# Music by Genre > Jazz/Blues Variants, Bossa, Choro, Klezmer >  Choro Instructional Material: Recommendations

## Martin K

I'm an intermediate mandolin player who's recently been bitten by the choro bug.

I'm keen to start off by learning some of the standards. I already have O Melhor do Choro Brasileiro Volumes I and II, and I was wondering whether it's worth getting the Mike Marshall Choro book as well.

I know some of the tunes were originally written for mandolin in any case, but are his versions adapted specifically for mandolin? Other than a version of Odeon on his instructional DVD, I don't have his recordings of the tunes, so I wouldn't be using them for reference.

I was also thinking of getting some of the playalong CD and book sets out there, perhaps either Tocando com Jacob or the You the Soloist series. Any thoughts on the comparative pros and cons of each?

I'd really appreciate any advice or suggestions. If it makes a difference, I'm a fairly basic reader of standard notation, but I don't really use TAB either. I tend to work out as much by ear as possible, and then refer to the notation for the chord progression and the parts I can't catch.

Many thanks,

Martin

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## Doug Hoople

> I'm an intermediate mandolin player who's recently been bitten by the choro bug.
> 
> I'm keen to start off by learning some of the standards. I already have O Melhor do Choro Brasileiro Volumes I and II, and I was wondering whether it's worth getting the Mike Marshall Choro book as well.
> 
> I know some of the tunes were originally written for mandolin in any case, but are his versions adapted specifically for mandolin? Other than a version of Odeon on his instructional DVD, I don't have his recordings of the tunes, so I wouldn't be using them for reference.
> 
> I was also thinking of getting some of the playalong CD and book sets out there, perhaps either Tocando com Jacob or the You the Soloist series. Any thoughts on the comparative pros and cons of each?
> 
> I'd really appreciate any advice or suggestions. If it makes a difference, I'm a fairly basic reader of standard notation, but I don't really use TAB either. I tend to work out as much by ear as possible, and then refer to the notation for the chord progression and the parts I can't catch.
> ...


Hi Martin, 

Welcome to this fantastic affliction! As Mike Marshall says, "It's a deep well... if you fall in, it's a long way back up!" 

There are now many good sources of material. Alll of the materials you mention are worth having, and it's kind of hard to know where to start. 

The gold standard these days, and the one most likely to also be used by the Brazilians themselves is "Tocando Com Jacob." Your music-minus-one band is Época de Ouro, Jacob's own band, and these are the rehearsal recordings that he himself practiced to. One added benefit is that these recordings are tuned to A440. If you've ever tried to play along with his other recordings, you'll know why this is important! The disadvantage of 'Tocando com Jacob' is that, since all the tunes are taken from two commercial recordings made later in Jacob's career, many of the classics are missing. It always surprises everyone, for example, that 'Vibrações" is missing from this definitive collection, but it makes perfect sense when you realize that he had probably recorded 'Vibrações" to death by that time and didn't need to include it on yet another album. The tunes he does record are fantastic, but most of them ("Naquele Tempo" and "Benzinho" notwithstanding) are not in the top 10 or top 20 of the international choro playlist. 

The "Classics of the Brazilian Choro You are the soloist" series has very good playalong recordings, some of them by a surprisingly stellar cast of players. Again, like "Tocando," but for different reasons, it's not particularly good as a survey. It focuses on individual composers, so you wind up having to buy a lot of volumes before you get a broad and representative swath of choro. There's no one volume that everyone gets, and the people who carry them always seem to have different volumes.  

At some point, every choro player ought to have the "White Book." That's the "Songbook do Choro V I" published by Almir Chediak. It contains 97 choros, including many of the standards, so it is, in fact a good survey. Not to mention that it documents many of the 7-string bass runs that are an essential component to some of these arrangements. Andy Connell told us at the Port Townsend Choro Workshop two weeks ago that there are, in fact, 3 more volumes already finished and ready for publication, but that they're tied up in legal entanglements following the publisher's untimely and tragic death. In the meantime, though, plenty of material in volume 1! 

