[1] This deeper religious significance exists more as a social memory to most capoeira groups, but is generally understood as evidenced in the use of ngoma drums (the atabaques of candomblé), and the berimbau whose earlier forms were used in African rituals to speak with the ancestors.

In early days, capoeira was accompanied only by the big drum (known as ngoma, conga or atabaque), hand-clapping and singing.

In the early to mid-nineteenth century Rio, capoeira was described by travelers as a war dance with drumbeats or hand clapping.

[4] Playing a drum could lead to severe punishment, like on 5 December 1820, when Mathias Benguela, a slave, received 200 lashes for it.

To evade arrest, slaves used makeshift percussion instruments like clay or metal pieces, shells, and stones.

[5] In 1859, French journalist Charles Ribeyrolls described the Afro-Brazilian dances on plantations in Rio de Janeiro province, linking the conga drum to capoeira, and the berimbau to batuque: Here, Capoeira is a type of war dance, accompanied by the powerful, militant rhythm of the Congo drum.

[6]Gerhard Kubik, a 20th century music ethnologist, saw capoeira as a discipline where the drum not only accompanies but also guides and controls the players' actions.

He experimented with various instruments, occasionally incorporating guitars (viola de corda) and even introducing Spanish castanets into the roda at one point.

Understanding songs in capoeira is a good way to grasp and put into some historical context early Brazilian life and history.

If one can identify with the music on a personal level, it goes a long way in adopting the heritage vital in the maintenance of capoeira as a cultural force.

The roda commences with the ladainha (litany), a solo often sung by the most senior member present, usually the one playing lead berimbau.

Iê...ê Eu já vivo enjoado Eu já vivo enjoado de viver aqui na terra amanhã eu vou pra lua falei com minha mulher ela então me respondeu que nos vamos se deus quiser Vamos fazer um ranchinho todo feito de sapé amanhã as sete horas nos vamos tomar café e o que eu nunca acreditei, o que não posso me conformar que a lua vem à terra e a terra vem à lua todo isso é conversa pra comer sem trabalhar o senhor, amigo meu, colega velho escute bem ao meu cantar quem é dono não ciuma e quem não é vai ciumar camaradinho Ieeeee I am sick I am sick of living here on Earth Tomorrow I'll go to the Moon I said to my wife And she responded Then we'll go, God willing We'll have a little ranch All made of straw Tomorrow morning at seven We'll have some coffee What I never believed Nor could I ever confirm The moon would come to Earth And the Earth to the Moon This is just talk to eat without working Sir, good friend, old colleague Listen well to my song He who is the master of his land doesn't envy And he who isn't certainly will Camaradinho An interpretation of this song could be: Nothing comes easy without hard work.

The corridos are overlapping call and response typical of African singing, and influenced by, and borrowing from the Sambas de Roda of Bahia.

Quadras also exist as a special type of corrido with four line solo verses followed by the choral response, such as the following: Capenga ontem teve aqui Capenga ontem teve aqui Deu dois mil réis a papai Três mil réis a mamãe Café e açúcar a vovó Deu dois vintém a mim Sim senhor, meu camará Quando eu entrar, você entra Quando eu sair, você sai Passar bem, passar mal Mas tudo no mundo é passar Ha ha ha Água de beber The term chula is often given to the call and response louvação immediately following the ladainha.

Rather than a tonic-dominant relationship, the ladainhas exhibit a tonic-supertonic progression (incidentally bossa nova exhibits a similar tendency for unrelated reasons) where harmonic tension is always on the 2nd scale degree, D in the key of C. Rhythmically, the music is in 4/4 time, common for music in the Angolan region of Africa, where the rhythms of both Brazilian samba and Cuban guaguancó have their origins.

The berimbau itself has been a folk instrument for solo song accompaniment and worship and became a mainstay of the roda when metal wire was widely available for use as a string.

Before then, berimbaus were strung with plant fibers and thus could not project as loudly as with metal (nowadays, the wire is culled from used car and bicycle tires).

A theory goes that berimbaus were fitted with metal blades at the top which made them a defensive weapon when playing capoeira openly (which was essentially outlawed until the 1930s) was a dangerous affair.

The São Bento Grande rhythm stresses both downbeats on the berimbaus which has the effect of a driving march (played in a quick double time tempo).

The atabaque serves as the heart beat of the music, providing a steady pulse on 1 and 3 with open tones, often with an anticipation to 1, and a muted bass on 2.:

As the berimbaus play with and against this framework along with the song verses, a surprising amount of syncopation results, despite the simple nature of the patterns.

[11]In today's capoeira outside Brazil, students who aren't proficient in Portuguese encounter challenges in singing and comprehending the lyrics.

This, in turn, perpetuates the disconnection between music and movements, resulting in a less rhythmic ginga that capoeira instructors struggle so hard to improve.