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Primary Samba |
Cornwall County Music Service
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| For those of you who are interested, here are the results of the 2009 Rio Carnival 'Grupo Especial': | |||
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399 Salgueiro 398 Beija Flor 397.9 Portela 397.6 Vila Isabel 396.9 Grande Rio 396.8 Mangueira 396.4 Imperatriz 395.1 Viradouro 393.1 Unidos da Tijuca 392.4 Porto da Pedra 391.5 Mocidade 390.7 Imperio Serrano |
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The Brazilian flag and motto -
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And here's a Brazilian flag made out of glass bottles cemented into a wall in the suburbs ('favelas') of Rio de Janeiro |
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| Welcome to the new Primary
Samba page. This has been created for primary school children
who are learning Samba as part of their school curriculum and want
to learn more about samba and Brazil. All the links on this page have been checked by school teachers to ensure they are safe for children to visit. |
| First, here's a description of
the main samba instruments used: Surdo (pronounced as it sounds!). The heartbeat of the 'bateria' (percussion section), these bass drums come in 3 different sizes, low, medium and high pitched. Their shells are made from aluminium, and we use plastic drumheads, although the Brazilians use calfskin heads which give a warmer and lower sound, but need to be carefully tuned at all times. |
| Repinique (pronounced 'Hep-in-ee-kay') - the 'chattering drum' of the bateria. This instrument is played with one short stick and a hand in Rio de Janeiro, but in the North East of Brazil can be played using a pair of whippy nylon 'samba reggae' beaters. This instrument is traditionally played by the 'mestre' (director) of the section and plays the signals and cues which the other players need to get started and play all the correct breaks. |
| Caixa (pronounced 'kay-sha') - a left-over from the European military bands which were stationed in Brazil in the late 19th Century, these small snare drums can either be played on a strap hung around the neck, or 'en cima' ('on the arm') where the drum is held on a raised arm; this is very tiring, especially for younger players! |
| Tamborim - pronounced as it is written - a small 6-inch drum which is played with a bunch of nylon sticks tied together, called a 'baquetta'. It is played very fast in Rio, using a flipping motion, but we play some simpler rhythms. Tamborim players are usually show-offs! |
| Agogo bells - a pair of metal bells on a springy bent metal rod. The bells play quick and pleasing rhythms, and because they sound high in pitch, they stand out at the 'top' of the bateria's sound. |
| Chocalho (pronounced 'Shock-al-yo') - we know these as the shaker, a single or double metal cylinder filled with lead balls. They are tiring to play, but are the musical glue which bind the sound of the percussion section together. |
| Samba is the
traditional parade music of most of Brazil. The biggest and
most colourful Carnaval takes place in Rio de Janeiro, the largest
city in Brazil. Carnaval is a 5 day long festival of music,
dance, costume and fun which happens just before the Christian
period of Lent, between Christmas and Easter. By comparison in
this country, we have Shrove Tuesday, more commonly known as
'Pancake Day'. I know where I would rather be . . . :-(
The biggest parade in Rio is
watched by hundreds of thousands of spectators in the Sambadrome, a
huge purpose built series of grandstands. These 2 photographs
have been taken near the crossroads about half way up the stands on
the plan below, looking towards the yellow Sector 1.
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| Why not have a look
on Google Earth; type in 'Rio de Janeiro' and see if you can find
the Avenue Marques de Sapucai, labelled 'Sambadromo'? It's
quite easy to find and runs North to South almost in the centre of
the city. It looks like a wide road which is almost a
kilometre long. Notice while you have a look around the city that it is built around a sheltered river mouth. Can you think of some places in Cornwall like this? Are they still used for ships and leisure boating? The shelter made the port of Rio De Janeiro very important when sailing ships needed to dock in order to load up with food, water and a cargo to take away. |
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| Here are links to
some of Rio's top Samba Schools ('Escolas de Samba'). Although
most of them are in Portuguese (the language of Brazil), there are a
couple which have an English version; these are listed first. The initials G.R.E.S. at the beginning of some of the titles means Gremio Recreativo Escola de Samba (Samba School Recreation Club), and means that the Samba School receives money from the Brazilian Government. It also means that the School is in the equivalent of the Premier League, called 'Grupo Especial', which consists of 12 Samba Schools, all competing for a place in the league just like football in this country. |
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| Academicos de Grande Rio - English site | Tradicao | |
| Unidos de Tijuca - English site | Vila Isabel | |
| Porto de Pedra | ||
| Imperio Serrano | Caprichosos de Pilares | |
| Mocidade Independente | Viradouro | |
| Academicos de Salgueiro | Portela | |
| Estacao Primera de Mangueira | Imperatriz Leopoldiense | |
| Beija-Flor | ||
| On many of these Portuguese sites there are a few quite obvious words; 'imagens' means pictures; 'enredos' means the samba theme, changed every year; 'noticias' means news; 'agenda' means diary; and 'galeria' means gallery, where you can find photos ('fotos') and videos (same word!). | ||
| Lastly, here are some mp3 files recorded in early December '08 at a variety of primary schools. Listen to the different versions, and keep checking this page, I might have recorded you and your group! | ||
| Mithian Samba Reggae Intro | Pennoweth Sambandana Batucada | |
| Mithian Samba Reggae Breaks 2 and 1 | Pennoweth Samba Reggae | |
| Mithian Samba Reggae Break 1 | Pennoweth Baion | |
| Mithian Batucada repinique call and Groove | ||
| Mithian Batucada Call and Response, Intro and Break 1 | Porthleven 4tet Batucada | |
| Mithian Batucada complete performance | Porthleven 4tet Baion | |
| Porthleven 4tet Samba Reggae | ||
| Troon School Foodie Boogie Band - Year 3 own composition! | ||
| Troon School Super Cool Samba School - Year 4 own composition! | Mount Hawke Class 3 Batucada with intro and breaks | |