Mike's book is still good. It makes a handy first bite, and is a pretty good survey, generally speaking. You can spend a lot of time in his book before you really need another. It's the first book that a lot of mandolinists started with, and many jam groups in North America use it as one of their primary volumes.  All the tunes are presented in standard leadsheet format, and none of them is adapted specifically for mandolin. It comes in a Bb version, which makes it popular with clarinet players. 

Another good survey book is Ron Galen's 'Choro Fake Book.' It's a self-published volume with no formal distribution, so you have to contact Ron directly to get it. But it's made the rounds, again partly because he's got a Bb version. Clarinet players were quick to pick this up a few years back, before 'Tocando' and before Mike released his Bb version. But the other reason seems to be that he's chosen a really solid collection of tunes that everyone knows and wants to play, and it's surprising how often Ron's book is the only place to find them. The choro regulars in the Pacific Northwest all seem to have this book, judging by the attendees at the workshop just completed. Disclosure: I play with Ron on a regular basis. NFI, though. 

I carry most of the above in my briefcase when I go to choro jams, and I find that the tunes we play get called out of all of them.

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## DSDarr

Thanks for starting this thread Martin. One thing that I've been particularly interested in finding out more about is how to play backup on mandolin to choro tunes. More information on rhythm and on which chord voicings are typically used for example...

thanks, David

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## Doug Hoople

> Thanks for starting this thread Martin. One thing that I've been particularly interested in finding out more about is how to play backup on mandolin to choro tunes. More information on rhythm and on which chord voicings are typically used for example...
> 
> thanks, David


Hi David, 

There is, unfortunately, a dearth of published material on playing backup rhythm for choro on the mandolin.  

Dudu Maia is probably the closest teaching and learning resource in this category. He's done sessions on chords and rhythm playing for mandolin for a few years now at the Mandolin Symposium, and they're highly recommended. Dudu's an excellent teacher and he communicates very effectively in English. I think he can be reached on the Internet and gives Skype lessons, so if you can't get to the Symposium, that's probably your next best bet. 

You could always do it the old-fashioned way and try to mind-meld with the masters by listening and playing along. For listening to good traditional mandolin backup, it's hard to beat Ronaldo do Bandolim or Déo Rian, both of whom played with Época de Ouro band. Pedro Amorim comes to mind, too, and his stuff on the "Arranca Toco" album is very tasty. Ronaldo is heavily featured in the 2-volume "Cafe Brasil" CD series, released here in the US, and there are lots of great examples of his backup playing in there. Ronaldo also plays with Trio Madeira Brasil, but doesn't get in quite as much rhythm in that setting. 

In terms of chord voicings, you'll find a lot of common ground in jazz and swing mandolin chord voicings, with a lot of emphasis on 3-note chords and knowing several inversions for each chord. 

If you master those, then what remains is getting those Brazilian rhythms into your hands. Start with two or three choro strums and a samba strum, mute your strings heavily, avoid full strums on the downbeat. Less is more. Constant strumming on the mandolin is overbearing and generally frowned upon. Cavaquinhos can get away with it because their sound is so dry and their decay is so fast, but mandolins doing the same thing can be a bit much. 

Good luck with your search, David!

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## Martin K

Doug,

It certainly is a deep well!

Thanks so much for your reply. It was just what I was looking for - a knowledgeable, detailed response - so I appreciate you taking the time.

I wonder if I could ask you another couple of questions? Input from other forum members would also be very welcome.

Are there any technical considerations a beginner choro player on the mandolin should look out for? For instance, would you typically use alternate up-down picking, and would you use open strings or try to avoid them? Any hints for picking up the characteristic ornaments that Jacob uses?

Also, in your last post you recommended some recordings. I already have quite a bit of Jacob de Bandolim, but do you have any further listening recommendations and suggestions on where to find the recordings in the US?

Thanks,

Martin

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## John Kasley

Here's another excellent resource: "Vocabulário do Choro (Choro Vocabulary)"
Mário Sève, Luminar Editora, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1999, 221 pp.

