bossa nova supplement - pianogroove.com · intro to bossa nova bossa nova bass lines the bass lines...

IntroToBossaNovaBossaNovaBassLinesThebasslinesinBossaNovaarederivedfromtherhythmsofthesurdo,whichisabassdrumfoundinSambabands.Hereisacommonsurdorhythm:Thenextstepistotakethisrhythmandtocreatelinesfocusingontherootand5thofthechord.ForFmaj7wewouldplaytheroot–F–andthe5th–C.

Youshouldbeabletohearthatthisrhythmanticipatesthedownbeatwhichisbeat3.Placingtheeighthnoteonthe&of2createsalotofforwardmotionwhichischaracteristicoftheBossaNovastyle.Hereis2variationsofthebaselinethatyou’llhearinmanyBossarecordings:

BossaNovaVoicingsWhenplayingBossaNova,wetypicallyuserootlesschordvoicings.Thisisbecausewearealreadyplayingtherootinourlefthandandsotherootlessvoicingfreesupafingerforamoreinterestingandcolourfulnotechoicessuchasanextensionoralteration.InourlefthandweareplayingaBossaNovabasslinetherootand5thandinourrighthandwecaneitherplay3-5-7-9or7-9-3-5.Alsoremembertopracticeboth

AlsopracticeTypeBinversionsofthevoicing:

Wecandothesamewithmajorchords:

Nextlet’sinvertthechordintoTypeBandplaythesamerhythmandbassline:

ChangingChordswhenPlayingBossaNovaHerewehave2barsofC-7and2barsofF-7.

HerewehaveEbMajor&AbMajor:

BossaNova&TheMajor251ProgressionHere’sa251inCMajorplayedwithBossaNovaRhythm:

There’saveryimportantpointtonotehere.Inthe‘Introductiontobossanova’lesson,welearnttheBossaNovagrooveisarepeating2barphrase.Intheabove251progression,theIIchordchangestotheVchordhalfwaythroughthe2barphrase.WhenthechordchangesinthemiddleofatwobarBossaNovaphrase,wealwaysanticipatethe2ndchordon&of4.WecanseethatthelastchordinthefirstbarisnowG13whichisbeinganticipatedbyhalfabeat.Thisanticipationaddsasenseofforwardmotion.Let’salsodoTypeB:

BossaNova&TheMinor251Progression

There’safewimportantpointstonotehere.Thefirstisthatagainweanticipatethe2ndchordonthe&of4.Thesecondisthatinaminor251,the2chordisa-7b5andsothatmeansthatinourlefthandweplayRoottob5notnatural5.ThelastthingtonoticeisthatovertheG7Iplayedanalteredvoicinginmyrighthandcontainingtheb9andthe#5.Finallylet’slookatthesameminor251inTypeB:

TakethetimetopracticeBossaNovaRhythmaroundall12majorandminorkeys–bothtypeAandtypeB.Wewillofcourse,becoveringtheseprogressionsintheBossaNovajazzstandardlessons.