I'll start this post with an enormous caveat that Brazilian music is not my field of expertise
at all. Many people around me are learning Portuguese, making trips to Brazil and being very serious about it, making me feel a little like the
guy who sat next to the class clown, as I mentioned to someone recently. Still I thought this might be helpful to people who are, like me, seeking to put together some understanding from multiple, imperfect bits of information. See my
"samba builder" download for applications for these concepts.
First, for reference:
The subject of feel in samba is intimidating because it has never been clearly and fully analyzed, at least that I've seen. Here in their entirety are three of the
most helpful things I've read about it:
Duduka da Fonseca/Bob Weiner in Brazilian Rhythms for Drumset
: One of the keys to understanding Brazilian music is feel the pull towards a "triplet pulse" against the 2/4 feel of the samba.
Eliane Elias quoted by Peter Erskine in The Drum Perspective
: "You Americans don't know how to swing samba; you all sound like TI-KA TI-KA TI-KA TI-KA." I smirked and said, "Well then, how should it sound?" She sang, "DO-goosh-ga, DO-goosh-ga, DO-goosh-ga, DO-goosh-ga."
Peter Erskine in Drum Concepts and Techniques
: Remember to accent on 2.
