{"id":1238,"date":"2020-07-20T14:15:26","date_gmt":"2020-07-20T14:15:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sb\/youthmusicinitiative\/?p=1238"},"modified":"2021-08-20T12:17:50","modified_gmt":"2021-08-20T12:17:50","slug":"the-berimbau","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sb\/youthmusicinitiative\/the-berimbau\/","title":{"rendered":"The Berimbau"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n

In this\u00a0second\u00a0Museum of Amazing Musical\u00a0<\/i>Instruments<\/i>\u00a0<\/i><\/span>Mat the Hat\u00a0introduces the Berimbau.<\/em><\/h3>\n
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And if you\u2019re wanting to do an activity whilst you\u2019re visiting the museum, there\u2019s an accompanying quiz for each minstrument and web links to explore.<\/h3>\n

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The Berimbau<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The Berimbau<\/em> is a musical bow from Brazil. Some bows shoot arrows, but this bow shoots musical notes! It produces a unique sound that\u2019s both rhythmic and hypnotic.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll never find a berimbau that\u2019s 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 \u2013 in Brazil this part is called the caba\u00e7a.<\/p>\n

The berimbau produces three tones \u2013 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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 dobr\u00e3o, which is shaped like an old Portuguese coin.<\/p>\n

The berimbau travelled to Brazil from Africa in the days of slavery. The African slaves were kept in terrible conditions and weren\u2019t 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 \u2013 it\u2019s a great way to keep fit and play music at the same time.<\/p>\n

Pronunciation guide<\/strong><\/p>\n

Berimbau: beh-rim-bow<\/p>\n

Capoeira: caa-po-wayra<\/p>\n

Toques: toks
\nCaba\u00e7a: kabassa<\/p>\n

Caxixi : caa-shi-shi
\nDobr\u00e3o: dobraow (as in a cat\u2019s meeaow)<\/p>\n

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