The form, rhythms, playing techniques and melodies were surely "classicise" in a long spontaneous process from an amateur practice first to perpetuate African culture in secret or even rebel circles (capoeira, afoxe, maracatu, etc. The samba is certainly one of the oldest typically Brazilian musical forms with an Afro-Amerindo-Portuguese mix (unfortunately often forced by the colonizers and slave masters, to annihilate communautarianism and specific and multiple cultural identities of slaves and other poor Brazilian social classes, and thus, meetings and dissident nationalisms which could ensue). Note that the Samba has a dance step of African tradition, very common, but is danced with high-heeled shoes to use the slip of leather soles on a smooth floor (parquet, asphalt, which boosts the efficiency and speed (one step by sixteenth note!): see photo: Gracyanne Barbosa, queen of carnival of the samba school Mangueira at Rio carnival in 2008, making this dance step with this so typical swaying hips): a cultural mix of genius simplicity and efficiency, in my opinion, that combines twice two cultural extremes (Europe and Africa, recent invention (high-heeled shoes) and oldest (barefoot!)). To listen : interactive audio demo with 15 voices Some instruments have a basic figure in one beat cycle (4 strokes or 4 sixteenth notes (semiquavers) with accent on the beat) as the shakers (ganza, chocalho, etc.), the reco-reco or the triangle, but most have a basic pattern in 4 beats or even 8 (apito (whistle)). The samba is a polyrhythm and a dance related (the word "samba" comes from the African word "semba" meaning "navel hit" in Bantu), in a global measure with 2 beats (2/4), punctuated by two surdos (large drum played with a "bat", "beater"), the high surdo marking the on-beats (the first) and the low, the off-beats (second), which is typically African (the inverse of rock and European drums in general).
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