Choro music might be the most important thing most mandolin players have never heard. If you’ve been exploring the mandolin’s range through bluegrass, classical, or jazz, you’re already discovering how wide the instrument’s world is. But Brazil has its own deep tradition, and the mandolin sits right at the center of it. Called the bandolim in Portuguese, the instrument carries an entirely different musical personality in Brazilian hands.
This article is about that personality: where choro comes from, what makes it feel the way it does. Why one player named Jacob do Bandolim changed everything. If you want the full picture of what this instrument can do, start with the mandolin’s broad range of genres and styles and then come back here for a deep dive into Brazil.
What Choro Music Actually Is
Choro music is a Brazilian instrumental tradition dating back to the mid-1800s. It developed in Rio de Janeiro, where European musical forms like the polka and waltz met African rhythmic sensibilities brought by enslaved people. The result was something entirely new: a music that felt sophisticated and syncopated at the same time.
The word “choro” roughly translates to “cry” or “lament” in Portuguese. However, the music itself is rarely sad. Instead, it moves fast, it breathes, and it has a playful edge. Think of it as conversation between instruments, with the melody instrument leading and the rhythm section responding underneath.
In a traditional choro ensemble, you’ll hear the seven-string violão (a guitar with a low bass string), the cavaquinho (a small, high-pitched stringed instrument), percussion, and the bandolim carrying the main melody. The bandolim, in other words, is a lead instrument in choro. That role matters.
The Rhythmic Pulse That Sets Choro Music Apart
Most Western players are used to two basic feels: straight time and swing. Choro music uses neither in quite the same way. Instead, it has its own rhythmic momentum, sometimes described as a “ginga,” which roughly means a kind of sway or groove native to Brazilian music.
The syncopation in choro lands in unexpected places. For example, certain beats that you’d expect to feel strong are instead anticipated or delayed. This gives the music a constant forward motion that feels almost conversational. It pulls you along without ever feeling rushed.
For a mandolin player coming from bluegrass, this can be disorienting at first. In bluegrass, the mandolin often plays on beats two and four in a punchy chop. In choro music, the bandolim is flowing melodically across the bar line, weaving around the rhythm section rather than locking into it. The phrasing is longer, more vocal, and more ornament-heavy. You are no longer the rhythmic anchor. Instead, you are the storyteller.
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Jacob do Bandolim: The Choro Music Pioneer You Need to Know
No discussion of choro music on the bandolim is complete without Jacob do Bandolim. Born Jacob Pick Bittencourt in 1918 in Rio de Janeiro, he took his nickname from his instrument and kept it forever. That tells you everything about how completely he identified with the bandolim.
Jacob was largely self-taught. Despite that, he developed a technique that was precise, expressive, and entirely his own. He elevated the bandolim from a folk instrument to a serious solo voice. Before Jacob, the bandolim was sometimes considered a secondary player in choro. After Jacob, no one thought that way again.
His recordings, made primarily in the 1940s through the 1960s, remain the standard. Pieces like “Noites Cariocas” and “Doce de Coco” show a player with total command of melody, ornamentation, and phrasing. His right-hand technique was particularly distinctive. He used a tremolo style that was smooth and sustained, not choppy or mechanical. As a result, his melodies sang like a voice rather than clipping like a percussion instrument.
Jacob was also a composer. Many of his choro compositions are now considered classics of the genre. In that sense, he gave the bandolim a permanent place in Brazilian music history.
Comparing Choro Music and Bluegrass: Same Instrument, Different Worlds
Here is a listening exercise worth trying. Pull up a Bill Monroe recording, something like “Blue Moon of Kentucky” or “Raw Hide.” Listen for the mandolin’s role: that driving chop on the backbeats, the sharp attack, the tight rhythmic interaction with the bass and fiddle. The instrument sounds punchy, rhythmic, almost percussive.
Then find a Jacob do Bandolim recording and press play. The difference is immediate. The bandolim flows. It ornaments. It sings over the top of the rhythm section instead of locking into it. The pick attack is lighter and more controlled. The phrasing is longer and more song-like.
Both players are playing the same fundamental instrument. However, they sound like they come from completely different musical universes, because in many ways they do. Monroe built his style on the traditions of the American South, particularly the rhythmic drive of string-band music. Jacob built his on Brazilian tradition, specifically the syncopated, conversational energy of choro.
For more context on how Monroe shaped his own instrument’s identity, check out how the mandolin became the heartbeat of bluegrass. You’ll hear the contrast even more clearly after reading it. And if jazz interests you, the mandolin in jazz and swing contexts shows yet another direction the same instrument has traveled.
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How to Start Exploring Choro Music on Mandolin
You do not need to be an advanced player to start exploring choro music. However, you do need to approach it with open ears. First, listen before you try to play anything. Spend time with Jacob do Bandolim’s recordings. Let the feel get into your ear before it tries to get into your fingers.
Next, pay attention to the ornaments. Choro melody lines use grace notes, slides, and turns in specific ways. These are not optional decoration. Instead, they are part of the language. A choro phrase without ornamentation sounds flat and incomplete, like speaking a sentence without emphasis.
Finally, find the rhythm section and listen to how the bandolim fits against it. The cavaquinho and the seven-string violão create a specific harmonic and rhythmic bed. Once you understand what the bandolim is playing against, the phrasing choices start to make sense.
Choro music is not a style you pick up in an afternoon. But every style in the mandolin’s world, from the classical tradition to modern approaches, rewards the player who takes the time to listen first. That investment always pays off.
Your Next Step Into the Mandolin’s Wider World
Choro music proves something important: the mandolin is not a single-style instrument. The same eight strings that drive a bluegrass band or carry a Baroque melody can also sing over a Brazilian rhythm section in a style that has been evolving for nearly two centuries.
Jacob do Bandolim made the bandolim a serious instrument. The tradition he worked in is alive and growing. Today, players like Hamilton de Holanda are pushing choro in new directions while honoring its roots. As you build your understanding of everything this instrument can play, let choro music be one of the voices you make room for. It will change the way you hear the mandolin.
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About the Education Team
Four music-industry veterans with decades of combined experience in music education, curation, and production at TrueFire and ArtistWorks. The TrueFire Studios Education Team plans and edits this content and works with our master-musician faculty to keep it accurate and genuinely useful.
Featured Contributor
Mike Marshall is a mandolin pioneer whose work spans bluegrass, classical, Brazilian choro, jazz, and progressive acoustic music. His broad mandolin curriculum includes lessons, performances, tab, backing tracks, and Video Exchange feedback.
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