Dialogic “comping” proposals for baião, forró and xaxado on vibraphone

Abstract

The vibraphone is not often associated with the performance of traditional Brazilian musical genres, and compositions or pedagogical materials that might bridge this gap are scarce. To create idiomatic vibraphone “comping” lines for baião, forró and xaxado performance, we interviewed musicians involved in the practice of these genres and researched relevant internet content in order to identify and study the primary references for creating “comping” lines on instruments commonly associated with these genres. By consulting bibliographic materials and reference recordings related to baião, forró and xaxado musics, we identified the zabumba (small bass drum) as the provider of characteristic time-line patterns for each genre as well as a source of inspiration for improvised rhythmic “comping.” Similarly, we discovered the sanfona (accordion), another typical instrument associated with these northeastern musical genres, offered both rhythmic and harmonic pattern information to help understand how each music functions. The established dialogue with the guidelines that both the zabumba and sanfona offer opened creative paths for developing a language of four-mallet vibraphone accompaniment for each of these three related musical genres.