There are diverse global traditions of drumming as varying as the cultures that produce them. I wish I wish I could share more my particular interest is music of the African diaspora. As a result, the resources described in this article focus on two types of drum traditions: the djembe and dunun of West Africa, and congas and other percussion used in many styles of music from the Americas and Caribbean.
The apps, membership sites and books I share below I have used personally at different stages of my learning journey. They are built by practitioners who have studied the traditions in the place of their births from culture-bearers and innovators. This roundup covers some of the best learning media out there right now: apps for your phone, books for your shelf (or your bag), and online memberships. I’ve flagged each resource by the tradition it focuses on so you can navigate to what serves your path.
Apps
For Both African and Latin Traditions
PercussionTutor (iOS) $14.99
If you’re exploring hand percussion more broadly, PercussionTutor is one of the most geographically diverse apps available. It includes rhythms from Cuba, Colombia, Puerto Rico, West Africa, Peru, and more — making it a genuinely useful reference whether your focus is djembe, congas, cajon or more. It functions as a rhythm library and play-along tool, giving you an introduction to multiple traditions side by side. A great starting point for educators or students who want a wide-angle view of the hand percussion world. You can also get access to their free eBook, which features video links and notation, here.
For West African / Djembe
The two apps below might seem at first glance to be very similar but they each have their own strengths. They were created by students of the great master drummer Mamady Keïta from Guinea. Both offer many rhythms with notation for free along with a range of worthwhile paid features.
djembeföla! (iOS) Free & in-app purchases
The name says it all — djembefola is the Mande word for a djembe player, someone who speaks the drum. This app, like MoRhythm, features important rhythms to West African cultures arranged by level of difficulty. Djembeföla! has a whole section dedicated to the Dununba family of rhythms — the powerful festival rhythms associated with celebrations of strength and community. To unlock bundles of rhythms ranges around $15.
MoRhythm-Africa (iOS) Free & in-app purchases
Developed by Monette Marino, MoRhythm-Africa is a content-rich resource for West African drumming with a key advantage: downloadable videos you can access offline. It includes instructional content that is not available on djembefola; videos on playing the Dununs (the bass drums of the djembe ensemble) in ballet style — the stage-performance approach developed through the great national ballets of Guinea and Mali. For beginners, the video feature of MoRhythm is very useful and the cost to unlock bundles of rhythms is cheaper than with djembefola, ranging around $5 per bundle and then an extra 99c to unlock the videos per rhythm.
Books
Drum Circle Facilitation (Tradition-Neutral)
These books are less about specific cultural traditions and more about facilitation, community drumming, and the art of holding a rhythmic space for groups of players at any skill level. If you’re a teacher or facilitator, these techniques are great for ice breakers or fun diversions from the more serious practice of traditional rhythms. All three “books” include video content and have been invaluable additions to my music classroom.
Drum Fun — Kalani $20
Drum Fun: Musical Games for Groups is a collection of activities that use rhythm, movement, voices, and musicality within a group setting. Presented by Kalani — a highly regarded music educator and music therapist — the activities work with all types of populations, from music education to music therapy to recreational settings. It features over 25 different games that can be played with or without instruments. Perfect for music educators, music therapists, community music leaders, and drum circle facilitators.
Drumagination — Dave Holland $29.95
Written by nationally recognized percussionist and drum circle facilitator Dave Holland, Drumagination is a collection of activities that are easy to learn and guaranteed to engage rhythm makers of all ages. It comes with videos demonstrating each activity step by step, the way Dave presents them in his own drum circles and workshops. This book is one of those hidden gems full of great ideas — it’s available as an eBook and as a small spiral bound book, and it has already received rave reviews from hundreds of professional rhythm facilitators around the world. I have adapted one of his activities for a cross-curriculum activity you can find here.
For Multiple Traditions
Shadowing the Lion — Bill Matthews $30
This is one of the most comprehensive and far-reaching collections of traditional rhythms I’ve seen in one book. It features rhythms from the Congo, Ghana, Cuba, Haiti, and more — over 500 drum and bell patterns from traditional African and Afro-Caribbean cultures across 220 spiral-bound pages. This book combines many parts of author Bill Matthews’ previous books — including The New Conga Joy and Drum Talk — into one volume. There are 76 rhythm ensembles, 78 rhythm dialogues (rhythms adapted for two drums that highlight the main “conversation” of traditional rhythms), 40 hand-crafted 8-bar solos, and an extensive bell and clave section, plus drum tuning charts and break phrases. Companion CDs are available separately, but if you search Conga Joy on streaming services there are some fantastic recordings available — my favorite is Vol. 2, which highlights the ensemble rhythms. Discounts are available for teachers and schools — order by contacting Bill Matthews directly via the Conga Joy website.
For Afro-Cuban / Latin / Conga
Afro-Cuban Percussion Workbook — José Eladio Amat & Curtis Lanoue
A structured, technical workbook approach to Afro-Cuban drumming that functions almost as an encyclopedia of Cuban rhythms and styles for congas, timbales, and full percussion sections. Full rhythm charts for folkloric rhythms using large instrumentations make this particularly valuable for percussion groups and classes looking to expand their world music repertoire. More advanced percussionists will find the appendices containing drum solo patterns especially useful.
