"Viola de Samba" and "Samba de Viola" in the Recôncavo of Bahia (Brazil)

Ralph C. Waddey

Latin American Music Review / Revista de Música Latinoamericana, Vol. 1, No. 2. (Autumn -
Winter, 1980), pp. 196-212.

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Ralph C. Waddey Viola de Samba and

Samba de Viola
in the RecBncavo of Bahia
(Brazil)'

It is not uncommon in Bahia to hear

that, as one friend said to me, "Samba -5 apenas coisa que neguinho
faz em esquina de rua" (samba is just something darkies do on the
street corner). This remark would not be surprising if it were made by
a member of the rather large group of people to whom all Afro-
Bahian folk art is primitive, godless, and savage. But, at least in this
case, it was made by an educated Afro-Bahian who considers himself
a defender of the purity of his own traditions. T h e implication
is that samba alone is worthy of such contempt: that it is so devoid
of artistic value because it is so simple as to require no special learn-
ing or talent to perform, and that it is so unimportant to its par-
ticipants it can be done at any time and anywhere. Nothing could be
farther from the truth, for as "Cobrinha Verde,"2 master of the
traditional arts of the RecBncavo, insists, "samba e coisa seria" (samba
is a serious thing).
T h e concept samba is so vast and profound in Brazilian music
and life as to practically defy definition. I t is a genre (of both music
and dance), an occasion, and a group. As a genre it is often indistin-
guishable from others except by region and by the names it is given
in each region, such as the cBcos of the serf603 of Bahia and farther
north. T h e samba to which Cobrinha Verde refers specifically in the
above remark is the samba d e viola. Samba de viola, samba de chula,
samba de partido alto, sum ba santumarense, samba amarrado: all
refer to the same phenomenon but call it according to different
aspects. I n reality it is the song-text, the chula, which formally sets
this samba apart from others, but it is the viola, its presence in
the performance of the genre, and its meaning for the occasion, that
most characterizes this samba for its participants. T h e first part of
Latin American Xlusic Revleu,, Vol. 1, No. October 1980
0 1980 by the University of Texas Press 0163-0350/60/020196-
 Viola d e Samba and Samba d e Viola : 197

this article is devoted entirely to this instrument in its RecBncavo

form. T h e second part looks at its samba by its various names and as
a genre, a group of people, and an occasion.

Viola
T h e body of the Brazilian viola is shaped and constructed approxi-
mately like that of the guitar. Its size, depending upon region and
use, varies from that of the guitar to considerably smaller. T h e
neck of the viola is fretted, and the instrument is plucked, either with
a plectrum or with the fingers, or it is strummed. T h e characteristic
of the viola which notably distinguishes it from the guitar and
which determines its distinctive sonority as well as its technique is
that it is a double-coursed instrument, having from eight to twelve
strings, most often ten, tuned in pairs of octaves and unisons. This
folk instrument is still, but rarely, made by artisans. T h e assembly-line
viola, made in S30 Paulo and therefore called "viola paulista" in the
RecBncavo, now dominates even in regions where the musical styles in
which the viola is used would ideally require a different form of
the instrument. This is the case in the Bahian RecBncavo, where not
only is the art of making the viola disappearing but where the very
use of even the industrialized instrument is disappearing as well.
Those in the RecBncavo who still take part in the folk art and
lore of the viola hold that it is the "first" instrument. This primacy is
double. T h e viola is first in the sense that it is felt to be the oldest
instrument. Indeed, a n instrument at least called by the name
viola does appear to have been around in Brazil for some time. T h e
sixteenth-century Jesuit, Jose de .Anchieta, wrote that "the Indian
children do their dances in the Portuguese manner, with drums and
violas."4 This antiquity itself, tugether with the viola's association
with the first Portuguese lords, contributes to the second sense of the
instrument's primacy: the viola is felt to be the most noble and
historical, the most Brazilian, and at the same time the most Euro-
pean instrument.
T h e music of the viola in two regions of Brazil has found a fair
following through a recording industry. T h e viola is the mainstay of
the accompaniment in the caipira music centered in the state of
S5o Paulo. Although the analogy should not be extended too far,
c a i p i ~ amusic is to Brazil in sentiment and even in style roughly what
country music is to the United States. T h e viola became industri-
alized principally for this market, and, since S5o Paulo is also
198 : Ralph Watldey

