I was wondering how to go about practicing different rhythms like latin or african or even odd time meter ones. I think just listening to that kind of music (suggestions are more than welcome) and kinda feel the groove and then try to interpret it on a guitar or with clapping is a good way to start but I want to learn more about them theory wise. Do you guys have some exercises or some good books with examples to recommend?
2 Answers
There are some web sites with various rhythms used in Afro-Cuban-Jazz and the like. You might just read the rhythm patterns and clap them. I've found it useful. (I also got a couple of nice claves in a garage sale for about $1.00 to tap out the rhythms.) A singer or someone not actively playing at the moment in a Cuban piece should at least be able to strike the claves correctly.
You should be able to clap out a son clave, rumba clave, martillo, and cascara pattern. Both of these in either 3-2 or 2-3 clave.
http://www.formedia.ca/rhythms/index.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clave_(rhythm) https://www.midwestclinic.org/user_files_1/pdfs/clinicianmaterials/2005/victor_lopez.pdf http://www.dicciani.com/materials/afro_cuban_intro_and_basics.pdf http://conorguilfoyle.com/files/CUBAN-DRUMSET.pdf
Or look into the TaKeTiNa Rhythm Process; on the theory side of things there's the following book
@book{toussaint2013geometry,
title={The Geometry of Musical Rhythm: What Makes a "good" Rhythm Good?},
author={Toussaint, Godfried T},
year={2013},
publisher={CRC Press}
}
