cajonbox

My Youtube Lessons

Watch some of my Youtube lessons arranged in order for the beginner right here on my website. I have loads more video lessons on youtube! I would also recommend you subscribe to my youtube channel and go check out my specially made playlists.

If you enjoy my youtube lessons, you will definitely enjoy my NEW Modern Method for cajon video lessons! Check it out here

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My Youtube beginners videos playlist

Below you will find my free cajon lessons for beginners, arranged in order as I believe you should learn the excercises. It’s a form of a cajon course. More videos and lessons to follow, even with guitarist and bassist, so keep an eye out! Be sure to subscribe to my Youtube channel and subscribe my newsletter to stay updated on new lessons & videos!

Lesson 1.

An introduction to the cajon, the basic sounds and a first excercise for the cajon

Lesson2

An introduction to the origin of the cajon and your first cajon funk groove

lesson 3

Funk / R&B / Hip-Hop – Basic 4/4 groove

Lesson 4

Here’s a basic Rumba groove lesson, explained and counted. A very important groove for any latin music!

Lesson 5

Blues/shuffle/R&B groove on the cajon Plus practise along song

Lesson 6

A first co-ordination groove lesson, where you learn to play with a brush,

your foot and your hand simultaneously, and learn the samba groove

Lesson 7

Learn your first Bulerias (flamenco pattern) on the cajon,

how to count it, clap it and play it.

Lesson 8

A reminder on how important posture is and how to get the optimum sound out of your cajon.

Lesson 9

Another co – ordination groove lesson, this time we look at the bossa nova

Lesson 10

A lesson on how to mic up your cajon for live concerts and studio work.

NEW LESSONS!

Modern Method for Cajon

I’ve compiled all the basics to get you started on the cajon! These are some fundamental lessons to help you build a strong foundation for becoming a great cajon player. Once you’ve gone through these and you got the hang of it, I would suggest you continue your learning with the Modern Method for Cajon 🙂

I trust that you will enjoy it immensely!

Let’s get started!

Playing time: 1hr 36 mins / 24 videos

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I would love to hear from you!

What do you think of these lessons? Did you enjoy them? Do you have any questions? I would love to hear from you! Please leave a comment below!

115 Comments

  1. Yianni

    Hi Heidi,
    Thanks for doing such an sterling job and posting these videos. Learning a musical instrument has been a lifelong dream of mine for ages and after seeing a cajon being played in a jazz/funk band in Barcelona a few years back I was sold. I finally got one for xmas 2013 and these videos have made the whole process a lot easier so thanks and keep up the good work.
    All the best
    Yianni

    Reply
  2. Guilherme

    Ola!! Parabéns pelo seu som e aulas!!!
    Muito bom!!!! Sou musico e estou iniciando no cajon e suas aulas são de grande ajuda!
    Obrigado!

    Reply
  3. Lar

    Hi Heidi, fantastic percussion and teaching skills – thank you so much for doing the teachings!!! and ditto on the beauty comments – i hope that you have a blessed life with the one that wins your hearts affection. Keep up the great work and may you be very prosperous too!!!!

    Reply
  4. Jérôme

    Bonjour Heidi,
    Vos cours sont trop bien et vous jouer merveilleusement bien c est un vrai plaisir ……
    Jérôme

    Reply
  5. Ivan Mayorquin

    Hello please you have the tracks sounf for exemple bass with the practice cajon?
    I liked your system education program but i need this tracks.
    Thanks and God Bless

    Reply
    • Heidi Joubert

      Hey Ivan they are simple settings on garageband, just use some of the garage band loops!

      Reply
      • Randy Gilbert

        Heidi,
        Your vids are very helpful. I just about have finished building a Cajon for my daughter and needed to hear one. The sound is very interesting and I will probably build one for myself soon. Thank you very much and have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

        Reply
        • Heidi Joubert

          Yay!!1 Blessings!

          Reply
  6. Adrian

    Hey Heidi! Amazing work with your videos!
    I have recently purchased a regular drum set. Before that, I was using my cajon, and pretend to keep using it. With the drum set, i bought a 16” Stagg DH medium crash.
    My question is, if I hit it with my fingers, will it distort? I mean, I don’t want to ruin it for the drum set, since it’s all new.
    Thanks for your time!
    Adrian

    Reply
    • Heidi Joubert

      Adrian!
      Hitting the cymbals with sticks is much more aggressive for the cymbals thsn hitting it with your hands… Don’t worry about it!! Hit it with your hands!

      Reply
  7. dangthanh

    Hi Heidi Joubert
    I really look attractive when you play the cajon
    You have inspired me
    Thank your lessons
    a fan from Vietnam!

