According to musical experts, like those found at My Music Supply, here are a few ways to improve your bongo drum playing.

First, you must listen to music and different rhythms and educate your ability to feel their pulse.This is not just a preliminary step, but something you must keep doing for as long as you play drums. You cannot be a good musician without listening to different music and be familiar with it. It must become a part of your culture.

Bongo drum practice exercises must also include various hand exercises, for warming up and also improve your technique and the speed of the execution. The principle is simple: the more you exercise, the better you play.

Bongo drums are a solo instrument, so you must have very well-trained hands and ears if you want to make an impression. Start your practice exercises with basic left-right single strokes, using only your fingertips. Keep your movements smooth, get into the rhythm and stick to the tempo for as long as you can. You need impeccable consistency at slower speeds if you want to improve your skills and reach a professional level. Gradually, move to more complicated strokes and keep aiming for consistency: double strokes (left-left-right-right) and paradiddles (left-right-left-left-right-left-right-right). Next, you must practice alternating between different fingertips, as well as the four-stroke pattern known as “manoteo”.

Once you can do all these consistently, you can start working on your independence.