Charters School Year 9 students were very pleased to welcome Raul d’Oliveira from Inspire Works and his Samba Workshop.  Raul introduced the Year 9 students to the Samba explaining the culture surrounding Samba as well as the different instruments and rhythms involved.

All Students in Year 9, as part of the Music curriculum, are provided with the opportunity to listen to and perform music during these workshops. Samba differs from a lot of Western music, with its exuberant performance and complex, fast-paced rhythms.  The instruments the students used were called: Surdo, Repique, Ago-go, Ganza and Tamborimes.  The pupils had a great time and were on their feet dancing to the rhythms whilst playing their instruments.

Raul d’Oliveira, Samba workshop instructor at Inspire Works, delivered a two day workshop to the Year 9 students using the traditional Brazilian Samba instruments, teaching them the basics of this music.

Year 9 student William Rapley said, “It was great to learn about the traditions of Brazilian music. The workshop was easy to understand but was also challenging as we had to play together.”

Mr Mike McKenna, Subject Leader for Music at Charters said, “It’s great that our students have had the opportunity to play Samba. It’s very lively music and the pupils could really get involved. They had a great time and took a lot away from the sessions.”

Raul d’Oliveira, Inspire Works, Windsor said, “The Charters School pupils have been fantastic, very lively and creative and very eager to engage in the Samba culture. They have been such good sports and it did feel like carnival time at Charters.”