How to Play Cajon Instrument
Cajon seems to be nothing more than a wooden box to us, right? but How to play Cajon is much more than just hitting a box. Even though its construction is somewhat simple than an original drum kit, its rhythmic possibilities are endless and diverse.
Boxes have been replacing drums for centuries. From originating in Peru in the 19th century to the Caribbean islands in the 20th century, or even the latest Flamenco style, this box has emerged as one of the most popular percussion instruments in the world.
Cajon is a percussion instrument that is played with hands by sitting on it. The player strikes different places of the tapa with the palm and fingers in to achieve various types of rendition. However, the techniques may vary from player to player. The basic tones are the Bass tones, High tones, Slap, and Pressed tones.
How to Play Cajon? Fix Your Posture
It’s very crucial to fix your posture from the very beginning of your learning process. It doesn’t affect the playing but it can affect your health in the long go. Sitting on the instrument must be in a way that doesn’t hurt your back even after playing for a long time. Sit on the back two third of a Cajon’s top, lying your feet flat on the ground. You need to lean forward enough to reach the playing area, so keep your back straight. Slouch will hurt your back after playing for a while. Also keeping in mind that your legs must be bent at right-angel, although the bend depends on the length of the legs. You can also spread your knees wide enough to be able to access the front plate.
Where to Tap? Know the Position
As posture plays a major role in playing cajon, knowing the position of tapping plays a key role to fix the posture. If one doesn’t know the actual position of tapping on the front plate, one may do the mistake of playing the cajon right down the tapa for no reason. Most of the playing is focused on the top third of the front face or tapa. Let’s discuss more the areas and basic strokes to produce the desired tones.
Basic Tones and Their Playing Area
Bass tone:
The low sound is mostly played as a bass tone, generated by striking the face half a foot down in the middle. This is down enough to allow the lower section of the face to resonate and create a deep focused, solid, and punchy bass tone. you have to remove your hands from the face after tapping it to make sure it can resonate. Initially, this stroke may need a little too much effort as you will need to reach far down keeping the rhythm consistent.
High tone:
High tones are mostly created by tapping on the top and corners of the tapa. As the upper half of the front is screwed down with the body, there is less vibration on it once it’s being stroked. Therefore, it results in a woody and high-pitched sound.
Know Your Strokes
Bass Stroke:
To create the bass tone, you must hit the face with a flat hand using both the palms and fingers slightly apart, allowing the hands to bounce off the instrument right after the impact. This stroke is made only a few inches from the tapa and creates a warm and fuller tone.
High Tone Stroke:
When you strike the top corners of the tapa with the palm, allow the fingers to strike two-to-four inches of both corners of the tapa face. The top is secured with screws which result in less vibration and higher pitch. The fingers should be relaxed and kept slightly apart to achieve the “pop” sound. This is similar to the slap tone that is popular in Latin drumming.
Slap Stroke:
A slap tone is generated when the middle of your palm touches the tone. front and rests on it while the relaxed fingers continue to move back and forth to create the slap. These strikes are made with the flats of the fingers held together on the top corners, leaving the fingers in contact with the surface after striking it, producing a short staccato sound which is similar to the staccato of traditional flamenco music.
You can play around more with the placement of your palm and finger orientation to create dynamics and different types of rhythm that are more muted and staccato. Some more strokes are below.
Pressed Tone Stroke:
A pressed tone is a kind of high tone where you play it by keeping your fingers together, striking the top corners with the flats of your fingers, and keeping them or pressing them on the surface for a long time. This stroke creates a subtleness in the high tone, that sounds staccato with a bit of pop.
Touch Stroke:
These strokes create tones that are light and therefore called grace tones or ghost tones. These tones are quiet yet add thickness to your groove and can be played on their own or can be incorporated into other tones. Touch strokes are typically played with fingers in the top corners. Playing the ghost tones in high volume can still add great effect but playing those tones a little down to the front can bring out more snare which can add nuances and colours to your music without being dominant.
Practice With or Without Music?
Achieving mastery of playing a cajon requires only practice. This can be a torment yet a great rapture! While learning new techniques or creating your own groove can be overwhelmingly joyous, getting used to the appropriate position while being consistent in playing and using accurate techniques can be a real hardship. But as we know, the practice needs no shortcut.
Playing along with metronomes and click-track is equally important but sometimes we need to enjoy while playing. No doubt, that a happy mind can help boost creativity. And seeing yourself being able to play and groove with some per-recorded music will do the job.
Meanwhile, cajon needs more of your time, effort, and dedication. Practice is very crucial in this case to improve writing. Just like how right practices can lead you towards perfection, the wrong can underpin the bad habits and make them tough to unlearn later on. So, learn the basic techniques properly by pouring all your attention into them, putting more time and effort into your practice; and being consistent and patient in mastering the instrument.
