Brazilian Samba Groove
In this lesson, we will explore a simple Samba groove that will be effective for working with all kinds of Bossa Nova tunes, as well as more "straight ahead" Brazilian Samba styles.
Based on a 2/4 Beat
This simple groove is based on a 2/4 beat and you will notice that the left-hand part is not syncopated at all. The left-hand outlines the quarter beat and you have the flexibility to play root – 5th – octave based lines.
3 Groups Of 2 Notes
The right-hand part of the groove consists of three groups of 2 notes. You will notice that the notes are exactly the same distance apart in each group – an 8th note apart.
What changes is where they are placed on the beat.
Displacing The Rhythm
This is an efficient and effective way to create a groove. By placing the rhythm of different beats of the bar, we create a whole rainbow of rhythmic possibilities.
Lesson Downloads
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Brazilian Piano Styles Workbook File Type: pdf
Related Lessons
251 progressions are essential components of the jazz language and so taking the time to memorise them will greatly benefit your playing.
Rootless voicings sound more professional than root based 7th chords and they voice lead much more smoothly in a 251 progression.
To play a rootless voicing we leave out the root of the chord and play one of the upper extensions to get a richer, more colourful sound.
Practice Tips
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As outlined in the video, you should isolate each section of the groove and practice it in isolation.
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The third note group is the most challenging because it happens in the 2nd bar.
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Remember that this is just a beginner groove, and we can add variations to it as per the examples demonstrated.
- Play with a metronome to build and develop a strong sense of groove.
Really pleased to see more Latin lessons on here! For me personally this could have benefitted from a longer lesson – there is too much to absorb and try to try out in such a short lesson, and I ended up feeling a bit overawed by how little I can do compared to this level. Says much for my (lack of) experience though. Looking forward to seeing more Latin soon!
That’s great James… we’re very excited too.
And yes a full 7-lesson course on Brazilian Piano Style will arrive shortly. This lesson was mainly to test the tutorial layout, experiment with the rhythm notation/blue highlights, and to give Jovino a flavour for the teaching style.
After editing, we were both very pleased with the result and I thought it would be a shame not to share it with you all.
Half of the lesson is simply a performance of “Wave” – we have a full tutorial on that tune soon where the arrangement will be carefully presented and explained.
Look at this as video as a ‘taster video’ and the in-depth full length tutorials still to come.
I will be posting updates in the forum so stay tuned.
Cheers,
Hayden
This was fun ! Is there a chord chart for Wave available ? Thanks Hayden
Hi Natasha, glad you enjoyed it!
Check out the full tutorial here: pianogroove.com/bossa-nova-lessons/wave-tutorial-chords-bassline-pdf-transcription/
That page will have everything you need.
If I can be of further assistance just let me know 🙂
Hayden
I found it, thanks ! 🙂
Awesome!
Enjoy this great tune, after editing the lesson on “Wave” I’m eager to learn the arrangement myself… such wonderful voicings and inner voices demonstrated by Jovino. I like how he shares the story behind the composition too.
Cheers!
Hayden