McKnight 1

Aubrey McKnight
Barbara Shelton
Music 1040-002

Brazil
Interview
Daniela Drogueti was born in Brazil and immigrated to the United States in 2001. She
moved to Utah with her family in order for her father to obtain work. The move was handled by
her parents, and she was young at the time, so she is unfamiliar with most of the details regarding
the actual immigration process. She and her family came from Sao Paulo, which is the largest
city in the southern hemisphere (Brittanica). For the most part, their family life has stayed the
same since moving to America. A few of their customs have changed. They have adopted some
American holidays such as Thanksgiving and Halloween, which they either did not celebrate or
did not celebrate the same way in Brazil. They still recognize some of the big Brazilian
celebrations such as Carnival. They celebrate with other members of the Brazilian community
that are living in Utah.

History and Background

Brazil is the largest Portuguese speaking country in the world, the only one in the
Americas. The population of Brazil is diverse. It has the strongest ties to Portuguese culture but
has also been heavily influenced by African culture and European immigrants. The country was
originally inhabited by native tribes called Tupians when it was claimed for the Portuguese
empire in 1500 by Pedro Alvares Cabral. Between the 16th and 19th centuries the slave trade

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brought about four million Africans to Brazil. There was also a heavy influx of European
migration to Brazil in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, mostly from Italy. Brazilians of
European descent account for more than half of the population, roughly two-fifths are mulattoes
(people of mixed European and African ancestry) and mestizos (people of mixed European and
Indian ancestry). A small portion of the population is entirely of African or of Afro-Indian
descent. There are more people of African descent in Brazil than in any other nation outside of
Africa (Brittanica).

Brazil has a diverse topography from mountains to lowlands. The Amazon River and
rainforest as well as the Corcovado mountains in Rio de Janeiro are recognizable to people
worldwide. Brazil has both tropical and subtropical climates. The lowlands of the Amazon Basin
have a rainy, tropical climate with high humidity. The highlands and the coast are a few degrees
cooler, depending on the elevation. Instead of four distinct seasons, many parts of Brazil have
just a wet and a dry season (Britannica).

Brazil is the worlds leading producer of coffee, oranges, papayas and sugarcane, and
coffee is the primary export. It is essentially self-sufficient in food production. Their chief
trading partner is the United States, followed by Germany, Japan, Italy, France and China
(Brittanica).

Family Issues
Traditionally, family is the foundation in Brazil. Married children tend to live in close
proximity to their parents and children typically live with their parents until they marry.

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Children are regarded and respected in their culture. They are brought up to be included in adult
activities and are expected to contribute to the overall welfare of the family (ELL). Extended
families are close. It is quite common to find up to three generations of family living in the same
household. When Brazilians refer to family, they mean a large extended kin group called a
parentela. It is made up of all maternal and paternal relatives and includes in-laws. The
parentela is the core of social life. It is there to provide support to family members in time of
need. There is an additional level of support that can be found in godparents that are selected by
the parent for the children, called compadrio (World Culture Encyclopedia).

This traditional family structure is changing. In Brazil, more than one-third of families
are living below the poverty line. The high percentage of poverty is due to poor income
distribution. According to Brazil.org, the richest 10% of people in Brazil have access to over
40% of the countrys income. Rapid urbanization and industrialization have led to shifting
family values. Families have been forced to change in order to obtain sustainable income. In the
past, the male has been the household provider with the female taking on the domestic tasks, but
in order to survive, Brazilian women have been entering the work force. This has caused strife in
marriages and families due to pressure to redistribute the domestic burden between husband and
wife. There has also been an increase in families sustained by women alone (Dessen and Torres).
Households headed by women are more common in rural communities. There women are
responsible for running the household and the farms. They are either single parents or their
husbands have migrated to another part of the country to seek work (Rural Poverty). In the early
20th century, families were larger because married couples had more children. The birth rate in
the country has since dropped. In 1960, the national average was six births per female of

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childbearing age. By the early 21st century, the national average had dropped to roughly two
births per childbearing woman (Brittanica).

