Funaná

Funaná
The singer Bino Branco from the band Ferro Gaita, performing with the musician Vadú band.
Cultural origins	Cape Verde
Typical instruments	Vocals, accordion, ferrinho, drums, shaker, cabasa, guitars and a synthesizer

The funaná [funɐˈna] is a music and dance genre from Cape Verde. Funaná is an accordion-based music. It is perhaps the most upbeat form of Cape Verdean music. The rhythm is usually provided by the ferrinho much like the use of washboards in zydeco, the saw in Caribbean ripsaw music, the scraper in Sub-Saharan African music and the güiro in Latin and Pre-Columbian music.

As a music genre, the funaná is characterized by having a variable tempo, from vivace to andante, and a 2-beat rhythm. The funaná is intimately associated to the accordion, more precisely to the diatonic accordion, commonly known as gaita in Cape Verde. This influences a lot of musical aspects that characterize the funaná, such as the fact that, in its most traditional form, the funaná uses only diatonic scales, and not chromatic ones.

The structure of a funaná composition is not very different from the structure of other musical genres in Cape Verde, i.e., basically the music is structured through a set of main strophes that alternate with a refrain. The main difference is that between the different strophes and the refrain there is a solo played on the accordion. The music is generally monotonic.

The accompaniment is made with the left hand on the accordion, providing a bass and the chords. The rhythmic model is played on the ferrinho.

The melodic line of the funaná varies a lot through the composition, with a lot of series of ascending and descending notes. The funaná singers occasionally use the sforzando technique in certain notes, specially if they are long (imitation of the accordion?).