Brazil's manufacturing center, the viola is manufactured there as well,

and the viola paulista dominates throughout the country. I n the
Nordeste (Northeast region) of Brazil, the viola repentista is the in-
dispensible companion to the singer of the improvised repentes and
of the desafios, or challenges, between two singers. This traditional
northeastern music has moved into the recording industry too, al-
though to a smaller extent, both in its homeland and-with the
migration of vast numbers of nordestinos (northeasterners) seeking
work there-in S%oPaulo. T h e viola accompaniment in the caipira
and the repente styles is mainly strummed and is musically quite
secondary, serving as a matrix for the meter of the sung poetry
and providing short and simple solo interludes, which, in the case
of the repente, allow the singer a brief moment in which to think
and then to enter properly according to the meter and beat.
I n Bahia, both in the sertEo (the dry interior highlands) and
particularly in the RecBncavo, the viola accompanies dance as well
as song. T h e uioleiro (viola player) not only provides a rhythmic
background for a dancer or dancers, but also he is encouraged to
challenge the dancer to follow with his feet the rhythmic dexterity of
the uioleiro's fingers. A basic toque (a short harmonic, melodic, and
rhythmic pattern) is repeated constantly, but within this pattern is
interwoven considerable intricacy of ornamentation and rhythm. T h e
instrumental ensemble consists of several violas (either of different
sizes, or, if the same size, then tuned differently, or, if tuned the
same, then playing different toques), perhaps other string instruments
such as the four-string, single-course cavrrquinho, and the guitar (or
violzo), and percussion instruments (centering around the pandeiro,
tambourine). Precision is essential in the complex interaction among
violas, other instruments, singers, and dancers. These complex and
precise relationships and the demand for proper and structured
variety, characterized by the manner of combining violas of different
sizes, tuned differently, and played differently, provide a true en-
semble ideal which works in practice and which is articulated in
traditional and oral theory, some of it aphoristic and some of it
rational. I n fact, little could be more typical of the complexity of the
archaic, mystical, traditional, rapidly changing, and extraordinarily
heterogeneous Bahian RecBncavo than the viola, its music, and their
uses and meanings.

Viola in the Kechncavo: Viola de Samba

Nearly every aspect of the viola in the ~ e c B & a v ooffers two kinds of
 Viola de Samba and Samba de Viola : 199

explanations or descriptions: one natural and one supernatural; one

mundane, another otherworldly, mystical, and mythical. T h e primacy
of the viola among popular instruments can be explained by its non-
musical powers (the forces it is said to possess) and by its association
with the early settlers and lords of Brazil in the minds of those who
still use the instrument. I t is, moreover, the folk instrument most
inaccessible and, therefore, highest and first, both musically, due to
the difficulty required to master it, and economically, due to the
expense of the proper skills, materials, and tools needed to build and
acquire the instrument.
I could locate only one viola maker still active i n Bahia:
Clarindo dos Santos, born in 1922, a roceiro, or truck farmer, about
seventy-five kilometers from Salvador near the town of Santo Amaro
da Purifica~iio,capital of the old sugar-cane economy; he is known as
"Clarindo da Viola," and he hangs his instruments to be sold in
the stall of a friend in the municipal market when he has no com-
mission for a special instrument, His instruments are widely used
and appreciated by the uioleiros I had met in Salvador, in the tradi-
tional sambas given in the Alto da Santa Cruz neighborhood, many of
the residents of which, among them several of the violeiros, are
originally from Santo Amaro. I found that Clarindo's instruments
were used and preferred in Santo .\mar0 itself and in the small
towns surrounding it, as well as in Cachoeira, a slightly larger town
about fifty kilometers away. I suspected that I had found Clarindo
only because of his proximity to Salvador and that I could locate
other at least semiactive craftsmen farther into the interior. I found
none-a vaguely remembered name here and there, but no one still
making violas. Those who still played the instrument used either
ancient and patched-up handmade instruments or the manufactured
uiola paulistn. T h e handmade instruments I found were quite similar
to those made by Clarindo, with minor variations in size and in the
woods used, conforming to local supply. I always traveled with
two of Clarindo's violas in tow, either to use myself if I were to find
a willing master or to record the art of a uioleiro who might no
longer have his own instrument. I never left a place without being
implored and cajoled to leave Clarindo's instruments behind with the
local violeiros, even on one occasion in song, with the traditional
capoeira and samba chula insisting "ou me venda ou me dA" (either
give me or sell me) toward the end of a certain recording session.
Consequently, I feel confident in using Clarindo's violas as descriptive
models. (See Figure 1.)
Clarindo makes violas for the uiolei?-osof the RecGnca~oin the two
preferred sizes, the viola machete and the viola tr&s-quarto (sic;
200 : Ralph Waddey

