Coladera
Encyclopedia
The coladeira is a music genre
from Cape Verde
.
, from allegro to andante, a 2-beat bar
, and in its most traditional form by having an harmonic structure based in a cycle of fifths, while the lyrics structure is organized in strophes that alternate with a refrain
. The coladeira is almost always monotonic, i.e. composed in just one tonality. Compositions that use more than a tonality are rare and generally they are cases of passing from a minor to major tonality or vice-versa.
, etc., although lately, the influence of the zouk has changed it a little.
(popularly called “violão” in Cape Verde) a cavaquinho
(that plays the chords rhythmically), a solo instrument besides the singer’s voice and some percussion. A bigger band may include another guitar, an acoustic bass guitar
, more than one solo instrument (a violin
— popularly called “rabeca” in Cape Verde —, a clarinet
, a trumpet
, etc.) and several percussion instruments (a shaker
, a güiro
, a cowbell, conga
s, etc.).
The specific way of strum
ming the strings in a guitar is popularly called “mãozada” in Cape Verde. The strumming of the coladeira articulates a bass (played with the thumb, marking the beats) with chord
s (played with the other fingers, rhythmically).
From the 60’s it starts to happen the electrification of the coladeira, in which the percussion instruments are replaced by a drum kit
and the bass / accompaniment play performed in the guitar is replaced by a bass guitar
and an electric guitar
. From the 80’s there is a big scale usage of electronic instruments (synthesizer
s, drum machine
s), being that usage much appreciated by some and criticized by others. In the late 90’s there is a come back to the roots where unplugged (acoustic) performances are sought after again.
In its most traditional form, the song starts by an introduction played in the soloist instrument (having this intro generally the same melody as the refrain), and then the song develops in an alternation between the main strophes and the refrain. Approximately after the middle of the song, instead of the sung refrain, the soloist instrument performs an improvisation. Recent composers, however, do not always use this sequence.
. Accordingly to the oral tradition, a new musical genre would have appeared in the 30’s when the composer Anton’ Tchitch’ would have intentionally speeded up the tempo of a morna. Someone in the crowd would have shout “já Bocê v’rá-’l n’um coladêra” (you have transformed it in a coladeira), i.e., a morna performed with the tempo and as lively as a koladera. Technically, the coladeira appeared as a division of the notes length of the morna to half, through the acceleration of the tempo.
Little by little, this new musical genre gained consolidation, absorbing several musical influences, mostly from Brazilian music. From S. Vicente this musical genre passed to the other islands, appearing then two schools, each one with its own style: one in Barlavento, centered in Mindelo
, and another in Sotavento, centered in Praia
.
, salsa
, cumbia
) and African music (specially from Angola
and Guinea-Bissau
).
In terms of musical structure, the coladeira goes on slowly losing the traits that use to identify it with the morna. It is also in this period that the dichotomy morna \ coladeira establishes itself.
from the French Antilles in the Cape Verdean music. Although some purists do not see with good eyes the influence of zouk in cape Verdean music, it has undoubtly become a commercial success. It is mostly on the younger generation and in Cape Verdean musicians abroad that one can find who appreciates and practice this variant of the coladeira. It is also in this period that the zouk-influenced coladeira is excessively commercialized and banalized.
Cabo-zouk (from the islands’ Kriolu name Cabo Verde), cola-zouk (from coladeira), or cabo-love (from zouk-love
, the slowed down and sexed up zouk variant).
That is due to the presence of two opposite styles in the 50’s of this variant of the coladeira, that correspond to the preference of certain composers: the “Ti Goy style” has a slower tempo (moderato), a simpler melodic line, the traditional 3 chords series, the use of rhymes and a more sarcastic thematic; the “Tony Marques style” has a quicker tempo (allegro), a melody well adapted to the rhythmics, a richer chord progression with passing chords, and a more varied thematic.
Later, these two styles influenced each other, and the compositions from the 60’s are a blend of the two preceding styles.
In this variant of the coladeira the bass line marks the beats of the bar.
m is a musical genre that was once in vogue in Cape Verde. Nowadays this genre is not known anymore. In Boa Vista
it subsists, not as a musical genre but as a specific song played in weddings.
