Berimbau

A bow that crossed an ocean, or was built anew

Musical bows are among the simplest stringed instruments: a flexible stick, a cord and some way of amplifying the sound. Variants have long been played in many parts of Africa, and historians generally agree that the berimbau has African ancestry. Gourd-resonated bows are documented in Angola, and museum catalogues often point to sub-Saharan origins. One ethnomusicological view suggests enslaved people did not carry a finished object to Brazil but rebuilt the bow from memory, so its exact line of descent is uncertain.

Written references to the instrument in Brazil appear by the early nineteenth century, under names such as urucungo. Its place in capoeira, the Afro-Brazilian game of movement, music and song, seems to be more recent, probably becoming firm in the early twentieth century in Bahia, though the evidence is incomplete. Today the berimbau is a symbol of Afro-Brazilian culture, played around the world, much as the Banjo is for a different branch of the African diaspora. UNESCO recognised the capoeira circle as intangible cultural heritage in 2014.

Five parts, one wire

Seen from a distance, a berimbau looks like a walking stick bent into a bow. The bow itself, the verga, is typically a flexible wood such as biriba, about 135 to 150 centimetres long; one in a university collection is 136 centimetres, another in London about 150. A single wire, the arame, is stretched from end to end. Makers have often used steel pulled from a worn car tyre. The bow’s surface is commonly stripped, burned with patterns or painted, and sometimes hung with coloured ribbons.

A dried gourd, the cabaça, is cut open on one side and tied near the bottom of the bow with a cord. It works as a resonator, reinforcing the wire’s weak vibration. The player also uses three accessories: a thin stick, the baqueta; a large coin or smooth stone, the dobrão or pedra, held against the wire; and a small woven rattle, the caxixi, gripped along with the stick. Each part contributes to the instrument’s full voice.

Physics of a pressed wire and an open gourd

A struck wire makes a very quiet sound. A gourd changes that, since the air inside it resonates at frequencies the wire excites, boosting them. The player holds the gourd against the belly, then moves it closer or farther from the body, which opens and closes the cavity and produces a wavering, vowel-like effect. The berimbau therefore shapes its own tone, rather like a mute on a brass instrument, but controlled by the player’s torso.

Pressing a coin or stone against the wire shortens its vibrating length and raises the pitch. Each berimbau gives two principal pitches, roughly a whole tone apart, and a third effect produced by touching the wire lightly with the coin, which adds a buzzing, rattling timbre. The caxixi adds a shaken, hissing layer that continues between strokes. Overall the sound is percussive and melodic at once: a rhythmic pulse with a small, singing pitch change.

Three sizes, three roles

Because each instrument offers only two main tones, unlike a Marimba with its tuned bars, its pitch range is very small, and its identity lies in rhythm and timbre rather than melody. Berimbaus are built in three sizes that differ chiefly in gourd size and so in pitch. The largest and lowest is the gunga, also known as berra-boi. The middle-sized instrument is the médio, and the smallest and highest is the viola. Absolute pitches vary from maker to maker, with no universal standard.

In a group, the three sizes create layers. The lowest instrument anchors the circle, the middle one answers and supports it, and the highest embroiders above. Their tones differ not just in height but in character: the gunga is deep and round, the viola sharper and more agile. A group called Arcomusical, mentioned by a university museum, promotes contemporary music for tuned gourd-resonated bows, treating them as a family of concert instruments.

Bow in one hand, rhythm in the other

A player holds the bow upright in the left hand, with the gourd resting against the abdomen. The same hand grips the coin or stone between thumb and forefinger so it can touch the wire. The right hand holds the stick and the caxixi together: the stick strikes the wire while the wrist shakes the rattle. A single player thus controls two pitches, a buzz, a gourd sound and a shaken rattle, so the combination is unusually complex.

What a player plays is called a toque, a named rhythmic pattern. Each toque signals a style of game to those in the circle: some invite slow, close, low movement, others fast and acrobatic play, and some are associated with particular occasions or with teaching. Names and details differ among groups and lineages, so there is no single list. Players learn toques from masters and by listening, and variations in timing and emphasis are a mark of personal and group style.

