Top Five Bossa Nova Songs + How to Play the Bossa on Guitar 

Jobim wrote the song, Wave, for a girl he knew. I actually met that girl many years ago. It was obvious why he wrote her the song. She was stunning.

I’m a Brazilian musician and this the best bossa nova vídeo explanation Scot, congrats on your great work. The Brazilian guitar was based on the percussion sambainstruments.

Thx, Scot. Bonfa, Jobim, Gilberto, and Mendes are the makers of the music of my life. In '64, I first heard Ipanema on the Sunday morning radio jazz show in Pittsburgh while on a drive with dad, a saxophonist who considered Getz as a god. We were both knocked out by the laid-back beat, the chords, the solos, and the vocals. My life seemed to have changed at that moment. When dad lay on his deathbed, I played tapes of the classic Getz/Gilberto album (including, of course, Antonio and Astrud). The Bossa Nova Brazilians made a mark that will never die.

I feel like you could use all Jobim songs for the top five. Even with the over exposure of Girl from Ipanema, I think Jobim is underappreciated. This guy was the Einstein of latin jazz fusion and his bossa nova songs are like the theory of relativitiy. There are some really smart, talented people who can understand and explain it but it is mind boggling that one guy came up with that stuff.

Suono da tantissimi anni la bossa nova e non l'avevo mai vista e/o sentita spiegare così bene! Congrats and thanks so much for sharing🙏👏👏👏🌈❤️

i love playing bossa nova on the guitar. it is so difficult to learn but it makes your playing so much better

Bossa nova songs to know 1- Gentle rain 2- The girl from ipanema 3- Corcovado 4- Black Orpheus 5 - Wave

Great tutorial Scot I love Bossa Nova and play this style sometimes with a drum machine and I'm in heaven. Thanks Scot.

This little part is really nice sounding! 2:44

Thank you for this video. I am 67 & have been learning guitar for 27 of those years. Of course I can play lots of songs and tunes but I don’t consider myself a guitarist because , a/ it’s not my profession and b/ there’s just so many different styles of music to play. This is my first attempt at bossa nova so here goes.👍👍🙏

This is very well put together. Your delivery is succinct yet approachable. Thank you.

I love this type of music, and my friend taught me the song meditation which I play. Thank you for sharing your gift.This music needs to be kept alive.

Corcovado, Insensitive and Gentle Rain are my short list, exactly in that order. I am occupied with other guitar projects at the moment, but will make time. I have always loved the Brazilian sounds and the chords used. I am in the SD area, so will make it to the shop. I heard "Wave" everywhere during the 60's. Thanks for this!

Very clear on the bossa move...thanks

Great video and thanks for the free PDF. After many years of playing different styles of guitar from blues to jazz to country, I finally discovered Bossa. I had heard many of the famous Bossa songs many times, but I didn't play them. Then I started to look into it seriously, and soon discovered how great Bossa is for guitar practice in every kind of way, no matter whether you play heavy metal, jazz, blues, country or rock etc. It's essential to use a looper, or record a rhythm track to play over. It's a great workout to play simple, clean, beautiful rhythm chords in perfect time for several repeats of the basic structures. Then it becomes another challenge to learn and play those beautiful, sophisticated melody lines over top (and try and remember them all!) Your timing has to be precise and your tone and intonation has to be really clean. It's excellent practice, musically educational, and personally satisfying. On top of these basic fundamentals for beginners/intermediate players, next step up are the challenges of advanced chord substitutions, improvisation, comping difficult rhythms at fast tempos, etc. There's no limits for even the greatest professional guitarists. Long live Bossa! (PS -- last but not least, singing the lyrics if you have a great voice or have a great vocalist to accompany).

I’m using this video to help soothe my daughter to sleep. Bossa nova always makes me smile. I’m American but my parents played “easy listening” radio stations when I grew up. Lots of elevator bossa novas but the music speaks for itself. Bossa nova feels idyllic. Like a summer breeze that you remember years later when you catch some familiar scent. My favorite is not on the list though. My favorite Bossa nova will always be Aguas de Março! Elis Regina com Tom Jobim o Marisa Monte com David Byrne.

I enjoyed that i knew nothing about bossa nova !!!

Bossas are so fun to play chord melody on. Great vid.

This is fantastic. Just discovered your channel. Instant follow!! The Bossa Nova style, the harmony and melody’s are so good. Thanks so much for posting this and your demonstration!! Love it.

