ChoroCamp

ChoroCamp

[Back to CCNE 2024 Schedule]

Special Topic classes will meet the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of Camp. Most will meet from 4 – 5:30, but there are exceptions: the “Samba Cantado” class also includes a 9-9:45 AM vocal session, and Clarice’s “Intro to Pandeiro” class will also take place during that early morning time period. So please note the time at which each class will meet.  Here are the topics, followed by a more detailed description of each:

  • Choros of Luiz Gonzaga — Rob and Catherine
  • Samba Cantado —  Fabio, Joao and Fernanda (and on Friday, Anat)
  • Intro to Pandeiro — Clarice 
  • Ornamentation and Interpretation of Choro Melodies — Morgana
  • Non-Verbal Communication in the Roda de Choro —  Anat, Cesar and Clarice
  • Improvisation by Level — Ian

 

Choros of Luiz Gonzaga

Rob Curto and Catherine Bent
4 – 5:30
Chase Living Room

 Luiz Gonzaga is best known for championing and reinventing the dance music of the Northeast of Brazil, Forró, leading it to become an integral part of the fabric of Brazilian Popular music. However, before anyone had heard his iconic voice, and before he became the “Rei do Baião”, Gonzaga worked as an accordion player in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo; performing in clubs, playing on the radio, and recording the popular forms of the day including sambas, waltzes, foxtrots, and choros. In this workshop we’ll explore three of Gonzaga’s classic choro compositions Sanfonando (1942), Araponga (1943), and Treze de Dezembro, composed much later in 1966. 

Charts in C, Bb and Eb:

Samba Cantado 

Fabio Oliveira, Fernanda Silveira, and João Camarero (joined on Friday by Anat Cohen)
Meet in Chase Large Dining Room
9 – 9:45 AM  — a vocals-only class focused on the lyrics and melody of the songs.
4 – 5:30 — Instrumental instruction on percussion, cavaquinho and guitar. Plus, we sing!  

In the context of choro, samba is one of the rhythms we need to know how to execute. But of course samba is a world unto itself, made up of many related traditions. In this workshop, Fabio, Fernanda and João will help us explore that world on vocals, percussion, cavaquinho, and guitar. On Friday they will be joined by Anat, who will work with melodic instrument players on two of the sambas that have a clear instrumental part: “São Jorge Guerreiro”, and Jacob do Bandolim’s classic choro, “Doce de coco”. We’ll work on 2 songs per day, for which reference recordings and lead sheets are provided below.

Lead Sheets and Lyrics. The first pdf we’ll link you to below includes two sets of sambas: those that will be covered in the Samba Cantado class and another 12 songs for the Friday night Roda de Samba. (We’ll provide more info on that elsewhere.) 

All of these sambas will, of course, be sung — that’s what “Samba Cantado” means! But for two of them we will also include the instrumental melody: “São Jorge Guerreiro” and  “Doce de Coco”.  You’ll find the charts below.

Playlists of Reference Recordings on Youtube:

Intro to Pandeiro 

Clarice Cast
9 – 9:45 AM
Tent (behind the dorms next to ours, on the way to the dining hall)

This class is intended for players of other instruments who would like to learn the basics of playing pandeiro. Especially here in North America you are likely to encounter many an occasion that calls for a pinch pandeiro player.  Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to step into that role?  Join Clarice for any or all of these morning sessions to literally try your hand at this iconic Brazilian instrument so central to choro and other genres of Brazilian music. 

Ornamentation and Interpretation of Choro Melodies

Morgana Moreno
4 – 5:30
Chase Parlor

In music, as in language, it is only through close listening that we begin to lose our foreign accent, use colloquial phrases, and sound more like a “native speaker”. In this workshop, Morgana will move us off the written page and guide us in exploring the idiomatic ornamentation and phrasing that will make your interpretation of choro melodies more Brazilian and more beautiful.

Non-Verbal Communication in the Roda de Choro

Anat Cohen, Cesar Garabini and Clarice Cast
4 – 5:30 on Wednesday and Thursday 
Chase Study

There are verbal and non-verbal cues one can use in a roda de choro to keep everyone together.  In this workshop we will focus on the non-verbal ones: both visual and auditory (ie., using melody, harmony and scales.)
 

Improvisation by Level

Ian Coury 
4 – 5:30 
Duckett Living Room

Over the course of three sessions, Ian will share his perspective on improvisation, including hands-on exercises. Each session will be tailored for players with different levels of experience and confidence as improvisors:

Wednesday — Level 1 — an introduction to the practice of improvisation as Ian sees it. 

Thursday — Level 2 — for “intermediate” improvisers with a strong foundation who are eager to continue making progress. 

Friday — Level 3 — for advanced improvisors: those who are already confident, competent improvisers who are on the lookout for new insights.