rhythmic essence of brazil

Claves, patterns and rhythmic cycles are at the core of Brazilian music. They provide shape to the music much like train tracks provide shape to a railroad. But, unlike physical frameworks, these musical patterns have always been invisible. Here at Postersounds we developed posters that make Brazilian rhythmic patterns visible to all.

Here is what you get on each poster.

  • Postersounds' note grid

    The grid

    Rhythms, instruments and tones are represented on a 4x4 grid. We worked closely with Brazilian percussionists and academics to develop a new way of notating percussion instruments. No knowledge of music theory is required, everything you need to understand the system of notation is on the poster itself.

  • Postersounds' text about the rhythms

    About the rhythms

    Reliable historical information about these rhythms is difficult to find. Here at Postersounds we made sure that all the information provided on the posters is thoroughly fact-checked and accessible to all.

  • Postersounds' list of artists and songs

    Artists and songs

    Every poster comes with a list of songs which use the rhythm in focus. The list can be accessed via a QR code on the poster, which means you can listen to what you are reading!

  • Postersounds' map of Brazil

    The map

    Brazil is the largest country in the Southern Hemisphere and the Americas’ largest contiguous territory. To help readers understand where the rhythms come from, we indicated the place of origin of each rhythm on a map.

  • Postersound's Brazilian rhythm in music notation

    The rhythm in music notation

    Just because we developed our own form of music notation doesn't mean we are strangers to standard music notation. To make sure that the story of these rhythms is told from every possible angle, we also included a version of the rhythms written in staff notation.