    Reply
  8. asep s

    thank you very much your video lesson is very help a lot to improve my skill,and i am enjoy your video coz you’re talented and beautiful of course haha.i hope someday i could see live at the watching your perform

    Reply
  9. Mark Doherty

    Hi Heidi,
    I’m purchasing my first Cajon next month which will introduce me into the world of percussion. I’m currently residing in Zhuhai in the South of China here near Hong Kong and Macau and am an active professional drummer and pianist, teaching and performing and am excited about learning the Cajon and expanding my horizons. I will study your videos carefully and email you with any specific questions,
    Thanks,
    Mark

    Reply
  10. Byron

    I’m sorry, I didn’t know that you’d replied to my question on youtube.
    Anyways, you are great!
    – Byron

    Reply
    • Heidi Joubert

      Hey Byron! Buddy don’t feel bad at all, the very reason I actually started putting up my videos and doing everything really slowly was cos I could NEVER catch anything from those fast vids!!!!! You;re great! And no one can run before they can walk!!! If you practise everything slow you are sure to get a great technique!

      Reply
  11. Byron

    Hello Heidi,
    I am new to cajon and am currently saving up to buy your line of cajon right now so I am using a shoebox with a hole to practice. However, I wanted to ask if you use metronomes when your performing or it’s just for exercises only?
    And, after finish watching all of your cajon basic course videos, and in order to improve playing cajon, I watched other videos.
    However, they’re not like you because they didn’t play slowly after going at a regular speed demo, thus I can’t learn the groove/beats that they demonstrated in the video. Do you have this kind of trouble in the past, and if you didn’t, does it mean that I am just not good or talented as you to play the cajon? :[
    – Byron {bigfan}

    Reply
    • Heidi Joubert

      Hello Byron
      This is a very good question. EVERYONE has trouble learning grooves and stuff at fast speeds, for sure me too!!! It’s only when it’s slow that I can learn it, and once I got it, only then do I take the speed up gradually, and this is why I take this approach in all my video lessons…. :-))) Hope it makes you feel better!!!

      Reply
  12. Ben

    Heidi!!
    These are some great instructional videos you have going here. Really diggin it! They are totally a ton of help; so thanks so much for doing this. I would like to ask where you get your loops from in garageband. I really liked the way you had your iPhone playing the kickin bass lines for the Blues Shuffle in Lesson 5. If there is any way that I can grab that bass file from you or you can point me in the right direction so that I can grab some off the internet, it would be really cool. I’ve been trying to get the shuffle groove for awhile now and I think the garageband thing is an awesome idea. Thanks in advance,
    ~Ben

    Reply
    • Heidi Joubert

      Hey Ben!! I will be uploading a video showing you exactly who to do it!! It;s hard to explain in words, so subscribe to my Youtube channel to make sure you get it when it comes out!

      Reply
  13. Hari

    Hi heidi. I am from nepal far away you….i used to play drums but its been a long time i didnt touch cuz its take big space and i dont have such a big space so i make my own cajon and trying learning by watching your videos so plz keep posting more videos so i can learn fromit

    Reply
    • Heidi Joubert

      Hey! 🙂
      Yip cajon is a good sub for the drum kit! 🙂 I will keep posting vids k!

      Reply
  14. René

    Hi Heidi!
    Now that I’m through your beginner’s lesson I feel also dedicated to leave a comment here. 🙂
    I used to play the drums until 6 or 7 years ago and then stopped making music completely (however I never gave up the plan to starting again!).
    Looking around on YouTube for good rhythms I found your lesson’s and inspired by this I decided to get me a cajon (unfortunately not a Cruz Cajón which I first recognized after ordering the first one). A few weeks ago I joined a Irish Folk Band. They were looking for a drummer and I suggested to try it with my cajón and me. This weekend we played the first time publically and it was great. I only can say thank you! When you’re playing with your band in Germany I would love to see and hear you playing.
    All the best from snowy Berlin, Germany.
    René

    Reply
    • Heidi Joubert

      Hello Rene!!!!
      Great great news!!! Thanks for letting me know how my free lessons has helped you to play your cajon, and now playing gigs with a band, wll done!!!! Send me some videos when you get some of you guys playing!!! Maybe I will see you in Germany when I visit your country soon!!
      x

      Reply
      • René

        There is one from our 2nd gig we had (bad quality though! But I think it’s a long way to go till we have professional recordings 😉 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFUue4g2-WY&feature=youtu.be
        It’s not the Bulerías played on the Cajon but it’s Irish Folk, quite simple music which makes it so sympathic.
        I recently added Bongos and the Meinl Cajon Bongo to my repertoire of instruments. The last one I find very interesting. It has a special sound and I was really curious to play it. A hybrid of the Cajon snare sound and bongo sound. It’s invented by Meinl themselves, isn’t it?
        P.S. I really looking forward seeing some more Bulerías lessons. I think you are right when you’re stating that this is what a Cajon is made for!
        All the best for your record release!
        René

        Reply
  15. Marc@ProtonStation

    Hi Heidi –
    I am from Toronto, Canada. Thanks for posting your videos – they are very well done. I am also a djembe player that is used to notating rhythms. Could you tell me if there is a common notation system for cajon? I would like to notate some of the rhythms I have been learning and adapting to cajon, and I’d like to start with a system right so I don’t have to rewrite it later. Any information would be useful. Cheers.

