Coco is an African-influenced musical rhythm that originated in northestearn Brazil. ''Coco'' may also refer to the style of dance performed to the music, a kind of stomping. Coco is also alternatively known as ''embolada'' (another slang word, meaning 'entangling', referring to the fast, slurred, machine-gun style of singing). Coco is often performed with a repetitive musical beat and call and response singing, reminiscent of

Capoeira Capoeira () is an Afro-Brazilian martial art and game that includes elements of dance, acrobatics, capoeira music, music, and spirituality. It likely originated from enslaved Mbundu people, of the Kingdom of Ndongo, in present-day Angola. The ...

music. The music is commonly performed at traditional parties in the Northeast, such as weekend street parties and

Carnival Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras. Carnival typi ...

. The characteristic sound of coco arises from four instruments commonly used in its performance: the ganzá,

surdo The surdo is a bass drum or a large floor tom-like drum used in many kinds of Brazilian music, such as Axé/ Samba-reggae and samba, where it plays the lower parts from a percussion section. The instrument was created by Alcebíades Barcelos duri ...

pandeiro The pandeiro () is a type of hand frame drum popular in Brazil. The pandeiro is used in a number of Brazilian music forms, such as samba, choro, coco, and capoeira music. The drumhead is tunable, and the rim holds metal jingles (''platinelas' ...

, and

triangle A triangle is a polygon with three corners and three sides, one of the basic shapes in geometry. The corners, also called ''vertices'', are zero-dimensional points while the sides connecting them, also called ''edges'', are one-dimension ...

. Performers also often wear wooden clogs, the stomping of which adds a fifth percussive element. The name ''Coco'' (Portuguese for '

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...

') is a common Northeastern Brazilian slang for

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple ani ...

, referring to the fact that song lyrics are often improvised.

Origins

The origins of coco are as obscure as most Brazilian folk music, but some theories do exist. One theory is that the predecessor to the music was originally brought to Brazil by slaves from

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

, who then created coco by merging their music with local indigenous rhythms. Another theory is that coco was created by Brazilian slaves who broke coconuts with rocks for their masters.

Examples on the web

Coco being performed at "Terça Negra" (Black Tuesday) in São Pedro square
in

Recife Recife ( , ) is the Federative units of Brazil, state capital of Pernambuco, Brazil, on the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of South America. It is the largest urban area within both the North Region, Brazil, North and the Northeast R ...

References

* http://www.pedechinelo.com.br/coco.php Brazilian styles of music {{music-genre-stub