Pífano (bamboo flute)

PÍFANO traditions likely go back centuries in Brazil.  In the Brazilian northeast, two pífanos are usually played in harmony alongside a band made up percussion (so-called banda de pífanos, or terno de zabumba)— this musical format is likely one of the origins of forró music, and was an inspiration for accordionist and composer Luiz Gonzaga, forró’s most well-known composer.  Traditional groups have played an important role in promoting rural pífano music to the world, and Gilberto Gil even opened his landmark 1972 album, Expresso 2222 (his first upon return from exile in London from the Brazilian dictatorship), with a field recording of the Banda de Pífanos de Caruaru playing their own composition, Pipoca Moderna.  This highlighted the importance of rural northeastern sounds in guiding the Tropicalia musical movement of the time.  Pipoca Moderna had enough impact that Caetano Veloso later wrote lyrics to the song.

The timbre of the pífano is unique and goes straight to the heart— the instrument itself is simple:  a hollow tube made of bamboo with a series of holes along its length, but the way it is played and the combination of harmonies it can produce are complex.  Most traditional pífanos are tuned with neutral thirds, meaning the 3rd note of the scale is neither major nor minor, but somewhere in between, as in a so-called blues third.  This leads to angular sounding scales and harmonies that don’t necessarily sit well for ears trained on european classical music.  While some players use pífanos with neutral thirds, it’s increasingly common nowadays that the flutes have that scale degree tuned to a major 3rd, facilitating the use of the pífanos in music wth other more conventional instruments in diverse contexts.