Samba Batucada Rhythms
Samba Songs
• Upbeat songs, in 2/4 with light percussion (pandeiro; tamborim; cuica) • Emphasis on voice • Lyrics are about samba; love; sometimes social commentary • Carmen Miranda (19091955); film and recording star; introduced Brazilian music to world
Types of Samba
• Carnival samba (e.g. samba batucada and samba enredo)
– Characterized by heavy percussion, songs about themes presented in Carnival
• (Year-round) samba
Popular Music of Brazil: Samba
Samba
“Tudo acaba em samba”
• Afro-Brazilian urban popular song/dance form • Origins in rural roda de samba:
– Participatory – Accompanied by improvised songs and percussion instruments – Style: syncopated, call and response vocals, open-endeock, diatonic melodies
Ismael Silva
Nelson Sargento
– Characterized by light percussion and plucked string accompaniment (guitar, cavaquinho) – Songs often satiric, witty, improvised
Musical Characteristics
Escolas de Samba
• Mangueira (1929; colors: pink and green) • Portela (1935; colors: blue and white)
Samba Batucada
• Instruments of the Baterí a:
– Surdo drums (basic pulse in 2 divided among three sizes of surdo) – Pandeiro (sixteenthnote division) – Cuí ca (accents) – Tamborim (syncopation) – Caí xa (snare drum)
Samba de Morro
• Also called “roots samba” to distinguish it from commercialized samba • Sung by “sambistas”(singer/ composer of samba) • Instruments: guitar, pandeiro, tamborim, surdo, cavaquinho
Carnival and the State
• Before 1930, Afro-Brazilian instruments (drums; pandeiro) and cultural practices (e.g. candomble; capoeira) were banned. • 1930 – dictator Getulio Vargas begins subsidizing samba schools (approx. 15) in exchange for cooperation with gov’t • Samba schools have made Carnival in Rio a major tourist attraction
Carnival
• Escolas de samba: large musical organizations, includes percussionists, singers, dancers, samba composers, choreographers, designers • Determine theme, compose song, design float and costumes • Compete during parade
Carnival Samba
• Arose in Rio de Janeiro, early 1900s • Part of pre-Lenten festivities (called “Carnival:)” • Associated in past with poor AfroBrazilians; “street music” vs. music of the salon
• 2/4 time, emphasis on second beat (as played by surdo drums) • Other percussion plays interlocking, syncopated lines • Songs are strophic; major or minor keys; usually easy to sing • Chords limited to triads or seven chords