Figure I : (left to right) Full-size guitar (manufactured by Tranquil0

Giannini, S. A., of S. Paulo, Brazil); viola trZsquarto and viola
machete (handmade by Clarindo dos Santos of Santo Amaro da
Purifica~Zo,Bahia, Brazil). [Photograph by the author.]
 Viola d e Samba and Samba de Viola : 201

three-quarter), typically played together in the traditional samba

ensemble, perhaps with the cauaquinho and the modern guitar, which
Clarindo's shop can also turn out, as well. T h e machete (a name
coming apparently from the Madeira islands) has an overall length
of about 76 centimeters, with an upper bout of around 17 centimeters
across, a lower bout of around 22 centimeters, and a waist of around
12 centimeters. T h e three-quarter viola has an overall length of
89.5 centimeters, an upper bout of 20 centimeters, a lower bout of
29.5 centimeters, and a waist of 15 centimeters. T h e thickness of the
sound box of both the machete and the three-quarter is about 6
centimeters. T h e fingerboard of the machete is about 18 centimeters
long, and that of the three-quarter about 23 centimeters long, divided
by ten bronze or copper frets spaced to give intervals of (roughly)
minor seconds. Instruments of either size may have additional hard-
wood or metal frets embedded in the face of the sound box, stopping
only the two upper courses.
One denomination in the Rec6ncavo for these instruments collec-
tively is the uiola d e dez c o ~ d a s the
, ten-string viola. Both the
machete and the three-quarter have ten metal strings in five double
courses. T h e playing position of the viola is similar to that of the
guitar, and the instrument is strung so that the acoustically higher
courses are closer to the musician's lap than are the lower courses.
T h e first three highest courses are of bare steel wire and are tuned
in unisons. T h e lower two pairs are tuned in octaves, with one string
wound and the other, the ~equintcr,bare.5 T h e requinta of the fourth
pair is of wire of the same gauge as that of the second pair; the re-
quinta of the fifth pair is of the same gauge as the third pair. T h e re-
quintas of the two lower courses are strung so that, with the instru-
ment in playing position, they are farther from the musician's lap
than are their lower-octave partners. (See Example 1.)
T h e sound box is today most often made of pine, although, con-
ditions (mainly economic) permitting, cedar or jaca?-andd (a Bahian
rosewood highly valued throughout the world by makers of classical
guitars) is used for the back and sides. T h e fingerboard is still of
jacarandd, as are the ten tuning pegs (cmueiras; each about 7
centimeters long), the bridge, and the ornamental inlay along the
contour of the outer rim of the face and around the opening in the
face (about 6.5 centimeters in diameter) in the form of lozenges.
T h e frets are of either bronze or copper. T h e latter are less expensive
and more common, and, although the action of the very fine upper
steel strings cutting into the frets requires frequent replacement of
the frets, this action also helps the owner of each viola quickly to
202 : R a l p h lVaddey

