Vocab of the Week!

This week's word is cabeca. What's that you say? Cabeca, the sphere - like piece of the mystical capoeira instrument, the berimbau. Its actually what resonates the sounds from the instrument. Cabecas are made from a type of brazillian squash that's hollowed out, dried, and the glossed and sometimes its even designed. There are three main types of cabecas used in capoeira: Gunga, Medio, and Viola. The gunga is the largest and deepest sounding cabeca. The gunga tends to be held by the mestre, or the leader of the roda. Mostly the gunga maintains the torque and the variations are the most basic. The Medio is the 2nd biggest and used to maintain the torque, but is open to play more variations. The viola is the smallest and highest pitch of the three. This is where the majority of the variations come from in the bateria. Also, remember to always be careful with cabecas because they are the most delicate part of the berimbau.