Marilynn Mair reviews it here: http://www.marilynnmair.com/choro_addendum_books.shtml

The text is written in both Portuguese and English. 
I bought mine from Atlantico Books website. They have a large selection of choro resources.

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## Doug Hoople

> Are there any technical considerations a beginner choro player on the mandolin should look out for? For instance, would you typically use alternate up-down picking, and would you use open strings or try to avoid them? Any hints for picking up the characteristic ornaments that Jacob uses?


Pick direction in Brasil is pretty undefined. The Brasilians themselves, when asked about pick direction, usually shrug their shoulders and say "Whatever works." Mike Marshall, an ardent down-up-down-up advocate, once confessed to being baffled by the cavalier attitude toward something he coniders so important, but concedes that, for example, Hamilton de Holanda doesn't appear to have been hampered by a lack of specific pick-direction methodology.  

There is some sense that there is, in fact, method to pick direction in Brasilian mandolin playing, but that they're just not that aware of it. There's further speculation that pick direction is influenced quite powerfully by the 'batidas,' that is, the beat patterns that are used for the various rhythms, drawn mostly from the cavaquinho.  For example, the typical basic samba batida is DUDUDDUDUDUDUDDU, and it's entirely likely that this and other batidas also influence the single-line melody playing as well. I haven't seen formal analysis along these lines, but it seems like a productive avenue to follow. 

But the simple answer to your question about pick direction on Brasilian mandolin is, "It's complicated." 




> would you use open strings or try to avoid them?


It depends. When trying to retain consistent tonal character in a melodic phrase, a lot of trouble is taken to limit string crossing. But when, for example, a rhythm accent or a phrase punctuation calls for it, they'll ring the open string, quite often with the 6th-fret fretted on the next string for that half-step effect.  




> Any hints for picking up the characteristic ornaments that Jacob uses?


Get 'Tocando com Jacob' and play along with Jacob using a slowdown package. Keep playing until you can't hear any difference between what you're playing and what you hear Jacob playing, and until you're up to tempo. Count on spending a couple of years doing this.

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## Doug Hoople

> Also, in your last post you recommended some recordings. I already have quite a bit of Jacob de Bandolim, but do you have any further listening recommendations and suggestions on where to find the recordings in the US?


In the vein of Jacob-style playing, you can't beat Danilo Brito. And, his latest album, 'Sem Restrições,' is available at cdbaby.com. His earlier album, 'Perambulando,' is also a must-have for a collection of Brasilian bandolim. 

cdbaby is also where some of Dudu Maia's recordings are available. He tends to explore his own distinctive way of playing, but has proven that he's got his "authenticity chops" down with his tribute to Luperce Miranda, 'Bandolim Brasileiro.' Dudu's stuff is great either way. 

In general, finding US-based sources for these recordings is a fluid and often frustrating thing.

Mike Marshall has put together an interesting catalog at his Adventure Music label at http://www.adventure-music.com/.  Hamilton de Holanda distributes a couple of his recordings through Adventure, and they're adding new (and quite intriguing) recordings all the time. Choosing a Hamilton album is tough. They're all so good. But I think 'Intimo' has the most to offer to mandolinists who are trying to learn and absorb what he's doing in ways that ordinary mortals can grasp.

Outside the US, you might try sambastore.com. Most of the Acari record releases are available there. My current favorite choro album, for example, is "Arranca Toco," which Brian Rice turned me onto. I haven't been able to stop listening to it since he tipped me off. Really, really impeccable true choro playing, both old and new, and Pedro Amorim's playing on that album is amazing. Also in the Acari line, highly recommended (but with no bandolim) is 'Luciana Rabello,' an album of entirely post Camerata Carioca choros.  Also from Acari, for a taste of what the coming generation is up to, check out 'Regional Carioca.'

For a jazzier, North American-tinged treat, check out 'Tira Poeira,' featuring bandolimist Henry Lentino. It's choro with attitude. Some of the arrangements are spectacularly beautiful, and some are just wacky, but every cut is imbued with Tira Poeira's signature "modern" approach.  