temper the idiosyncracies and imperfections of his instrument's finger-

board, internal stresses, and materials to his own touch and taste.
T h e process is called su?-mndo a viola, whipping the viola into shape.
T h e violas in Figure 2 are, from left to right, a three-quarter
manufactured in SHo Paulo and a machete made by Clarindo. Inci-
dentally, the uioleiro on the left is left-handed, but he strings and
tunes his viola like a right-handed instrument, simply reversing the
function of his thumb and index finger when he plays. This has
the obvious advantage over the more common left-handed practice of
stringing the instrument in reverse in that this musician can switch
to most instruments at a musical gathering, or he can appear at an
occasion without taking along his own instrument. Similarly,
other musicians can use his instrument, a common practice.
Musicians who use a plectrum may deny the fact, but the use of the
fingers alone is generally more appreciated. T h e plectrum is held
between the thumb and index finger, thus limiting the player either
to strumming or to picking one note at a time, resulting in a broken
pattern, but one at times remarkably dexterous and well suited to
the rather harplike timbre of the ensemble. Nevertheless, the musician
who uses his index finger and thumb can get the same result as
the plectrum with the finger and yet maintain beat on the lower
strings with his thumb. He can catar (pick out, or gather) with
his finger on the upper strings and marcar (beat time) with his thumb.
Musicians who play in this manner have joined the two manners
by adopting the form of pick which fastens around the finger and
the thumb, thus producing the sonority of the pick and the versatili-
ty of the finger. Although the uioleiro makes his toques around
essentially chordal patterns formed in the left hand, I have never
seen a uioleiro in Bahia pluck with three or even two fingers. Pluck-
ing is done only with the index finger on the upper three pairs of
strings and with the thumb on the lower two pairs.
Clarindo learned empirically to make violas. After his former
supplier of instruments became a crcnfe (literally, "believer," i.e., a
Protestant) and therefore gave u p music, especially the viola and all
it signifies, Clarindo decided that he could duplicate a broken-up in-
strument he had. He makes no pretense about the imperfection of
his first instrument. T h e sides of the viola are bent around a solid
jaca?-anda block form (which Clarindo inherited from his born-again
friend, along with some reluctant advice on how to use it), glued,
and clamped. Clarindo now uses epoxy to glue his instruments. In the
past, he used hide glue, but when he found that he could no longer
make the quality of glue he wanted (due to the current practice of
 Viola de Samba and Samba de Viola : 203

Figure 2: Samba de viola i n the neighborhood "Alto da Santa C ~ Z L Z "

(Salvador, Bahia, Bmzil), i n the candomblk (cult house) of the widow
of Mestre Bimba, violeiro and renowned master of capoeira; held i n
Bimba's honor every year by his widow, D. Alice, o n the eve of Sa"o
Pedro, patron saint of widows ( J u n e 29, 1977). [Photograph by
the author.]
204 : R a l p h It'addey

salting hides for preservation), he made the technological leap be-

yond Elmer's and other synthetic resins. \Z7hile the viola forms and
sets (actually, in all phases of construction while the instrument is not
physically in its maker's hands), a sprig of the herb nj.ujlco is placed
on the instrument to keep off the evil eye, which, cast on an instru-
ment during the vulnerable time before it is completed and given
a name, can mean that it pode nunca prestnr (may never be any
good). T h e instrument thus acquires personality and, one supposes,
personal defenses.
T h e instrument's owner names it. Clarindo's own favorite instru-
ment is "Princesa Marinalva" (Princess Marinalva). Another violeiro
in Santo Amaro remembers with longing his viola "Moqa Branca"
(T.Z7hiteGirl), which he sold when, some ten years ago, he fell on
hard times. His present instrument is named "Dengosa" (dainty or
cute). My teacher, or mestre, in Salvador, Antonio Moura Dasilva,
born in Santo Amaro and known in the Alto da Santa Cruz
neighborhood as "Candea," named the last machete Clarindo made
for him "Menina Linda" (Pretty Baby), which he inscribed on the
face of the viola to complement the pieces of mirror and the ribbons
he added to Clarindo's jactlmndd inlays to dress u p his "Pretty Baby."
When I told Clarindo that I had named the three-quarter viola he
had made for me " B i m a Julieta" (Cousin Juliette), he told me that
he had already named it "Vengncia" (a proper name), but that
"Prima Julieta" "cai bem" (fits well), and that I should feel free
to continue with the new name. I n the RecBncavo, viola is woman,
and its female qualities and form are enhanced by the ornamenta-
tion and name its owner gives it. T h e viola is to be both seduced
by its player and seductive in his hands.
Not even the Blessed Virgin is immune to the powers of the viola.
One hears in Bahia that the pl-imn of the viola (the highest-pitched
course of strings) is both blessed and damned. I n the sertrTo of Bahia
it is held that the viola is favored by the Virgin Mary because it is
the most appropriate instrument for the playing of her Office. But in
the RecBncavo it is said that the prima of the viola was excom-
municated because our Lady could not resist its call and descended
one night from her altar to sapntenr (tap-dance) to the sound of the
viola. X similar story is told of Christ's having to go after Saints
Peter and John, who, having been sent one after the other on a
mission by our Lord, got involved in a samba with a viola ensemble
and lost track of their objective. Even Christ, having finally found
his disciples, did a few quick steps to the sound of the viola before
going on his way.
 Viola d e Sambn and Samba de Viola : 205

