How to practice Cavalaria on a real berimbau
Play this toque on a real berimbau. Allow the microphone, calibrate your tones, then follow the scrolling note track. The app scores pitch in cents against your calibration and whether you hit on time. Microphone audio never leaves the browser.
Exercises use the three core berimbau tones: ◯ dom (open, stone off the string), ⊗ chi (buzz, light stone), and ⬤ dim (closed, stone on the string).
Urgent and marching. Practice even spacing; this warning toque is about steady pulse more than speed.
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What is the Cavalaria berimbau toque?
Cavalaria originally alerted players that the police were coming. Wikipedia and CapoeiraWiki say the toque imitates the galloping of horses; some hear a police siren in it. Mestre Bimba strove to preserve it in honour of the years when capoeiristas used it as a warning.
How does Cavalaria feel in the roda?
Urgent and marching — an alarm more than a leisurely game rhythm. CapoeiraWiki notes that in Bimba’s Regional practice it is not played during classes and rodas, even though he kept the toque alive as history.
Sources
Paraphrased from Wikipedia, CapoeiraWiki, and Capoeira Shop (Regional). Schools differ on how each toque is played; this is not a teaching method.