bossa nova guitar tutorial

Wave

This week’s lesson is Wave by Antonio Carlos Jobim. Released in 1967 this is a lively Bossa Nova syncopated rhythm and some great Latin Jazz chords. This is an intermediate-level arrangement that combines the famous melody with the Bossa NOva accompaniment.

Concerto De Aranjuez ( Bars 61 – 200)

This is the fourth lesson in my series on Concerto Aranjuez, so far I have covered the opening of the Allegro and I also did a post on the first cadenza of the Adagio. I am now continuing the Allegro bars 61 to 200. This is the part where the guitar enters after the first […]

Bésame Mucho – Chords and Solo ideas

Besame Mucho is regarded as one of the most famous Latin songs. Written by Mexican songwriter and concert pianist Consuelo Velasquez, the melody was inspired by the start of a Granados piano piece. The song style is a Bolero which, unlike the Spanish Bolero, is a popular Latin song form that originated in Cuba. It […]

Danza Brasilera (Braslian Dance) by Jorge Morel

This Brasilian dance is by Argentinian guitarist and composer Jorge Morel’s and his most famous piece. It has a fast and lively tempo with a samba feel, and there are also elements of choro found here. Let’s explore the first half of the piece including the technical and musical challenges.  

How to Solo over Circle of 5ths Progression

In this lesson, we’ll look at how I created a solo over a circle of fifths chord progression. We’ll look at the chord tones and modes that I am using so that you can work out how to create your own solo improv ideas. Here’s the chord progression: Here’s the solo with a description above […]

Libertango by Piazzola

Astor Piazzola was an Argentine tango composer, bandoneon player, and arranger. His works revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed nuevo tango, incorporating elements from jazz and classical music. One of his most famous pieces is called Libertango which roughly translates to freedom tango. We’ll look at the first part main melody and […]

How To Improvise With Scales On Guitar

      There are different ways to approach improvising and using a scale-based approach is very useful because it means you can practice scale patterns which you can then call upon when you are improvising. Learn the notes in C (natural notes) on the fretboard Following on from our previous lesson we will look at […]

Understanding Jazz Chords

In this video we will look at what the Latin jazz chords are in a major key. We will also look at how these chords are constructed and give a few examples of common jazz progressions. For this example, we’ll explore the chords in the key of C major. We derive the chords in a […]

How to Improvise with Chord Tones on Guitar

  We’re going to look at the start of Manha De Carneval and use chord tones to do get you thinking about improvising. Chord tones will give you a starting vocabulary of notes you case to improvise with. This lesson will help to famillarise you with where along the fretboard you can find certain chords […]