ec 2 ols to bul strong in bath hands Be sre to focus on tho sound ofthe sla and fom We turn a bling ar sengthIn Es. & where you should concentrate on ‘he velume af the bass by using the strength of your whole arm, wile keeping te slap ean. = Hes, T= Tips, B= Bass, M= Muff, $ =Shp Ext = SSS4 Lee Rk ER MS MS MS MS MS MS MS MS “REL CR REL BSS BS S BS S BS Ss 94. DRUM! seoncicurmaguinecom RRELCRR EL SBS § BS SBS SBS S BS “Thats why [stared listening to music where there was more ofa jazz element,” he explains. “Traditional music is much seiter Jbecause you can only ply in set paterne | learned those paters, all che Puerto Rican and Cuban music, bt I wanted to do more And [was arated ro musicians who did, For instance liked Irakere, che Cuban ‘group, alr. liked Baracurnbele because they played in a very progressive style. started to pay special ssention to them and to play alot to ther records. Then I started listening to Eddie Palmieri and, especially Ray Barreto, who was very important to [Latin music. wanted to leam the language ‘of the emusic cha chey wece playing.” [No forma instruction was involved: Mejias learned as he always had, by plying on his ‘own, often for hours atime a an escape from what he describes a issues going at Jhome — economic problems; we lived in alow ‘eed neighborhood. would play and play ‘which would connect me my instrument and dconnect me from the ouside world.” ‘While il playing along to records, Mejias also began buying and watching per- forraance videos o going out to catch per- cussionies lke Giovanni Hidalgo doing live gt. "Ewes too shy to ask chese great musi ‘dane fr thei advice, so I just cied to copy ‘what chey did wien I got back home. Ie was actully the hardest route I could have cho- sen, J had no strict method, no exercises to ‘wart with each day, and 30 on. I could only {ge on instinct and so I suffered alot: My bands, my forearms, and my shoulders seemed to hur all the time.” ‘Eventually Mejias found x way past his caly problems with tension. These days, he ‘imparts what he's learned to up-and-coming percusionists dhrough workshops. The ‘erie twofold strength and focus. “Tveal- ‘ways been active,” he explains, I like co ex ttcise and do weights snd run, so in my clinics I emphasize the imporeance of work- ing the individual muscle groups to make the wrists, forearms, and shoulders sronger ‘while also isolating your moversent so that you don tre out the whole am. But its not ‘only physical energy; you also want a very strong connection between your body and mind. Ym not trying to hit the drura hard ‘When I see someone trying to do that, 0 physically force che thychm, [know he's not connected to his drum. He's trying roo hard to imprest his fiends or his audience when ‘he real goal should be o connect wich your Snscrument within the music” ‘Along with these early physical issues, another cassaley of self education was chat Mejias never learned to read music Aueatly. ‘The flipside, though, is that he became ex- pert at listening, sill chat serves ho well today: On a recent session with crombonist ‘Conrad Herwig, for instance, he learned cach picce by listening tothe demo belore showing up at che eudio. And because of his repucation for playing freely, sticking 10 the leer of each pais a crucial factor on live dates." do regrec that I never fo- cused on reading music,” he admiss, “but at the sume time T know some musicians who cling to ther reading without developing the kind offcedom I have.” "There was another advantage to building. js technique alone, wich limited resources. For quite some time Mejias had only chat ‘one conga to work with. Asa result, to ap- proximate the subtleties intone chat he ‘could heat players working with a fll com- plement of dros, he had to eoncenerate “TL always practiced my exercises very slowly. Ifyou want to play ve: fast, go ahead, Dat you're only fooling yourself. pe Xe ee ete satin cece Sree! ek ene ‘fast. Sure, but if they're playing with some- SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY lino Ye pa Fe. in tombor 96 DRUM! wreumnagasine com Ensen one ie Bad Pl nd te uns plo conga lhe lea pooped fod hey ls the gato tha ound Solas paced my execs ey dow Dyers though it eal boxing, a Coaldale and he ayo he sound, e wher reihing done carly td pect Fy want ly very fe hen, but youre oly ling youn” Lock tack, Mejias elie har es- ing on on one conga wa hepa more des than one Wika he dracon of ining bunch of drums win each, be found exer aprend the ecu of thera n fer th dew bi toward fer in whch one dram waste nor, fuck aren plying gu fox Same Sern hartge the non torte the hy ico kn and ig i vey posible councershyzhn wa chat mee or tht you dont neds ig tr wang vomehig Moje dh was ely more importa TURNING PRO. During these formasive yeas, Mejas was motivated purely by the pleasure of playing. Working fulltime in tui was ever a conscious plan when thinking of the furuce atl bis thoughts turned more toward playing baseball or box- ing fora living, Iewas never even a priority vo playin public at lease not ull drummers 2 nearby rumba circles began o notice him as a replat scence. Eventually they began faving him to siti, Almost immediately ‘word spread abou this kid's eapebilcies So pethaps twas ineitable thatthe phone rang ‘one day with an invitation osubstcue fora

    Potrebbero piacerti anche