Funana
Encyclopedia
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...
. Funaná is an accordion-based music. It is perhaps the most upbeat form of Cape Verdean music. The rhythm is usually provided by the ferrinho
Ferrinho
The ferrinho is a musical instrument, more precisely a scraped idiophone. It is made up by a metal bar that is scrapped by another metal object. The player holds the bar vertically, with its lower end in the palm of one hand and the upper end leaning against the shoulder...
much like the use of washboard
Washboard
A washboard is a tool designed for hand washing clothing. With mechanized cleaning of clothing becoming more common by the end of the 20th century, the washboard has become better known for its originally subsidiary use as a musical instrument....
s in zydeco, the saw in Caribbean ripsaw music
Ripsaw music
Ripsaw is a musical genre which originated in the Turks and Caicos Islands, specifically in the Middle and North Caicos. A very closely related variant, rake-and-scrape, is played in the Bahamas...
, the scraper in Sub-Saharan African music and the 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...
in Latin and Pre-Columbian music.
Characteristics
As a music genre, the funaná 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 vivace to andante, and a 2-beat rhythm
Rhythm
Rhythm may be generally defined as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or...
. The funaná is intimately associated to the accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
, more precisely to the diatonic accordion
Diatonic button accordion
A diatonic button accordion or melodeon is a type of button accordion where the melody-side keyboard is limited to the notes of diatonic scales in a small number of keys...
, commonly known as gaita in Cape Verde. This influences a lot of musical aspects that characterize the funaná, such as the fact that, in its most traditional form, the funaná uses only diatonic scales
Diatonic and chromatic
Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are most often used to characterize scales, and are also applied to intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony...
, and not chromatic ones.
The structure of a funaná composition is not very different than the structure of other musical genres in Cape Verde, i.e., basically the music is structured through a set of main 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 main difference is that between the different strophes and the refrain there is a solo played on the accordion. The music is generally monotonic.
The accompaniment is made with the left hand on the accordion, providing a bass and the chords
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...
. The rhythmic model is played on the ferrinho
Ferrinho
The ferrinho is a musical instrument, more precisely a scraped idiophone. It is made up by a metal bar that is scrapped by another metal object. The player holds the bar vertically, with its lower end in the palm of one hand and the upper end leaning against the shoulder...
.
The melodic
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
line of the funaná varies a lot through the composition, with a lot of series of ascending and descending notes. The funaná singers occasionally use the sforzando
Dynamics (music)
In music, dynamics normally refers to the volume of a sound or note, but can also refer to every aspect of the execution of a given piece, either stylistic or functional . The term is also applied to the written or printed musical notation used to indicate dynamics...
technique in certain notes, specially if they are long (imitation of the accordion?).
The lyrics of the funaná generally talk about everyday situations, mentioning the sorrows and the happiness of quotidian life, but they also talk about social criticism, reflections about life and idyllic situations. Recent composers however have expanded the themes. Another characteristic of funaná is that the lyrics are not made in a direct way, but frequently use figures of speech, proverbs and popular sayings. Example:
| lyrics in Creole: | word by word translation to English: | real meaning: |
|---|---|---|
| Ódju mó’ lua, (…) Pistána sí’ma árcu-dâ-bédja Bóca sí’ma câ tâ cúme nada Ôi, Séma Lópi, côrpu dí tchõ, álma dí Crístu |
Eyes like the moon, (…) Eyebrows like the rainbow Mouth like doesn’t eat anything Oh, Sema Lopi, body of ground, soul of Christ |
Open wide eyes, (…) Completely arched eyebrows Mouth of who starves Oh, Sema Lopi, everybody steps on you, but you forgive everyone |
| Excerpt of the lyrics of “Sema Lopi”. | ||
That requires a good knowledge of popular culture and language, and that’s why recent compositions, compositions from younger authors or compositions from authors with little contact with popular culture do not always use this poetry technique.
