"Note: These instructions have been taken word for word, and put up on another bongo site. If you should see these exact words elsewhere, please remember that they have come from this page, where they were written by stu in 1997" - stu

The Martillo or hammer is the basic bongo rhythm when playing traditional bongo music. Bongos are capable of a great variety of sounds, based on where you strike the head, with which fingers, whether you muffle the head with the other hand, etc. Even the Martillo has five different sounds in it. Listen in RealAudio for a 28.8 modem:

Martillo.ram

Left Hand strokes

T = thumb stroke played in the center with the left hand, the thumb remains on the drum to muffle and raise the pitch of the next stroke
B = brush sroke. The 2nd and 3rd fingers of the left hand brush across the macho (smaller) head.
The left hand alternates between these two strokes. This alternating pattern is called manoteo.

Right hand strokes

X = a stroke played near the rim crossing the edge of the head at the first joint (one or two fingers, depending on the tone and volume desired.)
O = a rounder, more open tone obtained by moving the fingers farther in on the head.