However, the lundum has not disappeared completely. Besides the transformation of the lundum to the morna (check the main article — morna), the lundum went on absorbing external elements, for instance, from the Brazilians bossa nova
and samba-canção
, and later from the emerging genre coladeira. Today, this variant is more known as slow coladeira, and it has also been known as toada or contratempo. Due to some analogies with the bossa nova it occasionally called cola-samba or “sambed” coladeira. It is a variant of the coladeira with a slower tempo (andante), simpler structure than the morna, the rhythmic accentuation of the melody is on the first beat and the last half-beat of the bar. Perhaps the most internationally known example of this variant of coladeira is the song “sodade” performed by Cesária Évora
.
In this variant of coladeira the bass line marks the first and the last quarter-beats of the bar.
. In some cases there has been a fusion of the zouk with the coladeira, to what several names have been given as cola-dance, cola-zouk, cabo-swing, cabo-love, etc.
But in other cases the performance is practically a zouk copy. In this variant, the rhythm has the same accentuation as the zouk, the instrumentation is also copied from the zouk, the accentuation of the melody line is different, the syncopation is made in other contexts and the melody line is less continuous than the traditional coladeira, with breaks. The harmonic sequences are diversified, rarely showing the structure based on the cycle of fifths. The whole composition structure is also different from the traditional alternation between the main strophes and the refrain that is found in the coladeira and the morna, and the organization of the verses is not so rigid as in the coladeira and the morna.
Music genre
A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other types of music...
from Cape Verde
Cape Verde
The Republic of Cape Verde is an island country, spanning an archipelago of 10 islands located in the central Atlantic Ocean, 570 kilometres off the coast of Western Africa...
.
As a music genre
As a music genre the coladeira is characterized by having a variable tempoTempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
, from allegro to andante, a 2-beat bar
Bar (music)
In musical notation, a bar is a segment of time defined by a given number of beats of a given duration. Typically, a piece consists of several bars of the same length, and in modern musical notation the number of beats in each bar is specified at the beginning of the score by the top number of a...
, and in its most traditional form by having an harmonic structure based in a cycle of fifths, while the lyrics structure is organized in strophes that alternate with a refrain
Refrain
A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...
. The coladeira is almost always monotonic, i.e. composed in just one tonality. Compositions that use more than a tonality are rare and generally they are cases of passing from a minor to major tonality or vice-versa.
Harmonic structure
As it was said before, in its most traditional form the coladeira follows a cycle of fifths. This characteristic is a direct heritage from the morna (check main article — morna). Even so, many composers (especially more recent ones) do not always use this structure.Melodic structure
Also in the melodic line one can find characteristics similar to the morna (check main article — morna), for example the alternation between the main strophes and the refrain, the sweeping melodic line, the syncopationSyncopation
In music, syncopation includes a variety of rhythms which are in some way unexpected in that they deviate from the strict succession of regularly spaced strong and weak but also powerful beats in a meter . These include a stress on a normally unstressed beat or a rest where one would normally be...
, etc., although lately, the influence of the zouk has changed it a little.
Themes
Generally, the subjects that the coladeira talks about are satires, social criticism, jokes and playful and happy themes. According to C. Gonçalves, the original themes of the Boa Vista morna were precisely these ones. But after the thematic change in the passage from the Boa Vista morna to the Brava morna, the emerging genre coladeira would have taken over the initial thematic of the Boa Vista morna. These themes remind the mediaeval escárnio e maldizer songs from Portugal.Instrumentation
The composition of a group for playing the coladeira is not rigid. A medium-sized band may include besides a guitarClassical guitar
The classical guitar is a 6-stringed plucked string instrument from the family of instruments called chordophones...
(popularly called “violão” in Cape Verde) a cavaquinho
Cavaquinho
The cavaquinho is a small string instrument of the European guitar family with four wire or gut strings. It is also called machimbo, machim, machete , manchete or marchete, braguinha or braguinho, or cavaco.The most common tuning is D-G-B-D ; other tunings include D-A-B-E...
(that plays the chords rhythmically), a solo instrument besides the singer’s voice and some percussion. A bigger band may include another guitar, an acoustic bass guitar
Acoustic bass guitar
The acoustic bass guitar is a bass instrument with a hollow wooden body similar to, though usually somewhat larger than a steel-string acoustic guitar...
, more than one solo instrument (a violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
— popularly called “rabeca” in Cape Verde —, a clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
, a trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
, etc.) and several percussion instruments (a shaker
Shaker (percussion)
The word shaker describes a large number of percussive musical instruments used for creating rhythm in music.They are so called because the method of creating sound involves shaking them—moving them back and forth rather than striking them. Most may also be struck for a greater accent on certain...
