PAGODE vs. PARTIDO ALTO

21 year old gringo from Norway here seeking cultural knowledge:

I've spent about two years now deep-diving into Afro-Cuban music traditions as part of my quest to gain a better understanding of Latin American music. After reading different books, taking a bunch of percussion classes, learning from various teachers, and doing plenty of research on the internet, I'm starting to feel comfortable with most of the larger aspects of both Cuban and Latin-Caribbean music traditions. So naturally, I felt the next step I should take was to look into some of the different South American music genres.

I've been having a blast reading through the different Peruvian, Mexican, and Venezuelan music traditions, but Brazil is definitely even more exciting! (Sorry to any non-Brazilian South Americans reading this lol.) Though, I'm having a little trouble trying to figure out how some specific subgenres of samba (specifically two of them) differ from each other, both in terms of instrumentation, rhythms, and the cultural aspects of each. Those two subgenres are Pagode and Partido Alto.

I've always been told, both by teachers and books I've read, on the subject of Brazilian rhythms, and other various sources here on the internet (both articles and different YouTube videos) that Pagode is "definitely the more popular" of the two genres. Yet I haven't really found any English-speaking sources, whether videos, articles, books, or teachers, that actually showcase the traditions of Pagode. In fact, if you were to go on YouTube or Google and look up samba tutorials or masterclasses, the instructor will almost definitely show you a Partido Alto groove. In fact, from my experience trying to learn about samba, you'll find other samba subgenres like Samba Reggae, Samba de Roda, Samba-Enredo, and Choro before you'll find anything on Pagode.

I have found sources talking about Pagode, but they've all been in Portuguese, which I don't speak (maybe that's the problem lol). I've been told Pagode is the more popular one, but I only ever hear Partido Alto being played and talked about. Am I missing something here? Is there perhaps no real rhythmic difference between the two, and it's simply more of a cultural distinction than a musical one? They're two different terms, so I'd assume there's some kind of difference. Help me out here, please!