Violeiros are careful to weigh the consequences of playing their

instruments in certain places, at certain times, and in certain tunings.
In the forest, especially tuned in the rio-abaixo (down-river) tuning
and between midnight and six o'clock in the morning, the viola
attracts snakes, the encnnfes of the forest (literally, the "enchanted
ones," referring specifically to the forest c n b o c l o s ) , ~a nd, perhaps most
characteristically for the viola, "0 Homem" (The Man), i.e., Satan.
One can learn the art of the viola either naturally, through long
years of listening and imitating, or supernaturally, through a pact
with the devil, whose predilection for the 7-io-abnixo tuning uioleiros
explain both as the result of that tuning's magical pourers of attrac-
tion and as the quite natural result of certain facets of performance
implied by the interval relationships among the open strings.
Rio-n baixo (called guitrr~ra-boiadeim, "ca ttle-drive guitar," in the
sertzo) provides a consonance among all five open courses. Between
the fifth (lowest pitched) and the fourth courses is a perfect fifth;
between the fourth and third pairs, a perfect fourth; between the
third and second, a major third; and between the second course (the
segunda) and the excommunicated pl-inza, a minor third. T h e result
is a major triad formed in the upper three courses with its root
doubled an octave lower and in unison in the two strings of the
fifth course and its fifth degree doubled similarly in the fourth
course. (See Example 1.)
Candei says disdainfully that anyone can play a viola in 7-io-abaixo:
all one has to do is strum, and "any little embellishment works."
He shou~sthat the instrument can be played in 7-io-abaixodispensing
with the left hand; he demonstrates how the devil seduced the baron's7
daughter at a samba by playing a simple pattern which uses the
open strings enough to free the left hand to make signs to the girl
to get herself ready to flee with him down-river (where they would
cross for their getaway). Only the girl understood the signs; her
parents congratulated themselves on having found a uioleiro so
talented that he could play with only one hand. It was of course
the consonance among the open strings which freed the demon-
uio1eil.o'~hand for nonmusical gestures; the charm of the tuning itself,
which in the hands of the right violeil-o can call even the spirits of
the forest, drew the girl away. T h e human uioleiro is suspected of hav-
ing seductive powers akin to those of the devil, and he is aware of the
sensitivity of his instrument.
Since all the intervals among the open strings in rio-nbaixo are
acoustically pure, the sonority of the instrument is indeed quite re-
sonant and penetrating in this tuning. Most violciros, however, are
206 : Ralph Tl'addey

limited to playing in only one key in rio-abaixo, another reason for

the contempt in which some violei7.0~hold it.
T h e trauessa tuning, like 7-io-abaixo,forms a major triad in the
upper three courses, but the fourth course is a whole step lower than
that of the rio-abaixo, thus reversing the position of the pentachord
and the tetrachord in the octave between the third and fifth courses:
between the third and fourth courses is a perfect fifth, and between
the fourth and fifth courses is a perfect fourth. (See Example 1.) This
tuning derives its name from the use of an index-finger bar on the
fifth fret over the top three courses as the center of the left-hand for-
mation, thus "crossing" (atmvessando) the viola and giving a major
triad whose root is doubled in the fourth course. This triad becomes
the tonic chord of the key, just as in rio-abaixo the tonic triad is in
the open first three courses. T h e subdominant chord is easily pro-
duced (in its second inversion) in the top three courses from this
fifth-fret bar by stopping the first course on the seventh fret with the
ring finger and the second course on the sixth fret with the second
finger. T h e index finger remains on the third course at the fifth fret.
T h e fifth of the subdominant chord is already present as well in the
open fourth course. T h e dominant chord is present in root position in
the top three open courses with its fundamental doubled in the
fifth course. T h e violeil-o simply removes his index finger from the
fifth fret to move from tonic to dominant. Although most violei~os
limit themselves to one key in tl-avessa, considerable resource for
melodic ornamentation and rhythmic complexity is given by this
simple structure. A sign of mastery of the viola (although more
characteristic of the sertcio) is mastery of the iuntc8 pattern, or toque,
which is played only in travessa. One of the ideal combinations of
the viola ensemble for its traditional samba uses a machete in tl-avessa
to fill out the upper register.
I n the snmba of the viola in and around Santo Amaro (and in
Salvador in the Janto Amaro style), violeil-os as well as singers
like to change keys occasionally, both to be able to accomodate the
voice ranges of different singers and to receive the aesthetic satisfac-
tion a change of key provides. T h e key change not only alters the
real pitch of the music, but each key also has implications for rhythm,
tempo, and texture. T h e tuning most appreciated in Santo Xmaro,
called natural, has the interval relationships of the tuning of the
modern guitar less its lowest (sixth) string. In this tuning the
uioleiro can and does play in a number of keys. T h e term natzu-a1 is
used in the senses of both "correct" and "native." This tuning is
 Viola de Sambn and Samba d e Viola : 207

