Bossa nova (Portuguese pronunciation:[ˈbɔsɐˈnɔvɐ]ⓘ) is a relaxed style ofsamba[nb 1] developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s inRio de Janeiro, Brazil.[2] It is mainly characterized by a calmsyncopated rhythm with chords and fingerstyle mimicking the beat of a samba groove, as if it was a simplification and stylization on the guitar of the rhythm produced by asamba school band. Another defining characteristic of the style is the use of unconventional chords in some cases with complex progressions and "ambiguous" harmonies.[3][4] A common misconception is that these complex chords and harmonies were derived fromjazz, but samba guitar players have been using similararrangement structures since the early 1920s, indicating a case ofparallel evolution of styles rather than a simple transference from jazz to bossa nova.[5][6] Nevertheless, bossa nova was influenced by jazz, both in the harmonies used and also by the instrumentation of songs, and today many bossa nova songs are consideredjazz standards. The popularity of bossa nova has helped to renew samba and contributed to the modernization ofBrazilian music in general.
One of the major innovations of bossa nova was the way to synthesize the rhythm of samba on theclassical guitar.[2][6] According to musicologistGilberto Mendes, the bossa nova was one of the "three rhythmic phases of samba", in which the "bossa beat" had been extracted byJoão Gilberto from the traditional samba.[5] The synthesis performed byGilberto's guitar was a reduction of the "batucada" of samba, a stylization produced from one of the percussion instruments: the thumb stylized asurdo; the index, middle and ring fingers phrased like a tamborim.[6] In line with this thesis, musicians such asBaden Powell,Roberto Menescal, andRonaldo Bôscoli also understand the bossa nova beat as being extracted from thetamborim play in thebateria.[7]
In Brazil, the wordbossa is old-fashioned slang for something done with particular charm, natural flair or innate ability. As early as 1932,Noel Rosa used the word in a samba:
O samba, a prontidão e outras bossas são nossas coisas, são coisas nossas. (Samba, readiness and otherbossas are our things, are things from us.)
The phrasebossa nova, translated literally, means "new trend" or "new wave" in Portuguese.[9] The exact origin of the termbossa nova remained unclear for many decades, according to some authors. Within the artistic beach culture of the late 1950s inRio de Janeiro, the termbossa was used to refer to any new "trend" or "fashionable wave". In his bookBossa Nova, Brazilian authorRuy Castro asserts thatbossa was already in use in the 1950s by musicians as a word to characterize someone's knack for playing or singing idiosyncratically.[10]
Castro claims that the termbossa nova might have first been used in public for a concert given in 1957 by theGrupo Universitário Hebraico do Brasil ('Hebrew University Group of Brazil'). The authorship of the termbossa nova is attributed to the young journalist Moyses Fuks, who was promoting the event.[11] That group consisted ofSylvia Telles,Carlos Lyra,Nara Leão,Luiz Eça,Roberto Menescal, and others. Mr Fuks's description, fully supported by most of the bossa nova members, simply read"HOJE. SYLVIA TELLES E UM GRUPO BOSSA NOVA" ("Today. Sylvia Telles and a 'Bossa Nova' group"), since Sylvia Telles was the most famous musician in the group at that time.
In 1959, Nara Leão also participated in more than one embryonic display of bossa nova. These include the 1st Festival de Samba Session, conducted by the student union ofPontifícia Universidade Católica. This session was chaired byCarlos Diegues (later a prominentCinema Novofilm director), a law student whom Leão ultimately married.[12]
In 1959, the soundtrack to the filmBlack Orpheus (Orfeu Negro) was released, which included the futureManhã de Carnaval, "The Morning of the Carnival". The style emerged at the time whensamba-canção[nb 2] was the dominant rhythm in the Brazilian music scene.[21][22] Its first appearance was on the albumCanção do Amor Demais, in which the singerElizeth Cardoso recorded two compositions by the duoAntônio Carlos Jobim andVinicius de Moraes, "Outra Vez" and "Chega de Saudade", which were accompanied by João Gilberto's guitar. It was the first time that the Bahian musician presented the beat of his guitar that would become characteristic of the style.[2] By accompanying Cardoso's voice, Gilberto innovated in the way of pacing the rhythm, accentuating the weak times, to carry out a synthesis of the beat of samba to guitar.[2][23]
In 1959, João Gilberto's bossa album was released, containing the tracks "Chega de Saudade", "Bim Bom" and "Desafinado" which entered the jazz repertory.[23] Considered the landmark of the birth of bossa nova,[2][23] it also featured Gilberto's innovative way of singing samba, which was inspired byDorival Caymmi.[24][25] With the LPChega de Saudade, released in 1959, Gilberto consolidated the bossa nova as a new style of playing samba.[2][3] His innovative way of playing and singing samba, combined with the harmonies of Antônio Carlos Jobim and the lyrics of Vinicius de Moraes, found immediate resonance among musicians who were looking for new approaches to samba in Rio de Janeiro,[2][26] many of whom were influenced by Americanjazz.[27]
Jorge Ben wrote "Mas que Nada" in 1963, andSérgio Mendes & Brazil 66 gained a bossa rock hit "Mas que Nada" in 1966.[33] It was inducted into theLatin Grammy Hall of Fame, and following the success ofWaters of March in the 1970s, the song was adapted for use in a series of advertisements forCoca-Cola in the 1980s. These ended with the then current slogan "Coke Is It".[34]Frank Sinatra andAntônio Carlos Jobim recordedFrancis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim in 1967.[35] The tracks were arranged and conducted byClaus Ogerman, accompanied by a studio orchestra. Along with Jobim's original compositions. In the 1960s and 1970s, US jazz artists such as Stan Getz, Hank Mobley, Dave Brubeck, Zoot Sims, Paul Winter, andQuincy Jones recorded bossa jazz albums.
