Cajon players are a vital part of many musical genres, including flamenco, Latin, and world music. They use their hands to create a variety of sounds and rhythms on the cajon, from deep bass tones to snappy high-pitched pops. Some cajon players also incorporate other percussion instruments into their performances, such as shakers or cymbals, to add even more texture and complexity to the music.

Cajon players can be found in a wide range of musical settings, from intimate acoustic performances to full-scale concerts and recordings. They are often highly skilled musicians who have spent years perfecting their technique and developing their own unique style of playing. Cajon players are essential to many musical ensembles, adding a dynamic and engaging element to any performance.

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 19^th century to the Caribbean islands in the 20^th 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.

Cajons should be tuned so that you don’t miss the cleaner sound and more accurate experience it has to offer. While performing the process of tuning, you should focus on tighter strings, faster response, and cleaner sound. So, use a mixing desk to equalize the sound while adjusting the snare. The tighter the strings, the cleaner will be the sounds and the loosened strings offer flexibility with more snare sound that is beneficial for higher frequency and when there is a need to sustain. And if you are hearing a buzzing sound from the strings, taping certain parts of them inside of the front panel of Cajon can help stop the buzzing. Additionally, loosening the screws on the tapa, adding a port, or using a pillow can also provide better tuning results.

Tuning a cajon involves adjusting the pitch and resonance of the drum to produce a desired sound. Follow these steps to tune your cajon:

1. Determine the sound you want to achieve: Do you want a low, deep sound or a high-pitched, snappy sound?
2. Adjust the snare wires: The snare wires located inside the cajon can be adjusted to create different tones. Tighten them for a sharper sound or loosen them for a deeper sound.
3. Adjust the playing surface: The playing surface of the cajon can be adjusted by tightening or loosening the screws that hold it in place. Tightening the screws will produce a higher pitch, while loosening them will create a lower pitch.
4. Adjust the sound hole: The sound hole on the back of the cajon can be covered or uncovered to adjust the resonance of the drum. Covering the hole will produce a deeper sound, while uncovering it will create a brighter sound.
5. Experiment: Keep adjusting each element until you achieve the sound you want. Remember, tuning a cajon is subjective and depends on personal preference, so trust your ears and have fun ex