Os escravos de Jó
Traditional Brazilian song
A Brazilian children's song sung while passing objects from hand to hand: an eighth-note melody, with a bass on the beat and a chord off the beat in the left hand.
B♭ major · 2/4 · 124 beats per minute · 23 bars · 22 s · intermediate level
The form
The sections of the piece and their chords: the map you learn before playing a single note.
Intro A A B C C' Coda
| Section | Bars | Chords | Phrase ending |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intro | 1–1 | B♭/D · B♭ I · I |
— |
| A | 2–5 | B♭/D · B♭ · B♭/D · E♭ · B♭/D · B♭ · C7sus4 · F I · I · I · IV · I · I · II7sus4 · V |
Imperfect cadence |
| A | 6–9 | B♭ · B♭/C · B♭/D · E♭ · B♭/D · B♭ · C7sus4 · F I · I · I · IV · I · I · II7sus4 · V |
Imperfect cadence |
| B | 10–13 | B♭ · F/C · B♭/D · Cm/E♭ I · V · I · ii |
— |
| C | 14–17 | Edim · F/C · B♭ · F/C · B♭ ♯iv° · V · I · V · I |
Perfect cadence |
| C' | 18–21 | Cm6/E♭ · Cm6 · Gm · F/C · B♭ · F/C · B♭ ii6 · ii6 · vi · V · I · V · I |
Perfect cadence |
| Coda | 22–23 | F · E♭m7♭5 · B♭/F V · ivø7 · I |
Plagal cadence |
The key
- B♭ major
- 2 flats in the key signature: B♭, E♭
- Scale
- B♭ · C · D · E♭ · F · G · A
- Pillar chords
- I = B♭ · IV = E♭ · V7 = F7
The tricky passages
- Bar 3: fast runs (4.1 notes per second), a melodic leap (octave)
- Bar 7: fast runs (4.1 notes per second), a melodic leap (octave)
- Bar 19: fast runs (4.1 notes per second), lots of notes
The plan: 11 days
Half an hour a day. First I help you understand the map of the piece, then we lay down the chord framework, learn each section phrase by phrase, work on the tricky passages, put it together and bring it up to tempo, until you can play it from memory.
More pieces from the library
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- Au clair de la lune · Traditional French song
- Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star · Traditional, with variations by Mozart
- Frère Jacques · Traditional French song