Concerning instrumentation, in its most traditional form, the funaná only uses the accordion and the ferrinho. With the stylization and electrification other instruments are used: the rhythm provided by the ferrinho is made on a drum set together with other 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...
or a cabasa
Cabasa
The cabasa, similar to the shekere, is a percussion instrument that is constructed with loops of steel ball chain wrapped around a wide cylinder. The cylinder is fixed to a long, narrow wooden or plastic handle....
); the bass/accompaniment played on the accordion 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...
; the melody played on the accordion is replaced by a 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...
. By the end of the 90’s, there is a certain revival where the unplugged (acoustic) performances are sought after, in which electronic instruments are relegated in favor to authentic accordions and ferrinhos.
As a dance
As a dance, funaná is a couple dance, with the partners embracing each other with an arm while with the other arm they hold on the hands together. The dance is made through alternated quick and strong inflexions of each knee, marking the beats of the rhythm. In the more rural way of dancing, the bodies are slightly inclined to the front (having shoulder contact), and the feet lift off the ground. In the more urban way of dancing, more stylized, the bodies are more vertical (having chest contact), and the feet drag on the ground.History
The funaná is a relatively recent musical genre. According to the oral tradition, the funaná appeared when, in an attempt of acculturation, the accordion would have been introduced in SantiagoSantiago, Cape Verde
Santiago , or Santiagu in Cape Verdean Creole, is the largest island of Cape Verde, its most important agricultural centre and home to half the nation’s population. At the time of Darwin's voyage it was called St. Jago....
island in the beginning of the 20th century, in order to the population to learn Portuguese musical genres. The result, however, would have been completely different: it would be the creation of a new and genuine music genre. There aren’t, nevertheless, musicological documents to prove that. Even so, it’s still curious the fact that, even being a totally different musical genre, the usage of the accordion and the ferrinho in the funaná is analogous to the usage of the accordion and the triangle
Triangle (instrument)
The triangle is an idiophone type of musical instrument in the percussion family. It is a bar of metal, usually steel but sometimes other metals like beryllium copper, bent into a triangle shape. The instrument is usually held by a loop of some form of thread or wire at the top curve...
in certain Portuguese folk music genres (malhão, corridinho
Corridinho
The corridinho is a form of Portuguese dance, namely in the Algarve. It is danced with the pairs always embraced, forming a circle, girls inside and the boys outside the circle. By rotating the circle the pairs evolve side by side. At a certain time, when the music as a stronger beat, their feet...
, vira, etc.)
Other sources, also from oral tradition, trace back another origin. They place the origins of the funaná in the increase of accordion importations as a cheap substitute for organs
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
to play religious music. The funaná would have then appeared as an adaptation for the accordion of other musical genres that were in vogue then.
The name “funaná” itself is also recent, and dates back probably from the 60’s
1960s
The 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...
and 70’s
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
. For some, the word derives from the Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
word “fungagá”. For others the name comes from the merging of the names of two great players, one of accordion and the other of ferrinho, named Funa and Naná. The older words for designating the funaná were “fuc-fuc” and “badju l’ gaita”.
Initially a genre exclusively from Santiago, for a long time the funaná was relegated to a rural context and/or for the less favourished social classes. It has even been forbidden its performance in the capital, where it was the morna that had a more prestigious and noble character.
But during the 70’s, and mostly after the independence, there had been essays of reviving certain musical genres, among them the funaná. The post-independence socialist ideology, with its struggle against the social classes differences, was a fertile field for the (re)birth of the funaná. These essays weren’t successful mostly because “the funaná couldn’t step away from the coladeira”.
