Percussionists: How to Keep Salsa Dancers Happy

Congas

Watch the clave: make sure you keep the Tumbao pattern and the clave "in sync" with each other. If the song is using a 2/3 clave, play the basic Tumbao pattern (HandTap-SlapTap-HandTap-OpenOpen, HandTap-Slap-OpenOpen-Hand-OpenOpen), but if the song using a 3/2 clave pattern, play the Tumbao pattern in reverse order (HandTap-Slap-OpenOpen-Hand-OpenOpen, HandTap-SlapTap-HandTap-OpenOpen).

If you are not sure, try both (quickly). Also monitor the song... listen throughout the song... see if it is still feeling right. If a whole bunch of dancers are beginning to struggle finding the beat... stop playing! Play gentler, turn the mics down, move onto the cowbell or bongos, etc.

Too often non-salsa dancing congo percussionists miss this important aspect of matching the Tumbao to the clave. The net result is a sound that seems fine but just doens't feel right to the dancers. Particularly beginners... they will really struggle to find the starting beat (due to the overlapping rhythms).

Cowbell

"More cowbell" might be a great skit, but match the cowbell in salsa to when it is needed. In the mambo section, go nuts. But in a salsa romantica, the start of a slowly building song, etc, yeah... just go easy on that bad boy! There is nothing wrong with ceasing with the cowbell for a bar or two, having a listen, and then going again if you feel like it and it still suits the song.

Bongos

I can't get enough of the bongos, and I have a great respect for those of you out there who can jam on them and get the crowd going. Personally, I like playing the bongos as much as I can in a salsa song... since it is a fairly subtle instrument, it complements most songs. And yeah, when the time is right, letting rip with a freestyle jam is all good. The one word of caution I have is that in Bachata, I would tone the jamming down a bit... a lot of dancers (even if they don't know it themselves yet) really listen to the bongos for the timing... and when you take that away from them (to jam), it can cause a few dance floor disasters!

Shakers

Again, you really need to be a good percussionist to use shakers well. Unless you can hold your timing and keep shakers really tight, I say leave this for your own practice sessions.

Letting Others "have a go"

One of the biggest problems I have when playing at salsa clubs is that a lot of people (about one per night usually) will come and ask me if they can have a go. If I ask them closed questions such as "have you played before" or "do you know what this instrument is called" they normally reply with a simple yes or no. So, I now ask more open questions, but normally don't let anyone play. There are two reasons for this: one, they normally can't play at all, and it really annoys all the dancers (making me look bad in the process!), and two, I kind of like my instruments and don't like watching them get violated by people who just have no idea (but who do wear rather spiky jewellery on their hands).

Yes, it's tough love, but I just say no :(