Surdo on two and the 3-3-2 of the northeast
· 25 rhythms · 2 traditions
25 Brazilian rhythms and their time signatures: samba, bossa nova, baião, forró, maracatu and frevo among them, each playable on a metronome at its own tempo.
Two, with the big surdo on the SECOND beat and sixteenths everywhere else.
This page holds 25 Brazilian rhythms, each playable on the metronome at its own tempo, among them samba in 2/4 with its weight on beat 2, bossa nova and its clave, the northeast's baião, xote and forró, maracatu, frevo, choro, samba-reggae and funk carioca.
In samba the large surdo's weight falls on beat 2, which to anyone used to heavy beginnings feels as if the floor moved half a step. Count two evenly and let the second beat answer with more depth.
The samba and samba batucada rows accent beat 2 as a broad outline, not a bateria transcription; surdos, caixas, repiniques, tamborins, agogôs and more layer subdivisions, swing and flexible timing that one click lane cannot hold. Orient yourself with the accent, then listen to an actual bateria.
Bossa nova is related to samba but quieter in texture. Its rim-click cell spreads five strokes across sixteen sixteenths, related to son clave but ending differently, while the guitar adds its own bass motion and syncopated chords. The bossa nova row gives the broad four, the bossa clave row the attacks.
Baião brings the northeast's 3+3+2 pull through the zabumba, its attacks set on eight sixteenths. Forró is the dance-hall family around accordion, triangle and zabumba, xote a slower two, and xaxado has its own shuffling association with the cangaceiros.
Recife's maracatu carries a heavy alfaia four, and frevo races in two with brass and carnival movement. Bahia's afoxé and ijexá sway in four, connected to Candomblé-derived practice. Samba-reggae puts low surdos on 1 and 3 instead of samba's beat 2.
Funk carioca's tamborzão is reduced here to a tresillo scaffold at about 130 quarter notes per minute, and capoeira to one São Bento practice pulse from a larger system of berimbau toques. There are no marks, but the hollow boxes in the bossa and baião cells matter; count through them.
Start with Samba, Bossa nova and Baião.
Bossa nova clave is the five-stroke rim click of bossa nova, written on sixteen small units. It sounds on 1, 4, 7, 11 and 14, and the hollow boxes are where the rim stays quiet. Son clave 3-2 strikes 13 where this one strikes 14, so play the two back to back. Tap four larger beats, say sixteen even small counts across the cycle, and clap only where the strip sounds.
This is a cell, not a whole bossa nova performance. The catalogue calls bossa nova samba whispered, and a rim pattern alone cannot supply its other parts or its feel. Practise slowly enough to hear the moved last stroke without guessing at the rest of the cycle. Once it stays in place for four repeats, listen for it alongside the Bossa nova row in the next Brazil section.
Start with Bossa nova clave.
Son clave with the last stroke moved: the rim click of bossa nova.
The bossa nova clave places five strokes over sixteen sixteenth-note units, related to son clave with the final attack moved. Count four groups of four and strike the sounded positions shown in the strip. It appears as a rim-click or guitar reference in bossa accompaniment. Practise it while tapping quarter notes with your foot. Do not assume Cuban clave rules transfer unchanged to this Brazilian cell.
Samba is counted in two, and the big surdo lands on the second beat, the stronger click here, while other parts keep sixteenths moving around it. Count “one two” and do not lean on one just because it opens the bar. Samba batucada takes that pulse to carnival pace. Bossa nova widens the practice count to four, and its rim pattern has its own row, the Bossa nova clave. The catalogue calls bossa nova samba whispered, a description, not a way of playing the samba strip more quietly.
Baião puts the northeast’s zabumba into an eight-unit 3+3+2 attack shape, its gaps drawn hollow. Count all eight small units, then mark the three sounded ones. Xote is a slower two. Forró sets accordion, triangle and zabumba around a dance pulse. Frevo races through another two with brass and umbrellas, the count still simple while the music gets busy.
The rest keep their local names rather than folding Brazil into one beat. Maracatu (nação) is a heavy four from Recife. Afoxé / ijexá is a Bahian sway in four. Samba-reggae puts its low surdos on 1 and 3, not on samba’s second beat. Choro is an instrumental two. Jongo rolls in a 3+3 six, and Chamamé is an accordion six from the south.
Some rows are deliberately narrow. Funk carioca draws a 3+3+2 outline for the tamborzão, whose interlocking voices that outline cannot hold. Capoeira (São Bento) is one selected toque, not every capoeira toque. One lane of clicks cannot produce a bateria, and an exact grid cannot give samba’s played timing.
