Choro: how to play (part II) 

Wow, Jim, thank you so much! I'm happy to hear this has been useful to you. Nelson Faria is a great guitarist. You should search for Marco Pereira's book on Brazilian Rhythms, it's a great encyclopedia of rhythms...

Wow, Will, thank you so much, that warms my heart. I'm glad to hear there's a choro scene in Nashville. Playing choros on solo piano is quite a challenge, but it is a lot of fun. You should check out the work of my friend Hercules Gomes, who's a great old school choro pianist! Take care!

@@HenriqueEisenmann Yeah man, Hercules is an impeccable, inspiring pianist. I have his CD. Great name for a guy with big chops. He sounds like he's can play classical stuff, too. Musical, inventive, groovin', rooted and seriously pianistic. which you already know ( : . paz

It is my pleasure!

Thank you so much Nadav! I'm happy you love choro, there are many great players in Israel, I once taught a couple of masterclasses for the young students in the Jerusalem Academy, invited by Tal Gamlieli. Hope to see you soon!

Valeu Lucas! Abs!

Thank you! Don't worry about your hands! You can re-invent the chords and adapt them to your technique. Some people prefer to play octaves or closed chords, others prefer to play the bass note and then quickly jump to the chord (similar to a ragtime groove). By the way, I can only reach 10ths in certain keys....

This is a great question. Back in the 1880s, the way locals musicians in Brazil would perform European ballroom music was considered “overly-dramatic”, “crying” over those melodies. The name stuck to it. I do agree with you, however, that the genre evolved into a happy bouncy and exciting music.

Hi James, you are absolutely right. The telecoteco is basically the reverse of the pattern I showed (if you play this pattern starting from the second bar, you get a telecoteco). The telecoteco is more common in later choro and samba. In the beginning of the century, syncopation wasn't yet very advanced; the influence of maxixe and polca were still strong, so most patterns started on the downbeat. You should totally play the piano! Good luck!!! Cancel Reply

My pleasure, Patrick!

Thank you so much!

My pleasure!

Thanks Wilson! I'm glad you are getting into this music!

Obrigado Luciana!

Yes, exaclty! Very similar to the articulated Gypsy jazz language, and also similar to early ragtime, Martinican Beguine, Cuban Danzon, among many others.... :)

@@HenriqueEisenmann Thanks for expanding my musical horizons! (basically, every name and genre that you rattle off is like a whole new world!)

O Choro Carioca é mais antigo que o Jazz e o próprio Ragtime.

Obrigado pelas palavras! Minha recomendação é aprender a tocar cifras (acordes), e buscar online partituras simples (melodia e cifra). Além disso, recomendo tocar junto com a gravação original, é divertido - mesmo que seja uma versão mais simplificada.

Em breve sairão mais algumas. Eu tenho outras aulas na minha página do Patreon tbm (www.patreon.com/henriquepiano)

Hi David, this is an excellent point, and you are absolutely right. These two forms of tamborim patterns are relatively "modern" if compared to early choro. The predecessor of these patterns is the maxixe groove, which can be heard in most recordings of Carmen Miranda, Sinhô, Noel Rosa, Nazareth and many more (there is a big gray area regarding the differences between maxixe and early samba). Most samba from the 20-30s still uses the maxixe pattern (16th-8th-16th qtr qtr). In my opinion, this is a beautiful example of how rhythms evolve and transform with time. If I had to play a historically accurate performance of some old choro, I'd probably use simpler rhythmic patterns.

Sounds really cool. Have you checked out a Brazilian group called Quinteto Armorial? The had a strong Renaissance influence..

@@HenriqueEisenmann yes when i told my father about this he told me about them

Hi Amauri, do you think you would be able to read in portuguese?

@@HenriqueEisenmann Yeah, I think so, I speak spanish and sort of understand when someone speaks portuguese. Thanks!

@@HenriqueEisenmann Hey Henrique, by the way, I was rewatching your lectures, what an amazing content, thank you so much. I was trying to find the one about Hermeto, I think it's not online anymore. It would be great if you upload it to your channel. Thanks again man, feeling really inspired.

Although many classically trained musicians wouldn't use these accents in their performance, I believe you should definitely use these rhythms to inform your performance and make it more authentic. Villa-Lobos would have liked it!

Olá João Pedro, obrigado pela mensagem. O ideal é começar com choros mais lentos, até que sua técnica se desenvolva. Algumas sugestões: Carinhoso, Naquele Tempo, Brejeiro, Vou Vivendo. Encontre partituras com cifras simples e aplique os padrões rítmicos na mão esquerda.

@@HenriqueEisenmann Valeu!

Ingrid Capy No, Choro is a style of instrumental music in Brazil. It has nothing to do with “chorus”. Choro actually means “cry”, from the verb “chorar” (llorar in Spanish).

@@HenriqueEisenmann ok, got it! I Google it and found some of what you just said. But, as a Spanish speaker, I always try to translate everything, especially if I am not quite familiar with the subject [especially Brazilian music] . Thank you professor!

There are many songbooks available online. I would recommend exploring www.ernestonazareth150anos.com.br/Works which contains some of the first choros written for piano..