Pop Reggae Groove on Cajon
Basics
To play a reggae groove on the cajon, follow these steps:
1. Start with a basic beat by hitting the front plate of the cajon with your dominant hand while keeping the other hand on top of the cajon. Play the bass tone with the palm of your hand and the snare tone with your fingers.
2. For the reggae groove, emphasize the second and fourth beats of the measure. This creates a skank rhythm that is characteristic of reggae music.
4. To add more variety to the groove, you can experiment with different patterns and accents on the cajon. For example, you can play a cross-stick sound (hitting the edge of the cajon with the snare hand) on the off-beats, or add in some ghost notes (softly tapping the cajon for a subtle percussive effect).
5. Remember to keep the groove steady and consistent, and feel the rhythm in your body as you play. Reggae music is all about the feel and groove, so let yourself.
The Groove
Today I’m going to teach you this groove I use all the time when I play pop, reggae, soul many other styles. It’s a simple groove, but as I always say, simple but no easy. The pattern is simple but the key of this groove is the feel, how you apply the right swing feel when you play the groove.
We start slow at 60bpm and I expect that you play with me . Then after you learn the groove with the right feel and can play it at 60, 70, 80 bpm we’ll try it at he goal tempo of 90bpm. After you feel comfortable with the groove, you have it integrated, you are going to play with music. I have included the Backing track in the video for you to practice the groove with music.
And the free notation is in the Free Tool Area at cajonmaster.com
Time to learn the groove, let’s get started!
I hope you like the groove. You can get this and all of my free pdf downloads in the free area at cajonmaster.com
I hope you are having fun with the cajon, this is the most important
I’ll see you soon in the next lesson, bye!