Track 2 ~ Carnaval Music in Bahia, Brazil

Music is the heartbeat of the Carnaval Celebration in Bahia, Brazil. Once a year, Carnaval takes center stage all over Brazil. However, it is in Bahia that the tradition of samba is found. People believe samba has it's roots there. Samba is a style of music and dance. The music, which includes mostly drums, is what makes the people dance. A samba drum group includes agogo bells, surdo drums, tambourines, and shakers. The surdo, the largest drum, supports the rest of the group and is the heartbeat of samba.

Breaks separate different parts of the song, and there may be a call and response between different instruments. Eduardo Mendonca, a musician from Bahia, describes the music during Carnaval.

…we have also in the North in Brazil, we have the trucks, the huge trucks and they have all the PA system set up on the top and the musicians go on the top, the dancers go on the top, it’s like a huge combination trucks you see on the freeways or something like that, that huge. Big trucks. The musicians go on the top and they play a mix between the drums and the electric guitars and the horns, and they celebrate the Carnaval in this way, with these trucks, called the Trio Electrico.

The Carnaval they celebrate in Bahia is different from other parts of Brazil

The Carnaval happens in Brazil in many different ways and many different styles. It depends where you are in Brazil...

And Carnaval is not just about being in the Streets for a big party. As we learned from Eduardo Mendonca, Carnaval in Bahia is also about community building.

There is many different aspects that Carnaval is. But definitely the strongest one is to bring people together. It’s a celebration. It’s a bridge. Like the music and art is, it’s not about separating, [it’s] to get people together. Believe me.

So, Carnaval is a way for people to come together, dance, make music with percussion, and most importantly, to put aside their differences.