Music
The mix of indigenous tribes, Africans, and Portuguese have melded together to create
the modern-day Brazilian way of life. The most famous Brazilian holiday, Carnival, is a
combination of a Roman Catholic festival with the celebrations of the African people. The most
famous Carnival celebration takes place in Rio de Janeiro just before Easter, as it marks the start
of Lent. The festival is made up of several thousand dancers, musicians, and street performers as
well as parade floats and live samba music. Samba is probably the most well-known style of
music from Brazil. It was popularized by the African immigrants in Brazil in the early 1900s. It
is a mix of African rhythms and European melodies that uses several different types of drums,
the most notable is a bass drum called a surdo. The pandeiro (tambourine), cavaco (small
guitar), agogo (pitched cowbells) and apito (type of whistle) are also used. There are many
different types of samba music, such as a call-and-response type that is called sambe de enredo
and a more relaxed version called cancon or song-samba.

Traditional maracatu music takes its roots from the time of slavery in Brazil. The slaves
would congregate together and would coronate a King of Congo as part of a ceremony that
was organized by slaves and featured music and dancing. Maracatu is driven by percussion
instruments called alfaia (wooden dum), caixa (wooden drum), gongue (bell), and zabumba
(bass drum). It is accompanied by a solo singer. Choro is the forerunner to the more modern
samba, it is an improvisational instrumental folk style of music that typically has a cheerful beat.

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It is played with one or more solo instruments like a flute, mandolin, clarinet or saxophone. The
cavaquinho (small guitar) and pandeiro (hand-held frame drum) are usually accompanying
instruments.

Capoeira is an interesting mix of martial arts, acrobatics, and dance moves. It is

performed by two people and is called a game, not a fight. Capoeira music is crucial to the
game, as it is played to the music. The instrumentation consists of the berimbau (bow), pandeiro
(tambourine), atabaque (drum), and agogo (bell). The most widely agreed upon theory of
capoeiras history suggests that it was developed between the 16th and 19th centuries by the
African slaves brought to Brazil. Capoeira is very popular in modern-day Brazil and is
recognized internationally as an art form that incorporates movement, dance, and music.

Bossa nova was Brazils answer to American jazz. It is a mixture of samba rhythms with
a jazz influence that was popularized in the 1950s. One of the most influential songs in
Brazilian history, Girl from Ipanema, came from the bossa nova movement. The
instrumentation of this music is limited to a few rhythm instruments. There is usually a guitar,
berimbau (musical bow), drum and piano.

Musica Popular Brasileira or MPB emerged in the mid 1960s as a mix of bossa nova
and traditional folk music. It was promoted as national music in response to the increase in
popularity of rock music. The term MPB is now used to loosely describe any Brazilian pop
music. The late 1960s also gave birth to tropicalia music. Tropicalia songs and artists were
opposed to the military rule of government in Brazil. The lyrics were politicized and would poke

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fun at society and culture. The music was a mix of traditional Brazilian rhythms and electric
guitars with psychedelic flourishes; it created a new sound.

The foundational rhythms that are found in Brazilian music like samba and bossa nova
have gone on to influence modern music in the country. Styles such as funk carioaca utilize a
mix of hip-hop, rap, electronic and samba music. Samba-rock is a fusion of samba with rock and
funk that mixes traditional rhythm with modern guitar sounds. Axe music was labeled in the
1980s and it is a fusion of African and Caribbean genres. It mixes reggae with some AfroBrazilian overtures and usually features a solo performance. Forro is a dance style of music that
is associated with the Brazilian working class. It prominently features the accordion and was
heavily influenced by blues music from America. Sartanejo is one of the most popular genres of
music in Brazil. It is a type of country music originating from Sertao, a rural area in Brazil. The
music has been influenced by American country music and Mexican Mariachi. Modern popular
music from Brazil also includes rock and heavy metal. The heavy metal band Sepultura hails
from Brazil and are popular worldwide.

Conclusion
The average Brazilian family has been affected by the high level of poverty and shifting
family values in the country over the course of the last few decades, and Danielas family has
been no exception. Although her family left the country so her father could obtain a job that
could support the family, the family has stuck together. Even the older children that could be
living on their own made the move with the family and still live at home. Her family still places

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an importance on staying in contact with the extended members of the family still living in
Brazil, proving that the traditional Brazilian family values are still important to its people.

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