Guidelines

If Choro Music is new for you and you are wondering which CDs or songbooks to buy first, we tried to give you some suggestions below:

If you don't play any musical instrument and only would like to listen to Choro, then "The Best of Ernesto Nazareth" and "Choro Meets Ragtime" are your options.

If you play an instrument, then:

  • for more traditional Choro Music from the late 19th century/early 20th century with "intermediate" level of difficulty, we suggest Ernesto Nazareth 1 and 2, Chiquinha Gonzaga 1, Joaquim Callado 1, Zequinha de Abreu 1
     
  • if you like to be challenged as a musician, Ernesto Nazareth 3 has an "advanced" level of difficulty with a selection of unpublished and hard to find Nazareth tunes.
     
  • Jacob do Bandolim 1 and 2 are excellent options containing classical tunes from this composer who is attributed with establishing the transition from the traditional to modern Choro music. Both Jacob 1 and 2 have "intermediate" level of difficulty.
     
  • for those who like Jazz, Severino Araujo  is a great choice.  Severino Araujo was greatly influenced by the jazz music in his early career as a musician and naturally relayed this influence in his compositions.  This songbook has an overall "intermediate"  level of difficulty, with a number of easy to play tunes and  also a few challenging ones. The last track of the CD has a beautiful duet for soprano and tenor saxophones.    
     
  • If you like duets, then look closely to the following songbooks:
     
    • Ernesto Nazareth 2 (EN2): "Bambino", duet for soprano and tenor sax
    • Jacob do Bandolim 1: "Gostosinho", duet for soprano and tenor sax
    • Jacob do Bandolim 2: "Sapeca", duet for soprano and tenor sax
    • Joaquim Callado 1: "Salome'", duet for flute and mandolin
    • Zequinha Abreu: "Tico-Tico no Fuba'", duet for flute and tenor sax
    • Severino Araujo: "Nivaldo no Choro", duet for soprano and tenor sax

If you like Ragtime, check out the CD "Choro Meets Ragtime", with a soprano and tenor sax duet (Pineapple Rag). Scores for instruments in C, Bb, Eb and the playalong tracks also in the CD.