Musik - Musica - Music

In capoeira, music sets the rhythm, the style of play, and the energy of a game. In its most traditional setting, there are three main styles of song that weave together the structure of the capoeira Angola roda. The Angola roda represents the most strict and traditional format for capoeira and is ideally suited for an introduction and discussion of the music. Though we may consider the music traditional, because it has been passed orally from one to the next until the early - mid 20th century when songs and rhythms began to be notated and recorded, there is no record of to what extent and exactly how the music has evolved over time. Capoeira's African heritage plays a heavy role in the way capoeira is perceived by its practitioners and understood at a subconscious level. It is a common feature of many African ethnic groups, for instance, as well as others throughout the world, that music is not so much a form of personal entertainment as it is a medium to bring about group cohesion and dynamic. Music in the context of capoeira is used to create a sacred space through both the physical act of forming a circle (the roda) and an aural space that is believed to connect to the spirit world. This deeper religious significance exists more as a social memory to most capoeira groups, but is generally understood as evidenced in the use of ngoma drums (the atabaques of Yoruba candomblé), the berimbau whose earlier forms were used in rituals in Africa and the diaspora in speaking with ancestors, the ever-present term axé which signifies life force, the invocation of both African and Catholic spirituality, and certain semi-ritualized movements used in Capoeira Angola that bring "spiritual protection". The instruments are:

up to 3 berimbaus
up to 2 pandeiros
1 agogô
1 reco-reco (notched wooden tube similar to a Guiro)
1 atabaque or conga

Not every roda will contain all these instruments. Mestre Bimba, for instance, preferred only one berimbau and two pandeiros in his rodas, but there will always be at least one berimbau in any roda.
The berimbaus preside over the roda, their rhythmic combinations suggesting variations in movement style between the two players in the roda. Some capoeira groups insist that among the three berimbaus, the lowest-toned (called a gunga or berraboi) is the lead instrument, while other groups follow the lead of the middle (medio or viola) berimbau. The roda begins and ends at the discretion of the lead berimbau player, who may determine who plays next, can stop games, set the tempo of the music, and calm the combatants/dancers if they get too rough. There appears to be agreement that the treble-most berimbau (viola or violinha) is an accompaniment instrument, freely improvising based on rhythms of the middle instrument.

Ladainha
The roda commences with the ladainha (littany), a solo often sung by the most senior member present, usually the one playing lead berimbau. These songs may be improvised on the spot, but are most often chosen from a canon of extant ladainhas. The ladainha varies in from as little as two lines, to 20 or more. Topics for this song type include moral lessons, stories, history, mythology, can be topical for a particular occasion as well as pure poetry, and almost always metaphorical. The song is loosely strophic and the melody is pretty much the same throughout the entire ladainha repertoire, with some variations here and there. The ladainha uses quatrain form as a template, with the first line almost always repeated.

An interpretation of this song could be: Nothing comes easy without hard work. The person who sings the ladainha cries out "Ieeeeeeee" (pronounced YaaaaaaaaY) to call to order the attendees of the roda, that the roda is starting. The ladainha ends with "Camará", "Camaradinho" (fits better rhythmically), or conversely, "É hora, hora" (It's the hour). This tagline marks the end of the ladainha and the beginning of the chula, or more properly louvação (praise).

Louvação
The louvação begins the call and response section of the roda. The louvação invokes God, Mestres, capoeira, and gives thanks. This section are also called "Chulas. "(Italicized line is the chorus) The content of the louvação can be improvised as well, so having a good ear is critical to singing the chorus. The louvação, just as the ladainha, is strophic, but there is no variation in the melody from one louvação to another. However while it is most often sung in a major tonality, sometimes it can be heard in minor if the ladainha is also minor. The chorus is sung in unison, though an occasional harmonization, usually a third above, is sometimes used as a punctuation by one of the singers. The two players/jogadores having sat at the pé-de-berimbau, or foot of the berimbau, during the ladainha, begin the game at the start of the corridos.

Corridos
The corridos are overlapping call and response typical of African singing, and influenced by, and borrowing from the Sambas de Roda of Bahia. Unlike the Mexican Corrido which is a form of folk ballad, the Bahian corrido is a short song with a usually static response. The chorus is often indicated by being used as the first line in the song: The corrido communicates with the action in the roda (though without the level of interaction in a traditional samba de roda) to inspire the players, to comment directly on the action, invokes, praises, warns, tells stories, and teaches moral values. There is a corrido for welcoming the roda, for closing the roda, asking for the players to play less aggressively, more aggressively, to not grab the other person, and the list continues. Corridos can also be challenges (desafios). The lead will sing a corrido then after some time sing one very similar, requiring the chorus (everyone else save the two playing in the roda) to be paying close attention to sing the correct response or two singers can switch corridos on a certain subject. This use of the corrido in a roda is more rare, requiring a bit more expertise on the part of the singers than normal. The desafio/challenge can be used with ladainhas as well. The corridos have the broadest melodic variation from one to the next, though many corridos share the same melodies. Thus a vast repertoire of corridos can be learned and improvisation within corridos becomes a less daunting prospect. Like the louvação, the corrido response is sung in unison, and like the louvação an occasional harmonization, usually a third above, is used as a punction by one of the singers.

Quadras

An innovation of Mestre Bimba, quadras take the place of the ladainha in some Regional and Contemporânea capoeira schools. They are four verse songs sung solo followed by the louvação. The main difference between the ladainha and quadra is that the quadra, like the corrido, doesn't have a standard melodic model and exhibits a greater variety melody. Quadras also exist as a special type of corrido with four line solo verses followed by the choral response, such as the following.

The Chula Controversy

The term chula is often given to the call and response louvação immediately following the ladainha. By comparison, traditionally in Bahia the chula is the free form song text of the Samba de Roda sung between the dances (as in the samba parada) and defines the structures of the various other "styles" of samba de roda, while the samba corrido lasts as long as the singer feels like singing it before moving on to another. The chula is a poetic form based on the quadra (quatrain) form (which may have influenced Mestre Bimba's replacement of ladainhas with quadras) with its roots in Iberia. The word chula is comes from the word chulo meaning vulgar, common, rustic (similarly the Spanish word chulo/chulito is used for peasant Indians in the Americas), being often pastoral and sentimental.
How the term chula came to refer to the louvação isn't currently known. But its similarity to the ladainha and the use of corrido songs from the samba de roda tradition probably played a large role.