The Melody Web what each genre heard, and what it passed on

heard passed on Click or tap a node to recenter. Use a connecting line, or Influence, for the story.

Heard

West African drumming tradition · prehistoric–

Lundu keeps an African recreational song-dance job: syncopated 2/4, body percussion or pandeiro, and umbigada-adjacent play.

Influence

Lundu

genre · 1780–1910

Also called lundum, landu

Afro-Brazilian song-and-dance of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries: sung 2/4, guitar or viola, and a body percussion or pandeiro pulse that salon copies as lundu de salão. It hears West African drumming for the recreational song-dance job, and already gives Samba the named Afro-Brazilian song parent. It also feeds Maxixe and Choro. Modinha leftover as the Portuguese parlor twin, not a parent.

Listen

  1. Lundu Afro-Brazilian song tradition (traditional) YouTube
  2. Lundu da Marota Nineteenth-century Brazilian song (c. 1800s)
  3. Isto é bom Xisto Bahia (1880) YouTube
  4. Lundu de salão Brazilian parlor tradition (c. 1850s)
  5. Modinha e lundu Brazilian salon song (c. 1800s)

Passed on

Choro genre · 1870–

Choro takes lundu’s Afro-Brazilian syncopated 2/4 into an instrumental strain school: guitar literacy, off-beat melody, and a roda that still knows song-dance.

Influence
Maxixe genre · 1870–1920

Maxixe takes lundu’s Afro-Brazilian 2/4 body-dance into a close-hold Rio couple dance.

Influence
Samba genre · 1910–

Urban samba takes lundu’s Afro-Brazilian song-dance: syncopated 2/4, guitar-or-viola song, and a body-percussion pulse that the 1910s Rio school recodes as carnival and roda samba.

Influence

West African drumming → Lundu

meter and groovefunction and contextperformance practicestrength: highscholarly consensus1600–1800migrationoraldance

Mechanism

Lundu keeps an African recreational song-dance job: syncopated 2/4, body percussion or pandeiro, and umbigada-adjacent play. Strength high. The donor node is the broad Atlantic umbrella used elsewhere for Brazil; Kongo/Angola weight is often argued. Portuguese song is the other parent, not this edge.

Evidence

Folk lundu and umbigada reports; salon copies that still keep a syncopated 2/4; Grove and McGowan on lundu as Afro-Brazilian.

Debate

West versus Central African mapping. The umbrella node is used on purpose, as on west african drumming samba.

Mediators

community: Afro-Brazilian communities in Bahia and Rio

Lundu → Choro

meter and groovemelodyperformance practicestrength: mediumscholarly consensus1870–1910oralnotation

Mechanism

Choro takes lundu’s Afro-Brazilian syncopated 2/4 into an instrumental strain school: guitar literacy, off-beat melody, and a roda that still knows song-dance. Strength medium. Polka is the European page; this hop is the African-Brazilian time.

Evidence

Early choro syncopation against polka strains; McGowan on lundu in the Rio popular mix that chorões play.

Debate

Whether samba already covers this. Samba is a sibling urban school; choro’s syncopation is older and instrumental.

Mediators

community: Rio chorões

Lundu → Maxixe

meter and groovefunction and contextmelodystrength: highscholarly consensus1870–1900oraldancenotation

Mechanism

Maxixe takes lundu’s Afro-Brazilian 2/4 body-dance into a close-hold Rio couple dance. Strength high. habanera maxixe is the written bass hop; this edge is the older song-dance parent. Samba later displaces maxixe on the same floor.

Evidence

Nineteenth-century lundu into Rio salon and street; McGowan and Grove on lundu in the maxixe ancestry.

Debate

Whether habanera already carries the job. Habanera is the published bass; lundu is the Afro-Brazilian dance-song maxixe creolizes.

Mediators

community: Rio dance halls

Lundu → Samba

meter and groovemelodyfunction and contextstrength: highscholarly consensus1870–1917oraldancenotation

Mechanism

Urban samba takes lundu’s Afro-Brazilian song-dance: syncopated 2/4, guitar-or-viola song, and a body-percussion pulse that the 1910s Rio school recodes as carnival and roda samba. Strength high. Maxixe is the urban couple-dance parent on the same floor (maxixe samba); West African drumming is the deep percussion donor (west african drumming samba). This hop is the named song ancestor.

Evidence

Nineteenth-century lundu and lundu de salão; McGowan and Grove on lundu in samba’s ancestry; continuity of syncopated 2/4 song into Pelo telefone-era samba.

Debate

Whether maxixe already carries the lundu. Maxixe is the salon/tango-brasileiro recode; lundu is the older Afro-Brazilian song-dance. Keep both.

Mediators

community: Afro-Brazilian musicians in Bahia and Rio