, a güiro
Güiro
The güiro is a Latin-American percussion instrument consisting of an open-ended, hollow gourd with parallel notches cut in one side. It is played by rubbing a stick or tines along the notches to produce a ratchet-like sound. The güiro is commonly used in Latin-American music, and plays a key role...
, a cowbell, conga
Conga
The conga, or more properly the tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed Cuban drum with African antecedents. It is thought to be derived from the Makuta drums or similar drums associated with Afro-Cubans of Central African descent. A person who plays conga is called a conguero...
s, etc.).
The specific way of strum
Strum
In music, a strum or stroke is an action where a single surface touches several strings of a string instrument, such as a guitar, in order to set them all into motion and thereby play a chord...
ming the strings in a guitar is popularly called “mãozada” in Cape Verde. The strumming of the coladeira articulates a bass (played with the thumb, marking the beats) with chord
Chord (music)
A chord in music is any harmonic set of two–three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. These need not actually be played together: arpeggios and broken chords may for many practical and theoretical purposes be understood as chords...
s (played with the other fingers, rhythmically).
From the 60’s it starts to happen the electrification of the coladeira, in which the percussion instruments are replaced by a drum kit
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
and the bass / accompaniment play performed in the guitar is replaced by a bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
and an electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
. From the 80’s there is a big scale usage of electronic instruments (synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
s, drum machine
Drum machine
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
s), being that usage much appreciated by some and criticized by others. In the late 90’s there is a come back to the roots where unplugged (acoustic) performances are sought after again.
In its most traditional form, the song starts by an introduction played in the soloist instrument (having this intro generally the same melody as the refrain), and then the song develops in an alternation between the main strophes and the refrain. Approximately after the middle of the song, instead of the sung refrain, the soloist instrument performs an improvisation. Recent composers, however, do not always use this sequence.
As a dance
As a dance, the coladeira is a ballroom dance, danced in pairs. The performers dance with an arm embracing the partner, while with the other arm they hold hands. The dancing is made through two body swings and shoulder undulations to one side, marking the rhythm’s beats of the bar, while in the next bar the swinging is made to the other side.1st period
The word koladera meant initially the act of going out and singing the coláCola
Cola is a carbonated beverage that was typically flavored by the kola nut as well as vanilla and other flavorings, however, some colas are now flavored artificially. It became popular worldwide after druggist John Pemberton invented Coca-Cola in 1886...
. Accordingly to the oral tradition, a new musical genre would have appeared in the 30’s when the composer Anton’ Tchitch’ would have intentionally speeded up the tempo of a morna. Someone in the crowd would have shout “já Bocê v’rá-’l n’um coladêra” (you have transformed it in a coladeira), i.e., a morna performed with the tempo and as lively as a koladera. Technically, the coladeira appeared as a division of the notes length of the morna to half, through the acceleration of the tempo.
Little by little, this new musical genre gained consolidation, absorbing several musical influences, mostly from Brazilian music. From S. Vicente this musical genre passed to the other islands, appearing then two schools, each one with its own style: one in Barlavento, centered in Mindelo
Mindelo
For the parish in Portugal, see Mindelo, PortugalMindelo , is a port city in the northern part of the island of São Vicente in Cape Verde. Mindelo is also the seat of the parish of Nossa Senhora da Luz, and this island's municipality...
, and another in Sotavento, centered in Praia
Praia
Praia , is the capital and largest city of Cape Verde, an island nation in the Atlantic Ocean west of Senegal. It lies on the southern coast of Santiago island in the Sotavento Islands group. It is the island's ferry port and is home to one of the nation’s four international airports...
.
2nd period
From the 50’s some innovations start to appear in the coladeira, similar to the ones that appeared with the morna. It is in this period that electric instruments began to be used, and the coladeira begins to get known internationally, either by performances abroad, either by records production. The coladeira kept on receiving influences from abroad, for example from Brazilian music but also from Anglo-Saxon music. In the 70’s, with the appearance of movements against the colonialism and relations with socialist countries, other influences came along, for example Latin-American music (rumbaRumba (dance)
Rumba is a dance term with two quite different meanings.In some contexts, "rumba" is used as shorthand for Afro-Cuban rumba, a group of dances related to the rumba genre of Afro-Cuban music. The most common Afro-Cuban rumba is the guaguancó...
, salsa
Salsa music
Salsa music is a genre of music, generally defined as a modern style of playing Cuban Son, Son Montuno, and Guaracha with touches from other genres of music...
