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brazilian music

Brazilian Music

Brazil · 1900s

Dancing Happy Chill Romantic Sentimental

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Description

Brazilian music is an umbrella term for the many popular and traditional styles that emerged from Brazil’s fusion of Indigenous, African, and Portuguese (Iberian) cultures.

It is defined by rich rhythmic vocabularies (from samba’s syncopation to northeastern baião/forró grooves), melodically expressive singing, and harmonies that range from simple folk cadences to the jazz-inflected sophistication of bossa nova and MPB. Instruments such as the violão (nylon-string guitar), cavaquinho, pandeiro, surdo, cuíca, and berimbau sit alongside brass, woodwinds, and modern studio production.

Under this umbrella lie internationally known styles like samba, choro, frevo, maracatu, bossa nova, MPB, forró, axé, pagode, sertanejo, and funk carioca (baile funk), each linking regional traditions to ongoing global exchanges.

History

How to make a track in this genre

Top albums

Clube da esquina

Milton Nascimento & Lô Borges

A Tábua de Esmeralda

Getz / Gilberto

Stan Getz & João Gilberto

Main artists

Influenced by

Portuguese Music

Portuguese music is the broad musical tradition of Portugal, spanning medieval courtly song, liturgical polyphony, regional folk styles, urban song (most famously fado), and a modern landscape of pop, rock, jazz, hip hop, and experimental scenes. At its core is the aesthetic of saudade—a bittersweet sense of longing—that shapes the melodic phrasing and lyrical themes of many Portuguese styles. Hallmark timbres include the bright, shimmering guitarra portuguesa (12‑string Portuguese guitar), classical/folk guitars (viola), cavaquinho, accordion, adufe frame drum, and regional bagpipes (gaita transmontana). Portuguese music also reflects centuries of exchange across the Lusophone world, especially with Brazil, Cape Verde, and other former colonies, enriching local idioms with rhythmic and harmonic colors from Africa and the Americas.

Portuguese Folk Music

Portuguese folk music is the umbrella term for Portugal’s regional traditional musics and dances, encompassing vocal and instrumental practices tied to social life, work, and ritual. It includes lively circle and couple dances such as the Vira and Chula of Minho, the Corridinho of the Algarve, the Fandango of Ribatejo, the Bailinho of Madeira, and the Chamarrita of the Azores, alongside slower strophic songs (modas) and the powerful choral Cante Alentejano from the south. Typical instruments include the gaita-de-fole (bagpipes), adufe (square frame drum), concertina and diatonic accordion, cavaquinho and regional violas (viola braguesa, toeira, amarantina), rabeca chuleira (fiddle), bombo (bass drum), and ferrinhos (triangle). Vocals often employ call-and-response, heterophony, and close parallel harmonies in Portuguese and, in some regions, Mirandese. The style is communal and dance-oriented, performed at romarias (religious festivals), village gatherings, and seasonal celebrations. Melodies are diatonic and modal (often mixolydian or dorian), with simple harmonic supports when harmonized, and strong rhythmic patterns suited to participatory dancing.

African music is a broad, pan‑continental umbrella that encompasses thousands of local traditions, court and ritual musics, and modern popular styles from across Africa. It is characterized by layered polyrhythms, cyclical forms, call‑and‑response vocals, timeline bells, and a participatory performance ethos where dance and music are inseparable. While rooted in ancient indigenous practices, the modern category of “African music” took shape in the recording era as regional styles such as highlife, jùjú, Congolese rumba/soukous, and Afrobeat spread beyond their homelands. Over time, electric instruments, brass sections, and later drum machines and DAWs were integrated, producing contemporary scenes like kwaito, Afrobeats, and amapiano. Across the continent, core sonic features include interlocking ostinatos, off‑beat phrasing, and groove‑centric vamps rather than heavy functional harmony. Timbres range from resonant harps and lutes (kora, ngoni) and wooden idiophones (mbira, balafon) to talking drums and hand percussion (djembe, dunun, shekere), with strong regional variation in scales, tunings, and vocal techniques.

