Y E A R

U N I T

S A M B A

C H 5

LEARNING MORE
ABOUT SAMBA
Name

Form

In Brazil's musical history Samba plays an enormous part. It is what has become known as
carnival music from Brazil that features a large percussion ensemble called a Bateria. It is
music to dance to and has its own characteristic rhythms that distinguish it from other Latin
American music. The music originates in Rio de Janeiro and is a mixture of
Portuguese/Spanish/African and Cuban cultures. There are many different types of
Samba incorporating many different styles and influences - two of the most common forms
are Samba Reggae and Samba Batucada, both of which use the same instrumentation.
Match each of the instruments below with their correct name from the box below:
__________- A bass drum used to mark the
beat of samba music. They keep a steady beat
and alternate between higher and lower pitches.
A smaller surdo often plays an important role
within the ensemble.

______________ - A drum very similar to the

Repinique but with springs on the bottom to create
vibration much like a snare drum.

____________- A small drum similar to the snare drum

but taller that is usually played with one stick and the bare
hand. It has a more metallic sound than the snare drum
and can be used to play solo cues such as call and
response patterns.

____________- This is a small-headed drum

that is tuned very high and struck very quick
and sharp with a flexible stick. The player is
able to press and tighten the skin or dampen
the sound whilst playing and plays more
complicated rhythms than the surdo or
chocolo.

_______________- A shaker made of either many

small cymbal like metal pieces or a large metal cans
filled with rocks, sand or other material. It plays even
notes throughout.
__________ - A cowbell sounding instrument with
two bells that is struck by a wooden stick used in
samba music. The bells can also produce a sound
by squeezing them so that they strike each other.
Like the tambourim the ago-go plays more
complicated rhythms than the surdo or chocolo.

RECO-RECO
AGOGO
REPINIQUE

______________ - This is a scraper which plays the

same time values as the chocolo.

TAMBORIM
SURDO
CAIXA DE GUERRO

CHOCOLO

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Y E A R

U N I T

S A M B A

C H 5

Read the following passage which describes how a typical

piece of Samba is constructed filling in the missing words from
the box below.
Samba is made up of several parts which move from one to the
other in complete and flowing movements.
These are:
An opening, generally with a ________________. This can go on for whatever length of
time is appropriate, with the leader calling and the rest of the group responding, either
repeating exactly the rhythm of the leader or playing a pre-rehearsed rhythm.
The opening generally ends with a rehearsed call and response which acts as an
________________to the main rhythm of the piece - the__________________.
The Main Groove is when all the instruments play their respective ______________over
and over. This is the main body of the piece.
The piece can end in many ways; either just stopping, returning to a Call & Response, or
simply ending with a pre-rehearsed ending phrase or rhythm.
Once these sections have been learnt, then it is time to introduce ________________.
These are parts of the piece where the Main Groove stops and other things happen.
For instance:

Everyone plays the same rhythms, which are generally pre-rehearsed (e.g. clave)

Certain _______________play on their own

Instruments play ________________rhythms

Vocal Breaks

All these breaks, as well as the ending and other things that occur throughout the piece
need to happen so that everyone changes at the same time. This means that the leader
has to _____________to the group what the next change will be. It is generally better to
keep these signals simple, as so not to confuse, but liken these signals to a motorway
junction sign - when you see the sign you do not immediately turn off, but you wait for the
actual junction. Therefore when you give a sign, and everyone has understood the next
move (this means all _____________on the leader throughout), you have to follow it by
either giving a 1 2 3 4 count in, or giving 4 _____________.
INSTRUMENTS
WHISTLES

RHYTHMS

CALL AND RESPONSE

INTRODUCTON
GROOVE

DIFFERENT

SIGNAL
BREAKS

EYES

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