William

Learn Percussion Volume 1; Congas Instructional DVD Pre-order today for only 15.00 including shipping! Item ships Friday Sept 28,2012

- basic exercises to develop good tone

- basic to intermediate rudiments

- mano secreta

- Tumbao, guaguanco, bomba (xica), pop patterns

The DVD should be a great addition to your library and is only $12.00!

New Cuatro! Notice the Taino frog necklace (matches the Taino Cuatro)

I recently acquired a new Puerto Rican cuatro. It is in the mandolin family I believe. Although I have been taking vocal lessons and learning some piano this cuatro is a whole new adventure for me. I started learning on a classical guitar years ago but since I did not have the love and passion for it like on the congas and other world percussion it just never stuck with me. With the cuatro however I am motivated by my love for the Puerto Rican culture, and people (It is the land of my Grandfather and uncles. My mother was one of the first of her siblings to be born in the States). The cuatro seems to have a large potential for versatility. If I desire a warm sound for classical styles or a high bright and folkloric sound for Aguinaldo it is all there. I am giving myself six months before I go public with my playing. I have a veracious appetite when it comes to learning a new instrument so don’t be surprised if I sound like a seasoned veteran when you hear me…OK well maybe that is not very humble of me haha… Just throwing in some light humor for you guys. Seriously though, I am believing for some great things and have faith that God will bless my fingers to play this instrument well. After all, it is all for His glory, and my intention to touch hearts through my music. Until next time my friends…

Lo siento de antemano por la mala jejeje españolas

Recientemente he adquirido un nuevo cuatro puertorriqueño. Es en la familia de la mandolina creo. Aunque he estado tomando clases de canto y piano, aprender un poco de esta Cuatro es una aventura totalmente nueva para mí. Comencé a aprender en un año de guitarra clásica atrás, pero ya que no tienen el amor y la pasión por ella como en las congas y percusión otro mundo simplemente nunca me quedó grabada. Con el cuatro sin embargo, me siento motivado por el amor a la cultura puertorriqueña, y la gente (es la tierra de mi abuelo y sus tíos. Mi madre fue una de las primeras de sus hermanos en nacer en los Estados Unidos). El cuatro parece tener un gran potencial para una mayor versatilidad. Si desea un sonido cálido para los estilos clásicos o un sonido de alta brillante y folclóricas para Aguinaldo es todo lo que hay. Me estoy dando seis meses antes de hacer pública mi forma de tocar. Tengo un apetito veraz cuando se trata de aprender un nuevo instrumento, así que no te sorprendas si sueno como un veterano cuando me escuchas … OK, así que tal vez no es muy humilde de mí haha … Justo arrojando un poco de humor luz para ustedes. Hablando en serio, estoy creyendo por grandes cosas y tener fe en que Dios bendecirá mis dedos para tocar este instrumento también. Después de todo, todo es para su gloria, y tengo la intención de tocar los corazones a través de mi música. Hasta la próxima mis amigos …

New Cuatro

Looking to book a Latin Jazz, World fusion, Contemporary, rock fusion band? New Music, and more!

Hello everyone out there in cyber-land! It has been a while since my last post and I am hoping I can alleviate my trend of scarce postings in the next couple of months. I have been very busy in the last couple months with writing songs for my third album “Mas Que un Sentimiento”, video tutorials, rebranding/organizing for the multi-cultural concert Heartbeat for Worship and preparing for next year’s summer festival season. I have spoken to some amazing musicians from all over the U.S. about collaboration on the new CD so I am very excited to see how it will come out. “Mas Que un Sentimiento” or More Than a Feeling is a world music, contemprary, rock and latin Jazz fusion project that will be hopefully due out this winter. I am planning to implement an even more folkloric feel with heavy percussion driving the music. In the meantime Flor de Vida is still available here via CD Baby, itunes, Amazon, and more.

Looking for a Latin Jazz band, cultural/ folkloric band, rock/fusion band? If you are a jazz, music, or cultural festival and concert promoter and interested in booking please feel free to contact me here (on the contact page there is a form that will go directly to me and my management team). You can also email me at williamjohnsonmusic@gmail.com.

God bless you guys and have a great week!

http://latinjazznet.com/2012/07/09/reviews/cds/william-johnson-flor-de-vida/

Giles on piano at the Campbell University Chapel

A few months back I had the wonderful opportunity of assisting in worship on percussion for the Campbell University’s School of Divinity Chapel. Prior to arriving on campus that morning I actually thought it was for the freshman. I was pleasantly surprised to discover it was actually for the Divinity school (I do love doing the freshman chapel service as well however).

