How to practice Iuna 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).
This toque also needs the buzzing open tone (domz). Calibrate it on your berimbau or the rhythm stays locked.
Medium tempo with longer phrases. Stay with the domz notes through the call-and-response shape; rushing the long line is a common miss.
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What is the Iuna berimbau toque?
Iúna (often written Iuna) was an old viola guitar rhythm in the sambas of the Recôncavo, Bahia. Mestre Bimba, himself a viola-de-samba player, brought it onto the berimbau. He said it imitates the iúna bird’s song: the male calling and the female responding.
How does Iuna feel in the roda?
Medium-paced and graceful. Traditionally it is played by formados (graduated students) near the end of the roda. Throws (balões) belong to this game: partners throw each other and must land on their feet.
Also known as
- Iúna
Sources
Paraphrased from Wikipedia, CapoeiraWiki, and Capoeira Shop (Regional). Schools differ on how each toque is played; this is not a teaching method.