New Michael Spiro DVD Released: “Introduction To The Conga Drum”

We are happy to announce the release of Michael Spiro’s new instructional DVD, "Introduction To The Conga Drum". Running almost 2 hours in length, Introduction To The Conga Drum is Sher Music Co.'s first venture into producing a DVD—but it will not be the last!

The video is a masterpiece of clear, patient, and comprehensive teaching—not surprising since Michael has been teaching conga drums for many decades now, including his current position as an Assistant Professor at Indiana University's percussion department.

The DVD is designed for beginners, or anyone needing a solid foundation in good conga drum technique, and Spiro starts right at the beginning with cogent information on:

• How to hold the drum

• The proper bodily posture to maintain while playing

• The correct hand and arm movements needed to produce the five or six basic sounds on the drum

Interspersed with cool footage of Michael playing solo drums—and also bits of funny, down-home humor (“Don’t hold your elbows up in the air. It’s not a chicken wing thing”)—this DVD kept me riveted to my seat, even though I’ll never be a conga drummer myself.

It was shot from three different camera angles and has a warm, inviting atmosphere throughout.

• Part I gives you all the basic strokes and how to produce them.

• Part II provides exercises for combining the basic strokes into usable patterns.

• Part III teaches three basic Afro-Cuban rhythms so the rudiments learned earlier are applied to the music right away.

At $26, this makes a wonderful holiday present for your favorite percussionist. Enjoy!
— Chuck Sher