In the previous article, I tried to explain briefly what is the Brazilian Carnaval. More than just a holiday, is a state of mind that “possesses” millions of Brazilians.

In this article, I will continue to the previous, but now the main focus is Brazilian rhythms that are heard and danced during Carnival. I hope that the reader has in mind two things before reading the article:

1) I am citing only the most known genres, because the amount of musical styles in Brazil is enormous;
2) The descriptions here are generic because to describe properly the musical styles below is a task for historians and anthropologists (due to the diversity of styles and influences).

Frevo

The Pernambuco’s Frevo (Pertnambuco is a northeastearn state) is a derivative of the march, the gherkin and poultry. Emerged in Recife at the end of the nineteenth century, the frevo is characterized by extremely rapid pace.

The dance of frevo can be in two ways, when the crowd dancing, or when passistas (dancers) perform the most difficult steps in order acrobatics. The frevo has cataloged more than 120 dance steps.

You can say that frevo is a creation of composers of “fast” music, made for the carnival. The musicians thought about giving the people more whoopee in animation (I do not know if that term can be translated into English, so I chose that word). During the time, the music rhythm of the music is intensified and accelerated, accompanied by characteristics of a distinctive dance steps and acrobatic loose.

That’s the best dance in the whole world if you want to loose some weight.

Axé

The Axé or also known as Axé music is a musical genre emerged in the state of Bahia in the 80’s, during the demonstrations of the Carnival of Salvador, which mixes the march of Latin-Caribbean Music with Frevo, Forro, Maracatu, Reggae and Calypso.

The word “axé” is a religious greeting used in Candomblé and Umbanda, which means positive energy.
With the impetus of the media, the axé music quickly spread throughout the country (with the performance of off-season carnivals, the micaretas) and has been strengthened as industry, producing successes throughout the year.

Crowd in Salvador City

Samba

The samba is a musical genre and a type of dance of African roots emerged in Brazil and is considered the national pace for excellence. Considered one of the main cultural events popular Brazilian manifestations, samba became a symbol of national identity. Samba, and is the most popular musical genre in Brazil, is well known abroad and is associated - as the football and the carnival – to the country.

Although the samba exist throughout the country - especially in the states of Bahia, in Maranhão, Minas Gerais and São Paulo - in the form of various rhythms and dances that are popular regional rise of Batuque, samba as gender is a musical expression of Rio de Janeiro city, where in fact it born and has developed between the end of the nineteenth century and first decades of the twentieth century.

A parade in Rio’s carnaval

It was in Rio that the dance practiced by slaves (migrated from Bahia) contact and was incorporated to other musical genres played in the city (such as polka, gherkin, lundu, xote, among others), acquiring a completely unique character and creating the urban carioca samba and Carnaval.

Traditionally, the samba is played by strings (cavaquinho and several types of guitar) and various percussion instruments such as tambourine. By influence of North American orchestras in vogue from the Second World War, it began to be used also instruments trombones and trumpets, and influence of crying, flute and clarinet.

Street carnaval em São Luís do Paraitinga in São Paulo state.

It is good to remember that “samba” varies regionally and assimilated many other types of music during the twentieth century. You dobt? See this Led Zepellin samba version:

That’s it for now!