Dance Music Form

Forró means occasion, festival, dance, much more than just music. Since the 1940s the forró has become known well outside of the borders of northeast Brazil. Accordion (concertina), the large frame drum called the zabumba, and the triangle are the typical instruments of the forró band. Here they are played by musicians who mastered their instruments in childhood and are all closely associated with the forró. The expression pé de serra (foothill) is used to describe everything from the that has come to the city from the provinces in raw and unpolished form. Forró pé de serra differs from forró urbano in not using any electroacoustic processing.