Those are a few suggestions. There is a vast amount of material to explore, so I think I'll leave it at that for now.

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## DSDarr

With regards to rhythm, is anyone familiar with the book "Brazilian Rhythms For Guitar (Book & CD)" by Carlos Arana?  I just ran across a reference to it on Amazon ($18.76) and it has appears to have quite a bit of information on choro (as well as samba, bossa nova, etc.).

David

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## MandoNicity

As a complete novice to all this, but a fast rising appreciator of all things Choro there is a wealth of info in this thread, mostly due to Doug. (thanks!)  I have a few questions:  Does Mikes Choro book have chord voicings in it?  and not to get into the standard notation/tab controversy, but is there any Choro material anywhere that is in tab?  If any of these books have chord voicings then I could just tab out the standard notation, (or put it into the only clef I'm comfortable in, alto clef  :Wink:  )  My other question is, what is the most beginner friendly Choro book for an introduction?  Thanks for any info.  

JR

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## Brad Weiss

Doug's got you covered in almost all areas.  I'd add that Dudu Maia's recent album (with his group Caraivana) has some spectacular, soulful renditions of some choro classics, done in a very accessible style. 
http://caraivana.com/cd-dvd-main/caraivana

Perambulando is one of the greatest albums I've ever heard - but it is so virtuosic that it's almost intimidating!

I've been playing along with Jacob (Tocando com . . .) recently, and it's a great resource. For example...

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## Al Bergstein

I've taken lessons with Dudu on  Skype and at the Symposium. Highly recommended. He's a great teacher, speaks English, and really knows Choro. However, on pick direction, Dudu is very formal. He, like John Reichmann and Mike M. is very much into teaching pick direction, as he has told me that 'you can't play the stuff fast without paying close attention to pick direction'. 

In my playing, I keep coming back to listening to the original recordings. There is nothing recorded in modern times like the originals by Jacob and Waldyr Azevedo, who's work is still available on iTunes, thanks to his huge popularity with Warner Bros.(Thanks Warner!).  The nice thing about Azevedo is that he also played tenor guitar and cavaquinho. Oddly they list it as "pop" rather than World, or Brazilian, or even Samba...

Maybe Jesse Appleman, Bruce Clausen, Marilyn Marr, or Tim Connell will speak up, as they are, IMHO as good of players, other than Mike, as are playing this on mandolin in the states these days. I'm sure there's others, but these are the folks I've been exposed to that strike me as really playing at a very high level, have studied this from the folks in Brazil, and also contribute to this board. 

Ultimately we are North American players, by and large on this thread. Without playing on a bandolim with Brazilian strings (which are very 'soft' and loopy), going down and playing in Brazil, and having an understanding of their unusual rhythms, pull offs, etc. it is very hard to get things 'right'.  Since I bought a bandolim, it has changed my sound, and recently I managed to procure some bandolim strings from Brazil, which definitely are 'different'. At least to my ear. Much of their backup is a lot of down strokes for chords, not a lot of upstrokes. Dudu tried really hard to break me of the upstroke in backup chord playing. 

So get the play along books/DVD of Jacob, which are, IMHO, the *gold standard* to start with. Get all the DVDs by Grisman on Jacob, and then get the Azevedo recordings on iTunes (or elsewhere). 

As to backup rhythm, my feeling, based on taking lessons for about two years now, at Symposium, and the Port Townsend Choro Workshops, is that you need to go study at the Symposium with Dudu and also have Danilo pound the backup into your ears at close range at the late night jams there...It's really hard stuff to transmit on the page, like Mike tries to do.  

Maybe, as a last resort, also buy and study some Pandiero. That sort of gets us there.

As to tab vs. notation, just say no to tab. I wasted years on tab, and when the time came, I had to relearn to read notation for choro. There is virtually nothing in tab on choro, and all the white books coming out of Brazil are notation. It's like learning to read a language by trying to use audio books....Just learn to read. You won't regret it! It's as important as practicing the instrument...

