Samba Activity Pack

The outcomes of your time spent playing the Samba kit will vary enormously according to the musical experience of your classes and their previous musical experience. Try and concentrate as much of your time as possible on playing the instruments and practising the associated rhythm skills, and getting the children to understand the different musical culture they are experiencing.  Above all, we hope that all pupils will: 

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gain a greater understanding of the Samba music culture, and be able to recognise the different instruments (aurally and physically) and their different musical functions; have the opportunity to perform in a large (or small) Samba ensemble, and begun to understand the sectional form (structure) of this musical style; have attempted to respond to the other performers and the direction of the teacher; have played a variety of different Samba instruments, hopefully exhibiting a good sense of timing and rhythm

LINKS TO QCA SCHEMES OF WORK Year 3 Year 3

Unit 10 Unit 11

Play it again (focusing on rhythm) The class orchestra (creating an accompaniment)

Year 4

Unit 13

Painting with sound (using instruments to create a mood or emotion)

Year 5

Unit 16

Cyclic patterns (open and closed sounds)

Year 6

Unit 21

Who knows? (exploring musical processes)

OTHER RESOURCES There are very few authentic Samba songs in British educational publications, but the following would lend themselves well to being sung with a Samba music accompaniment: from “Flying Around” from “Banana Splits” (both from A & C Black)

Freedom train Banana splits Ewe! Dham dham dham Sports day race TV Tantrum

Please feel free to add additional resources to this pack of materials, and suggest other ideas to  the Rutland Primary Schools’ Samba project co-ordinator, Peter Davis (Director of Music, Oakham School). 2nd October 2006

Samba - Background Information Many musical cultures around the world feature the exciting sound of percussion instruments. Apart from the human voice, percussion instruments are probably the cheapest and most readily available instruments and they can be used to accompany songs, dances, rituals or ceremonies. Make sure the children know: 

Samba is a type of carnival music that originates from

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It is performed by a

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It has its own distinctive

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 dance rhythms

  is the home of many Samba schools where young people go to learn after normal school finishes Every year, huge street processions in Brazil on Mardi Gras (Shrove Tuesday) feature samba music as different samba schools compete for  the top performance prize Samba is an and copying them

, i.e. people learn by hearing the rhythms

The loudest and most brash style of Samba is

Concepts introduced or revised in samba music include:   

 (repeating pattern) – also called a emphasis on off-beat rhythms different/contrasting rhythms played simultaneously

Samba instruments come in all shapes and sizes: the largest instruments play simpler rhythms as a foundation for the more complex rhythms played by smaller instruments. The Samba kit contains the following common instruments:

This is the large bass drum that keeps the beat (pulse) for the ensemble. It is held at waist height, supported by a shoulder strap. Different pitch drums (high and low) are used in the ensemble. The two most common drum strokes are open tone (strike the drum with a soft stick) and muffled tone (place hand on skin whilst playing with the stick). This is a smaller, tenor drum often used to play solos. It is held at waist height, supported by a strap. Open tone can be achieved with both the right hand (using a stick) and the left hand (strike the skin quickly with a flat hand). This is a type of snare drum. A ‘snare’ (which vibrates to produce a kind of rattle) is stretched over one of the drum heads. The drum can either be played with two sticks, or can achieve contrasting open tones as with the repinique. This is a type of shaker that is held horizontally at shoulder height. It usually plays constant semiquavers (4 notes in every beat) and off-beat notes are often accented (made louder) for rhythmic effect.  A small, hand-held drum played with a two or three pronged stick. The left hand can be used to press and tighten the skin to change  the pitch of the drum when playing. It plays more difficult rhythms. This is a type of two-tone cow bell, with high and low pitched sounds. It is held in the left hand and the bells are struck by a drum stick. The ringing sound can be slightly dampened (muffled) by the left hand. The agogo typically plays more difficult, syncopated/offbeat rhythms.  A whistle used by the leader to give an instruction to the ensemble. It can play three different notes. Usually played by the teacher!

Warm-up games Samba music requires your pupils to have a very strong sense of rhythm! You may already have your own games for re-inforcing rhythm skills, but the following might help. These ideas are short and achievable, but do not put a ceiling on creativity and resourcefulness. They can be adapted and extended as required, and used as a basis for developing new tasks.