, cumbia
Cumbia
Cumbia is a music genre popular across Latin America. The cumbia originated in the Caribbean coast of Colombia, where it is associated with an eponymous dance and has since spread as far as Mexico and Argentina...
) and African music (specially from Angola
Music of Angola
The music of Angola has been shaped both by wider musical trends and by the political history of the country. It has been described a mix of Congolese, Portuguese, and Brazilian music, while and Angolan music also influenced the music of the other Lusophone countries.The capital and largest city of...
and Guinea-Bissau
Music of Guinea-Bissau
The music of Guinea-Bissau is usually associated with the polyrhythmic gumbe genre, the country's primary musical export. However, civil unrest and a small size have combined over the years to keep gumbe, and other genres, out of mainstream audiences, even in generally syncretist African...
).
In terms of musical structure, the coladeira goes on slowly losing the traits that use to identify it with the morna. It is also in this period that the dichotomy morna \ coladeira establishes itself.
3rd period
From the 80’s one can notice the strong influence of zoukZouk
Zouk is a style of rhythmic music originating from the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe & Martinique. Zouk means "party" or "festival" in the local Antillean Creole of French, although the word originally referred to, and is still used to refer to, a popular dance, based on the Polish dance, the...
from the French Antilles in the Cape Verdean music. Although some purists do not see with good eyes the influence of zouk in cape Verdean music, it has undoubtly become a commercial success. It is mostly on the younger generation and in Cape Verdean musicians abroad that one can find who appreciates and practice this variant of the coladeira. It is also in this period that the zouk-influenced coladeira is excessively commercialized and banalized.
Cabo-zouk (from the islands’ Kriolu name Cabo Verde), cola-zouk (from coladeira), or cabo-love (from zouk-love
Zouk-love
Zouk-love is a genre of popular French West Indian music originating from the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe & Martinique. Zouk means "party" or "festival" in the local creole of French, although the word originally referred to, and is still used to refer to, a popular dance, based on the Polish...
, the slowed down and sexed up zouk variant).
Variants of the coladeira
In spite of being a relatively recent musical genre, the coladeira has already some variants.The coladeira truly said
Being a derivative of the morna, it is natural that the coladeira shares some characteristics with the former, as the harmonic sequence, the verse structure and a varied and syncopated melodic line. According to J. Monteiro, the true coladeira is the one that results from a morna. So, if the morna is normally played with a 60 bpm tempo, the coladeira should have a 120 bpm tempo. However, this is not always the case.That is due to the presence of two opposite styles in the 50’s of this variant of the coladeira, that correspond to the preference of certain composers: the “Ti Goy style” has a slower tempo (moderato), a simpler melodic line, the traditional 3 chords series, the use of rhymes and a more sarcastic thematic; the “Tony Marques style” has a quicker tempo (allegro), a melody well adapted to the rhythmics, a richer chord progression with passing chords, and a more varied thematic.
Later, these two styles influenced each other, and the compositions from the 60’s are a blend of the two preceding styles.
In this variant of the coladeira the bass line marks the beats of the bar.
The slow coladeira
The lunduLundu
The Lundu is a dance-song with its origins in the African Bantu and Portuguese people. It relates to Kilindu, a deity responsible for the fate of each person....
m is a musical genre that was once in vogue in Cape Verde. Nowadays this genre is not known anymore. In Boa Vista
Boa Vista, Cape Verde
Boa Vista is the easternmost island of Cape Verde. It is located in the Barlavento group of the archipelago. The island is known for marine turtles and traditional music, as well as its ultramarathon and its sand dunes and beaches...
it subsists, not as a musical genre but as a specific song played in weddings.
However, the lundum has not disappeared completely. Besides the transformation of the lundum to the morna (check the main article — morna), the lundum went on absorbing external elements, for instance, from the Brazilians bossa nova
Bossa nova
Bossa nova is a style of Brazilian music. Bossa nova acquired a large following in the 1960s, initially consisting of young musicians and college students...
and samba-canção
Samba-canção
Samba-canção is a kind of slow samba music from Brazil. It appeared in the late 1940s. During the 1950s several stars used to sing it including Dalva de Oliveira, Nora Ney, The Batista Sisters, Jamelão, Maysa, Dorival Caymmi and many others...
