Bossa nova is a smooth style of samba that began in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It has a calm, rhythmic pattern with chords played on the guitar in a way that mimics the sound of a samba band. The guitar style uses simple, stylized movements that copy the beat of a samba school’s percussion instruments. Another feature of bossa nova is the use of unusual chords and complex harmonic progressions. Some people think these chords came from jazz, but samba guitar players used similar techniques as early as the 1920s, showing that both styles developed independently. However, bossa nova was still influenced by jazz, especially in its use of harmonies and the types of instruments in songs. Today, many bossa nova songs are considered part of jazz. The popularity of bossa nova helped modernize samba and Brazilian music overall.
A major change in bossa nova was how it combined the rhythm of samba on the classical guitar. Music expert Gilberto Mendes said bossa nova was one of three rhythmic phases of samba, with the "bossa beat" created by João Gilberto from traditional samba rhythms. His guitar playing simplified the "batucada" (a samba percussion rhythm), using the thumb to mimic a surdo drum and the index, middle, and ring fingers to copy the sound of a tamborim drum. Musicians like Baden Powell, Roberto Menescal, and Ronaldo Bôscoli also believe the bossa nova beat came from the tamborim’s rhythm in samba bands.
Etymology
In Brazil, the word bossa is old-fashioned slang for something done with charm, natural talent, or special ability. As early as 1932, a musician named Noel Rosa used the word in a samba song.
The phrase bossa nova, which means "new trend" or "new wave" in Portuguese, became famous later. For many years, the exact origin of the term bossa nova was unclear. In the late 1950s, during the artistic beach culture of Rio de Janeiro, the word bossa was used to describe any new trend or style. A Brazilian author named Ruy Castro wrote that musicians in the 1950s already used bossa to describe someone’s unique way of singing or playing music.
Castro suggests that the term bossa nova might have first been used publicly in 1957 at a concert by the Grupo Universitário Hebraico do Brasil, also called the Hebrew University Group of Brazil. A young journalist named Moyses Fuks, who was promoting the event, is credited with creating the term. The group included musicians such as Sylvia Telles, Carlos Lyra, Nara Leão, Luiz Eça, and Roberto Menescal. At the event, Fuks wrote on a sign: "HOJE. SYLVIA TELLES E UM GRUPO BOSSA NOVA" ("Today. Sylvia Telles and a 'Bossa Nova' group"), because Sylvia Telles was the most well-known musician in the group at that time.
In 1959, Nara Leão took part in early performances of bossa nova. These included the 1st Festival de Samba Session, organized by the student union of Pontifícia Universidade Católica. The session was led by Carlos Diegues, a law student who later became a well-known film director from the Cinema Novo movement. Diegues and Leão eventually married.
History
Beco das Garrafas, a small dead-end alley in Copacabana, is known as the birthplace of bossa nova. In 1959, the movie Black Orpheus came out with a soundtrack that included the song "Manhã de Carnaval," which later became famous. At that time, samba-canção was the most popular music style in Brazil. Bossa nova first appeared on the album Canção do Amor Demais, where singer Elizeth Cardoso performed two songs written by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes: "Outra Vez" and "Chega de Saudade." These songs were played on the guitar by João Gilberto, who introduced a new way of combining samba rhythms with guitar playing. His method of emphasizing the weaker beats in the rhythm helped create a unique sound that blended samba and guitar.
In 1959, João Gilberto released his bossa nova album, which included the songs "Chega de Saudade," "Bim Bom," and "Desafinado." These tracks became part of the jazz music collection. This album is considered a key event in the creation of bossa nova. It also showed Gilberto’s new way of singing samba, which was inspired by Dorival Caymmi. With his album Chega de Saudade, Gilberto helped bossa nova become a new style of samba. His unique way of playing and singing, along with the music of Jobim and the lyrics of Moraes, quickly caught the attention of musicians in Rio de Janeiro who were looking for new ways to make samba. Many of these musicians were influenced by American jazz.
On November 21, 1962, the Consulate-General of Brazil introduced bossa nova at Carnegie Hall. In 1964, João Gilberto, Stan Getz, and Jobim released the Grammy Award-winning album Getz/Gilberto. Bossa nova became an artistic movement led by Gilberto and other musicians, including Jobim, Moraes, and Baden Powell. This movement inspired young musicians from the South Zone of Rio, such as Marcos Valle, Carlos Lyra, Roberto Menescal, Ronaldo Bôscoli, Nara Leão, and Bahian Astrud Gilberto.