Really well done video, concise and clear

Thank you much Scot for the free tabs!!🎶🎸👍

I used to imitate the bossa rythm a bit but was not really conscious of what was going on with the time. Thank you very much! I love your explanation and will watch it carefully!

Really great lesson especially the rhythm counting. Thanks a million. Rick

So relax I feel like in Rio de janeiro. There is no city like that.

Bonfá and Jobim, the granddaddies of Bossa Nova. Forgot talking bout João Gilberto though. Bossa’s father!

i've always loved brazilian jazz since i first heard 'girl" in the early 60's. i'm gonna try and learn to play some. thnx for the lesson and beautiful music.

I think bossa nova is the best way to approach jazz generally on the guitar. It makes you aware of both the melody and chords of a given song. This is by virtue of its uncluttered rhythms allowing one the time to join those two things together. This is quite distinct from the boom-chick-boom-chick of polka or early jazz music. These feels sound fine in a piano or accordion setting but were never completely comfortable on guitar. Neither was the walking bass thing. People will disagree, but I found the walking bass a clutter of too many bass notes played in a poor quarter note rhythm. By contrast, the bossa nova is just right on guitar and enables clarity and richness of sound on the instrument. Finding the right chord progressions to songs from the mess often presented in Real Books is easier thanks to the bossa nova. Reading music on guitar generally is easier with the bossa nova approach. These are some of the many advantages I found with the bossa nova approach. Thanks for your video on this great music form.

Awesome lesson. Thank you.

Le migliori spiegazioni sulle tecniche che ho trovato finora su web. Chiare e utili senza fronzoli inutili.

Such a relaxing style at pubs and restaurants.

Thanks for the teaching, Scot.

Love your lessons, and advice!

Great lessons! Great kknowledge! Great style! Thank you!

Scot, I have been into others guys showing Bossa on guitar and I must say your tutorial is great , simple and straight for one to have a good understanding of the various notes and rhythm, thanks a lot!

Bravo

Maestro!!! Bravo!!!

THANKS I have so many variations for these sheets yours are right at my level. Though I have started to combined lead and chords on some of these its nice to have this layout.

Great teaching man. Kept it simple, totally clear. And dead accurate. Many Thanks!!!

Hey man thx for the video. Spot on with the Bass - you shouldn't swing with it. Bass at the 1 and the 3 to make the Surdo sound. It is SambaJazz and samba is a prayer after all. Repetition leads to Trance, so hold on to that Bass I am Portuguese and Bossa Nova has been my fuel to learn Violão (non-electric guitar). Such simple and sweet melodies with so intricate harmonies. God bless those souls. Lets not forget João Gilberto who came up with the rhythm or Batida -> "Beathem" Um abraço para você. Obrigado pelo vídeo e pelos acordes

You have to be the greatest guitar player I've ever seen , and ,I used to live in Jerz de la fontera , you are awesome, and a very good teacher , cheers and thank you.

Very good tutorial about Brazilian guitar playing style! In Brasil it's a norm to play the Classical Guitar that we call "VIOLÃO" with nylon strings and finger style with nails. Many of the best Brazilian VIOLÃO players have classical training. And there is also some people that play the 7 strings VIOLÃO: Yamandu Costa, Alessandro Penezzi, Gian Correa, Marcos Kaiser and others. In other countries, with the exception of Spain, Russia and a few others, the guitar is played with a pick and steel strings, that produces other kind of sound, another style.

Great lesson Scot.

Hi , Scot ! Super playing the classic guitar ! Great tutorial ! Interesting lesson ! First Bossa is my lovely music ! I'm very pleased to meet you ! Thanks for sharing !

The curvature of the left thumb shows a lifetime practice!

It took the precision of an Anglo Saxon to teach, like no one else, the beautiful musical theory of bossa nova. Congratulations!

Greetings from Brazil!

OMG. Wish I could play like you. You're the best dude

Soooo happy I found your channel this is exactly what I beeen waiting for thank you thank you

Great musical choices and really spot on renditions of these wonderful compositions

Awesome playing. Am definitely gunna learn some of these songs

Que maravilla recibir el PDF de los Top 5 bossa, ahora a practicar con tan ilustrativa catedra del estilo bossa, muy didactico... gracias mil....