Afro-Cuban Rhythms: Gig Savers Complete Edition — Trevor Salloum
Salloum’s Gig Savers Complete Edition covers traditional folkloric rhythms —Yambu, Guaguancó (both Havana and Matanzas styles), Rumba Columbia, and Conga from three regional traditions, Bembe, Makuta, Yuka, Palo, Arará, Abakuá (Havana and Matanzas), Gagá, Vodú, and Iyesa. Trevor Salloum’s YouTube channel features live instruction on many of the rhythms in the book and those he doesn’t cover you can find in some of the services below.
Online Memberships & Communities
For Both West African Djembe, Congas, Shekere and More
Michael Pluznick — Online Courses — $20/month
With over 30 years of teaching experience and a biography that reads like a who’s who of world percussion, Michael Pluznick is well worth learning from. His journey took him from studying Afro-Cuban rhythms in Havana with the legendary Pello El Afrokan, to training with Mamady Keïta and West African masters including Karamba Diabáté and Bolokada Condé, to performing with Olatunji in Golden Gate Park, recording with Mickey Hart, and traveling twice to Mali and once to Guinea to deepen his studies. He offers online courses spanning djembe (beginner through professional level, plus a dedicated dunun course), congas, bongos, and shekere — making this one of the very few memberships where you can genuinely explore both the congas, djembe and more side by side at every skill level. I highly recommend you follow Michael Pluznick on social media, he is always posting interesting and informative content.
Kalani — Patreon $10-$35/month
Kalani is a professional percussionist, educator, and music therapist who helps thousands of people across the world to better connect with music and each other. His Patreon subscription includes djembe, congas, bongos, cajón, traditional rhythms, ukulele, tuned percussion, and drum circle facilitation advice. The breadth of his teaching — from music therapy to traditional cultural rhythms — makes this subscription a compelling choice for those looking for a wide variety of learning beyond hand drumming alone.
For West African / Djembe
Monette Marino Drum School — $10–30/month
Monette Marino spent the majority of the past two decades studying directly under master drummer Mamady Keïta from Guinea. She received her Teaching Certificate from Keïta in 1999 and opened a branch of Tam Tam Mandingue USA in San Diego; from 2004 to 2012 she managed Mamady’s world tours, assisted him in teaching master classes, and performed with his ensemble, Sewa Kan, receiving her full diploma from Tam Tam Mandingue in 2011. She was the winner of the 1st National Hand Drum-Off Competition in 2001. Monette has since founded her own school of percussion, Mo’Rhythm, and her membership offers structured content rooted in authentic Guinean repertoire and ensemble practice. Her membership is the only way you can access a series of original djembe solos composed by Mamady Keita for study of a range of traditional rhythms. Her YouTube channel features some really useful djembe warm ups that I haven’t been able to find anywhere else.
Michael DeMiranda $5 and up
Michael DeMiranda came to percussion through a richly musical family — his father was a Surinamese guitarist for whom making music was simply part of everyday life. After training on multiple instruments and studying percussion formally at the music academy, he traveled to Cuba, Brazil, and Africa to study the percussive techniques of different cultures firsthand. He describes tradition as essential: “it is important to know the origin of things — only then can you play with full knowledge and scope.” His Patreon offers primarily Afro-Cuban and Brazilian content with high quality videos, play along tracks and multiple levels of access from videos-only through to private lessons and even advice on your band.
For Afro-Cuban / Latin / Conga
Conga Chops — $30/month
Founded in 2018 by Paulo Stagnaro — a two-time Grammy Award winner who has been a member of Ricky Martin’s band since 2014 and whose resumé includes performances with Sting, Paul Simon, and James Taylor — Conga Chops has grown into the leading online community for Latin percussionists. The platform also features Marcos López, a native of Puerto Rico currently on tour with Marc Anthony, and Marcos Torres, a Grammy Award-winning engineer and percussionist of Puerto Rican and Mexican heritage. Together they offer over 90 hours of step-by-step video lessons filmed in 4K, masterclasses with legends including Marc Quiñones and Bobby Allende, and a practice loop library recorded by Grammy-winning musicians. Paoli Mejías, percussionist for Carlos Santana, has described it as “one of the most comprehensive educational online learning resources available today.” Strong for intermediate to advanced players, but well-structured for beginners too — and there’s a free 7-day trial. Even if you just sign up for the newsletter you get great value, as you’ll receive a daily practice routine that is very well structured and explained thoroughly in their online videos.
Carolyn Brandy — Tumbadora Academy $30/month
Carolyn Brandy started playing the conga drums in 1968 and has spent more than five decades as a pioneer in opening doors for women in the world of Afro-Cuban percussion. She has led six tours to Cuba to study music and dance with masters of Afro-Cuban folkloric music, studied directly with master drummer Mario Jauregui (director of percussion at the Conjunto Folclórico Nacional de Cuba), and holds a degree in Music Education from Holy Names University in Oakland. Her Tumbadora Academy is a community-based membership platform that combines instruction with conversation, cultural context, and a genuinely supportive environment. An excellent choice for players who want both technical depth and the broader story of the tradition.
Final Round Up
I have personally used all of these products. The beauty of the books and the apps are that they are a one-time purchase. As for the subscription services, I can’t afford to stay subscribed to them all so I find myself subscribing for 1-2 months at a time to draw on specific information and techniques when they are part of my practice routine. Each site, app or book has some gold that you can’t find anywhere else. Happy Drumming!
Photo by Luisa Fernanda Bayona: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-man-in-black-leather-jacket-playing-drums-6449867/