West African Music

West African music refers to the interrelated musical traditions of the western Sahel and coastal regions, stretching from Senegal and Mali through Ghana, Nigeria, Benin, and beyond. It is defined by layered polyrhythms, call-and-response vocals, and a powerful dance focus that binds music to social life, ritual, and storytelling. Core timbres come from iconic instruments such as the kora (21‑string harp), ngoni/xalam (lute), balafon (wooden keyed xylophone), the djembe and dunun (drum ensemble), talking drum (dùndún/tama), shekere, and bells guiding timeline patterns. Many repertoires are carried by griots (jeli/jali) who function as historians, praise‑singers, and genealogists, while Islamic chant and Sahelian trade routes added modal and melismatic flavors. Melodies often center on pentatonic or heptatonic modes, with cyclical ostinati supporting improvisation and collective participation.

Indigenous American Music

Indigenous American music encompasses the ceremonial, social, and narrative musical practices of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. It includes a vast diversity of vocal styles, drum-centered ensembles, rattle/shaker idioms, flute traditions, and panpipe orchestras found from the Arctic to the Andes. Common traits include prominent use of vocables (non-lexical syllables), monophonic or heterophonic textures, cyclical forms, and timbral emphasis (drum tone, breathy flute, throat singing in Arctic regions). Rhythms range from steady duple powwow beats with accented "honor beats" to the interlocking hocket textures of Andean siku (panpipe) bands, often in compound meters. Music serves specific functions—ceremonies (healing, seasonal cycles, rites of passage), social dances, storytelling, and community cohesion—while embodying cosmologies and land-based knowledge. Post-contact syncretism produced new genres (e.g., peyote songs, mission hymnody) alongside robust continuities of pre-contact styles.

Polka is a lively Central European couple dance and musical style in a brisk 2/4 meter, characterized by its buoyant “oom‑pah” bass-chord accompaniment and bright, diatonic melodies. Originating in Bohemia (today’s Czech Republic) in the early 19th century, it quickly became a pan-European craze before taking root across immigrant communities in the Americas. Ensembles typically feature accordion or button box/concertina, clarinet or saxophone, trumpets/trombone, tuba or string bass, and drum kit, with regional variants highlighting different lead voices and rhythmic feels. While the classical ballroom tradition codified polka into formal strains (often AABB with a contrasting trio), folk and popular styles favor singable tunes, simple I–IV–V harmonies, and tempos commonly around 115–135 BPM, inviting upbeat social dancing and communal celebration.

A march is a genre and form of music written to accompany or evoke the motion and ceremony of marching. It is characterized by steady, accentuated beats, simple periodic phrases, and a clear, forward-driving pulse. Most marches are in duple meter—commonly 2/4 or 6/8—with tempos that align to the pace of human steps (roughly 110–128 BPM for quick marches and 60–84 BPM for slow or funeral marches). The classic structure uses repeated strains and a contrasting Trio section, often modulating to the subdominant and thinning texture before a climactic return. Written primarily for winds and percussion, marches are central to military, civic, and ceremonial traditions, yet they also appear in orchestral works, operas, and popular festivities.

Classical music is the notated art-music tradition of Europe and its global descendants, characterized by durable forms, carefully codified harmony and counterpoint, and a literate score-based practice. The term “classical” can refer broadly to the entire Western art-music lineage from the Medieval era to today, not just the Classical period (c. 1750s–1820s). It privileges long-form structures (such as symphonies, sonatas, concertos, masses, and operas), functional or modal harmony, thematic development, and timbral nuance across ensembles ranging from solo instruments to full orchestras and choirs. Across centuries, the style evolved from chant and modal polyphony to tonal harmony, and later to post-tonal idioms, while maintaining a shared emphasis on written notation, performance practice, and craft.