, and later from the emerging genre coladeira. Today, this variant is more known as slow coladeira, and it has also been known as toada or contratempo. Due to some analogies with the bossa nova it occasionally called cola-samba or “sambed” coladeira. It is a variant of the coladeira with a slower tempo (andante), simpler structure than the morna, the rhythmic accentuation of the melody is on the first beat and the last half-beat of the bar. Perhaps the most internationally known example of this variant of coladeira is the song “sodade” performed by Cesária Évora
Cesária Évora
Cesária Évora is a Cape Verdean popular singer. Nicknamed the "barefoot diva" for performing without shoes, Évora is perhaps the best internationally known practitioner of "morna."-Early life:...
.
In this variant of coladeira the bass line marks the first and the last quarter-beats of the bar.
The cola-zouk
As it was said before, from the 80’s there is a strong influence from the zoukZouk
Zouk is a style of rhythmic music originating from the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe & Martinique. Zouk means "party" or "festival" in the local Antillean Creole of French, although the word originally referred to, and is still used to refer to, a popular dance, based on the Polish dance, the...
. In some cases there has been a fusion of the zouk with the coladeira, to what several names have been given as cola-dance, cola-zouk, cabo-swing, cabo-love, etc.
But in other cases the performance is practically a zouk copy. In this variant, the rhythm has the same accentuation as the zouk, the instrumentation is also copied from the zouk, the accentuation of the melody line is different, the syncopation is made in other contexts and the melody line is less continuous than the traditional coladeira, with breaks. The harmonic sequences are diversified, rarely showing the structure based on the cycle of fifths. The whole composition structure is also different from the traditional alternation between the main strophes and the refrain that is found in the coladeira and the morna, and the organization of the verses is not so rigid as in the coladeira and the morna.
Examples of coladeiras
- Coladeira
- “Saud’”, traditional
performed by Nancy Vieira in the album “Segred” (ed. HM Música, Lisboa — 2004) - “Tchapeu di padja”, from Jorge Barbosa
performed by Simentera in the album “Cabo Verde em serenata” (ed. Mélodie, Paris — 2000) - “Carnaval d’ intentaçõ” from Tony Marques
performed by Mité Costa and Djosinha in the album “Cabo Verde canta CPLP” (reed. A. R. Machado, Lisboa, Ref: CD-005/07 — 19??) - “Teresinha” from Ti Goi
performed by Bana in the album ? (ed. Discos Monte Cara — 19??) - “C’mê catchorr’” from Manuel de Novas
performed by Manecas Matos in the album ? (ed. ?, ? — 19??) - “Bêju cu jêtu” from Réné Cabral
performed by Cabral & Cabo Verde Show in the album “Bêju cu jêtu” (ed. Syllart, ?, Ref: CD 38778-2 — 19??) - “Paródia familiar” from Alcides Spencer Brito
performed by Ildo Lobo in the album “Incondicional” (ed. Lusáfrica, Paris — 2004)
- “Saud’”, traditional
- Slow coladeira
- “Curral ca tem capód’”, traditional
performed by Djalunga in the album “Amor fingido” (ed. Lusárica, Paris — 2000) - “Sodade” from Armando Zeferino Soares
performed by Cesária Évora in the album “Miss Perfumado” (ed. Lusáfrica, Paris — 1992) - “Cabo Verde, poema tropical” from Miquinha
performed by Paulino Vieira in the album “Cabo Verde, Poema tropical” from Quirino do Canto (ed. ?, ? — 1985) - “Nha Codê”, from Pedro Cardoso
performed by Simentera in the album “Raiz” (ed. Mélodie, Paris — 1995) - “Apocalipse” from Manuel de Novas
performed by Dudú Araújo in the album “Nha visão” (ed. Sons d’África — 199?)
- “Curral ca tem capód’”, traditional
- Cola-zouk
- “Rosinha” from Jorge Neto
performed by Livity in the album “Harmonia” (ed. ?, ? — 19??) - “Si m’ sabeba” from Beto Dias
performed by Beto Dias in the album ? (ed. ?, ? — 19??) - “Bye-bye, my love” from Gil Semedo
performed by Gil & The Perfects in the album “Separadu” (ed. GIVA, ? — 1993) - “Tudu ta fica” from Djoy Delgado
performed by Unimusicabo in the album “Help Fogo” (ed. MESA Pro, ? — 1995) - “Tudu pa bô” from Suzanna Lubrano
performed by Suzanna Lubrano in the album “Tudu pa bô” (ed. ?, ? — 2003)
- “Rosinha” from Jorge Neto
External links
- Breves Apontamentos sobre as Formas Musicais existentes em Cabo Verde — In Portuguese
- Música e Cabo-verdianos em Lisboa — In Portuguese