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Miguel de Maria -> RE: Cante methods (Dec. 5 2005 17:09:07)
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One time I was hanging out with a Cuban percussionist, and I was in love with Cuban music and wanted to learn how to play the conga and the bongos. So we were hanging outside of a Spanish restaurant, and he had a water glass and a fork and was showing me a somewhat complicated beat. I think it was the beat known as campanas, but I'm not sure. Anyway, he kept playing it over and over, and an unconscious part of me realized that it was a pattern, but I just couldn't get it. And finally he just shook his head and told me I wasn't cut out to be a percussionist! I think this is an example of folk teaching methods!
In another conversation, I asked him what "Montao" meant. I was playing in a group with another Cuban percussionist (they're all over, aren't they?) and occasionally he would stop playing, shake his head, make a little upside down "V" symbol, and say "montao". You didn't really have to be a brain surgeon to realize that it was bad, but what exactly did it mean?
He explained, "Montao means you're riding the beat [montado is how we we would say it if we're not from Cuba]. It means you're messing up. In Cuba, if you're in a group, you mess up, they say "es montao", and they stop the whole thing. If you mess up again, they stop the whole thing, and say "es montao". If you mess up again, they kick you out of the group!"
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