Throughout history, the musical traditions of people around the globe have come into contact with

each other and combined in various ways to create new musical forms. In the United States, South
America, and the Caribbean, the influence of African rhythms is particularly strong. Rock, R, jazz
(United States), bossa nova, samba (Brazil), salsa (Cuba, Puerto Rico, New York City), reggae
(Jamaica) and calypso (Trinidad) all have African rhythmic origins: To account for this, we must look
at the history of the regions where these forms first began to develop.
The islands of the West Indies and the territory of Brazil were among the first parts of the New
World to be colonized by the great European powers-Spain, Portugal, England and France.
Originally inhabited by various Indian tribes, these populations were enslaved or eliminated until
the Europeans gained control of the areas they wanted and began exploiting agricultural and
mineral wealth. To turn such "undeveloped" lands into moneymaking enterprises required huge
amounts of cheap labor. In those days in the Americas, that need was filled by the African slave
trade. Slavery brought hundreds of thousands of Africans to the Caribbean islands, South America,
and the United States. Most came from West Africa, though many were also taken from central
Africa, the region now known as Zaire Portugal shipped slaves from its colonies Mozambique and
Angola in southern Africa to its New World settlement, Brazil.
From the 16th to the 20th century in the colonized regions, Europeans, Africans, and what was left
of the Indian population: came together in an immense blending of race, language, religio social
customs-and of course, music. Drumming is an integral part of everyday life in Africa, and the
traditions from there were carried on in the Caribbean and Brazil. Music and dance are cen in these
societies to religious and social ritual, communication, a entertainment. Drums are believed to
have spiritual power, pow to heal, to "speak," to tap natural forces and affect human energ and
emotion. The styles mentioned earlier, and many others as well, use a mixture of African rhythms
and European-derived melodies, and instruments from both cultures. The coming together of these
elements in Brazil began in the yea 1500 when the Portugese explorer Pedro Alvares Cabral, sailing
t reach India, veered too far west of Africa and landed on the north east peninsula of Brazil. The
Portuguese colonization did not beg in earnest for some time, as it wasn't until 1532 that the first
perm nent settlement was established, at São Vicente in the state of Sãc Paulo. The settlement of
the northeast, which would become a vi area both culturally and economically, also began at this
time wit the founding of the city of Salvador in the state of Bahia in 1539.
African slaves began arriving in large numbers in Brazil in the mid1500s, to meet the demands of
the ever-more-profitable and important sugar and mining industries (Indian slaves had been
deemed unfit for this type of labor). It has been estimated that by 1798, fully one half the
population was African, including.both free blacks and slaves. The majority of Africans settled in
the northeast, especially the state of Bahia, which to this day has the largest black population in
the country.
It is often said that the music of Brazil evolved from three separate traditions, the European,
African, and native or Indian. This is a true but very general statement. Though drawn from these
three sources, Brazil's music is extremely varied and the origins of specific forms often unknown.
Races and cultures mixed very thoroughly in many respects. Therefore, it is best to think of the
development of Brazilian music not in terms of a linear, step-by-step progression but as the result
of different musical traditions, mainly those of Portugal and several West African nations, coming
into contact with and transforming one another to create new kinds of music.
Much of this new or Afro-Brazilign music can be loosely defined as those folk forms which
developed in Brazil as a result of various cultural influences but which)exhibit strong African traits.
It is a large, diverse group of musical forms, many of which are alive and well in Brazil today and
are constantly being amended, updated and added-to. Included are a number of old and modern
styles whose names also refer to their accompanying dances. The samba is the hest known of
these. Samba is universal in Brazil, where it both reflects and is an integral part of everyday life. To
the world, samba is virtually synonymous with Brazil and represents the intense, vibrant nature of
Brazilian music. In addition, there are types of music and dance associated with African religious
practices, the enactment of christian teaching or historical events, and various ritual competitions,
in whose forms the African element is very much the distinguishing characteristic,
The specific contributions of the European, African and Indian traditions to Brazilian music are hard
to pinpont. It is known that Portuguese, and to a lesser extent Spanish and even SpanishAmerican
music (such as the Cuban habanera) contributed many of the melodies and melodic forms used in
Brazil Portuguese folk music contains elements that are common to much European music, such as
verseand-chorus song structure, polyphonic singing (multiple harmonizing voices), and the use of
stringed instruments. Certain rhythm instruments associated with Brazilian folk music, such as the
large double-headed drum called the zahumb (or bombo, bumba, or tambor grande), the çaixator
snare drum, the surdo, another large drum, and the pandeiro or tambourine, also come from
Portugal.
African tradition, on the other hand, largely accounts for the rhythmic aspect of Brazilian music. In
the first 200 years of colonization, most Africans who were brought to Brazil as slaves came from
Angola or the Congo (Banty tribespeople); in the later years of the slave trade, the majority of
Africans were from Nigeria (Yoruba tribespeople), Benin (Fon people) or Dahomey. The Bantu
influence is generally considered to be most apparent in the older forms of secular music, while
Yoruba and Fon traditions are evident in religious music and dance. In Brazil, these various forms
mixed with each other as well as with Portuguese styles over 400 years of (unwritten) musical
history, and so it is difficult to determine the precise source of a ven rhythm or style Two
predominant rhythmic features that usually indicate an African source are the syncopated 2/4
metenand the layering of rhythms on top of a regular pulse. Call-and-response singing is a
common vocal trait. Many of the rhythm and percussion instruments used in Afro Brazilian music
are of African origin, such as chocalhos (rattles and shakers) like the xaque-xaque, ganza, afoxe
and caxixt; scraper (reco-reco); bell (ago-go); atabaque or single-headed, conga-like drum (also
called tambor, ilu, tambu, or mulemba); and the arco berimbau or musical bow, an instrument that
looks like a bow with a metal string and a gourd attached to the bottom, believed to have
originated in Angola. The berimbau functions as both rhythm and melody instrument and is used to
accompany the ritual fight-dance known as capoeira. pacnsiroe An instrument whose origin is
completely lost in the shuffle between Africa and Europe is the cuica also called puita) or friction