Samba BatucadaPercussion music of the Brazilian Carnaval!

The Carnaval in Rio

The Atmosphere

The People

The Parade

The Samba Band

The Costumes

…and more costumes…

The Instruments

-the ‘heartbeat’ of the samba band

-played with a soft beater and a hand to dampen some notes

- plays the ‘bass’ line

-if you play this part, you must be able to keep a beat really well!

Surdo

-plays a syncopated lively part with high and low notes

-tricky rhythms

-if you play this part you should be able to keep a tricky rhythm going

Agogo

Tambourim - with an ‘m’!!

-can be played with fingers on the drum skin (dampening the sound) or fingers off

-played with a beater or chopsticks

-plays the ‘groovy’ rhythms

Chocalho-sound similar to tambourine jingles

-hold at both ends and shake back and forth

-constant rhythm

Cuica-sounds like the bark or growl of a dog or when you pull a straw though the lid of a plastic cup from 7-11

-inside the drum there is a stick attached to the head

-played by rubbing a damp cloth along the stick inside the drum

Caixa-a marching drum or a snare drum

-two drum sticks are used and normal stick technique is applied

Apito-similar to a sports whistle

-is played by the group leader to indicate the sections of the piece

How to play a Samba piece

• Learn the ‘main groove’ which is used through most of the piece

• To start the piece there is usually an ‘intro’, often a call and response with the leader

• To end the piece use an ‘outro’ which can be the same as the ‘intro’

• To make the piece more interesting use one or more ‘breaks’. These are different rhythms that everyone plays together for one or more bars in the middle of the piece.

A typical piece could be like this:

• Intro

• Main groove

• Break 1

• Main groove

• Break 2

• Main groove

• Outro

Brazilian Football and Samba

• Brazilian football is strongly associated with samba.

• Some say that good football is played with a samba rhythm in the feet!

Escolas de Samba

• There are many schools that teach samba in Brazil and there are many competitions for their best bands!

• Here are some of the school badges: