Mel Bay's Percussion Sessions | Mark Powers - Hand Drumming Crash Course: Part Five

Hand Drumming Crash Course: Part Five

by Mark Powers

Welcome to lesson five! If you’ve been following along with this series (and practicing!), by now you have the Heel/Toe technique rockin’ and a few basic stroke combinations under your belt. What time is it? You got it . . . time to put ‘em all together! Remember- take each rhythm slowly and count, count, count.

First, we’ll combine our Heel and Toe with some Open tones. Play a right-handed Heel/Toe, a left-handed Heel/Toe, and then four alternated Open strokes.

Example #25

Now, let’s add a Slap into the mix and create a very ‘pop’-y sort of feel. This would fit perfectly behind a funky acoustic guitar groove during the ‘open mic’ over at the local coffee shop!

Example #26

Of course, no discussion about Heel/Toe would be complete without mentioning ‘Tumbao,’ arguably the most common conga rhythm in Latin music. Here the left hand- often referred to as ‘la mano secreta’ (the secret hand)- uses Heel and Toe strokes to keep the groove flowing in-between the right hand Slap and Opens.

Example #27

Let’s check out ‘Tumbao’ in 6/8 time signature. This is almost identical to our 4/4 version . . . the only difference is that we are now removing one Heel and one Toe from the middle of the pattern.

Example #28

Practice playing each of these rhythms along with some of your favorite tunes. Be creative, see what other Heel/Toe ideas you can create on your own, and I’ll catch you next time!

About the Author

Mark Powers is a percussionist and educator residing in Salem, Oregon. He has studied and performed throughout the US, China, Thailand, Cuba and Ghana, West Africa. Visit Mark online at www.powerspercussion.com