Leading in worship (musically) was a good friend of mine and anointed musician Giles Blankenship. Giles has a unique way/gift of making you feel very comfortable in worship and the presence of the Lord. To discover his music or learn more about him visit www.gilesblankenship.com. I absolutely love worshiping with him. For the set I brought a cajon, foot pedal with tambourine bracket (I find this goes great with “CCM” type songs especially during the chorus), shakers, brushes for additional effects on the cajon, one conga, and some rattlers. It was an intimate service that I will most certainly not forget!
Also I had an opportunity to play again with one of my favorite guitarists Kyle Johnson. Kyle is on electric guitar on my latest project Flor de Vida.

The Campbell Chapel is an amazing venue. If you are ever near the campus you should stop by and check it out. The combination of cathedral ceilings, cedar wood beams, tall clear glass pane windows and stained glass make for a breathtaking view during the day from inside the chapel. The chapel is literally flooded with light during a clear sunny day. It was so beautiful to play those slow worship songs and to look out and see the light breaking through the room… breathtaking… Above is an actual photo from a rehearsal prior to the service.
I will never forget spotting a young lady sitting by herself meditating during the worship while we ministered in song. I love experiencing moments like that.

I have been playing percussion now for about 13 years. Although I have an intense love for music and instruments from all over the world, the congas have a special and unique place reserved in my heart. For me, as a music lover, playing the congas is a calling. I love the violin, the piano, banjo, harmonica, guitar, etc. but the sound of percussion speaks to me on a personal intimate level that is hard for me to explain. For me the love of music is perhaps more about harmony than anything else. Thats why I love making music on everything from wine glasses to pots and pans (seriously). Of course I could go on about this and get really “artsy” and abstract in my explanation…but I won’t (at least not now anyways haha). The reason I wrote this blog is not only to share my love for a particular instrument or sound but to encourage someone else who may be a lover of all things percussion, or anything that seems to abide in obscurity for that matter. I have often wrestled with the thought that I was made to be felt as inferior by others since I chose the congas as opposed to the piano or guitar. I have come to learn that over the years this has been probably more my own insecurities than anything else. I have however encountered many people from all walks of life who play the instrument and feel the same way. I have met many people who have come to learn the conga or percussion as a secondary instrument and later fell in love with it. Or they started playing percussion in church because someone was already on the drums. I really don’t have either testimony. The conga was the first instrument I was serious about learning.

My love for the congas really started out as a love for the African style hand drums and World music in general. I am a worship artist and have been now for several years but initially my influences came from the likes of Paul Simon (Graceland) and Martin Cradick (Baka and Beyond), Gloria Estefan, James Taylor, Peter Gabriel, and probably way too many more to name (not to mention some that I may not know by name). These were my childhood influences and many included the sounds of world percussion. I was mystified by its infectious and visceral nature to make one want to dance. I still remember spending time with my father in the mall as an adolescent and the day he brought Martin Cradick’s “Baka and Beyond” CD home. It changed my life and set me on a course of discovery. Little did I know that for me the deep passion and inquisitive mindset I had towards world music was really a hint to my calling. It would be a transitional moment for me and during a time in my life where I was heavily searching for identity. To this day if I hear that CD I am instantly carried away to that time in my life, with all the emotions, and memories of the era.

At the time I was also  truly in love with reggae music and the various cultures of the Caribbean. With the help of my father I made African style necklaces with carvings (by my father and I) and different color beads. I knew my family (the Garcia side) was from Puerto Rico but as I was growing up in Southern California and not around anything to educate me of the folkloric music of the island, my passion for it was not yet existent. In fact I didn’t even play an instrument at all. No, that would all come some years later. Music was to me something I loved but always approached as a lyricist; not instrumentalist.

Well, although I was falling in love more and more with the rhythm of the Afro-beat I was still completely ignorant to the drum itself (probably due to my overwhelming passion for sports mainly being track & field). Four months after enlisting in the Air Force at the ripe age of eighteen I was living in central Germany. It was traveling in Europe, where I would truly fall in love with the African drum and begin my journey into the world of Latin music more closely related to the land of my grandfather. I remember being on a trip to Spain in the city of Marbella and stopping off at a huge pottery store on the side of the road. In the back of my mind I was wondering if this place would have any type of drums but knew that was highly unlikely. As I walked through the isles of this huge pottery outlet I spotted it… high upon the top shelf; a beautiful handcrafted doumbek ( a Middle Eastern goblet drum). I pulled it down and brought it to the cashier and as the rest was history. Well I could go into detail on the rest but that would probably bore you.

That trip was the first time I can remember the passion to play the drum burn in my heart. On the way back to Germany we stopped in Venice, Italy. I remember staring through a large glass store window at a rope tuned african drum hanging from a display. The memory of it is still vivid and I look back on that time as the my conscious beginning of a road to discover the instrument I now love to play today.