Fantastic (again) Scot! I am heading to the tabs. And to eveybody out there: I am a paying member of Scot’s “Versatile Guitarist”. Fantastic content. If you’re an aspiring guitar player, or if you just want access to a workd of tabs and sheet music and examples and video lessons, I recommend it very strongly. No, this is not a sponsored comment. Just an honest opinion 😊

Brilliant 🙂

Thanks for a most instructive and helpful video. Best regards from Lincolnshire UK

Saludos desde Uruguay 🇺🇾

This video was awesome, thank you so much!

nice. And in my opinion, Insensatez should be also a must-know bossa nova.

I like your freeze screen at the end. What a good video! Thank you

Awesome lesson Thanks

Thanks so much scott. You are appreciated

Great video. Thanks a million!!

Excellent vidéo! Thank You so much 👌👏👏👏

Absolutely Awesome!!🎉

Tom was the inventor of Brazil music europeneans know. It was the music of a forgotten laid back and interlekktuell Brazil with this sweet undertone in it.

Som dos Carrilhoes as intro. Love it

As an American my love of Bossa began with Barszil 66

I do like the Fdim7 before the Fma7 in this arrangement of Corcovado bar 7 and 8. I have played it the other way for so long this is a sweet adjustment.

Tq for sharing your knowledge

You did not miss, but a harder piece: Samba em Preludio, played only by Paulinho Nogueira (you can find the video on yt) A harder but really interesting bossa nova song covered in guitar(s) only is Samba in Preludio. Composed by one hell of a guitar player, Baden Powell, and written by Vinicius, two other prety great guitarists, Toquinho and Paulinho Nogueira. The song contains two melodies that meet in the last part of the song and it is pretty difficult to play both of them at the same time. A real challenge!

music to my ears and a smile to face! Awesome vid man! Appreciate this!

Awesome! Love your stuff!

Bien bonito estupendas y respetuosas versiones

2:36 Gentle Rain 4:09 The Girl From Ipanema 5:18 Corcovado 6:22 Black Orpheus 7:34 Wave

Wonderful

Great done mate! 🇦🇺

AMAZING video and talk! Great selection of music. You must try some Joao Gilberto songs as he was for sure a Bossa Nova icon. Thank you!

Well done! Thank you

Regards from Brazil 😊😊

😉😉😉 Thanks master!!!!

Wow! If I lived close by to you, I would throw some bossa nova drum beats in with some of that. That would sound really cool. I’m a drummer myself.

О thank you very much 😊 I try it

What I ❤❤❤ is I could walk into any fancy restaurant, ccoffee house of a certain class, caterin to spenders & get gigs off these ALONE (lprobably/maybe/deendin)!

Very nice explanation 👌

Awesome, from Brazil congratulations.

1st off... great video.. thank you for the info...it will definitely help my playing. Secondly... these are some of the most iconic songs in my mind... though I'm not Brazilian.. nor do i even have Latin roots.. but I grew up hearing and falling in love with the Bosa Nova and similar type music. And these are some of the songs I grew up with and are often an Earwig I'm OK having in my head. Thanx again

Your chord transitions are inspiring haha

Do you have a bossa nova course?

Damn. My 13 year old self just re-emerged. Thanks man. Especially for Manha.

Thanks. Terrific explanation. I played "Garota de Ipanema" before I knew I was gonna be a Peace Corps Vol in Salvador Bahia Brazil ! (Bahianos natural; Cariocas(Rio) more sophisticated !

Great vid , no fat on this script ❤

No mention of Joao Gilberto? I love his musik..."Aquarela do Brasil" one of the best.

blame it on the bossa nova. The dance of love.

Nasty and weird and Brazilian, shots fired suddenly 😄😄😄😄 great teaching scott

My heart beats deep for Samba/ Bossa-nova as much as I’m actually a Hard Rock Heavy Metal fan. Your explanation is really simple, shirt and sweet and it’s inspirational! I’m a self taught guitar player and I wish I had a good teacher like you!

Excelente thanks for sharing..

Love this!!!

Thank you for this beautifull video, whose Manha de carnaval arrangement did you play in your intro ?

Wonderful! I don't think I will ever be able to play the Jobim pieces as much as I love them. My fingers at 72 are not up to it - alas.

Faltou Samba do Avião (So Nice)

Great stuff Scot. I've been working through some classical pieces on my nylon string guitar but the bossas and all those cool jazzy chords really get me. Mind telling us what kind of guitar you're playing? I hope to upgrade to a cut away model some day but I don't see many pro-level cutaways in the shops.