therefore native or proper to Santo Amaro, but it is also the right

and proper tuning because it is more versatile and more erudite than
other tunings. T h e terminology associated with this tuning, which
is the basic vocabulary of European music theory adapted for local
practices and musical categories, permits the musicians to verbally or-
ganize their ensemble and its performance. I surmise that this
tuning was introduced by European music masters teaching in Santo
Amaro in the nineteenth century and then was picked u p by slaves
and freedmen who applied the tuning, its terminology, and its music
as each element was needed for a truly Bahian music-that is,
European and African elements were combined into a local form.
Key relationships and their associated terminology have entered
this folk music theory in a unique way. Chords are formed on the viola
tuned in natural in positions which would be familiar to most guitar-
ists, and they are named according to their roots. Playing in a
certain key and calling it by its tonic is common among violeil-os who
play in natural. Re' mnior (D major) is the most common t o m (key)
for samba, mainly because, at the real pitch at which the violas are
tuned, the voice range is comfortable for most singers. T h e concepts
of major and minor exist, and it is recognized that only major keys are
appropriate for samba. I n Re' mnior (see Example 2), the "primeira
parte" (first part) is a D major chord; the "segunda parte" (second
part) is an A major seventh chord, not called "dominant" but rec-
ognized to be "almost like the first part of X major" Ld maiol-, show-
ing a recognition of key-proximity: the dominant of one key is seen
to be related to the tonic of another.
Key is not merely the identification of a tonic and its harmonic
relations in this folk theory. It indicates also the position along the
neck of the viola where a chord is played. Re mnior grande (Big D
major) is formed using only the lower four courses and is played us-
ing a running pattern in the fourth and fifth courses. RC maior
p e q z ~ e n o (little D major), shown in Example 2, is perhaps the most
common of all samba tones. RC mnior sostenido is not D-sharp major,
as it would be in conventional European theory. Rather, it is "D
major sharp" and formed in a position farther along the neck of the
instrument, that is, at a higher pitch. T h e violeil-o would say that it
is mclis e m b a i x o (lower) because of [he manner in which the instru-
ment is held: notes of lower pitch are located on the viola farther from
the ground, just as they are in some lute tablature. Re' mnior
sostenido bemol (literally, "D major sharp flat") is D major in a
fourth position, higher (or mnis e m b a i x o ) yet. T h e sostenido of La
208 : Ralph Waddey

maior has a special name: samango, meaning "lazy" or "indolent,"

a word probably of African origin.
Key and the positions where the partes are formed have definite
rhythmic and tempo implications in that each is played in a certain
way or pattern. Each key and position, then, is virtually a toque.
These patterns are dictated at least in part by the characteristics in-
herent in the formations themselves: the hand can do certain things
more easily in some positions than it can in others. Complementing
the manner of forming the chords in the left hand is a rhythmic
treatment in the right hand (a marctl~do)specific to each key. T h e re-
sult is that each key is identifiable not only by its pitch relative to
other keys but also by its distinct manner of performance. Lci maior,
for example, gives the feeling of a brief passage through its sub-
dominant, reminiscent of the son jnrocho and the son montuno
(coincidence?),which RC maior does not (Example 2). Further-
more, each violeiro has his own basic melodic and rhythmic pattern,
with its ornaments and embellishments, for performing each key.
T o q u e , then, is a form of composition for the viola's repertory: it is
the cell i n which the individual violeiro introduces his own ma-
terial into the musical system and his own music into a performance.
These theoretical notions are important principally in the proper
formation of the ensemble of violas: that is, an ensemble of in-
struments of different sizes, of instruments tuned differently from
one another, and of instruments played differently from one another.
Most violeiros agree that a samba ensemble with too many violas
results in a b a g u n ~ a(a mess), primarily for two reasons: first, in an
overlarge ensemble the musicians are apt not to be accustomed to
playing together and therefore do not obey an ensemble's rule; and,
second, too many instruments inevitably clutter the subtlety and
crispness of the viola ensemble's sound ideal. T h e preferred combina-
tion, in the Santo Amaro style, is a viola machete tuned in natz~ral
and a viola tr&s-quartotuned also in natural, but tuned either a fourth
or a fifth lower. (See Example 1.) T h e player of the larger viola
simply tunes his prima, tuned a fourth lower, in unison with the
segz~ndaof the machete. T o tune a fifth lower the larger instrument
tunes its segunda an octave lower than the prima of the smaller
instrument. Tuned in natural at whatever pitch, the primas of
both the smaller and the larger instruments are called Mi; that is,
the E-string. T h e segunda is always Si (B), the third course Sol (G),
the fourth course RC (D), and the fifth course La (A). Consequently,
with his segunda tuned in unison with the prima of the machete,
 Viola de Samba and Samba de Viola : 209