Mike's book is the best introduction for newcomers. It has, by Andy and Mike's admission, numerous oddities and mistakes, but it is still what everyone uses at jams I've been at to start, at any rate. 

(listening to Waldir Azevedo's Carioquinha right now. Wonderful, that gives you a great backup beat).

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## Doug Hoople

Sorry, I shouldn't have made it sound as disorganized as it sounded. 

Pick direction really is a complicated thing in Brazil, not because no one cares, but because it matters a lot, and because there are so many reasons for choosing a picking pattern. 

But, just to illustrate why it's so hard to pin these down in simple rules on an academic basis, at the Symposium, both Danilo Brito and Dudu Maia were asked to illustrate the way they'd play a baião, one of the most basic Brazilian rhythms, from the northeast. They both played very different patterns, and the pick directions for their patterns were also very different. But they were both very good and very accurate baião rhythms. Which one do you choose as the "definitive" baião pattern? I'm not going to choose. 

To make matters more complicated still, you have to decide whether you're comping as though you're the whole regional (band) or as though you're one instrument in a rhythm section in which many of the rhythms are broken out and distributed among them. In the former case, you'll be integrating a mix of several rhythms. In the latter, your rhythm will be simplified, and you're more likely to be simulating a particular drum, and your picking pattern will vary accordingly. 

For an idea of how varied some of these patterns can be, have a look at 'Nas Batidas do Samba,' by Nestor Habkost and Wagner Segura. This volume attempts to capture some 40 variants of rhythm patterns used in typical samba settings, as drawn from individual famous samba recordings. And that's just cavaquinho patterns, and only from the samba tradition. Some of these 'batidas' (beats) are simple down-up-down-up, but many of them feature reversals that are quite specific. 

It's also true that, while there's not a well-developed tradition of cataloging these practices in academic volumes, you can ask any of thousands of players to show you how they play a particular rhythm on a particular tune, and you'll get a little lesson on the spot. It will be up to you to take what you're shown and transfer it to your own playing. 

I think Al's right... it's an aural tradition. We had two classes at the Symposium this year that were amazing demonstrations of one rhythm pattern after another. We'd ask Danilo and Dudu to demonstrate either a typical rhythm (choro, choro-canção, choro-samba, maxixe, baião, etc.) or how they play backup to a particular song ('Brejeiro,' 'Vibrações,' 'Cochichando,' 'Araponga,' 'Naquele Tempo,' etc.), and they'd show us, one after another, a mind-boggling array of rhythms and patterns, all with very specific pick directions, specific choice of strings to strike on each stroke, specific dynamics for each stroke, specific strokes to mute, etc. 

All very complicated, and all very hard to capture on paper. 

Is there actually a method to all this? Yes, but it's still very much embedded in the aural tradition. You won't find it in a book of rules ('Nas Batidas do Samba' notwithstanding). You can, if you're very good, pick out most of these elements on recordings. But the best way to figure them out is to have a good player show them to you, one at a time.

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## modalmixture

Hey, my name is Lauren and I met some of you at the 2009 and 2010 mandolin symposiums.  What a great help this forum is, especially when it's can be so hard to find information on choro anywhere in the US.

To add my 2 cents to the accompaniment discussion, Dudu Maia taught me some accompaniment rhythms a while back, and they took a lot of getting used to.  Like alb, I had to break myself of the habit of playing lots of upstrokes on the upbeats; I had previously been playing some syncopated newgrass-y rhythms to try to approximate the cavaquinho rhythms I was hearing, and I could almost see Dudu cringe when I played it for him.

So to take just one example...on Receita de Samba, Dudu might use this cavaquinho rhythm:
You'll notice that every single note is played with a downstroke, interspersed with ghosted notes or chucks (in parentheses) that are played with a mix of down- and upstrokes, giving it a fantastic percussive sound.  You are essentially striking the strings on every single 16th note pulse and your hand is moving a *lot* - I count _19_ separate up or down motions in just these two bars.

