Instruments used with Capoeira

1. Capoeira Music
(Instruments)

2. Introduction
• Sport was developed by Angolan slaves shipped to Brazil. The martial art was
developed as a form of self-defence.
• The acrobatic and musical elements came as a bi-product to the martial art.
• Quilombos (Settlements) would gather in escaping and hiding from slave owners.
• ‘Everyday life in a quilombo offered freedom and the opportunity to revive
traditional cultures away from colonial oppression.’
• Quilombo dos Palmares 1605-1695 (Baroque era)

3. Berimbau • The verga is the bow made from biribá wood. It stretches out the arame
string which is hit with a baqueta to make a lovely sound.
• There are 3 possible sounds that the single-stringed instrument can make. A:
a buzz sound. B: a high sound. C: an open string sound.
• A buzz sound is created when the dobrao stone gently makes contact with
the string so that is doesn’t emit a particular pitch but substitutes for a
rhythmic filler.
• A high sound is created when the dobrao stone is placed more fiercely up
against the arame string and allows a high pitched sound to be emitted.
• An open string sound is self explanatory. The dobrao stone requires 0 contact
as the arame is hit by the baqueta.
• The cabaca, like a soundhole on a guitar, allows the note or buzz to be
amplified and helps create resonance.
• The caxixi is a small rattle that allows extra rhythmical values to be added.
Often as the berimbau player strikes the arame with the baqueta, the rattle
will sound creating a rhythm which accompanies the sound of the arame.
• The Berimbau is held in your favoured hand and struck by the baqueta in the
other.

4. Pandeiro (Translates to tambourine.)
• The "frame" tends to be from 8 to 12
inches diameter.
• The drum accompanies steel or
copper "cymbalettes".
• There are multiple tehcniques when
using the pandeiro some of them are
listed below:
• Thumb Stroke, Finger tips stroke,
Heel stroke and a slap.
• All of the above techniques involve
using ever part of the hand from the
thumbs and fingertips to the palm
and wrist.
• Alongside the difficult technique
needed to be used there is a rhythm
that each strike of the drum should
be played in time to.

5. Agogo • The Agogo is a metal bell by a U-shaped
• This instrument is used also to accompany the
berimbau which sustains the melody
• The agogo, like the panddeiro, are key in their
rhythmic use and role in tempo. This is as the tempo
influences the speed of the capoeira performance.
• Below is a rhythmic pattern written for the Agogo.

6. Reco-reco
• The Reco-reco displayed on the left is the traditional version of the
Reco-reco which was usually made of wood or bamboo.
• The stick to the right of the Reco-reco is called a scraper.
• The hollowed-out area of the Reco-reco is shown by the cut-out
which almost stretches from top to bottom. This area, like the
cabaca on a berimbau, helps to amplify the sound created by the
scraper.

7. Atabaque
• This is a tall drum (Roughly 46 inches) which is also
used in Capoeira music. This drum adds to the thick
texture of the rhythmic presence created by the
Agogo, Reco-reco and Pandeiro.
• The ropes holding the skin of the drum across the
head can be tightened or loosened according to the
situation. When tightened then drum is struck and a
higher pitched note sounds.