Has influenced

Samba is an Afro‑Brazilian musical and dance tradition that crystallized in Rio de Janeiro in the early 20th century, rooted in the rhythms, rituals, and communal celebrations of the Afro‑diasporic population. It is typically in 2/4 meter with characteristic syncopations, off‑beat accents, and call‑and‑response refrains. The groove is carried by a bateria (percussion ensemble) featuring surdo, pandeiro, tamborim, cuíca, agogô, reco‑reco, and repinique, while chordal instruments such as violão (6‑ and 7‑string guitars) and cavaquinho provide rich, swinging harmonies. Melodies often draw on Portuguese lyric traditions, African rhythmic phrasing, and the expressive poetics of everyday urban life—love, neighborhood pride, carnival, devotion, and saudade. Across the 20th century, samba diversified into many substyles (samba‑canção, samba‑enredo, partido‑alto, samba de roda, samba de gafieira), and later catalyzed entire currents like bossa nova, MPB, and samba‑rock, remaining Brazil’s most globally recognizable sound.

Choro is an urban Brazilian instrumental genre that arose in Rio de Janeiro in the late 19th century. It blends European dance forms (polka, schottische, waltz, mazurka) with Afro-Brazilian rhythmic sensibilities from styles like lundu and early maxixe, producing a supple, highly syncopated groove. Typical choro ensembles (regionais) feature a lead melodic instrument—often flute, clarinet, or bandolim (mandolin)—supported by cavaquinho and 6-string guitar for harmony, a 7‑string guitar providing counter-melodic bass lines (baixarias), and pandeiro for light percussion. Pieces commonly use multi-strain forms (e.g., AABBACCA), incorporate modulations, and encourage melodic variations and counterpoint rather than long harmonic solos. The result is music that is both virtuosic and lyrical, at once salon-refined and street-savvy.

Bounce is a high-energy regional style of hip hop that emerged in New Orleans in the early 1990s. It is built on fast, repetitive party grooves, commanding chants, and call‑and‑response hooks that directly engage dancers and the crowd. Its signature rhythmic bed centers on the "Triggerman" beat (from the Showboys' 1986 track Drag Rap) and the "Brown Beat" break, usually driven by punchy TR‑808 drums, handclaps, and chopped vocal samples. Lyrics tend to be chant-like, local, and instructional—naming neighborhoods, wards, and housing projects, and cueing specific dance moves (notably twerking). Bounce’s performance tradition connects to New Orleans second‑line and parade culture: it’s communal, percussive, and built for the club and block party. The result is a kinetic, minimal, bass‑forward sound that prioritizes movement, crowd interaction, and relentless momentum.

MPB (Música Popular Brasileira) is a broad Brazilian popular music movement that crystallized in the mid-1960s after bossa nova. It blends samba and other regional rhythms with jazz harmony, singer‑songwriter craft, and elements of contemporary pop and rock. The style is marked by sophisticated melodies, extended harmonies, inventive arrangements, and lyrically rich songs that often use poetry and metaphor. Many classic MPB works balance intimacy (voice and violão/nylon‑string guitar) with lush studio orchestration, drawing from samba‑canção, choro, baião, and frevo while engaging modern influences. Historically, MPB provided a platform for social commentary during Brazil’s military dictatorship, with artists employing allegory to navigate censorship. It remains a living tradition that continually renews itself through new generations (“nova MPB”).

Tropicália (also known as Tropicalismo) is a late‑1960s Brazilian movement that fused local popular and folkloric forms with global pop and rock, avant‑garde ideas, and mass‑media aesthetics. It treated culture with an "antropofagia" (cultural cannibalism) ethos—cheerfully absorbing and transforming foreign influences alongside Brazilian traditions. Musically, it blends samba and baião rhythms, bossa nova harmonies, psychedelic rock timbres, collage‑like arrangements, and orchestral color. Lyricists used irony, allegory, and vivid imagery to comment on modernity and politics under Brazil’s military dictatorship. The result is music that feels playful yet subversive, sophisticated yet immediate, and unmistakably Brazilian.