Keep one finger tapping both beats of Samba and clap only on two for four cycles. Then play Baião, tapping eight equal small units and clapping its three unevenly spaced strokes. Go back to Samba and listen to the second beat again. After that, compare Bossa nova with the Bossa nova clave, or follow Partido alto’s syncopated two-bar figure without loading all its interest onto a louder first click.
Start with Samba, Baião and Bossa nova.
Two, with the big surdo on the SECOND beat and sixteenths everywhere else.
Samba is counted in 2/4 with the stronger surdo weight on beat 2. Count “one, TWO” and keep sixteenth-note motion flowing around those two beats. You hear it across Rio’s samba traditions, though real bateria parts are far more detailed than this outline. Practise stepping on both beats while tapping the stronger sound on 2. Avoid turning beat 1 into a weak, late apology.
The escola's bateria at carnival pace.
Samba batucada uses the same two-beat orientation as samba at a faster carnival pace, with the main surdo weight on 2. Count two broad beats while hearing four sixteenths inside each. It belongs to the escola de samba bateria. Practise at half tempo with light hands.
Samba whispered: the bossa clave on the rim.
Bossa nova uses a four-beat frame with gentle landmarks on 1 and 3 while a separate rim-click cell and guitar syncopation shape the style. Count four quietly and avoid a heavy backbeat. You hear it in the guitar and piano language of Brazilian bossa. Practise the bass on 1 and 3 before adding chords. Keep the metronome softer than the instrument so you have to carry the pulse.
The zabumba's three-three-two: the northeast's heartbeat.
Baião uses a 3+3+2 attack cell across eight sixteenth-note units. Strike 1, 4 and 7 while counting all eight evenly. The zabumba carries this pull in music from Brazil’s northeast. Practise the three attacks over a steady 2/4 foot pulse, then add the silent units as quiet hand motion. Keep the final two-unit group short without rushing the return to 1.
Forró's slow, swaying two.
Count it as 2 even units, with the weight on 1.
The dance-hall baião: accordion, triangle, zabumba.
Forró is represented as a lively 2/4, with accordion, triangle and zabumba filling the dance floor around the pulse. Count “one, two” and keep both beats springy rather than heavy. It is connected with baião, xote and other northeastern dance forms. Practise alternating bass notes under a constant eighth-note triangle motion. Begin slowly enough that the offbeat remains exactly halfway between the main beats.
The cangaceiros' shuffling two.
Count it as 2 even units, with the weight on 1.
Recife's heavy alfaia four.
Maracatu nação uses a heavy four-beat frame led by alfaia drums in Recife’s processional tradition. Count 1 through 4 with landmarks on 1 and 3, while remembering that the ensemble patterns are much more specific than this scaffold. Practise marching the quarter notes and playing only one drum phrase against them. Do not substitute a generic rock backbeat merely because both fit inside 4/4.
Recife's fast carnival two, brass and umbrellas.
Count it as 2 even units, with the weight on 1.
Rio's instrumental two, syncopated.
Count it as 2 even units, with the weight on 1.
Bahia's Candomblé-born sway.
Count it as 4 even units, with the weight on 1, 3.
Salvador's blocos: the low surdos on one and three, the repiniques answering.
Count it as 4 even units, with the weight on 1, 3.
Samba's most syncopated two-bar figure.
Count it as 2 even units, with the weight on 1.
The northeast's sung four with a tresillo pull.
Count it as 4 even units, with the weight on 1, 3.
The berimbau's toque.
Count it as 4 even units, with the weight on 1, 3.
Pará's fast two.
Count it as 2 even units, with the weight on 1.
Carimbó meets zouk.
Count it as 4 even units, with the weight on 1, 3.
Bahia's carnival pop four.
Count it as 4 even units, with the weight on 1, 3.
The tamborzão: a tresillo at 130.
Funk carioca’s tamborzão is represented by a 3+3+2 scaffold over eight units, with attacks on 1, 4 and 7. It runs around 125 to 135 quarter notes per minute, but the full beat uses interlocking drum voices. Count the eight-unit cell first, then compare it with an actual track. Use the metronome to stabilise placement, not to flatten the pattern into three identical knocks.
The accordion six of the south and Corrientes.
Count it as 3 + 3, with the weight on 1, 4.
Sticks striking in the four-beat Afro-Brazilian dance.
Count it as 4 even units, with the weight on 1, 3.
Rio's first urban dance, a syncopated two.
Count it as 2 even units, with the weight on 1.
The carnival march.
Count it as 2 even units, with the weight on 1.
The Afro-Brazilian dance of the southeast, in a rolling six.
Count it as 3 + 3, with the weight on 1, 4.