Something that was not on my 2023 bingo card was how insanely popular Bossa Novas would Become.
Don't get me wrong though, I love a good Bossa.
I just wasn't expecting fancy elevator music to take off the way that it did with Laufey and other similar artists.
Shouts out to Laufey - My top artist on Spotify wrapped, and the number 2 artist in my old room mate's Spotify wrapped because her account was logged in on the TV 😂
But how do you do it?!
I'm sure there is a far more academic way to explain this, but here's what makes sense in my brain and what works for my students, so if that helps you, amazing!
What is a Bossa Nova
Samba is a loosely defined, catch all genre for afro-brazilian rhythms. A Bossa Nova is a type of relaxed Samba that originated in Brazil in the '50s.
Bossa Nova means "new wave" in Portuguese, and was partially created as a way of putting Samba rhythms onto the classical guitar.
Fun fact: "Bossa" is an old timey term in Brazil for something done with flair, or done naturally.
Famous Examples
If you'd like to listen to what a Bossa Nova sounds like, the modern popular one is "From The Start" by Laufey.
But arguably the most iconic one is "The Girl From Ipanema" by Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto.
After listening to those, check out "Manhã de Carnaval" by Luiz Bonfá, or for a non-jazz influenced track, check out "Break On Through (To The Other Side)" by The Doors, and see if you can hear the rhythm in it!
Before We Get Started...
If you're committed to learning how to Bossa this afternoon…
- Read the rest of this article
- Go listen to the songs above
- Then re-read the article and give it a try!
If it works and you can play a Bossa nova after this, let me know? It'd make my day to know tossing this stuff out into the internet is helping someone
How to Play a Bossa Nova
Once you're familiar with what songs using this rhythm sound like, I want you to try and audiate what the rhythm sounds like, using "mmms" and "bahs"
If this is your first time, stay with me here.
In sounds, the complete rhythm would go "mm bah, mm bah bah, mm bah bah, mm bah" The mms are your bass notes of your chords The bahs are the remaining notes of the chords
For example: Let's take an Amaj7 chord (because... jazz) The chord shape is as follows
In your picking hand, you'll use your thumb to play the bass note, (the "mm") which for this chord is your open A string, and your index, middle, and ring finger all together to play three of the strings for the "bah"
Since you're only playing four of the strings, this means you have options for which strings you can play. Those options are called "Chord Voicings". I'll go over this in more detail in another article. For today's purposes, just know that you can choose to pick D, G, and B, or G, B, and E for your "bah". (And if you're not sure, pick D, G, and B for this example)
So
If we tab this out, it should look something like this:
Your first checkpoint should be making the above sound like what you hear in a Laufey track.
If you've done that for today, amazing! Congratulate yourself.
If you'd like to keep going...
Spicing Up Your Bossa Nova
The most important part of this whole exercise is that you get the rhythm in your hand. Otherwise it's not a Bossa nova.
So! If you're still struggling with that, take your time. This article isn't going anywhere. Come back to this section when you're ready.
The next step once you've got the rhythm in your hand is to practice chord changes.
Start by going between say... E13 and Amaj7
First, just practice playing the full pattern on each chord, and switching chords cleanly without stopping the picking pattern
Once you can do that, let's try out a "ii - V - I"
I'll cover chord progressions in more detail in another article, but just know that the jazz sound comes from this type of chord progression, and it's more like... ii, V, I, I.
What this means for you right now, is... ii = Bm9 V = E13 I = Amaj7
Since we haven't learned Bm9 yet, here's the chord shape
And to play this, we're going to play the ii chord (Bm9) for the first half of the pattern, the V chord (E13) for the second half of the pattern, and then the I chord (Amaj7) for the whole pattern.
Tabbed out, it'll look something like this:
Extra Spicy Bossa Novas
I don't know where I'm going with this spice example, but we're going to run with it.
The ultimo piccante Bossa Nova happens when you become so comfortable with the rhythm and the chord changes that you start to imply the rhythm.
If this is a new idea for you, the way that you imply a rhythm is by being so locked into the groove of that rhythm, that you can change notes to rests and it still feels like the same rhythm.
This is what Stan Getz is doing in The Girl From Ipanema.
Try taking the example from above, and say... remove two of the notes.
If you're not sure which ones to remove, here's an example
But I encourage you to try removing different ones yourself once you're ready for this stage
If you're nailing the Bossa nova rhythm perfectly, it should still sound like a Bossa, even when those notes are removed.
Some removed notes will sound better than others, so play around and see what you like.
Bonus tip if you've read this far...
Move your body while you play! Feeling the rhythm in your body as you're playing will help.
If you've got any questions about this or anything else guitar-related, feel free to send me an email using the contact form, so I can help you out (and maybe make a full article on it), or sign up for a free trial lesson in my calendar here (if there are openings available).
Thanks for reading!