The other thing to notice is that none of this makes sense in terms of pick stroke theory, and if you try to play it according to the rules (U, U, U-D, D, U, U), it will certainly be more economical in terms of hand motion, but i's not going to sound quite right.  The only rule, if there is one, seems to be "always play an accented beat with a downstroke, irregardless of anything else".  And finally, without having the pick motions explained to you by someone who knows what they're doing, I think it would be difficult to just look at a rhythm like this in a book and know how to execute it.

The first time I tried playing this - Wow, what a mess! It felt so unnatural.  It took quite a bit of practicing to get the feel of it, but once I had it locked in, the sound was immediately much more percussive and Brazilian that what I had been playing before.  Of course trying to play this at even moderately fast tempos is still a challenge.

On a separate note, I wonder if anyone has found the Vocabulário do Choro book to be useful for learning to make your melodies and ornaments sound more brazilian?  Does it have exercises that help you practice or is it mostly examples?  Mostly I'm wondering if it's really worth the $77.

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## SincereCorgi

"Brazilian Rhythms for Guitar" is indeed a great book with very interesting foundational exercises, but as you say, it's mostly post-choro (samba, bossa nova, etc). That being said, it's a good resource for general Brazilian conceptions of rhythm.

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## Jim Garber

This book/CD combo is coming down the pike: Brazilian Choro: A Method for Mandolin and Bandolim by Marilynn Mair & Paulo Sa. Mel Bay doesn't say when, but it is listed on Amazon as available in January of 2011 and is pretty reasonable in price. The table of contents looks pretty extensive as an intro to the genre. I know not much to go on but I wonder what the experts/aficionados think about this one.

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## Jim Garber

> In the vein of Jacob-style playing, you can't beat Danilo Brito. And, his latest album, 'Sem Restrições,' is available at cdbaby.com. His earlier album, 'Perambulando,' is also a must-have for a collection of Brasilian bandolim. 
> 
> cdbaby is also where some of Dudu Maia's recordings are available. He tends to explore his own distinctive way of playing, but has proven that he's got his "authenticity chops" down with his tribute to Luperce Miranda, 'Bandolim Brasileiro.' Dudu's stuff is great either way.


Excellent suggestions, but can you buy these in North America. I see _Caraivana_ on iTunes but I can't seem to find any Danilo Brito anywhere and Dudu's link to CDBaby goes to a dead end, at least for me.

Oh, now I see that Carmel Music has _Perambulando_.

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## Tom Wright

Dudu's web site has sheet music, but you need a 10-string for the range on most of the tunes, his originals.

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## Jim Garber

I plan on taking a look at his chord studies sometime. It is nice that you folks on the left coast have at least an occasional choro workshop and some sort of community of interest. I started talking to a few folks in New York and will prob see if there is any chance of some of these Brazilian bandolimists will come here. There is an active community in New York City. Many years ago I participated in a drum workshop and I still have my tamborim from that time. Quite a lot of fun.

Actually, I take it back... I have been in touch with Richard Boukas who directs the Brazilian Jazz & Choro Ensembles at the New School. I may look into this at some time.

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## Jim Garber

> This book/CD combo is coming down the pike: Brazilian Choro: A Method for Mandolin and Bandolim by Marilynn Mair & Paulo Sa.


I just checked on Marilynn's site and it says: "This book will be published by Mel Bay in November, 2010." Hmmmmm...

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## Al Bergstein

Check my other post, Martin, on the upcoming Choro workshop coming up in April in Port Townsend. Dudu and Douglas will be there, so you can ask them about pick direction (G). I guarantee you it will be a hot time in the old town. We've tried to keep the cost reasonable, the accomodations are really good, old officer's quarters, and the food was wonderful last year. 

I agree with the study of the percussion along with the mandolin side. While we can have a notion of how this should 'feel', there are distinct patterns that are uniquely Brazilian. Many different ones in fact. So studying them with someone like Brian Rice (who also will be at the workshop) will be extremely useful if you want to play "it right". Though I still don't think Dudu or any of them would say I'm even close...but heck, it's still fun to play, and audiences really seem to love it. What more can you ask for?

