Level 1 · The drums & basic strokes

posture, the two drums, open tone and finger strokes

A relaxed hand and a clear open tone on each drum are the foundation before any pattern.

What you learn

• Sit and hold the bongó between the knees, macho (small, higher) to the left for a right-handed player.
• The open tone: strike the rim area with the fingers and let the head ring.
• Finger strokes with the relaxed hand; alternate hands evenly.
• Find the clear pitch of each drum (macho vs hembra).
• Steady alternating-hand eighth notes at slow tempo.

Grounded in: established Afro-Cuban bongó technique — for the strokes, the martillo, and ensemble role (most modern bongó methods remain in copyright).

Note: a method-grounded technique curriculum (no score corpus for this instrument); levels are graded skills, not pieces.