It was necessary to wait for the 80’s
1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...
in order the band Bulimundo and specially its mentor Carlos Alberto Martins (a.k.a. Catchás) make a true revival of the funaná. Going to “drink” directly to the source (inner Santiago island), Catchás profited his jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
knowledge to make up a new style of playing the funaná, leaning in electric
Electric instrument
An electric musical instrument is one in which the use of electric devices determines or affects the sound produced by an instrument. It is also known as an amplified musical instrument due to the common utilization of an electronic instrument amplifier to project the intended sound as determined...
and electronic
Electronic musical instrument
An electronic musical instrument is a musical instrument that produces its sounds using electronics. Such an instrument sounds by outputting an electrical audio signal that ultimately drives a loudspeaker....
instruments, that would influence nearly all artists from now on. Thanks to the success of Bulimundo, the funaná was exported to all the islands in Cape Verde. Today, the funaná is no longer seen as a genre exclusively from Santiago, being composed, performed and appreciated by people from all the islands.
If the 80’s were the years of the spreading of the funaná within Cape Verde, the 90’s
1990s
File:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...
were the years of the internationalization. The band Finaçon
Finaçon
Finaçon was a Cape Verdean musical band from the 80’s and 90’s....
, born from a split of the band Bulimundo, was one of the responsible for the internationalization of this genre, thanks to a contract with a renowned foreign record label. Not only the funaná had become known internationally, but it is also performed by musical bands abroad, being cape verdean bands or not.
Concerning musical techniques there are no big innovations to the “Catchás’ style”, maybe perhaps only regarding the instrumentation (the possibilities of electronic instruments are explored). We can also notice, in this period, the excessive commercialization and banalization of the funaná. For instance, during a certain year, there has been an attempt of disclosing the funaná in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. That attempt was not successful because funaná was sold as a kind of “summer in-vogue music” (right after the lambada
Lambada
Lambada is a dance from Pará, Brazil. The dance became internationally popular in the 1980s, especially in Latin America and Caribbean countries...
), and not exploring the ethno-musical particularities of the funaná.
By the end of the 90’s, we can assist to a return to the roots, where the bands prefer to perform with authentic accordions and ferrinhos (occasionally a bass, a drum set and/or a guitar is added). One of the leading bands of this new vague is the band Ferro Gaita.
Variants
The funaná has several variants, not all of them well known and not all of them known by its true name. Here is the description of some:
Funaná kaminhu di férru
This is the most known variant of the funaná. Generally when the word “funaná” is used alone it refers to this variant which is the one that is more successful, specially in dancing. It is a variant that reminds a marchMarch (music)
A march, as a musical genre, is a piece of music with a strong regular rhythm which in origin was expressly written for marching to and most frequently performed by a military band. In mood, marches range from the moving death march in Wagner's Götterdämmerung to the brisk military marches of John...
but with a vivace tempo.
Funaná maxixi
The name of this variant probably comes from the musical genre maxixeMaxixe (dance)
The maxixe , occasionally known as the Brazilian tango, is a dance, with its accompanying music , that originated in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro in 1868, at about the same time as the tango was developing in neighbouring Argentina and Uruguay...
that was once in vogue in Cape Verde. It is a variant that looks like the previous one, but with a bit slower tempo.
Funaná samba
In spite of the name, this variant has no relationship with the present Brazilian genre sambaSamba
Samba is a Brazilian dance and musical genre originating in Bahia and with its roots in Brazil and Africa via the West African slave trade and African religious traditions. It is recognized around the world as a symbol of Brazil and the Brazilian Carnival...
. It seems to be an adaptation of the lundu
Lundu
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 to the accordion techniques. The tempo is slower (andante) and the rhythm is different than the other variants, it is quite similar to the toada.
Funana zouk
Funana played with 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...
style music.
