A study of the language of Brazilian rhythms and song styles. Part I deals exclusively with Brazilian percussion instruments, with a description of each instrument and its rhythms, song styles, techniques, and applications. Part II addresses the drum set. Each rhythm is presented separately with background information, musical examples, and exercises.

An in-depth study (324 pages) of all the percussion instruments, rhythms and song styles of Afro-Cuban music, along with their applications to the drum set. Detailed technical studies of each instrument are presented along with notations of many rhythm styles. The entire rhythm section (parts for bass, piano, horn section, string section, tres, and guitar) is also studied in detail. The book comes with two CDs that include performances of each percussion instrument, drum set, all rhythm section instruments, as well as examples of all musical styles with full instrumentation in score form.