Editing Conga (section)

==Rhythms==
{{more citations needed|date=April 2015}}

===Guaguancó===
Guaguancó uses three congas. The smallest conga is the lead drum known as quinto. The following nine-measure quinto excerpt is from the guaguancó “La polémica” by [[Los Muñequitos de Matanzas]] (1988).<ref>“La polémica” (1:57), ''Rumba Caliente'' (Los Muñequitos de Matanzas) Qubadisc CD 9005 (1977, 1988).</ref> This passage moves between the main modes of playing (A, B, C). The A section is the basic ''lock'' or ''ride'', as it is known in North America. It spans one clave (measure). An alternate phrase (B) is also one measure in length. [[Cross-beat]]s, the basis of the third section (C), contradict the meter. By alternating between the lock and the cross, the quinto creates larger rhythmic phrases that expand and contract over several clave cycles. Los Muñequintos quintero Jesús Alfonso (1949–2009) described this phenomenon as a man getting “drunk at a party, going outside for a while, and then coming back inside.”<ref>Peñalosa, David (2011: 86). Alfonso quoted by Peñalosa. ''Rumba Quinto''. Redway, CA: Bembe Books. {{ISBN|1-4537-1313-1}}</ref>

[[File:Rumba quinto modes.jpg|thumb|center|450px|All modes of quinto in context. Quinto excerpt from “La polémica” by Los Muñequitos de Matanzas (1988).]]

===Marcha (tumbao)===
====Clave-neutral====
The basic [[son montuno]] conga pattern is called ''marcha'', or [[tumbao]]. The conga was first used in bands during the late 1930s, and became a staple of mambo bands of the 1940s. The primary strokes are sounded with open tones, on the last offbeats (2&, 2a) of a two-beat cycle. The fundamental accent—2& is referred to by some musicians as ''ponche''.<ref>Mauleón, Rebeca (1993: 63). ''Salsa Guidebook for Piano and Ensemble''. Petaluma, California: Sher Music. {{ISBN|0-9614701-9-4}}.</ref>

<syntaxhighlight lang="text">
1 e & a 2 e & a Count
H T S T H T O O Conga
L L R L L L R R Hand Used

Key:
  L: Left hand
  R: Right hand
  H: Heel of hand
  T: Tip of hand
  S: Slap
  O: Open Tone
</syntaxhighlight>

====Clave-aligned====
The basic tumbao sounds slaps (triangle noteheads) and open tones (regular noteheads) on the "and" offbeats.<ref>Sometimes clave is written in two measures of 4/4 and the open tone of the conga drum are referred to as the last beat of the measure (see Mauleón 1993 p. 63)</ref> There are many variations on the basic tumbao. For example, a very common variant sounds a single open tone with the third stroke of clave (ponche), and two tones preceding the three-side of clave. The specific alignment between clave and this tumbao is critical.

[[File:Conga tumbao.jpg|thumb|center|380px|Top: clave. Bottom: basic conga tumbao on one drum. S: slap, O: open tone, h: palm heel, t: finger tips.]]

Another common variant uses two drums and sounds ''bombo'' (1a) on the tumba (3-side of the [[clave (rhythm)|clave]]).<ref>Mauleón (1993: 64).</ref> For example:

<syntaxhighlight lang="text">
1 . & . 2 . & . 3 . & . 4 . & . Count
X     X     X       X   X       Son Clave
X     X       X     X   X       Rumba Clave 
H T S     T O O H T S T H T O O Conga
      O O                       Tumba
L L R R R L R R L L R L L L R R Hand Used

or

1 . & . 2 . & . 3 . & . 4 . & . Count
X     X     X       X   X       Son Clave
X     X       X     X   X       Rumba Clave 
H T S   H T O O H T S   H T O O Conga
      O               0         Tumba
L L R R L L R R L L R R L L R R Hand Used

</syntaxhighlight>

===Bolero===
There is also the [[bolero]] rhythm that is used for ballads.<ref>Evans (1966) p. 23.</ref> The conga part is similar to the marcha.