the player of the three-quarter viola, in order to play at the same

pitch as the machete when the latter sounds its fourth strings,
which it calls Re', must play his third strings, which he calls Sol.
When the machete plays in D major, the three-quarter viola must
play in its own G major. TVhen the player of the machete, which
functions as a lead viola, whispers into the ear of the player of the
three-quarter viola sitting next to him, "Samba in Lci," the latter
should immediately know that he must play in Re'. If he does not
know, the lead violeiro will tell him. I t is the machete's key which de-
fines verbally the key of the ensemble at any one time, and, since
each key has its own facets of style, it is the style of the machete's key
which dominates. T h e singers (who may be one, either, or neither
of the violeiros) may ask for a certain key. Lci maior, for example,
requires that the singers sing in either an extremely high range (us-
ing falsetto) or an extremely low range. I t tends to be more langorous
than other keys, performed at a slower tempo. T h e singers must
plaintively sustain difficult pitches, particularly at phrase endings,
for longer periods.
T.Z7hena second machete forms the ensemble, either in the absence
of the three-quarter viola or as a third member of the group, he
might be encouraged to tune his instrument in travessa. If he were
among those who prefer to play only in natural, he would (with his
instrument tuned in unison with his partner's machete) probably
choose to play in a sostenido or a sostenido-bemol. If he were to
ignore textural considerations that playing in a different position is
intended to fulfill, the lead violeil-o would likely suggest that the
former violeiro play in a specific key-position. Further ignoring of
the suggestion would lead to no coercion other than a shrug of the
shoulders, a shake of the head in mild disgust, and a discreet dropping
out of the lead violeil-o. T h e machete in trtcvessn intended similarly to
attain proper texture in the upper register) tunes his prima, his fourth
course, and his fifth course in unison with those same courses of the
machete in natural, with the other two courses adjusted to give the
proper intervals for the tuning. T h e musician will continue to call
the fourth and fifth courses Re and Lci respectively, and he recognizes
that he can easily accompany the machete in natural only if the latter
plays in Re'. As one violeiro told me, "Em trnvessa niio se fala em
tom," (In travessa one doesn't talk about key, or tone).
T h e percussion of the proper ensemble for samba consists of two
tambourines (perhaps three, if the players are careful to play in the
same styles and not to overwhelm the singers and violas), perhaps a
210 : R a l p h W a d d e y

small drum of various formats, and perhaps the prato-e-faca (a com-

mon table plate, preferably enamelware, which is held in one hand
and struck or scraped by a common table knife held in the other
hand). Any of the members of the instrumental ensemble may also
be the singers, who sing in pairs, mainly in parallel thirds. Occasion-
ally, although rarely, a singer will not be part of the instrumental
ensemble. Throughout a typical evening's samba the musicians will
exit and re-enter the ensemble and will switch from one musical
function within the ensemble to another, in a constant recomposition
of the group that permits stylistic variety and physical stamina for
the proper samba, which, in the words of the violeiro, ends "sd
q u a n d o o sol arraiar" (Only when the sun is high).
This occasion, with the music that makes it unfold, is the subject
of the second part of this article.

Examples

Real pitch is given by the initial note in brackets; this note shows
the pitch of the first note of the example not enclosed in brackets.
All of the pitches in these two examples are in practice a fifth and a
minor seventh higher than shown here, and the violas discussed in
this article are tuned a seventh higher than the pitches shown in these
examples, depending on the performance, that is, on the character-
istics of the instruments and the voices of the singers present at the
performance.

