The Art of Playing Tumbadoras/Congas

The Art of Playing Tumbadoras/Congas presents an overall view on how to play tumbadoras (aka congas), starting with drum positions, tuning, basic sounds and warm-up exercises. The individual chapters take you through developing the basic “tumbao” and many of the classic rhythms used by congueros today including, Bolero, Afro, Cha Cha Chá and Rumba Abierta. 

Master conguero Chembo Corniel skillfully documents his personal approach to playing iconic styles including Mozambique (New York style), Latin Jazz Grooves and the basic tumbao as taught by the late great master conguero, Tommy López. Rhythms from Cuba include Bembé, Songo, Rumba Guaguancó, Abakuá and Quinto Riffs. Rhythms from Puerto Rico include Sicá, Cuembé, Yubá, Plena and Oriza. 

Each chapter contains QR codes to over 200 examples and exercises demonstrated on video. Anyone studying this book will find these exercises, ideas and rhythms to be a beautiful pathway to The Art of Playing Tumbadoras/Congas. —Victor Rendón & “Chembo” Corniel 

Chembo Corniel, leader of the Chembo Corniel Quintet, has worked with Machito, Celia Cruz, Willie Colón, Tito Puente, Chucho Valdés, Hilton Ruiz, Tito Nieves, Angela Bofill, Grady Tate, Toshiko Akiyoshi,   The Afro-Cuban All Stars and many others.  

Victor Rendón, leader of the Bronx Conexión Latin Jazz Big Band, has worked with Mongo Santamaria, Chico O'Farrill, Carlos "Patato" Valdés, Ray Santos Orchestra, Grupo Caribe and many others. Rendon is the author of The Art of Playing Timbales.

Reviews:

Firstly, to avoid any confusion, the word "tumbadoras" is the proper name for the congas. There have been many well written books on the world of Latin rhythms and their application to the drum set, but I have not seen many books this well written on the foundations of Latin Rhythm as applied to the tumbadoras / congas.

Furthermore, I haven't seen a good new book on this subject in a very long time. Finally, we have a superior book on playing authentic congas in a traditional Latin band setting. Both Victor Rendon and "Chembo" Corniel are master musicians and master educators, and they present this subject in a well presented and well laid out manner. Dan Thress and Music in Motion has been releasing very high-quality instructional drum books for a long time, and this one is no different, (their Billy Martin and Mokhtar Samba books are excellent!) 

The Art of Playing Tumbadoras / Congas starts with a very good chapter on the basics, including clave', tuning, and the basic sounds. After that, there are chapters on Tumbao, Traditional, Cuban, and Puerto Rican rhythms. The notation, instructional pictures, recommended listening examples, and descriptions are stellar. And there are QR codes for over 200 video examples. The book is also bi-lingual in English and Spanish. They thought of everything! 

If you don't have the time to move to New York City (or Puerto Rico or Cuba) and study with a master conguero in person, The Art of Playing Tumbadoras/Congas is the next best thing to get you started.

—Modern Drummer Magazine

 "In The Art of Playing Tumbadoras/Congas, Victor Rendón and Wilson Corniel have assembled a clearly notated, effectively organized, media rich, quality resource for the instruction to and study of congas. After some brief front matter, the content of the book opens with tuning recommendations for one to four congas (along with bongos and timbales), and these recommended pitches are used for the staff position of each drum for all musical examples in the text. The authors then provide a brief explanation of clave, instructions on how to hold and position the drums, and a description of the basic strokes and sounds on congas accompanied by the first appearance of one of 19 QR codes in the book that provide direct links to Vimeo video demonstrations.

The next dozen pages provide exercises for gaining facility with the different strokes on one drum, introduce tumbao and numerous variations on tumbao for a single conga, then expand those variations to two, three, and four drums along with an exploration of playing tumbao at faster tempos and specifically in Latin jazz contexts.

The second half of the book is devoted to an exploration of congas in a variety of styles including Bolero, Afro, Cha Cha Chá, Mozambique, Rumba Abierta, Bembé, Songo, and Guaguancó. Each style study includes suggested conga patterns and variations as well as sample patterns for other instruments in the percussion section along with a brief list of listening recommendations. The last few pages of the text explore a few related world music styles that do not typically use congas.

All text in this book is presented in both English and Spanish, there are numerous pictures accompanying the techniques explained and styles explored, and headings at the top of each page make it easy to locate specific content. For those looking to learn about and how to play congas, this is a quality resource worth exploring."—Josh Gottry, Percussive Notes, Volume 63, No. 3 – June 2025

“An excellent book for learning the conga drum! Concise, easy to use, well organized, and covers all the basic concepts necessary to learn to play the drum. Useful information for all professional players and musicians, as well as arrangers and composers that want to understand how exactly to incorporate the information in their writing and performing! Well worth the investment. Bilingual too!”—Aaron Singer