Here is what I am practicing these day, slow and fast samba!!!!! Muito bomThis is "Estamos Ai" (Leny Andrade version with Lilian Carmona on drums) I love playing this tune.Let me know if you like it;-)
Posted by Antoine Fatout on Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Here is what I am practicing these days, slow and fast samba!!!!! Muito bom! This is "Estamos Ai" (Leny Andrade version with Lilian Carmona on drums). I love playing this tune! This samba was also played by Rafael Barata at the Berklee Clinic I attended, and listening to him playing this was life-changing to me because of the "feel" that he was able to get out of the drums. It's something I strive to emulate.
The song starts with a slow samba that feels really nice and Leny Andrade plays the first melody in that tempo. The second time, the tempo is played double time as a fast samba. Check out how I break the way of playing around the melody because the tempo is too fast to play all of the 16th notes.
I posted this video on Facebook and one of my drummer friends asked me for some advice on how to play with an authentic Brazilian feel. Here is what I told him:
The song starts with a slow samba that feels really nice and Leny Andrade plays the first melody in that tempo. The second time, the tempo is played double time as a fast samba. Check out how I break the way of playing around the melody because the tempo is too fast to play all of the 16th notes.
I posted this video on Facebook and one of my drummer friends asked me for some advice on how to play with an authentic Brazilian feel. Here is what I told him:
For the Brazilian "feel", I understand what you are looking for. For the first two years that I was at Berklee, I only focused on jazz even though I already loved Brazilian music. I didn't have the time to practice it seriously. That was only in my last year at school that I started focusing on Samba, then all of the styles like Bossa Nova, Baiao, Maracatu, Frevo etc. I put the jazz on the side a bit and instead of working on my ride cymbal beat for an hour every day as Leon Parker suggested, I did the same with Brazilian grooves, doing an hour of just the groove (like a samba). In Boston there is a huge community of Brazilian musicians, and I started investigating the music and the culture, applying my jazz approach and learning about the music in the same way; music history, repertoire, listening, playing, etc.
You know how it is:-) Playing this music with Brazilian musicians also helped me to understand the "feel" so much better.
If I wanted to summarize how I learned this "feel", it would be in 4 points:
1) Learn the percussion instruments from the Bateria (Samba School), like the tamborim (which gives the main rhythmic phrase), caixa, surdo, ganza (shaker), etc.
2) Learn the songs of the real repertoire, not the tunes played by the jazz musicians.
3) Listen to the "real deal" as much as possible and learn about the history.
4) Apply the groove and the feel on the drums....
I think that Bossa Nova is a good way to start your practice because it has some elements of Samba, but played more slowly. Check out Joao Gilberto!
I don't know how familiar you all are with Brazilian drummers, but here are my favorites: Rafael Barata, Edu Ribeiro, Paulo Braga, Portinho, Kiko Freita, Edison Machado, Helcio Milito, Milton Banana, Airto Moreira.
Here is a song that I like:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMiXJINqpfc
Thanks for reading everyone, let me know your comments/questions, I love talking about this music.
You know how it is:-) Playing this music with Brazilian musicians also helped me to understand the "feel" so much better.
If I wanted to summarize how I learned this "feel", it would be in 4 points:
1) Learn the percussion instruments from the Bateria (Samba School), like the tamborim (which gives the main rhythmic phrase), caixa, surdo, ganza (shaker), etc.
2) Learn the songs of the real repertoire, not the tunes played by the jazz musicians.
3) Listen to the "real deal" as much as possible and learn about the history.
4) Apply the groove and the feel on the drums....
I think that Bossa Nova is a good way to start your practice because it has some elements of Samba, but played more slowly. Check out Joao Gilberto!
I don't know how familiar you all are with Brazilian drummers, but here are my favorites: Rafael Barata, Edu Ribeiro, Paulo Braga, Portinho, Kiko Freita, Edison Machado, Helcio Milito, Milton Banana, Airto Moreira.
Here is a song that I like:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMiXJINqpfc
Thanks for reading everyone, let me know your comments/questions, I love talking about this music.
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