14 Chapter 3 CHORO “Twas born erying just like everybody else, and though I spent my life crying, I didn't cry enough.” —Pixinguinha begin our study of Brazilian music styles with the choro (“show row"), a mixture of European and Aftican music that developed around 1870-1880, about the same time as rag- time was developing in Kansas City, and Dixieland in New Orleans. Choro started out, not as a style, but as a way to interpret tango and European dances such as the polka, overlaid with accents. Choro was traditionally played by serenading ensembles consisting of a soloist accomipanied by a group playing wind instruments (flute, clarinet, saxophone, trombone) and guitars (guitar, seven-string guitar, cavaquinho, bandotim, mandolin). Only light percussion, such as pandeiro (the Brazilian tamborine), is used. Some say the word “choro" comes from the African word xdlo, which refers to vocal or dance concerts. Others believe it comes from the Portuguese verb chorar (to cry), because of its sentimental melodies, As with other Portuguese words, the suffix “inho” can be tacked onto the end to create a sense of endearment, and so a chorinko is a cute little choro song, The plural form, chordes (“show royns”) refers to the musicians who play it. While there were certainly earlier musical styles in Brazil with distinctly national flavors, choro was the first urban Brazilian music, and the oldest that continues to be popular with audientes today. Choro is a ood place to start studying Brazilian music in order to feel its basic groove built on top of a steady stream of sixteenth notes. For the first fifty years, choro was played by amateurs, many of whom workéd for the government mak- ng music in their free time at home. Many performers came from urban lower-middle class society. ‘Some learned to play by ear, others by playing marches and polkas in brass bands, and the interaction of the two types infused European genres with chythmic energy and melodic improvisation. Beginning in the 1920s, Rio de Janeiro became mote cosmopolitan, and chordes began to develop their skills for larger and mote sophisticated audiences, especially when radio and recordings created new markets in the 1930s and °40s. Choros evolved along with the higher level of technique, becoming faster and more intricate, By the mid-1960s, choro had disappeared from the mainstream, as bossa nova dominated the media's attention. There was a resurgence of interest in the 1970s and "90s, repopularized by the music ‘of Paulinho da Viola and Hermeto Pascoal, who brought fresh harmonies and perspective. A new gener- ation of players have come up since, who have leamed in schools, and from friends, method books, and recordings. Even though choro is primarily an ensemble style, it can also be performed by a solo pianist. In rag- time, the left hand covers the tuba and banjo parts, alternating bass notes with chords. This forms a steady beat against which the right hand “rags” with syncopated melodies. Inv choro, more of the synco- pation is shifted fo the bass, mixed with connecting runs, which were traditionally played by the guitar filling in during breaks in the melody.