Ever since Philadelphia native Stan Getz added his tenor sax to João Gilberto and Co.’s classic take of The Girl from Ipanema in March 1963, successive waves of American musicians have aimed to incorporate Brazilian chops into their repertoires. High profile names range from Wayne Shorter to David Byrne. Seattle’s grunge anti-hero Kurt Cobain was a fan of São Paulo’s Tropicália innovators Os Mutantes. (Cobain’s band Nirvana not only sold more records than his idols, but Cobain, who shot himself, was more successful in suicide than the Mutantes’ Arnaldo Baptista who jumped from a window but survived to live the rest of his life in slow motion.)
Though I’ve never reached true proficiency in any instrument, I once fooled around as a punk drummer and I’ve taken guitar lessons on-and-off. So I took a Baptista-style leap when I got the chance to learn about Brazilian rhythms from the pros during a recent visit to Rio de Janeiro.
My sessions were scheduled through Na Roda, a specialized tour company that arranges private lessons for foreigners with top Brazilian musicians. Na Roda’s faculty includes people like Marcos Suzano, the world’s best known pandeiro (tambourine) player. It is a Californian-Brazilian joint venture founded by Eric Crawford, who runs a website about Brazilian music in the San Francisco Bay area, and Luiz Brasil, a Brazilian musician, arranger and producer.
Music can and should be fun, but if you’re thinking about goofing off a bit between your outdoor tanning sessions in Ipanema, forget about Na Roda. Its teaching method is rooted in something called Learning Theory, a philosophy that favors a student-centered, hands-on approach and includes “cross-training” (learning the rhythms on several instruments in addition to your main one). Most instructors speak English, but when they don’t Na Roda provides interpreters. This is serious business.
I quickly learned how serious during my first lesson at the home office of Ignez Perdigão. Best known for her prowess on the cavaquinho, the ukulele-like instrument prominent in samba and chorinho, Perdigão also knows how to handle an acoustic guitar, my chosen instrument. Minutes into our lesson, she seemed to want to get a handle on my neck – to strangle me for my bumbling. I broke out in a cold sweat that would make James Brown proud and started glancing at the clock. She kept lowering the bar but wouldn’t let me leave until I jumped over it at least once. “I’ve never had a student fail to learn, and you’re not going to be the first,” she declared. Finally I ran through a passable version of some classic song by Adoniran Barbosa or somebody, and I was dismissed. Somewhat relieved, I made a quick exit. But I’m convinced that with a few more hours I’d come out playing like Baden Powell (with his penchant for whisky, to boot!).
Next stop: Marco Lobo’s living room. One of Brazil’s top percussionists, Lobo has worked with an eclectic Who’s Who list of Brazilian musicians: Milton Nascimento, Maria Betânia, Lenine, Ana Carolina, João Bosco, Titãs and Gilberto Gil – to name a few. Hailing from Salvador and sporting long hippie-style locks, Lobo proved to be more laid back. He’s given workshops everywhere from Minas Gerais to Helsinki, but he’s really more of a facilitator than an instructor. We experimented with a handful of instruments, both real and didactic – from the pandeiro to a dinner plate and a knife. I was surprised to learn that according to the contemporary Brazilian pandeiro technique, developed in recent years by Jorginho do Samba and Marcos Suzano, 70% of the action is in your left hand, the one that holds the instrument.
I didn’t leave ready to twirl a pandeiro on my finger, basketball-style, like a whiz in the Carnaval parade, but I did thump out a few journeyman beats. If I keep at it, maybe someday I too can sit in with João Gilberto.
We’re in the Roda: Useful Links and More
* Na Roda
* SFMBP.com - a website about Brazilian music in the San Francisco Bay Area, run by Na Roda co-founder Eric Crawford
* Luiz Brasil - Na Roda co-founder (Portuguese only)
* Marco Lobo
* Brazilian independent music on BrazilMax Radio
Saudades do Brasil is a lively and informative subscriber-only discussion group about Brazilian music in English. To join the list, just send an email
Outside of the classroom, Ignez Perdigão can be found at the Saturday afternoon choro and samba jam sessions at the street fair on the Rua General Glicério in Laranjeiras. The music starts at 1 p.m. on the sidewalk in front on the fair.
Rio for Partiers - a guidebook with attitude.
Where to Stay - Relais Solar is a pousada in Rio de Janeiro’s bohemian Santa Teresa district that caters to the artistically inclined.
Visit the Brazil Music Downloads and CD Store
CDs from Kuarup
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