Relatives in Africa and the concert hall

Musical bows with gourd resonators, like the Sitar’s gourd body in principle, are known across Africa, often under local names, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art holds a West African example from the late nineteenth century. Some are struck, some plucked, and in others the mouth acts as a resonator. The Brazilian berimbau is a particular branch of this large family, shaped by its metal wire, its coin and its association with capoeira.

Builders in Brazil decorate their instruments differently and choose woods and gourds with care, since a change in gourd size or wire tension changes the pitch. Outside capoeira, the berimbau has entered popular songs and concert music. Composers have written for tuned bows of this kind, showing that an instrument with a narrow range can still support new ideas, and some performers add pickups so that the gourd’s subtle sounds can be heard in larger halls.

Leading the roda

Capoeira is played inside the roda, a circle formed by players, musicians and onlookers. The berimbau is the leading voice. Typically the lowest instrument sets the pace, and its rhythm indicates how fast, how close and how playful the game should be. Other instruments in the bateria include the pandeiro, a tambourine-like frame drum, the atabaque, a tall drum, and sometimes the agogô, a double bell, each adding its own layer.

The music also includes songs in call and response: opening solos, longer narratives and shorter refrains sung by everyone. Two broad approaches, often called Angola and Regional, differ in tempo, movement and repertoire, and the berimbau accompanies both with different characters. Beyond capoeira the instrument appears in Brazilian popular music, where several songs of the 1960s and later name it, and in contemporary compositions.

Wire under tension, gourd under care

A berimbau is simple but not indestructible. The gourd is thin-walled and can crack if knocked or dropped, and damp or extreme heat can weaken it or its cord. Many players keep instruments dry, away from radiators and direct sun, and check the cord that binds the gourd. The wooden bow should be stored so that it does not warp, and some players release the wire’s tension when the instrument will not be used for a long time.

The wire can snap under strain, and a broken strand is sharp, so players replace worn or rusty wires before they fail and take care when tightening. The coin or stone should be smooth so that it does not cut the wire, and the woven caxixi needs protection from crushing and damp. Decorative paint and ribbons are often renewed. Teachers in capoeira groups commonly show students how to handle and maintain the instrument.

Notable details

• The wire is often taken from a car tyre, which gives a recycled origin to an instrument with deep roots.
• A berimbau at Yale was made in Bahia in 1995 and is about 136 centimetres long; one at the Horniman in London is decorated with ribbons of five colours.
• A single player works a gourd against the body, a coin on the wire, a stick and a rattle at once.
• The roda of capoeira was recognised by UNESCO in 2014 as intangible cultural heritage.

Terms used in this entry

arame

The single steel wire stretched along the bow.

baqueta

The thin stick used to strike the wire.

cabaça

The hollow gourd tied to the bow that amplifies the sound.

caxixi

A small woven rattle held in the striking hand.

dobrão

A coin, or sometimes a stone, pressed against the wire to change its pitch.

gunga

The largest, lowest-pitched berimbau, which usually sets the pace.

roda

The circle of players and musicians in which capoeira takes place.

toque

A named rhythmic pattern played on the berimbau that signals the style of the game.

verga

The curved wooden bow that forms the body of the berimbau.

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References

1. Yale Collection of Musical Instruments. Berimbau | Yale School of Music. music.yale.edu/browse-collection/berimbau-42032010
2. Horniman Museum and Gardens. 311.121.222 Mono-heterochord musical bows with resonator attached, with tuning noose - Horniman Museum and Gardens. horniman.ac.uk/object/2002.562.1
3. Grinnell College Libraries. berimbau · Grinnell College Musical Instrument Collection. omeka-s.grinnell.edu/s/MusicalInstruments/item/2100
4. Spurlock Museum, University of Illinois. Musical Bows: The Afro-Brazilian Berimbau in Capoeira & Contemporary Composition. spurlock.illinois.edu/events/event.php?ID=1672
5. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Musical Bow, West African, late 19th century. metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/501113

Sources were consulted for facts and context; the text is original. See Sources and Methodology.