Funaná morna
Practically, it is not known by this name, it is more known as slow funaná. It seems to be an adaptation of the morna to the accordion techniques, with an andante tempo. While during a long time it was the morna (badju di viulinu) that enjoyed some prestige in urban contexts and noble dance rooms, in rural contexts a slower version of funaná (badju di gaita) was developed in contraposition. Curiously, this variant has the same tempo as the Boa Vista morna and not the Brava morna.Examples of funanás
- Funaná kaminhu di férru
- “Djonsinho Cabral”, traditional
performed by Os Tubarões in the album Djonsinho Cabral (Ed. Os Tubarões, Ref. T-003 — 1978) - “Sant’ Antoni la Belêm”, traditional
performed by Bulimundo in the album Batuco (Ed. Black Power Records, Rotterdam, Ref. Lp 2233 — 1981) - “Si manera” from Zeca di Nha Reinalda
performed by FinaçonFinaçonFinaçon was a Cape Verdean musical band from the 80’s and 90’s....
in the album Funaná (Ed. Mélodie, ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
— 1990) - “Matrialistas” from Kino Cabral
performed by Kino Cabral in the album ? (Ed. Kino Cabral, ? — 1992) - “Moças di Mangui” from Eduíno, Chando Graciosa and Bitori Nha Bibinha
performed by Ferro Gaita in the album Fundu Baxu (Ed. ?, ? — 1997)
- “Djonsinho Cabral”, traditional
- Funaná maxixi
- “Canta cu alma sem ser magoado” from Pedro RodriguesPedro RodriguesPedro Rodrigues is a retired Portuguese athlete who specialized in the 400 metres hurdles.He was born in Lisboa, and represented SL Benfica. He finished fourth at the 1994 European Championships in Athletics...
performed by BanaBana (singer)Bana is a balladeer from Cape Verde and an interpreter of the morna, the plaintive, melodic lament which is a staple musical style of the country....
in the album Bana (Ed. Discos Monte Cara, — 19??) - “Pomba” from Codé di Dona
performed by Codé di Dona in the album Codé di Dona (Ed. Globe Music, ? — 1997) - “Nôs cultura” from Eduíno
performed by Ferro Gaita in the album Bandêra Liberdadi (Ed. ?, ? — 2003) - “Puxim Semedo” from Kaká di Lina and Eduíno
performed by Eduíno e Petcha in the album Terra Terra Vol. 1 (Ed. ?, ? — 2007)
- “Canta cu alma sem ser magoado” from Pedro Rodrigues
- Funaná samba
- “Djentis d’ aságua” from Zezé di Nha Reinalda
performed by Zezé di Nha Reinalda in the album Djentis d’ aságua (Ed. ICL, PraiaPraiaPraia , 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...
— 198?) - “Fomi 47” from Codé di Dona
performed by FinaçonFinaçonFinaçon was a Cape Verdean musical band from the 80’s and 90’s....
in the album Rabecindadi (Ed. ?, LisbonLisbonLisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
— 1987) - “Codjeta” from Kaká Barbosa
performed by Simentera in the album Raiz (Ed. Mélodie, Paris — 1992)
- “Djentis d’ aságua” from Zezé di Nha Reinalda
- Slow funaná
- “Sema Lopi” from Sema Lopi
performed by Bulimundo in the album Bulimundo (Ed. Black Power Records, RotterdamRotterdamRotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
, Ref. L.P. 1943 — 1980; Reed. Sons d’África, Lisbon — 2005) - “Pombinha Mansa” from ?
performed by Bulimundo in the album Batuco (Ed. Black Power Records, Rotterdam, Ref. Lp 2233 — 1981) - “Kortel di rabidanti” from Kaká Barbosa
performed by Zeca & Zezé di Nha Reinalda in the album Konbersu’l tristi, korbu nha xintidu (Ed. ?, Lisbon — 1983) - “Li qu’ ê nha tchon” from Pedro Rodrigues
performed by Os Tubarões in the album Bote, broce e linha (Ed. ?, ? — 1990)
- “Sema Lopi” from Sema Lopi
External links
- Breves Apontamentos sobre as Formas Musicais existentes em Cabo Verde
- Música e Cabo-verdianos em Lisboa
- Funaná rapido Listening example, by Codé di Dona (accordion) and his son Lucio di Dona (ferrinho). From Cabo Verde Projekt, a report (in German) about a project to document Cape Verdian rhythms