Vietnam indie is an umbrella term for independently produced Vietnamese music that blends indie pop/rock, folk, bedroom pop, dream pop, and lo‑fi sensibilities with Vietnamese language and urban storytelling. It is characterized by intimate vocals, jangly or clean guitars, warm bass lines, soft drums, and understated synths. Lyrics often revolve around city life, youth, romance, and introspection, delivered with a conversational tone and strong attention to Vietnamese prosody. Production is typically DIY, leveraging affordable home studios and online distribution. While rooted in global indie aesthetics, the genre keeps a distinct local color by drawing on Vietnamese melodic phrasing and occasional folk/pop influences from V‑Pop.

Forró is a popular dance-music tradition from Brazil’s Northeast, centered on the trio of accordion (sanfona), zabumba (bass/tenor drum), and triangle. It encompasses a family of rhythms—most notably baião, xote, arrasta-pé, and xaxado—and is performed for partner dancing at parties and the June festivals (Festas Juninas). The style balances infectious, syncopated grooves with singable melodies and simple, diatonic harmony. Lyrically, forró often celebrates rural life, love, longing (saudade), and the culture of the sertão. Over time, it has branched into substyles ranging from the acoustic, rootsy pé-de-serra to modern, amplified and electronic variants.

Frevo is a fast, brass-driven carnival music from Pernambuco, Brazil, especially associated with the cities of Recife and Olinda. It is characterized by dazzling, syncopated melodies, staccato horn lines, and relentless 2/4 rhythmic propulsion that inspires acrobatic dance steps performed by passistas with small, colorful umbrellas. The genre encompasses several substyles: Frevo de Rua (instrumental, brass-band led), Frevo de Bloco (choral/string-led, often more lyrical), Frevo-Canção (song form with solo vocals), and Frevo Elétrico (amplified, trio-elétrico format). In 2012, frevo was inscribed by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage, underscoring its deep cultural significance to Brazil’s carnival traditions.

Maracatu is an Afro-Brazilian processional music and performance tradition from Pernambuco, centered on powerful, polyrhythmic percussion and call-and-response song. It exists in two main forms: Maracatu Nação (also called maracatu de baque virado), associated with the historic coronation ceremonies of the "Rei e Rainha do Congo" (King and Queen of Congo) in Recife and Olinda; and Maracatu Rural (maracatu de baque solto), linked to the sugarcane zone (Zona da Mata) and famous for its costumed caboclos de lança. Both forms combine African-derived drumming, Portuguese processional pageantry, and local popular poetry to create an epic, ceremonial groove that animates Carnival and community celebrations. The core sound is driven by alfaias (large rope-tuned bass drums), caixas/tarois (snares), gonguê (iron bell), agbês/xequerês (gourd shakers), and ganzás/mineiros (metal shakers). Vocals are led by a puxador (lead singer) with a chorus, delivering toadas (songs) that praise the nation, invoke spiritual lineages, and comment on community life.

Axé is a high-energy popular music from Salvador, Bahia, that fuses Afro-Brazilian and Caribbean rhythms with pop and rock songcraft. Designed for massive Carnival parades, it pairs large percussion ensembles with bright electric guitars, brass hooks, and call-and-response vocals to drive dancing crowds along the trio elétrico (truck-mounted sound stages). Grounded in afoxê/ijexá and samba-reggae grooves, axé favors upbeat major-key melodies, anthemic choruses, and lyrics celebrating joy, love, summer, Afro-Bahian pride, and the collective ecstasy of the street party. Its sound is at once percussive and melodic: layered surdos, timbales, repiniques, and atabaques interlock beneath catchy horn lines and pop arrangements built to move tens of thousands of revelers.

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