Example I : Viola T u n i n g s

Simple strings are indicated by solid notes; wound strings are indi-
cated by white notes. T h e requintas of the fourth and filth courses
are indicated by stems. T h e strings are represented on the staff in
the physical order in which they are strung: the requintas are located
on the outside of their partners. T h a t is to say, they are in a posi-
tion such that they are struck first by the violeiro's thumb as it plucks
inward to meet the index finger. T h e requintada tuning is used in
Santo Amaro, but it is less common than the others discussed, and it
is not described in the text.
 Viola d e Samba and Samba d e Viola : 211

E x a m p l e 2: Re' maior and Lci maior

T h e real pitch indicated here is that of the machete, but the patterns
would be formed in the same manner on the three-quarter viola
tuned in natural.
T h e tempo in a samba would be (quarter-note=) between 96 and
120.

'-
~ 6-
maior"

Notes

1. Samba de viola: \,iola's samba. l'iola de samba: samba's viola. T h e true mean-
ings of these terms are the subject of the article: " T h e so-called geographic
RecBncako, comprising the area around the Todos os Santos Bay, whose
entrance is the city of Salvador, extends, in the physiographic sense, to that
which takes into account the foundation of landholdings and the resulting land-
use. . . . RecBncavo means sugar, sugar and tobacco . . . s l a ~ eand baron,
schooners, rivers that become confused with tidewaters, with the bay, hand-
crafts of extraordinarily rich colors, and, what is more, oil, drilling towers and
wells . . . , great houses in ruins . . . huge tankers anchored off the Ilha do
Mark, just in front of the Loreto church built in the purest seventeenth-
century Jesuit style." Zahide Machado Neto, Quadro sociologico da "civili-
212 : R a l p h LVaddey

zncdo" d o Recdnroz~o,p . If). (Translation of this quote by R. IVaddey.) T h e

study resulting in this publication Tvas made under a fello\\,ship granted by the
Social Science Research Council and the American Council of Learned
Societies. However, the conclusion, opinions, and other statements in this
publication are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Councils.
2. Rafael Alves Franca, known as "Cobrinha Verde" (literally, Little Green

Snake), is one of Bahia's most renowned surviving traditional masters of the

game of cnpoeira. H e also cures, in his words, "pelns h e n ' n s e ns nguas" (by
the herbs and the waters). I t was he who introduced me to the viola, its
uioleiros, and its s a ~ r ~ b at
n , which he excels also.
3. Sertdo: dry interior highlands. I n the sertdo of Bahia, the genre is called

cdco: the occasion is still called sainba.

4. Jose de Anchieta, S. J., Poesias, p. 743, n. 6. (Translation of this quote by R .

It'addey.)

5. T h e names by which the strings of the viola a1.e called in the south of
Brazil seem to be unknown in Bahia. Cimara Cascudo, in his Dicionurio d o
Folclor-e Brtrsileiro, "Viola," gives the follo~vingnames: prinin and c o n t r n p ~ i ~ ~ i n
(first course); requintn and ronti.arequirztn (second course); t~tritznand

contr-atur-inn (third course): toeiin and coiztvntoei~n (fourth course); stid

m n o t i l h o o r bor-d8o (drone) and c o n t ~ n c n n o t i l h o (fifth course).

6. T h e cnboclos are indigenous spirits that inhabit the pantheoti of the

essc:ntially Afro-Brazilian cults. Some of these ctrboc.lor ha\,e purelb in-

digenous, o r Itidian, names ant1 persotiality. Others are more Ilrazilian, st~cli

as the Mar-ujo (seaman) and t l ~ eB o i a d e i ~ o (cattle drijer), whose ceremony

includes the viola, which is his fa\.orite instrument.

7. "Baron" refers to the titled sugar barons of Brazil's Secontl Eltipire. A

wealthy and po~verfulperson, especially a snobbish one, is still calletl a

baron by the people of the RecBncajo.

8. Zuna is said to imitate the sotigs of the male and female birds uf the same

name as the t o q u e .

Bibliography
hnchieta, Jose de, S. J.
1954 Poesias. TranscriqZo, traduqaes e notas de M. de L. de
Paula Martins. ComissPo do IV Centenario da Cidade de
SZo Paulo. Boletim IV-Museu Paulista-DocumentaqZo
Lingiiistica, 4.
Cimara Cascudo, Luis da
1962 Diciondl-io d o Folclore Brasileiro. "Viola." 2d edition.
Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro.
Machado Neto, Zahidk
1971 Quadl-o sociologico - da "civiliza~6o" d o RecBncavo.
S a l ~ a d o rBallia:
, Centro de Estudos Bahianoi