Batucada

Title: Magalenha
Performer: Sergio Mendes
Culture of Origin: Brazilian
Instrumentation: Voice, bateria ensembe (surdo, tamborim, bells, timbal, repinique)

This week's world music blog brings a genre of Brazilian music that is new to me - called batucada. Batucada is a substyle of samba, and it refers to an Afran-influenced Brazilian percussive style usually performed by bateria ensemble, which is used fairly often in Brazilian music. Batucada is characterized most easily by its repetitive style and fast pace. 

Paul Simon uses this same substyle in his song The Obvious Child, showing its value and appreciation as it is melded into a Western music context. This shows the main benefit of the repetitive nature of batucada. Almost anything can be played on top of a bateria ensemble, no matter the chordal structure. Musical structure can be just as inclusive as it can be inclusive, depending on the parameters it sets. While the structure of butacada is much more malleable, the same could not be said for waltz or a cannon. 

Reference: 

Wade, B. C. (2013). Thinking Musically, Third edition. New York, NY: Oxford University Press