===Songo===
Beginning in the late 1960s, band conga players began incorporating elements from folkloric rhythms, especially rumba. [[Changuito]] and Raúl "el Yulo" Cárdenas of [[Los Van Van]] pioneered this approach of the [[songo music|songo]] era.

<blockquote>This relationship between the drums is derived from the style known as [[Cuban rumba|rumba]]. The feeling of the high drum part is like the quinto in rumba, constantly punctuating, coloring, and accenting, but not soloing until the appropriate moment (Santos 1985).<ref>Santos, John (1985). "Songo," ''Modern Drummer Magazine''. December p. 44.</ref></blockquote>

[[File:Songo congas.jpg|center|375px|thumb|Basic form of songo tumbadoras part. Triangle notehead: high-pitched drum slap; regular noteheads: high and low drum open tones.]]

In several songo arrangements, the tumbadora ('conga') part sounds the typical [[tumbao]] on the low-pitched drum, while replicating the [[quinto (drum)|quinto]] (lead drum) of [[guaguancó]] on the high-pitched drum. The quinto-like phrases can continually change, but they are based upon a specific counter-[[clave rhythm|clave]] motif.<ref>Peñalosa, David (2010) p. 142-144. Redway, CA: Bembe Books. {{ISBN|1-4537-1313-1}}</ref> [See: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGQu6rLQah0 "Songo Patterns on Congas" (Changuito).]

===Timba===
Tomás Cruz developed several adaptations of folkloric rhythms when working in [[Paulito FG]]'s [[timba]] band of the 1990s. Cruz's creations offered clever counterpoints to the bass and chorus. Many of his marchas span two or even four claves in duration, something very rarely done previously.<ref>Cruz, Tomás, with Kevin Moore (2004: 25) ''The Tomás Cruz Conga Method''  v. 3. Pacific, MO: Mel Bay.</ref> He also made more use of muted tones in his tumbaos, all the while advancing the development of . The example on the right is one of Cruz's ''inventos'' ('musical inventions'), a band adaptation of the Congolese-based Afro-Cuban folkloric rhythm ''makuta''. He played the pattern on three congas on the Paulito song "Llamada anónima." [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMsZtCFKsFQ Listen: "Llamada Anónima" by Paulito F.G. ]

===Other genres===
The conga repertoire includes many other rhythms found in genres such as [[danzón]], [[mambo (music)|mambo]] and [[cha-cha-cha (music)|cha-cha-cha]], as well as foreign styles that have adopted Afro-Cuban percussion such as Jamaican [[reggae]], Brazilian [[samba]] and [[bossa nova]], and American [[soul music|soul]], [[funk]], [[Latin jazz]] and [[Latin rock]]. In the 1960s, the conga became a prominent instrument in Haitian popular music styles such as [[Compas|konpa]], [[Haitian rock|yeye]] and [[Mini-jazz|mini-djaz]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Allen |first1=Ray |last2=Wilcken |first2=Lois |title=Island Sounds in the Global City: Caribbean Popular Music and Identity in New York |date=1998 |publisher=New York Folklore Society |isbn=978-0-9661472-0-9 |page=140 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=60oUAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA140 |language=en}}</ref>

Conjuntos and orchestras playing Colombian dance music have incorporated [[cumbia]] rhythms, traditionally played on tambores known as alegre and llamador, to the conga drums. The standard Colombian cumbia rhythm is simple and played slowly; it goes 1-2-2-1, also heard as 1-2-1-2. In the Dominican Republic, the fast [[Merengue music|merengue]] rhythm, which goes 1 2-1-2, can be played on the conga. It can also be heard as 1-2-1-2 1-2-1-2-1-2. Essentially, it is the rhythm of the [[Tambora (Dominican drum)|tambora]] applied to conga. In [[merengue típico]] (or ''cibaeño''), the rhythm is usually more complex and less standardized; it can range from simply hitting the conga on a fourth beat to playing full patterns that mark the time.