Bossa Nova

Bossa nova appeared in Rio de Janeiro in the late 1950s. It took the rhythms of samba, quieted them down, and combined them with the rich harmony of American cool jazz. The result is intimate, relaxed music: a soft voice, a nylon-string guitar and subtle, swaying syncopation.

Key figures

• João Gilberto created the style's guitar sound and its near-whispered vocal delivery. His recording of "Chega de Saudade" (released 1958) is usually seen as the start of bossa nova.
• Antônio Carlos Jobim composed many of its classics, including "The Girl from Ipanema" (with lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes), "Desafinado" and "Corcovado."
• The album Getz/Gilberto (1964), with the American saxophonist Stan Getz, João Gilberto and Astrud Gilberto, made bossa nova an international sensation.

The sound

• Syncopated guitar: the thumb plays a steady bass, often root and fifth on beats 1 and 3, while the fingers play chords in a pattern that anticipates and plays between the beats.
• Jazz harmony: major seventh, minor seventh, ninth and altered chords, and smooth chromatic movement.
• Gentle vocals, sung quietly and close to speech, with little vibrato.
• Straight eighths: unlike swing, bossa nova is played with even subdivisions.
• Soft percussion: brushes, a light cross-stick on the snare, shaker.

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Bossa nova and jazz

Jazz musicians embraced bossa nova from the early 1960s, and many of Jobim's songs became jazz standards. In the jazz world, "bossa" or "Latin" written on a lead sheet tells the band to play with this straight, syncopated feel rather than with swing.

Playing bossa nova

Start with the bass alone, steady on beats 1 and 3, then add the chord rhythm slowly until the two hands feel independent. Keep the volume low and the touch light; the style depends on restraint. Practice the chords in the Major 7th and Minor 7th worksheets, and the rhythm in Syncopation.