Bay Area Bomba and Plena: Puerto Rican Percussion Workshop - Starting Wednesday September 18, 2013

Puerto Rican Percussion Workshop (Bomba and Plena will be covered along with other Puerto Rican percussion styles.)

La Peña Cultural Center on Wednesdays starting September 18, 2013. Level I, 7:00 pm to 8:15 pm; Level II, from 8:30 to 9:45 pm

*Location: La Pena Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, CA*
This 16-week workshop provides a foundation for percussion students and professionals interested in the musical traditions of Puerto Rico. Sessions will focus on the role of the percussion section in a variety of genres and subgenres of Puerto Rican music including Plena, Música Jíbara (mainly seis, aguinaldo, llanera and guaracha jíbara), and several major styles of Bomba (siká, kuembé, yubá, holandés and seis corrido). The last two weeks of the series explore how these song forms and their rhythmic vocabularies have been adapted to Salsa and Latin Jazz pieces/arrangements. The workshop seeks to develop and strengthen practical and conceptual skills in all of these genres and their stylistic variations. Participants will learn proper technique to play a variety of percussion instruments: panderos or panderetas de plena, the güícharo (Puerto Rican güiro used in plena and música jíbara), barriles or bombas (bomba drums), cuás, maraca de bomba, and the bongó as used in música jíbara. We will also consider examples of how congas, timbales and the drum set have been adapted to play these rhythms. This workshop also offers a general introduction to the history and socio-cultural context within which these musical traditions developed.

The workshop has two levels: 
Level I is for beginning percussion students; Level II is appropriate for students with a good foundation in Puerto Rican music and/or intermediate-to-advanced level skills in percussion. We will meet at La Peña Cultural Center on Wednesdays starting September 18, 2013. Level I, 7:00 pm to 8:15 pm;

 Level II, from 8:30 to 9:45 pm; BUT first session will be from 7 to 8:30 pm for all, after that we will divide the groups. The cost of the entire series is $240 ($15 per session) or $18 drop in. 

For more information or enrollment contact the instructor  Hector Lugo at hectorlugo65@gmail.com or 510-927-7984. 

The Puerto Rican Percussion Workshop is another project of The Bomba y Plena Workshop; check out our other classes (Adult Bomba, Youth Bomba y Plena Workshop, Puerto Rican Music Ensemble) and please, help us spread the word. Thanks!!