Hello and welcome to the Candomblé short course VIP area.

Please allow a little time for this page to load as it contains a lot of audio files and is a little heavy.

We are working to fix this problem asap.

Please find course notes, useful links, broken down patterns and full arrangements for all the areas we covered during the course below.

More content will be added asap so when you check back to practice you may find extra content as and when we have time.

We are looking to expand this area of the website for all of our courses. If you have any comments or suggestions to improve this resource then please do let us know so we can improve this service. Please note Global Grooves is coordinated by a team volunteers so there may be a delay with changes on this site.

Have fun!

About Candomblé:

General:

Candomblé is an African-originated or Afro-Brazilian religion, practiced chiefly in Brazil. The religion largely originated in the city of Salvador, the capital of Bahia. Although Candomblé is practiced primarily within Brazil, it is also practiced in neighboring countries and is becoming more popular worldwide. The rituals involve the possession of participants by Orixá, animal sacrifices, healing, dancing and drumming. Candomblé draws inspiration from a variety of the peoples of the African Diaspora, but it mainly features aspects of Yoruba orisa veneration.

In the Yoruba language, God, the Supreme Being, has various names such as Olodumare, Eleda, Olofin-Orun, Eledumare and Olorun. God is worshipped along with the veneration of the Orixá. The Orixá are said to "mount", or possess the participant during rituals. The religion came to Brazil is derived from certain practices in Yorubaland in West Africa. Today, this is in the area of the countries of Nigeria, Republic of Benin and Togo. This was not a single group, but several, united by a common language and culture. Their indeginous spiritual practices were mostly brought over during the Atlantic slave trade by those dedicated to the veneration of the orishas.

The Yoruba slaves were referred by various names in the Americas such as Anago, O Lukumi and Nago. In many parts of the Latin America, Orishás are now referenced with Christian saints, most commonly Catholic. This religion, like many African religions, is an oral tradition and therefore has not been put into text throughout the years. Only recently have scholars and people of this religion begun to write down their practices. The name Batuque is also used, especially before the 19th century when Candomblé became more common. Both words are believed to derive from a Bantu-family language, mainly that of Kongo Kingdom.

Source wikipedia -read more about candomble here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candombl%C3%A9

Main Instruments used -

Atabaque & bell .

The atabaque (Pronounced: ata'bak) is a tall, wooden, Afro-Brazilian hand drum. The shell is made traditionally of Jacaranda wood from Brazil. The head is traditionally made from calfskin. A system of ropes are intertwined around the body, connecting a metal ring near the base to the head. Wooden wedges are jammed between this ring and the body and one uses a hammer to tighten or loosen the ropes, raising or lowering the pitch of the drum.

The atabaque is used in Capoeira, Maculelê and the Afro-Brazilian religion of Candomblé. It is considered sacred in Candomblé.

There are three types of atabaque:

Rum: Tallest with the lowest sound often used for marking the dance movements. Rum-Pi: Medium height, with medium sound. Lé: Shortest with the highest sound.

Bell's are used to provide the clavé for the rhythms and works closely with the songs sequences.

Learning resources: 

In the last short course we studied rhythms and sequences for 3 Orixas and took a close look at technique.

Please find the learning resourses below for the course. Notes to follow soon. Leon :o)

You will need to sign into each page - fix coming soon!

Click here for Exu - Roda de banji, Notes & audio.

Click here for Exu - Agueré, Notes & audio.

Click here for Oxum -Ijexá, Notes & audio.