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## Doug Hoople

> Check my other post, Martin, on the upcoming Choro workshop coming up in April in Port Townsend. Dudu and Douglas will be there, so you can ask them about pick direction (G).


omg! 

Assuming, Al, that you're referring to me here, if someone asks me about pick direction with Dudu standing there, my answer will be, "Ask Dudu!"

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## Jim Garber

So, where does one get the white Choro songbook?

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## Jim Garber

Thanks to Doug and a few others I did figure out where to purchase the white book and one is hopefully on its way.

Other news: Marilynn Mair and Paulo Sa's Choro method book is now available thru Amazon. I pre-ordered a day or so ago but it evidently has come in and they are shipping.

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## DSDarr

> Other news: Marilynn Mair and Paulo Sa's Choro method book is now available thru Amazon. I pre-ordered a day or so ago but it evidently has come in and they are shipping.


Just got this book in the mail today from Amazon --- looks (and sounds) great! Can't wait to dig in!!

-David

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## Doug Hoople

Judging by the use of 'Greensleeves' as a means of introducing choro style through a piece familiar to many North Americans players, I'd be inclined to say that Marilynn's book is geared to newcomers and beginning players. 

Good on her for trying to cultivate a new audience for choro.

I've only read the table of contents, so can't otherwise comment. Down here in NZ, it will be a long time before I actually bump into a copy.

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## DSDarr

> Judging by the use of 'Greensleeves' as a means of introducing choro style through a piece familiar to many North Americans players, I'd be inclined to say that Marilynn's book is geared to newcomers and beginning players.


My take -- after having had a chance to look at it briefly now -- is that it may well be aimed at newcomers to Choro (lots of interesting stuff on rhythm for example) but not really beginners. You'd have to be a solid intermediate to tackle this in my opinion and there is no tab. I am a pretty intermediate player and not a good reader (though improving rapidly now that I am actually spending some time at working to improve my reading skills) and this is going to be a serious challenge for me.

-David

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## Jim Garber

> cdbaby is also where some of Dudu Maia's recordings are available. He tends to explore his own distinctive way of playing, but has proven that he's got his "authenticity chops" down with his tribute to Luperce Miranda, 'Bandolim Brasileiro.' Dudu's stuff is great either way.


Speaking of Luperce Miranda... I was listening to Dudu's recording and some recordings of Miranda. Today I received my copy opf the white book from sambastore.com (Very exciting). However, I only see two tunes by Luperce Miranda. I was wondering where I might find the sheet music for others. I esp like Giceli and Bate Palmas.

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## Jim Garber

> So, where does one get the white Choro songbook?


Hey irony of ironies: I just got my white Choro songbook ordered from Brazil from sambastore.com. It took awhile and cost bucks. I was just looking at Elderly and lo and behold, they how carry it here. And I had just ordered Mike Marshall's book from them a little while ago. Either they just started carrying the white book or else I somehow missed it inmy search on their site. 

In any case, it is there and available for anyone who doesn't have it already. I plan to make a trip to Kinko's to get it and my Mair/Sa book spiral bound. I have a feeling I will be using these lots.

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## Jim Garber

> Speaking of Luperce Miranda... I was listening to Dudu's recording and some recordings of Miranda. Today I received my copy opf the white book from sambastore.com (Very exciting). However, I only see two tunes by Luperce Miranda. I was wondering where I might find the sheet music for others. I esp like Giceli and Bate Palmas.


 I seem to be answering all my own questions (with some help). Linda Binder told me of a folio of Luperce Miranda tunes which is just what I am looking for. Looks like I can order form the publisher but it might be sort of circuitous with some sort of bank wires required. I also inquired with a bookstore in Brazil that seems to carry it. Has anyone else gotten this book recently in the US? Might anyone else be interested?

The book's publisher is here: Luperce Miranda Book

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