Brazil is the birthplace of samba, a highly rhythmic, melodious, and lively musical expression. It is also a dance, often performed during Carnaval. The samba sound has its origins or roots in the African tradition in Brazil. The slaves brought not only the instruments (agogô, cuíca) but also the syncopated rhythms and gyrating dance moves.

Instruments

The unique samba sound is achieved through an array of interesting instruments. Possibly the best well-known musical elements in samba are the pandeiro, a larger version of the tambourine, and the cuíca, a drum-like instrument that produces a squeaky sound, very typical of samba songs.

Here is a list of some other samba instruments and their descriptions:

TRACK 89

• agogô: two bells together, which are struck with a stick or squeezed together

• caixa: a smaller drum with strings in the bottom that creates a sound like a “snare-drum”

• cavaquinho: a small, four string guitar-like instrument created in Portugal that later inspired the ukulele

• chucalho: a shaker instrument made by putting metal cans together and filling them with rocks, sand, or beans

• cuíca: a drum-like instrument with a stiff string inside, upon which the player slides his fingers up and down to produce a squeaky sound; the quality of the sound can change depending on how fast you slide and pressure put on the skin of the drum.

• pandeiro: larger version of the tambourine, which is played fast, and sometimes spun on one finger for show

• repenique: a medium-size drum, larger than a snare drum, that is played with a stick and one hand

• surdo: a very big drum that has a low but loud sound (surdo means “deaf” in Portuguese)

• tamborim: a very small, short drum, without bells or metal parts, that is played very fast with a stick

Types of Samba

Like many other musical genres, the samba has many subcategories. Aside from the samba enredo, the kind of fast, highly rhythmic samba performed during Carnaval, there are other slower versions of samba. One of the most famous one is the samba canção or “samba song.” These are slower samba pieces with romantic lyrics that are put to music and performed by traditional crooners. The pagode, which came into being in Rio and has been reproduced in other parts of Brazil, is the kind of samba sound that originated in the Brazilian backyards from people getting together and playing the various samba instruments for hours on end. All of these samba parties had the obligatory cerveja (beer) or cachaça (sugarcane-rum) that came with it a traditional party. There is a good amount of humor in the lyrics, which makes them extremely popular.

For more information about samba, check out www.worldsamba.org.

Bossa Nova

Brazil is not famous just for samba. There are several musical expressions that can trace its roots back to the country of Carmen Miranda. One of the most popular is bossa nova. This musical expression was started in the late fifties by upper middle class composers. It is a jazzy musical style that emphasizes the carefree living so typical of the Rio de Janeiro beach scene. For that very reason bossa nova was criticized, because it bore very little resemblance to the life of working class Brazilians, as many of the samba lyrics would have. One of the most famous bossa nova songs is A Garota de Ipanema (“The Girl from Ipanema”) by Antonio Carlos Jobim. This song is nothing more than a description of a beautiful woman walking to the beach. It's about the sweet way she moves and the sentiment of the composer, who confesses that she is the most beautiful thing that he has ever seen go by. The song became known to American audiences when Frank Sinatra recorded its English version and is known all over the world as one of the most recognized Brazilian tunes.

Música Popular Brasileira or “Brazilian Popular Music”

Also called “MPB” for short, this type of song grew out of the Brazilian protest songs of the sixties. This musical style can be traced to a strong reaction against the carefree lyrics of bossa nova. After the military coup of 1964, MPB artists strived to put the harsh reality of Brazilian life front and center. One of the songs that clearly depict working class Brazilians is Pedro Pedreiro by Chico Buarque de Hollanda. The song is a wonderfully written narration of the monotonous life of a bricklayer. Other famous MPB singers and composers include Milton Nascimento, Caetano Veloso, and Gilberto Gil. Veloso and others created the psychedelic music style of the seventies called Tropicália, which added to the richness of musical styles of the time. MPB is part of the Brazilian music scene to this day, with an incredible array of female interpreters, such as Maria Bethânia, Marisa Monte, Ana Carolina, and many others. Do not be surprised if you are invited to a party and one of the guests pulls out a guitar, starts a tune, and is joined by several others guests in singing well-known MPB lyrics.

Música Sertaneja: Brazil's Answer to Country Music

In contrast to samba and bossa nova, which are truly urban styles of music, música sertaneja has its origin in the interior or back country of Brazil. It has similarities to American country music, in that the lyrics reflect romantic themes and the plight of cowboys. It can be associated with the uneducated class, but the record sales of sertaneja songsters are a testament to its popularity.

Brazilian Classical Music

Perhaps people do not normally associate Brazil with classical music, but classical musicians are very familiar with the music of famous Brazilian classical composers. Two of the most famous ones are Carlos Gomes and Heitor Villa-Lobos. Gomes (1836-1896) was a distinguished nineteenth-century romantic composer born in Campinas, Brazil. He was one of the first New World composers to be accepted by the musical establishment in Europe. He became the protégé of D. Pedro II, Emperor of Brazil. He wrote piano pieces and operas, the most famous of which is Il Guarany, based on a romantic novel by the nineteenth-century Brazilian writer José de Alencar.

Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) is perhaps the best well-known South American classical composer. He was largely self-taught and wrote Bachianas Brasileiras, inspired by the art of Johann Sebastian Bach and the Brazilian musical tradition. He traveled extensively in Brazil collecting samples of folk songs, even going to the Amazon to familiarize himself with the music of the indigenous peoples. He wrote many piano pieces that incorporated both Brazilian folk music and stylistic elements of European tradition.