Bossa nova continues to influence popular music around the world, from the 1960s to today. An example is the song "Break on Through (To the Other Side)" by American rock bandThe Doors, especially the drum beat. DrummerJohn Densmore has stated that he was very influenced by the sounds of Brazil when coming up with the drum part for the song.[36] In the mid-1980s, New Bossa emerged in Europe, in the work of Nigerian singerSade Adu and in groups such asMatt Bianco andStyle Council.[37] In 21st century, the song "Billie Bossa Nova" was released byBillie Eilish in 2021,[38] the Icelandic jazz pop singerLaufey released her hit song "From the Start" in 2023, with its bossa nova–infused rhythm,[39] and sucessBMF bySZA mixing with pop in 2025.[40]
Bossa nova is most commonly performed on the nylon-stringclassical guitar, played with the fingers rather than with apick. Its purest form could be considered unaccompanied guitar with vocals, as created, pioneered, and exemplified byJoão Gilberto. Even in larger, jazz-influenced ensemble arrangements, a guitar is typically present to provide the foundational rhythm. Gilberto basically took one of the several rhythmic layers from asamba ensemble, specifically thetamborim, and applied it to the picking hand. According to Brazilian musician Paulo Bittencourt, João Gilberto, known for his eccentricity and obsessed by the idea of finding a new way of playing the guitar, sometimes locked himself in the bathroom, where he played one and the same chord for many hours in a row.[41]
A basic bossa nova guitar rhythm for a C major chord. Note the syncopation in the chord's rhythm and the sixth and ninth added to the C major for a richer sound.
As in samba, thesurdo plays anostinato figure on the downbeat of beat one, the "ah" of beat one, the downbeat of beat two and the "ah" of beat two. Theclave pattern sounds very similar to the two-three or three-two son clave of Cuban styles such asmambo but is dissimilar in that the "two" side of the clave is pushed by an eighth note. Also important in the percussion section for bossa nova is thecabasa, which plays a steady sixteenth-note pattern. These parts are easily adaptable to the drum set, which makes bossa nova a rather popular Brazilian style for drummers.
Bossa nova has at its core arhythm based onsamba. Samba combines the rhythmic patterns and feel originating in afro-Brazilian slave communities. Samba's emphasis on the secondbeat carries through to bossa nova (to the degree that it is often notated in 2/4 time). However, unlike samba, bossa nova has no dance steps to accompany it.[42] When played on the guitar, in a simple one-bar pattern, the thumb plays the bass notes on 1 and 2, while the fingers pluck the chords in unison on the two eighth notes of beat one, followed by the second sixteenth note of beat two. Two-measure patterns usually contain asyncopation into the second measure. Syncopation is a common feature of bossa nova, giving it its distinct "swaying" motion. While jazz music, which is typically swung, also contains syncopation, bossa nova is typically played without swing, contrasting with jazz. As bossa nova composerCarlos Lyra describes it in his song "Influência do Jazz", the samba rhythm moves "side to side" while jazz moves "front to back". There's also some evidence indicating a musical influence of blues in bossa nova, even thought this effect is not immediately recognized in the genre structure.[43]
Aside from the guitar style, João Gilberto's other innovation was the projection of the singing voice. Prior to bossa nova, Brazilian singers employed brassy, almost operatic styles. Now, the characteristic nasal vocal production of bossa nova is a peculiar trait of thecaboclo folk tradition of northeastern Brazil.[44][45]
The lyrical themes found in bossa nova include women, love, longing, homesickness, and nature. Bossa Nova was often apolitical. The musical lyrics of the late 1950s depicted the easy life of middle to upper-class Brazilians, though the majority of the population was working class. In conjunction with political developments of the early 1960s (especially the 1964 militarycoup d'état), the popularity of bossa nova was eclipsed byMúsica popular brasileira, a musical genre that appeared around the mid-1960s, featuring lyrics that were more politically charged and focused on the working class struggle.
