Scott Harwood Homer and Dr. Ron Brough, Music
The music of Brazil has a rich heritage and great diversity. Its rhythms, developed by street musicians, are sophisticated and challenging. The people I met know well the songs they hear live and on the radio, and the musicians respond to this by constantly performing creative arrangements of what is formally called “Brazilian Popular Music” (MPB in Portuguese). The result is a culture in which music is a pleasurable part of daily life for most everyone.
Music such as this cannot be learned strictly from paper. It is transmitted aurally and visually with young musicians participating in the local music scene, absorbing the art from older players. It goes hand-in-hand with dancing, and the right feel is essential to its purpose. Since the rhythms are not mathematically precise nor are they meant to be, they are difficult for a foreigner to imitate. A high level of syncopation between the percussion and vocals adds to the complexity; in order to learn this music well, one must spend time surrounded by it.
My exposure to Brazilian music began about twelve years ago, when my drum teacher demonstrated a samba rhythm on the drumset. As I learned to play jazz, I came to see that bossa nova was a Brazilian style that had become an essential part of the repertoire. As I discussed music with my dad, it soon came out that he had listened to Sergio Mendes and Brazil ’66 growing up, in the late years of Brazilian music’s major explosion into American popular culture. Once I received a mission call to Sao Paulo, I began to come into contact with the real thing. By the time I returned home, the music had settled into my bloodstream and I knew I had to pursue it further. I returned once to Brazil six months later and while there watched an authentic Northeastern band perform a wide array of Brazilian styles. As I sat fixated on the drummer, percussionists, and the rhythm of all the instruments, it was clear to me that this was the only way to learn the music.
It became my purpose to return to Brazil again, this time to study the music more intensely, more directly, and for more time. My faculty mentor Ron Brough put me in contact with his colleague Michael Carney who had recently returned from a study trip to Rio de Janeiro. Mr. Carney recommended I study with Guilherme Goncalves, a well-versed Brazilian percussionist who had also attended Berklee School of Music in Boston. Upon arrival in Rio, I contacted Guilherme and over the course of two weeks took about six hours of private lessons from him.
Our lessons involved the demonstration of basic rhythms and techniques on each of the most important samba school instruments, including tamborim, caixa, pandeiro, reco-reco, surdo, repenique, rebolo, and repique de mao. We also applied them to the drumset and studied a few styles in a more comprehensive way. In another lesson he put on several CD’s and pointed out important facets of the music, such as instrumentation, origin, normal performance setting, technique, harmony, form, subject matter of lyrics, ornamentation, feel, and what differentiated each style from others. He showed me authentic native instruments he had obtained in the Northeast.
Perhaps even more importantly, Guilherme invited me to various musical events and introduced me to his friends. I was able to see top quality samba, pagode, and samba de enredo (samba designed for carnaval) because of him; he even took me to a song competition organized by one of the twelve largest samba schools in Rio. The event was one of many leading up to the final selection of songs and musicians to take part in the annual carnaval festival, one of the largest celebrations in the world.
I spent hours conversing with Guilherme’s friends, who were well versed in Brazilian music. One man indicated several books and over thirty important CD’s to add to my collection, and informed me as to many of the major MPB (Brazilian Popular Music) artists. I purchased most of these and they have continued to be an important source of aural and historical study. I also used them in master class lecture/demonstrations in the jazz and percussion departments.
Along with Guilherme and his friends, the family I stayed with, the youth of the local ward, the people from my mission, and the people I met on the street all helped me get a sense of perspective on the place music occupies in the lives of the Brazilian people. The youth of the ward took me to their favorite nightspots, which turned out to be a gold mine for close observation. In one informal “jam” under the arches of a train crossing, only three musicians filled out the parts, singing and playing samba folk songs while a crowd slowly accumulated. I had never heard the songs, but everyone around me was singing every word, dancing and smiling at each other. The percussionists passed the instruments around and a few people took turns putting their particular twist on the beats. After a couple of hours the crowd had become so large and excited I could hardly believe what I was a part of. It is a music of joy that brings many of the people together.
As I went from club to club, I watched closely as the musicians churned out the music. I noted the way they held their bodies, arms, hands, wrists, and fingers. I observed the angle, brand, condition, and tuning of the instruments. I listened for form, harmony, shape of melody, and the content of the lyrics. I watched how it affected the people and noted how it affected me. I imitated the techniques in the air and even joined in on instruments a few times. And I took my questions to Guilherme, taking copious notes and developing a mental and aural image of how I would reproduce the music back in Utah.
Through networking and conversing with musicians after shows, I also studied pandeiro (tambourine) with a teacher named Sergio and cavaquinho (ukulele) with Rafael.
I returned to Utah with a collection of authentic instruments and began to practice in earnest. I gave two lectures in the music department and directed the first Brazilian combo I’ve heard of at BYU, in which we both reproduced and improvised on authentic Brazilian styles. I have given instruction to both Ron Brough and Jay Lawrence, assisted with instruction for and lent instruments to the Panoramic Steel concert, and performed cuica with Synthesis. I also performed a Brazilian number in my senior recital. In addition, I recorded with a local Brazilian band at Rosewood studios and have become a member of that band. The goal of this hands-on research was for me to become conversant in this unique style so that I could reproduce it and teach it to others. Already in the few months since I returned the dividend has been high, and this only indicates that the project will pay off much more in the future for me and for other musicians and listeners.