Teacher plays a short 4 beat rhythm for children to repeat back. To make more complicated choose a rhythm that they are not to repeat when they hear it e.g. rhythm  that matches the words ‘don’t play this one back’ (1 2 3 and 4) In pairs, pupils develop Call & Response rhythms based on those of their name/ addresses/ favourite football team/ pop star, etc. Suggestions

The caller claps/plays and says the phrase, and the responder claps/plays without saying it. In pairs, pupils work out the rhythm of a TV programme with a catchphrase, and practise as a “straight echo” Call & Response. They then split up and join someone from another pair, perform each Call & Response several times and pupils see if they can guess the name of the show and catchphrase. In small groups (4-5), pupils form a circle and take turns (clockwise) to say and clap the rhythm of a TV programme, which the rest of the group claps back, without saying it. Each rhythm pattern should be made to last for 4 beats (with 4 beat echo), and the group should aim for no hesitations. Variations

Turn it into a competition: how many turns can the group take before someone hesitates? Use something other than TV programmes –  films, makes/models of cars/ football  teams, for example. Ask the children for ideas. When the teacher shouts, “Change,” or blows a whistle, the direction changes to anti clockwise. Set up one rhythm as an ostinato. Ask the children to listen carefully. When they hear your rhythm change, they listen while repeating their old rhythm, then change to match yours.

Samba – Class warm-up game  A really fun way to re-inforce understanding and knowledge of different Samba instruments and the background to Samba music is to turn the following questions into a series of cards for  the whole class.

I have: START HERE

Who has… the country that Samba music is from?

I have: BRAZIL Who has… the name of the two -tone cowbell?

I have: AGOGO

I have: SAMBA SCHOOL

Who has… the place where Brazilian children learn to play Samba music?

Who has… the important bass drum that keeps the beat in the Samba band?

I have: SURDO

I have: MARDI GRAS

Who has… the name of the day when carnival processions take place in Brazil?

Who has…

I have:

I have:

Who has:

Who has:

I have:

I have:

Who has:

Who has:

I have:

I have:

Who has:

Who has:

I have:

I have:

Who has:

Who has:

Samba – Performance Activities There are three routes into teaching a group to play Samba music. Some of these ideas will be used in the demonstration workshop. Feel free to experiment with as many or as few as you see fit! Whenever you are teaching new rhythms or instruments, always try and use individual pupils  to demonstrate the points you are making. All the complex, multi-layered Samba music (polyrhythmic) is based on repeated one or two bar ostinato figures.  ACTIVITY ONE Introduce the instruments one by one (in the order given on the earlier Samba instruments page), and give each instrument a specific part with its own distinctive word rhythm as follows:

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The surdo rhythm uses the word “damp” in place of muffled for rhythmic simplicity! This rhythm can also be remembered as the distinctive rhythm from Queen We Will Rock You ! The rhythm needs a particular accent on “HIT” every time The  rhythm is the well-known rhythmic football chant The   rhythm alternates low and high pitched sounds, with the fruit names always falling on the higher sound

It may be preferable to try some simple call & response rhythms between the teacher/leader (playing the apito/whistle) before embarking on this complex polyrhythmic texture. Once two or more rhythmic ideas are established, some of the multi-sectional form ideas from ACTIVITY THREE can be attempted is you like.

 ACTIVITY TWO Begin by introducing the  playing a repetitive train rhythm (four notes per beat, preferably with the 3rd of each four accented). Always show clearly how the instrument should be played correctly. Ask them what the rhythm reminds them of, and use the rhythm to get the close moving rhythmically (e.g. swaying on the beat between each foot). Introduce the hand-held

, playing a slightly syncopated rhythm:

Starting the pattern in this way makes it easier for the pupils to "lock in" to the rhythm because it starts on the downbeat. The , with two differently pitched bells that are attached, provides a melody to the whole batucada. The following basic rhythm is reasonably straight-forward to pick up.

Curiously, probably the most difficult rhythm of in the Samba band is that taken by the it needs to provide the foundation for the entire ensemble.

as

The rhythm for the high surdo (open, then muffled) is:

whereas the low surdo plays the opposite (muffled then open):

Finally, it is usally sensible for the

 and

 to share the same rhythm as follows:

With the aid of a samba whistle and hand cues, indicate to the students whether you want to feature a certain instrument and have the other sections of the banddrop out. Also work on call and response rhythms (play a rhythm and they play it back).

 ACTIVITY THREE The following suggested order for tackling a new piece relates to the pages that follow (headed Samba Batucada  –  these are photocopiable pages from New Music Matters 3, published by Heinemann). Some of these rhythms are particularly complex (don’t attempt S ection B!), but some of the strategies in ACTIVITY THREE could easily be combined with the simpler rhythms featured in the Performing Activities above. 