Bossa nova was also afad dance that corresponded to the music. It was introduced in the late 1950s and faded out in the mid-sixties.[46][unreliable source?] Bossa nova music, with its soft, sophisticated vocal rhythms and improvisations, is well suited for listening but failed to become dance music despite heavy promotion in the 1960s. The style of basic dance steps suited the music well. It was danced on "soft" knees that allowed for sideways sways with hip motions and it could be danced both solo and in pairs. About ten various simple step patterns were published.
A variant of basic 8-beat pattern was: "step forward, tap, step back, step together, repeat from the opposite foot". A variation of this pattern was a kind of slowsamba walk, with "step together" above replaced by "replace".Box steps ofrhumba andwhisk steps ofnightclub two step could be fitted with bossa-nova styling. Embellishments included placing one arm onto one's own belly and waving another arm at waist level in the direction of the sway, possibly with a finger click.[citation needed]
^"The center of bossa nova remains, as for samba and subgenre of jazz, the song. Its intuition is lyrical and, even in the most sophisticated products, demands that one believes in a kind of spontaneity. Jazz, whose fundamental intuition is of a technical nature, privileges the chord".[1]
^A slower tempo samba featured by a dominance of the melodic line over the main rhythmic[20]
Castro, Ruy (transl. by Lysa Salsbury).Bossa Nova: The Story of the Brazilian Music That Seduced the World. 2000. 1st English language edition. A Capella Books, an imprint of Chicago Review Press, Inc.ISBN1-55652-409-9 First published in Brasil by Companhia das Letras (1990)
^"Caboclos refers to the mixed-race population (Indians or Africans 'imported' to the region during the slave era, and Europeans) who generally live along the Amazon's riverbanks." From "Two Cases on Participatory Municipal Planning on natural-resource management in the Brazilian Amazon", by GRET – Groupe de Recherche et d'Échanges Technologiques, France (in English)
^"Bossa nova".Grove Music Online. Retrieved10 February 2023.
Carvalho, Hermínio Bello de (1986).Mudando de Conversa (in Brazilian Portuguese) (1ª ed.). São Paulo: Martins Fontes.
Caymmi, Stella (2001).Dorival Caymmi: o mar e o tempo (in Brazilian Portuguese) (1ª ed.). São Paulo: Editora 34.
Lopes, Nei; Simas, Luiz Antonio (2015).Dicionário da História Social do Samba (in Brazilian Portuguese) (2ª ed.). Rio de Janeiro: Civilização Brasileira.
Machado, Regina Stela Barcelos (2011).A voz na canção popular brasileira: um estudo sobre a Vanguarda Paulista (in Brazilian Portuguese) (1ª ed.). São Paulo: Atelie Editorial.
Marcondes, Marcos Antônio, ed. (1977).Enciclopédia da música brasileira - erudita, folclórica e popular (in Brazilian Portuguese) (1ª ed.). São Paulo: Art Ed.
Severiano, Jairo (2009).Uma história da música popular brasileira: das origens à modernidade (in Brazilian Portuguese). São Paulo: Editora 34.
Tatit, Luiz (1996).O cancionista: composição de canções no Brasil (in Brazilian Portuguese). São Paulo: Edusp.
Castro, Ruy (transl. by Lysa Salsbury).Bossa Nova: The Story of the Brazilian Music That Seduced the World. 2000. 1st English language edition. A Capella Books, an imprint of Chicago Review Press, Inc.ISBN1-55652-409-9
First published in Brasil by Companhia das Letras. 1990.
Castro, Ruy (1990).Chega de Saudade: a história e as histórias da bossa nova. Rio de Janeiro: Companhia das Letras.
De Stefano, Gildo,Il popolo del samba, La vicenda e i protagonisti della storia della musica popolare brasiliana, Preface by Chico Buarque de Hollanda, Introduction by Gianni Minà, RAI-ERI, Rome 2005,ISBN8839713484
McGowan, Chris and Pessanha, Ricardo.The Brazilian Sound: Samba, Bossa Nova and the Popular Music of Brazil. 1998. 2nd edition. Temple University Press.ISBN1-56639-545-3
Perrone, Charles A.Masters of Contemporary Brazilian Song: MPB 1965–1985. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1989.
Mei, Giancarlo.Canto Latino: Origine, Evoluzione e Protagonisti della Musica Popolare del Brasile. 2004. Stampa Alternativa-Nuovi Equilibri. Preface by Sergio Bardotti; afterword by Milton Nascimento. (in Italian)
