| Cajon – The Professional Rhythm Course Book and CD by Matthias Philipzen | |
It has been created by Matthias Philpzen, a German drummer/percussionist who is fascinated by the cajon, and who would like to impart some of his enthusiasm for the instrument to others. Hence the book contains very interesting sections on the origins and history of the cajon, as well as descriptions of various different types of cajons and different playing styles, such as the Peruvian style and the Cuban style etc. You can also hear the different types of cajon on the accompanying CD. |
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| The packages prime objective though is to teach playing techniques, and to this end there is a section regarding special sounds and effects that are achievable, including some that I was not aware of such as the heel strike (yes, using your foot) and “wiping” with your thumb and fingers, examples of which can again be heard on the CD. The bulk of the book is devoted to exercises for you to practice on the cajon, and remarkably Matthias has come up with his own innovative system of notation to explain where and how hard to strike the instrument on each beat! It is an excellent and easy to read and understand system and for which he deserves a lot of credit. The exercises begin with
technique strengthening rhythms designed to get you pl This has to be the best, most comprehensive tuition package for the cajon available today and I heartily recommend it to beginners, and also to more experienced players who would like to deepen their knowledge, as well as to others who are simply interested in the instrument. I am hoping Matthias has plans to create a DVD version of this, as it would be great to see him actually demonstrating the exercises. Excellent stuff.
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Drummer mag recently featured a review of some
Meinl cajons, and if that review inspired you to actually buy a cajon
then you may now need some guidance on your road to mastering the instrument.
If so, then this book/CD package would seem to be just the ticket.
aying
all the different possible strikes at varying volumes, and then move
on to cover every conceivable rhythm you can think of, and perhaps a
few you can’t such as shuffle, hip-hop, bossa nova, samba, partido
alto, rumba and on and on! There are also exercises showing you how
to replicate the sound of a full drum kit. Every exercise of course
has also been recorded onto the CD so that you can hear how each should
sound, and also hear how the cajon sounds played along with a full band
(tracks which you are encouraged to play along with). The CD itself
is excellently recorded and lasts 72 minutes, so you are actually getting
a great deal of material here for your money.