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 Timbale" is a challenging series of exercises that facilitates the ability to transfer between various timbale rhythms. This transition occurs in most Latin tunes between cascara and mambo bell, but also can occur in some tunes between completely different musical styles such as afro and bolero (“Lourdes’ Lullaby”), 6/8 and afro (“Tin Tin Deo”), iyesa and songo (“Cubanita”) and many more. In practicing this exercise, start with learning each rhythm slowly and separately. You may even want to practice with a metronome to ensure your time is steady. Once you have mastered each individual pattern, practice combining the patterns in each exercise together as written.
In Exercise 1 play four bars of the cascara with four bars of the mambo bell pattern, then repeat. Continue playing the exercise until you can move easily from cascara to mambo and vice versa. Once you have mastered this exercise practice playing at a fast tempo.
Exercise 2 starts with afro , moving to 6/8, then to bolero and back to afro. This exercise will generally be played at a slow tempo.
In most of the following rhythms the right hand plays the bell and the left hand plays the macho/hembra and jam block. Although many of these patterns incorporate the bass tumbao pattern with the left hand (LH), other patterns can be utilized such as the standard LH pattern demonstrated with the afro rhythm.
Trevor Salloum is a percussionist, author and clinician. He is the author of Fun with Bongos, The Bongo Book, Bongo Drumming: Beyond the Basics and Afro-Latin Polyrhythms (Mel Bay Publications) He regularly conducts clinics and is an annual presenter at the Afro-Cuban Percussion Workshops at Hollyhock, Cortes Island,BC.
For more information on Trevor Salloum, please visit his website.
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