Samba is the national music of Brazil. At its core, samba is a highly percussive form of music. There are many sub-categories of samba too, for example the popular Bossa Nova. It could be said, however, that at its highest level, samba is the heavy-drum based music which is performed by Rio de Janeiro's Samba Schools during Carnival season (Samba Schools have many 'wings', the most important of which is the 'bateria' or drum-corps). In fact, samba music and Carnival are so historically and inextricably linked that one cannot explain samba without reference to Carnival and vice-versa.
