♫ Camungerê ♫

Só quero berimbau se for de biriba
Quero o pandeiro se for de couro
Quero amor se for meu tesouro
Quero Besouro do Cordão de Ouro

Quero Capoeira se for com mandinga
Quero vadiar se for com você

Como tá como tá
Camungerê
Ô como vai vosmicê?
Camungerê
Se vai bem de saude
Camungerê
Para mim é um prazer
Camungerê

I only want a berimbau if it’s biriba
I want a pandeiro if it’s made of leather
I want love if it’s from my love
I want Besouro do Cordão de Ouro

I want Capoeira if it’s with magic
I want to play if it’s with you

How are you, how are you?
Camungerê
How do you do?
Camungerê
If you are healthy
Camungerê
It’s a pleasure to me
Camungerê

Did you know?

The berimbau is a single-string musical bow of African origin that functions as the absolute leader and commander of the roda.
The instrument dictates the exact speed, stylistic tone, and combat intensity of the capoeiristas through specific rhythms known as toques.
A traditional berimbau is constructed from a wooden staff, a steel wire, a hollowed gourd resonator, a small stone or coin, a bamboo shaker, and a wooden thin stick.
In a traditional orchestra, three distinct pitches are used: the deep-toned gunga to lead the group, the medium médio to hold the rhythm, and the high-pitched viola to improvise.
Enslaved Africans historically used the live music of the bow to camouflage their outlawed martial art, making the training look like an innocent dance to colonial authorities.
Today, the instrument holds a sacred status within the art, and capoeiristas show immense reverence toward it, celebrating its spiritual voice in countless traditional songs.

Besouro Mangangá was born Manoel Henrique Pereira in Bahia and grew into a legendary capoeirista whose unparalleled physical feats earned him mythic status.
His primary nickname Besouro, meaning beetle, praised his uncanny ability to evade police, while Mangangá referenced a venomous beetle to match his lethal sting.
He was also famously known by the names Besouro Preto and Besouro Cordão de Ouro, using these aliases to hide his true identity from criminal authorities.
Popular folklore claimed he possessed magical protection, including the power to fly away from danger and a mystical body closed against blades and bullets.
He became a champion for the poor, frequently fighting abusive landowners and police forces to protect the rights of vulnerable Afro-Brazilian workers.
His life ended tragically when he was ambushed and stabbed with a special wooden dagger, the only weapon believed capable of breaking his defense.

Biriba is the highly prized, traditional wood harvested from the Eschweilera ovata tree used to craft the verga, which is the flexible wooden bow and backbone of the berimbau.
Sourced primarily from the Atlantic Forest of Bahia, this specific timber is legendary among capoeiristas for possessing the perfect natural combination of strength, flexibility, and elasticity.
Its unique physical traits allow the instrument to be heavily flexed and armed under intense tension countless times throughout its life without snapping or permanently losing its shape.
In old-school tradition, master craftsmen harvest the wood during specific moon phases and carefully shave, sand, and varnish the branch while adding leather protection at the top tip.
Today, due to the global expansion of the art and high demand, true Bahian biriba is highly protected, prompting capoeiristas to treat their instruments with immense care and reverence.

Camungerê—also spelled Camugerê—is a highly popular, rhythmic corrido song sung to ignite a warm, high-energy atmosphere inside the roda.
Historical research indicates that Camungerê was originally the name of a massive 16th-century quilombo settled deep in the Brazilian wilderness by escaped slaves.
In modern capoeira culture, the chant serves as a classic musical greeting, commonly led when visiting capoeiristas or teachers step into another group's roda.
The famous call-and-response lyrics use the archaic Portuguese pronoun "vosmecê" to playfully ask players how they are doing and if they are in good health.
The song reminds the circle that despite its intense martial focus, capoeira is meant to be an expression of collective joy, deep community, and mutual respect.
Structurally, the leading singer improvises lighthearted verses about friendship and health, while the rest of the roda instantly roars back the name in unison.

The pandeiro is a traditional hand-frame drum and tambourine of African and European origin that provides the essential heartbeat and syncopated drive within the capoeira orchestra.
In the musical hierarchy of the roda, it plays a critical supporting role by filling the sonic space beneath the leading voice of the berimbau.
The instrument features a stretched animal hide head over a round wooden frame embedded with crisp metal jingles called platinelas that cut sharply through the singing.
Capoeiristas utilize a precise technique of alternating thumb strikes, heel-and-toe hand pivots, and sharp finger slaps to generate a driving, syncopated rhythm.
In Capoeira Angola, two pandeiros are traditionally positioned to flank the three berimbaus, locking the baseline rhythm alongside the deep beat of the atabaque.
Today, mastering the pandeiro is a foundational requirement for all capoeiristas, ensuring they can actively maintain the high energy, timing, and momentum of the roda.