Around 1870, the folk musicians in Rio de Janiero began to perform music in a different mode and with strong influence of African rhythms, the European dances of the nineteenth century, such as waltz, scottish and polka.
That was the birth of Choro. Since then, the musical universe of Choro has always embraced different rhythms and styles, including polka, waltz, baião, frevo, maxixe and tango brasileiro and it has influenced the development of samba and bossa-nova.

Many Brazilian composers have been, and are still, influenced of the Choro, from Villa-Lobos in Nazareth, from Jobim to Gismonti, from Chico Buarque to Guinga. Generations of musicians have contribute to the development and the spread of the Choro, making it the most important Brazilian instrumental music.