Ginga: A Brazilian way to groove
I have been an erratic blogger as of lately. I’m planning a bunch of short ones instead of procrastinating on long in depth posts. I’m just going to share some short things.
I purchased a tamborim today. I have been attempting to play the deceptively difficult little drum, the melodic voice in Samba, for the last little while at Batucada Carioca rehearsals. I had a friend who spent the last 3 months in Brazil and was kind enough to pick one up for me down there. Other then playing an endless number of melodic calls, the tamborim fills in a 16th note pattern called the Virado, that is truly difficult to execute. Here’s a master.
Other then the technique and endurance involved in keeping a train of 16th notes flowing, I’ve needed to focus on the time feel of the notes as they aren’t even. Brazilians call this swing “ginga”. Trying to find some information on this time feel I ran across this very informative article by Jovino Santos Neto, a wonderful Brazilian piano player, and someone who’s spent a lot of time dealing with the music.
Mainly for musicians but it contains some interesting historical references too, Ginga: a Brazilian way to groove by Jovino Santos Neto
