Mel Bay The Bongo Book

Here's an entire book devoted to the all too often overlooked Latin instrument, the bongo drums. Trevor Salloum guides you on an inspired informative, and educational musical journey; offering many valuable insights of playing this instrument as well as revealing its colorful history. This text features jazz, rock, Danzon, Mozambique, and bomba patterns with fills, exercises, and performance techniques to get you going in these styles. Maintenance, characteristic rhythmic patterns, and important artists in the evolution of bongo technique are also covered in depth. The companion CD features recordings of the rhythm patterns discussed in the book.
Customer Review: Bongo Book
Serves its purpose well. It is the thinnist book I've ever seen, but hey it's about music. WHat more can you say. It isn't really worth the money. Get the CDs over this I recommend videos over both.
Customer Review: Not For Beginners!
The item description doesn't say that this book is for beginners. But based on the reviews I read it seemed like a good book for beginners. That was a horrific assumption. I don't blame the publisher for this, I blame other reviewers who lead readers to believe this is a good book for beginners. From the beginning this book uses all kinds of terminology that I've never heard of before (and I have played some keyboard, drums and guitar). Which leads me to wonder who this book is for because, in my opinion, anyone who can understand the terminology probably has no use for such a book. I do fault the publisher for the terribly exposed, grainy photographs. I also fault the publisher for allowing several interviews with bongo players which, in my opinion, do not belong in a book like this. The whole book just feels cheap as if it was quickly thrown together. As an absolute beginner what I would have liked to see is a more detailed explanation of technique along with photos (this book has a few photos, but most of them look the same, and the photos do not correlate with the techniques described in the text). I would also have liked to see more description of how to read the notation used in the book. And while I understand musical timing due to my previous experience an absolute beginner will have no clue as to what tempo the notes should be played, this is not described anywhere in the book. This is a very poorly executed and frustrating book about bongos. It borders on useless for a true beginner. If you are a beginning bongo player do not buy this book it will not help you learn to play the bongos and will give you nothing but frustration. I have no idea how a book like this ever made it to print.

Irish Astrology, also referred to as Celtic Astrology, is the astrological system practised by the ancient Irish or the Druids. Described in old Irish manuscripts it is based on an Irish Celtic Symbol system and not on any of the traditional systems such as Western, Chinese or Vedic astrologies.

The Celtic Zodiac is drawn from the beliefs of the Druids and is based on the cycles of the moon. The year is divided into 13 lunar months, with a tree (sacred to the druids) assigned to each month. Each tree has particular magical qualities whose secret mysteries come from the ancient shamanic alphabet, the Ogram. The origin of this Tree Alphabet is ascribed to the God of Poetry and Eloquence of Celtic Ireland, Ogam. He is also known as the Celtic Herkules.

The Druids were Celtic priests who inhabited much of Western Europe, Britain and Ireland until they were supplanted by the Roman government and, later, by the arrival of Christianity.

Some renowned Celtic scholars noticed, thanks to their vast understanding, that their were parallels between Celtic astrology and Vedic astrology. They discovered that the ancient Celtic astrologers used similar systems as those of the Vedic astrologers. Or perhaps vice versa.

Greek and Latin writers spoke of how the Celts were not only advanced in astronomy but that they were respected, especially by the Greeks, for their 'speculations from the stars'. Even the Romans paid tribute to their astronomy with some classical writers going as far as to say that the Celts were "masters of astronomy". One of the first to note that the ancient Celts believed the world to be round (not flat) was Martial (c. AD 40-103) who himself claimed Celtic ancestry.

The Irish (and the Celts generally) have a long tradition of astrological learning stretching back to a time before Christianity and the incoming of Greek and Latin learning. For too long now this rich tradition of Celtic Astrology has been sadly neglected.

Irish Astrology is about bringing awareness of the Celtic Symbolism that was used by the Druids in creating an astrological system that was used as early as the Vedic, Greek, or Roman systems. Click here for more info on Celtic Tree Astrology and Celtic Symbols

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