The Berimbau

Introduction

In this second Museum of Amazing Musical Instruments Mat the Hat introduces the Berimbau.

And if you’re wanting to do an activity whilst you’re visiting the museum, there’s an accompanying quiz for each minstrument and web links to explore.

The Berimbau

The Berimbau is a musical bow from Brazil. Some bows shoot arrows, but this bow shoots musical notes! It produces a unique sound that’s both rhythmic and hypnotic.

You’ll never find a berimbau that’s been made in a factory – all the parts of this minstument either grow naturally, or are recycled. The big bow is made from the wood of the beriba tree and is strung with wire that comes out of a car tyre. The gourd slides over one end – in Brazil this part is called the cabaça.

The berimbau produces three tones – a low note, a high note and a buzz tone. You move the berimbau to and from your tummy to make a wah wah sound that brings the instrument to life.

Berimbau rhythms are called toques. You will usually find a berimbau played for a martial art called capoeira, which is a sport that is very popular in Brazil. The rhythms of the berimbau tell the capoeira players how to play, and everyone sings along.

You hit the berimbau with a stick called a baqueta, which is held with a caxixi in your right hand. Your left hand holds the instrument by balancing it on your little finger, which takes a little while to get used to. Your left hand also holds the dobrão, which is shaped like an old Portuguese coin.

The berimbau travelled to Brazil from Africa in the days of slavery. The African slaves were kept in terrible conditions and weren’t allowed to dance or have any sort of fun, so practicing capoeira and playing the berimbau had to be done in secret. Nowadays capoeira is popular all over the world – it’s a great way to keep fit and play music at the same time.

Pronunciation guide

Berimbau: beh-rim-bow

Capoeira: caa-po-wayra

Toques: toks
Cabaça: kabassa

Caxixi : caa-shi-shi
Dobrão: dobraow (as in a cat’s meeaow)

Link

Here are some other videos you can watch to learn more about the Udo, how is is played and made.

Berimbau solo

Capoeria in Brazil – fast style called ‘Regional’

Capoeria in Brazil – slower style called ‘Angola

To see what the Big Drum Adventure is all about have a look at Mat’s website.

http://wherestheone.co.uk/big-drum-adventure.html

Learning Resources

To download files right click on the links and then select either:‘

Save Target As’ (PC)
‘Download Linked File’ (Mac

Museum introduction

Berimbau Museum Script, Links and Quiz

The Udo

This is the udu – a musical clay pot. How do you do, udu?

Udu pots originally came from Nigeria, Africa, but today they are made all over the world. The musical clay pot is popular in India, where it’s called a Ghatam.

In the Igbo language of Nigeria the word Udu means a vessel, but I think it’s also like the sound the instrument makes – ooo doo!

This udu is made of clay and has tiny grains of iron embedded in the clay to help improve the sound of the drum. You play it by covering the holes in the side or the top. If you bounce your hand over the hole, you make the ‘oooo’, if you place your hand you make a ‘doooo’.

Udu clay pots are a wonderful example of how something from the home becomes a musical instrument. Before they were made with a hole in the side, udu vessels would be placed under ground to store water or milk in order to keep the contents cool. They could be described as the world’s oldest refrigerator!

The udu is a quieter drum that’s nice to play on your own or with other softer sounding instruments. Some players put water inside the drum, which changes the pitch.