    Reply
    • Heidi Joubert

      Hey!
      The cajon is still rather new so there is really no set way of doing anything on the cajon, however, what with it becoming so popular, there are quite a few ways of doing things that are becoming common. I just don’t completely understand what you are refering to.You mean the drum key? Which notes/sounds gets written on which ledger or line?

      Reply
      • Marc@ProtonStation

        Thanks for the response. Djembe uses a slap, tone bass notation system. It’s sometimes written on ledger lines and sometimes written as S B T system eg. B T T S T T etc. Seems as the Cajon is so new that there hasn’t been a system written yet. If you find information, I would be interested. Cheers.

        Reply
  16. Norberto

    Hello Heidi,
    Thank You so much for your cajon videos, especially the beginner series. I have learned a lot. You are a great teacher and take the time to explain how to play the instrument properly. Please continue to add to your beginner videos. One wish would be to see a whole lesson on the Bossa Nova technique with the use of just hands to play the basic rhythm. Its seems like such a simple rhythm, but I just can’t get it right. I will be buying your new CD soon as I love your music. I am a total fan of Fernando’s Kitchen. Any chance you are coming to the US to play, anytime soon? Keep up the great work!!!

    Reply
  17. Iked Thijs Etpison

    Hi Heidi,
    Thank you for all of the free videos you’ve been posting! How long have you been playing? I’ve played the drums for a while and recently bought a cajon and I’ve learned a lot from your videos and just wanted to say you are amazing! You are a great teacher and I wish you had classes in Holland! Is there any chance that you know anyone in Rotterdam who offers Cajon lessons?

    Reply
    • Heidi Joubert

      Hey Iked
      I have messed around with the cajon for 5 years now, but only in the last 2 yrs have I started practising and becoming more serious…….
      Thanks for your wonderful comment! I do not know anyone who teaches in Rotterdam, but I do know that we intend to start up a cajon school in rotterdam, amsterdam and all over the EU, collaborating with other really great teachers that I would personally reccomend! Also I might very possibly do a few workshops in rotterdam in the summer this year later, so subscribe to myt newsletter to stay updated on all this exciting news! 🙂
      And in the meanwhile, you can join our online cajon school! 🙂

      Reply
      • Iked Thijs Etpison

        Thank you so much! I most certainly will!

        Reply
  18. Miguel

    Hi Heidi.
    Almost always listening to Vicente Amigo, Paco de Lucía, Chano Domínguez, etc. and now I have discover my next instrument, el cajón.
    Listen
    1-2……1-2-3……4-5-6……..7-8-9-10…….
    Te suena de algo…
    Don’t lost the “duende” that you have.
    Miguel from Madrid, pura vida.

    Reply
  19. Angela

    I love your lesson. I whish you have a lesson cd soon. Best whishes from Munich Germany

    Reply
  20. Adrian

    Heidi, Great videos – I’m still getting stuff from them ! Love the new funky one ! Keep up the good work.

    Reply
  21. Chris

    Curious on what you use for your cymbal? I have been trying to find an ultra thin crash but ended up getting just a thin crash (Wuhan) and waiting on it to arrive. Hopefully I will be able to play it by hand without hurting too much! 🙂
    Great videos and thanks so much for the instruction!

    Reply
    • Heidi Joubert

      Hey!
      I use many different one’s, my Fav one being the AAX XPLOSION Sabian crash, 10 or 11 inch, really nice and thin with a nice tone and good sustain, but I suggest getting a small splash too for that fast response crash
      let me know how you get on with your new cymbal!

      Reply
  22. Samuca

    Muchas muchas gracias por estos videos, estoy empezando y ya aprendí un ritmo gracias a sus videos, estoy muy emocionada por aprender más son muy buenos. 😀 Felicidades por la web esta genial!!

    Reply
  23. Emiliano

    hola! heidi.
    Muchas gracias por las lecciones, hace poco
    compre mi primer cajon, un 2 en 1 ( un lado peruano, y el otro flamenco )
    y ahora gracias a vos, estoy aprendiendo poco a poco como tocarlo.
    muchas gracias de nuevo!
    saludos desde argentina!

    Reply

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