Martin Röttger – The Play Along Cajon

During the past five years Martin Röttger has made a significant contribution to the rapidly growing popularity of the cajon on the European music scene, taking it into new places and moving outside the traditional area of flamenco. Originally a drummer, his cajon playing is characterized by grooving rhythms and infectious energy and has inspired numerous others to take up the instrument.

In the late 1990s he founded the drum and cajon school “Drummatic” in Hamburg and has since taught at various other musical education institutes including the renowned Dante Augustin School in Switzerland. Today he is very active as a workshop instructor, presenting the first ever cajon courses at the Schorndorf Guitar Days and the Mediterranean Music School and has written several instructional books as well as working as a studio musician and performing live all over Europe.

He cooperates closely with leading cajon manufacturer Schlagwerk and is also an endorsee for Sonor, Paiste and Beyerdynamic. Röttger has reached a wide audience through his live performances with Abi Wallenstein and Steve Baker in BluesCulture. Their eponymous CD was released in March 2007 and won the quarterly prize of the German Record Critics. In 2009 they released their long awaited live CD “In Concert”.

Course Outline

This year’s class isn’t just aimed at beginners. It’s also suitable for anyone who has already taken part in a cajon course with Martin Röttger or another instructor. Although the course will naturally cover cajon basics, the main emphasis is on a real “world first” - the Play Along Cajon.

This is a brand new cajon system with integrated loudspeakers. All you need is an mp3 player, which is plugged into the cajon, and you can start playing along to your favourite music right away. It’s a completely new playing feel!

The course will therefore concentrate on working out grooves and playing them to accompany songs. For this purpose, Martin has prepared special playalongs representing a broad cross section of contemporary styles. The goal of the workshop is to help students develop the ability to accompany songs on the cajon and to learn to recognize and relate to the rhythms of other instruments. A Play Along Cajon can be provided if desired.

Topics will include:

–The basic strokes on the cajon: Tone, bass, slap, tap
–Fundamental exercises

–Commonly used techniques

–How to use the Play Along Cajon

–Analysis of the songs structures of the playalongs

–Playing along together (main emphasis!)

–Working with add ons for cajon such as Heck Stick, Side Kick,  Cajon Brush etc.

–Martin Röttger’s teaching methods

Course language: German, English if required

Musical requirements:
Students of all levels are welcome