page_title: Berimbau
section_title: Design
hierarchical_section_title: Berimbau / Design
caption_attribution_description: English: Caxixi, Baqueta, Dobrao - berimbau accessories. Deutsch: Caxixi, Dobrao und Baqueta werden genutzt um ein Berimbau zu spielen
context_page_description: The berimbau is a single-string percussion instrument, a musical bow, from Brazil. Originally from Africa where it receives different names, the berimbau was eventually incorporated into the practice of the Afro-Brazilian martial art capoeira, the berimbau leads the capoeiristas movement in the roda—the faster the berimbau is playing the faster the capoeirista moves in the game. The instrument is known for being the subject matter of a popular song by Brazilian guitarist Baden Powell, with lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes. The instrument is also a part of Candomblé-de-caboclo tradition.
context_section_description: The berimbau consists of a wooden bow (verga – traditionally made from biribá wood, which grows in Brazil), about 4 to 5 feet (1.2 to 1.5 metres) long, with a steel string (arame – often pulled from the inside of an automobile tire) tightly strung and secured from one end of the verga to the other. A gourd (cabaça), dried, opened and hollowed-out, attached to the lower portion of the verga by a loop of tough string, acts as a resonator.
  Since the 1950s, Brazilian berimbaus have been painted in bright colors, following local Brazilian taste; today, most makers follow the tourist consumer's quest for (pretended) authenticity, and use clear varnish and discreet decoration.
  To play the berimbau, one holds it in one hand, wrapping the two middle fingers around the verga, and placing the little finger under the cabaça's string loop (the anel), and balancing the weight there. A small stone or coin (pedra or dobrão) is held between the index and thumb of the same hand that holds the berimbau. The cabaça is rested against the abdomen. In the other hand, one holds a stick (baqueta or vaqueta  – usually wooden, very rarely made of metal) and a shaker (caxixi). One strikes the arame with the baqueta to produce the sound. The caxixi accompanies the baqueta. The dobrão is moved back and forth from the arame to change the pitch produced by the berimbau. The sound can also be altered by moving the cabaça back and forth from the abdomen, producing a wah-like sound.
  Parts and accessories of the berimbau:
  Verga: wooden bow that makes up the main body of the Berimbau
  Arame: steel string
  Cabaça: opened, dried and hollowed out gourd-like fruit secured to the lower portion of the berimbau, used to amplify and resonate the sound
  Calling the cabaça a gourd is technically a mistake. As far as Brazilian berimbaus are concerned, the fruit used for the berimbau's resonator, while still known in Brazil as cabaça ("gourd"), it is not technically a gourd (family Cucurbitaceae); instead, it is the fruit of an unrelated species, the tree Crescentia cujete (family Bignoniaceae), known in Brazil as calabaça, cueira, cuia, or cabaceira.
  Pedra or Dobrão: small stone or coin pressed against the arame to change the tone of the berimbau
  Baqueta: small stick struck against the arame to produce the sound
  Caxixi: small rattle that optionally accompanies the baqueta in the same hand
  Capoeiristas split berimbaus in three categories:
  Gunga (others say Berra-boi): lowest tone
  Médio (others say Viola): medium tone
  Viola (Violinha if the medium tone is Viola): highest tone
  These categories relate to sound, not to size. The berimbau's quality does not depend on the length of the verga or the size of the gourd, rather on the diameter and hardness of the verga's wood and the quality of the cabaça.
caption: A caxixi, baqueta, and dobrão
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