Bossa Nova
Take samba's rhythm, soften it, and add jazz chords: that's bossa nova, the "new trend" born in Rio de Janeiro in the late 1950s and defined by João Gilberto's guitar. Play its two-layer guitar pattern, colour a plain loop and a ii–V–I with major sevenths, minor sevenths and ninths, and read the chords of The Girl from Ipanema: a secondary dominant, a tritone substitution and a bridge that lifts by a half step. Then play along, soft and cool.
In this lesson you'll
- Play the bossa guitar pattern in two layers: the thumb steady on beats 1 and 3 (root, then fifth), like samba's big drum, and the fingers plucking the chord on steps 1, 4, 7, 11 and 14 of two bars of eighths.
- Turn plain triads into jazz colours: add sevenths (Gm7, C7, Fmaj7, Dm7, as in lesson 14) and a ninth (Fmaj9, as in lesson 42), and play a ii–V–I and a loop on the bossa pattern.
- Read the chords of The Girl from Ipanema: G7 as the V of V, G♭7 as a tritone substitution for C7 sliding down a half step into Fmaj7, and the bridge's half-step lift to G♭maj7.
Music in this lesson
- The Girl from IpanemaAntônio Carlos Jobim & Vinícius de Moraes · 1962
- The Girl from Ipanema (Getz / Gilberto version, Grammy Record of the Year)Stan Getz & João Gilberto with Astrud Gilberto · 1964
Remember
Bossa nova is samba's rhythm, softened, plus jazz chords; the singing is soft, almost whispered: cool rather than loud.
One guitar plays two layers: a steady thumb bass below and syncopated chord plucks above, a pattern almost identical to the son clave, with only the last hit one step later.
Jazz harmony gives bossa its colour: major and minor sevenths and ninths, secondary dominants and tritone substitutions that slide by half steps.