Berimbau

Description

Four to five feet long, the berimbau is a single-stringed musical-bow commonly played in Brazil to accompany the dance-like martial art capoeira. Berimbau players set a pace for capoeiristas by striking the wire in different areas with a stick and pressing and releasing a small stone against it with the other hand, this creates the berimbau’s magical sound. The gourd can be pressed against the body and lifted off for various sound effects.

Traditionally played in three’s; high, medium and low tone. Includes bow (“verga”), wire (“arame”), gourd (“cabaca”), striker (“baqueta”), stone (“dobrao”), and caxixi shaker. Higher pitch berimbau (viola) generally have stronger wood for the bow and smaller cabasa gourd, lower pitch ones (gunga) have thinner stick and larger cabasa.