Samba and the National Identity of Brazil

2169 Words5 Pages

Art has always been used to symbolize one’s culture, history, society and national identity. Countries identify each other through their culture, their art. Art has many forms, one of them being music. One of the most famous music genres in the world is samba. Due to the fact that Samba is the musical life force of Brazil; it ultimately represents their national identity.

To better understand why samba represents the Brazilian’s national identity, one has to understand the history of Brazil and samba. Samba can be heard all throughout Brazil. It is a musical genre complemented by song and dance that includes a group of percussion instruments and guitar. The puxador (lead singer) starts the samba, occasionally singing the same song for hours at a time. The obligation of maintaining thousands of voices in time with the drum rests on his shoulders. Bit by bit, the other members of the escola (samba group) come in, and with a whistle from the mestre de bateria (percussion conductor) - the most exciting moment of the parade occurs as the percussion section crashes in. The surdos (bass drums) keep the 2 / 4 meter, while caixas (snare drums) and tamborins accent the second beat. This percussion ensemble, speak of as the 'bateria', frequently includes instruments such as the agogo (double bell) and reco-reco (scraper), as well as the prato, repique, pandeiro, tamborim, and ganzathe. The only stringed instrument is the great pitched cavaquinho (ukulele). Together these instruments combine to create polyrhythms that cross and align, contrast and reinforce with each other in an animated style less formal than marcha or maxixe. Couples often dance to samba in physically tight, close movements similar to the lambada and l...

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...'s national musical style. Samba's roots come from a mix of different culture Africa, mainly Angola via the West African slave trade and African religious traditions, and impetrated it is form from Portugal and Europe, which made it possible for the slaves to relatively intricate melodies found in samba to be developed out of European tradition, giving it is birth at Praca Onze. Samba is a symbol of Brazil and the Brazilian Carnival, making it so an icon of Brazilian national identity.

Works Cited

DeCouto, N. Personal Interview. November 2, 2011.

McGowan, C. and Pessanha, R. The Brazilian sound: samba, bossa nova, and the

popular music of Brazil. Temple University Press: Philadelphia, 1998.

Page, J. The Brazilians. Addison-Wesley: New York, 1995.

Smith, T. Brazil: People and Institutions. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press,

1946.

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