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Get the children to practise maintaining a simple pulse on their instrument. Remember that Samba is a type of dance music, and the most important characteristic of all dance music is its regular pulse.  Ask them to think about the beats you are playing in groups of 4 (i.e. a bar of music). When you shouts out a number between 1 and 4, get them to switch to playing only on  that beat in the bar. Teach a simple call and response. The pupils will need to play a fixed, 2 note response to the apito  call from the teacher/leader (see Introduction music on the following pages). This will be played 3 times when it is finally performed. Learn a new simple response to a signal from the teacher/leader (two long and four short blasts from the apito ) (see Section C music on the following pages) Now teach the different parts of an additional complex polyrhythmic texture (i.e. lots of different rhythms being played together). This is made up of four different layers. (see Section A music on the following pages) Surdos (alternate regular open tone and muffled tone strokes) Tamborim, Repenique & Caixa (four quavers followed by a syncopated rhythm)  Agogo (without dampening the sound, a complex two-tone rhythm) Ganza (regular semiquavers, accenting 3rd note in each beat) Make sure that the pupils are aware of the signal for this section (four apito  blasts)

- by asking them to listening carefully to the teacher’s signals from the apito , try and perform a multi-section version of this Samba Batucada piece. Uese hand signals to indicate when the playing should stop. Though most authentic Samba compositions are very complex, all are based on this simple structure of varying sections that are cued by the ensemble leader.

Samba – Composition activities SMALL SECTION COMPOSITION Once pupils are comfortably working with rhythm, give them an opportunity to take responsibility for a part of the samba performance. Divide the class into four groups, dividing the instruments equally. Tell them that each group will have a short showcase within the class samba performance – that at a certain point in the performance the teacher/leader will indicate that it is their turn to be in the spotlight! Some groups will be capable of coming up with their own ideas for their section of the performance, whereas others will need guidance. Depending on the skill level of the group, you should play this by ear. At the most basic, there may actually be little actual composition – a simple chant-style rhythm, for example, such as:

But most groups will be able to devise at least a basic Call & Response of their own (lead by an instrument of their choice) perhaps based around one of the short composition tasks above, or on one of the rhythms that they have learnt on a samba instrument. Most pupils enjoy having this responsibility once they are able to achieve something worthwhile, and will take pleasure in composing, performing and then listening back to, and evaluating, any recordings you make. SMALL GROUP MULTI-SECTION SAMBA COMPOSITION   

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Divide the instruments equally into four groups The performance will be lead by one of the tamborim players  Ask the children to devise a simple call and response introduction and then one polyrhythmic section (every pupil playing a different repeated, four-beat rhythm) Spend no more than 20 minutes composing ideas, and then spend at least 10 minutes practising to produce a rhythmically secure performance  Aim to have every instrument playing its own distinctive rhythm. Don’t forget that higher pitched instruments tend to play more complex rhythms, whilst the lowest instrument (the Surdo ) keeps the beat in the bass of the ensemble.

 All the groups will come back together at the end of the lesson to perform their pieces. Good compositions will be achieved by those groups who achieve a strong rhythmic pulse, clear leadership, simple but varied rhythms and a good contrast between the two sections

Samba – Listening activities TASK ONE Listen to a short extract from Brasiliana  (track 1) which gives you a taste of carnival time in Rio and the excitement of this style of music. This example also features singing and guitar playing. TASK TWO Try and identify the instruments that you can hear playing in the following two musical extracts. Excerpt One: O Lodum [track 2] Which three instruments can you hear? 1

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Excerpt Two: Mistura 3 [track 3] Which five instruments can you hear? Three of the instruments are from the samba band, one can be found on a drum kit, and the other can be found in most schools! 1

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Samba – Other activities NOTATION IDEAS Creating your own 4 beat rhythms using chairs and tables notation (chair= 1beat/ crotchet,  table= 2 half beats/ 2 quavers) You can give the children cards with each on and they can select a maximum of 4 cards and create a rhythm. Then practise it. Once they have their own rhythms,  they can use these in combination to make different textures. Or use one to set up a repeating pattern (ostinato) and the others to create interest over the top. SINGING “Carnival Samba” is a traditional Brazilian samba song, typical of those performed in carnival processions. It can be sung as a class song (accompanied by guitar, for example), and then a small ensemble percussion backing can be added whilst the rest of the class/group sing the song. (a photocopiable resource from New Music Matters 3, published by Heinemann)

COMPOSITION IDEAS

Start with the ganza making a train rhythm, and ask the children to create a piece of music to represent a steam train, setting off, getting faster and slowing down again, controlling their use of the instruments and the elements of music.

Take advantage of having some big drums, and loud bass sounds to create an ambitious weather composition! Use your imagination…..

Use the idea of samba as a celebration as a starting point. Using the rhythms and techniques  they have learnt, work in groups to create a piece with a beginning and middle and end. Ask  them to consider how will they know when to start/ stop different rhythms and the beginning and end of the piece? *********************************************************************