Choro (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈʃoɾu], "cry" or "lament"), traditionally called chorinho ("little cry" or "little lament"), is a Brazilian popular music instrumental style. Its origins are in 19th century Rio de Janeiro. In spite of the name, the style often has a fast and happy rhythm, characterized by virtuosity, improvisation, subtile modulations and full of syncopation and counterpoint. Choro is considered the first urban popular music typical of Brazil.

Originally choro was played by a trio of flute, guitar and cavaquinho (a small chordophone with four strings). Other instruments commonly played in choro are the mandolin, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet and trombone. These melody instruments are backed by a rhythm section composed of guitar, 7-string guitar (playing bass lines) and light percussion, such as a pandeiro. The cavaquinho appears sometimes as a melody instrument, other times as part of the rhythm.

Structurally, a choro composition usually has three parts, played in a rondo form: AABBACCA, with each section typically in a different key (usually the tonal sequence is: principal key->relative mode->sub-dominant key). There are a variety of choros in both major and minor keys.

Jacob do Bandolim (December 14, 1918 – August 13, 1969) was a Brazilian composer and musician. Born Jacob Pick Bittencourt from a Jewish mother and Brazilian father in Rio de Janeiro, his stage name means "Mandolin Jacob", after the instrument he played.

A perfectionist, Jacob was able to achieve from his band Época de Ouro the highest levels of quality. Jacob hated the stereotype of the "dishevelled, drunk folk musician" and required commitment and impeccable dress from his musicians who, like himself, all held "day jobs". Jacob worked as a pharmacist, insurance salesman, street vendor, and finally notary public, to support himself while also working "full time" as a musician.

In addition to his virtuoso playing, he is famous for his many choro compositions, which range from the lyrical melodies of "Noites Cariocas" ("Carioca Nights") and "Doce de Coco" to the aggressively jazzy "Assanhado", which is reminiscent of bebop. He also researched and attempted to preserve the older choro tradition, as well as that of other Brazilian music styles. He died of a heart attack, when coming back from spending the day with Pixinguinha, planning a recording project to benefit his friend.

Yamandu Costa (Passo Fundo, January 24, 1980), sometimes misspelled Yamandú, is a Brazilian guitarist and composer. His main instrument is the violão de 7 cordas, the Brazilian seven-stringed nylon guitar.

Yamandu began to study guitar at age seven with his father, Algacir Costa, leader of the group Os Fronteiriços (The Frontiersmen) and mastered the instrument after studying with Lúcio Yanel, an Argentine virtuoso who lived in Brazil. At age fifteen, Yamandu began study Brazilian Southern folk music, Argentina and Uruguay.

Influenced by the music of Radamés Gnattali, he began to study the music of other Brazilians, such as Baden Powell de Aquino, Tom Jobim and Raphael Rabello.

At age seventeen he played in São Paulo for the first time at the Cultural Circuit Bank of Brazil which was produced by the Study Tone Brazil. Yamandu came to be recognized as the musician who revived Brazilian guitar music.

Yamandu's diverse execution styles include styles like chorinho, bossa nova, milonga, tango, samba and chamamé, making him difficult to categorize into a single genre.

Francisca Edwiges Neves Gonzaga (October 17, 1847 Rio de Janeiro - February 28, 1935 Rio de Janeiro) was a Brazilian composer, pianist and conductor.

Chiquinha Gonzaga was born in Rio de Janeiro, from a mulatto mother and a wealthy white father – after she was born her father became a marshal. Her godfather was Luís Alves de Lima e Silva, Duke of Caxias and one of her best friends was the first lady of Brazil, Nair de Tefé.

She fought for the end of slavery in Brazil. Gonzaga received an education that would ordinarily have led her to be a “sinhazinha”, a respectful officer's daughter. She learned how to read, write, and do math, but also music, especially how to play the piano, a distinctive mark of a real lady.

In 1863, at age 16, Francisca married Jacinto do Amaral, a navy official, 8 years older than she was, who would not agree to allow Chiquinha to pursue a musical career. With the marriage not doing well, Chiquinha, after having her third baby, fled her husband and was “declared dead and of unpronounceable name” by her father. She became the first woman in Brazil to obtain a legal divorce^{[citation needed]}.

Fábio Correa Ayrosa Galvão, known as Fábio Júnior or Fábio Jr. (São Paulo), is a Brazilian singer-songwriter and former actor. Since 1976 he has recorded an album nearly every year.