In 1963, Jorge Ben wrote the song "Mas que Nada." In 1966, Sérgio Mendes & Brazil 66 made the song a bossa rock hit. The song was later added to the Latin Grammy Hall of Fame. In the 1970s, the song "Waters of March" became popular and was used in Coca-Cola advertisements in the 1980s. In 1967, Frank Sinatra and Jobim recorded the album Sinatra & Company, which included Jobim’s original songs. The tracks were arranged by Claus Ogerman and performed by a studio orchestra. During the 1960s and 1970s, American jazz musicians like Stan Getz, Hank Mobley, Dave Brubeck, Zoot Sims, Paul Winter, and Quincy Jones recorded bossa nova jazz albums.
Bossa nova continues to influence music worldwide, from the 1960s to today. For example, the American rock band The Doors used a bossa nova-inspired drum beat in their song "Break on Through (To the Other Side)." The band’s drummer, John Densmore, said he was influenced by Brazilian music when creating the beat. In the mid-1980s, a new style called New Bossa emerged in Europe, seen in the work of Nigerian singer Sade Adu and groups like Matt Bianco and Style Council. In the 21st century, Billie Eilish released the song "Billie Bossa Nova" in 2021. In 2023, Icelandic singer Laufey released the hit song "From the Start," which includes bossa nova rhythms. In 2025, SZA’s song "BMF" blended bossa nova with pop music.
Instruments
Bossa nova is most often played on a nylon-string classical guitar, using the fingers instead of a pick. In its simplest form, it includes only a guitar and vocals, as first created and demonstrated by João Gilberto. Even in larger musical groups that include influences from jazz, a guitar is usually present to create the basic rhythm. Gilberto took a rhythmic pattern from a samba group, specifically the sound of the tamborim drum, and used it in his guitar playing. Brazilian musician Paulo Bittencourt said that João Gilberto, who was known for his unusual behavior and strong desire to find a new way to play the guitar, sometimes practiced in a bathroom for hours by repeating the same chord over and over.
Like in samba, the surdo drum plays a repeating pattern on the first beat of each measure, the "ah" sound on the first beat, the first beat of the next measure, and the "ah" sound on that beat. The clave rhythm is similar to the two-three or three-two pattern used in Cuban music like mambo, but it differs because the "two" side of the clave is played with an eighth note. Another important instrument in bossa nova is the cabasa, which creates a steady rhythm of sixteenth notes. These rhythms are easy to play on a drum set, making bossa nova a popular style for drummers.
Structure
Bossa nova includes other musical elements and vocal styles that are important to its structure. These include:
Bossa nova is based on a rhythm that comes from samba. Samba has rhythms and a feel that developed from Afro-Brazilian communities during the time of slavery. Samba focuses on the second beat in a measure, which is why bossa nova is often written in 2/4 time. However, unlike samba, bossa nova does not have dance steps. When played on the guitar, a simple one-bar pattern uses the thumb to play bass notes on beats 1 and 2, while the fingers pluck chords together on the eighth notes of beat 1, followed by the sixteenth note of beat 2. Two-measure patterns often include a syncopation that starts in the second measure. Syncopation, or offbeat rhythms, is a common feature of bossa nova, creating its smooth, swaying motion. While jazz music also uses syncopation, it is usually played with a "swung" rhythm. Bossa nova is typically played without this swing. As composer Carlos Lyra describes in his song "Influência do Jazz," samba moves "side to side," while jazz moves "front to back." Some evidence suggests that bossa nova may also be influenced by blues music, even though this is not obvious in its structure.
In addition to guitar techniques, João Gilberto introduced a new way of singing. Before bossa nova, Brazilian singers used loud, operatic styles. Bossa nova, however, uses a nasal vocal style that reflects the traditional music of northeastern Brazil.
The themes in bossa nova songs often include love, women, longing, homesickness, and nature. Bossa nova was usually not political. Songs from the late 1950s described the comfortable lives of middle- and upper-class Brazilians, even though most people were working class. In the early 1960s, especially after the 1964 military coup, bossa nova became less popular. A new genre called Música popular brasileira emerged around the mid-1960s. This music had more politically focused lyrics and focused on the struggles of the working class.
Dance
Bossa nova was a popular dance that matched the music of the same name. It began in the late 1950s and became less popular in the mid-1960s. Bossa nova music is known for its smooth and elegant vocal rhythms and free-style parts. While it was well-suited for listening, it did not become widely used for dancing, even though it was heavily promoted in the 1960s. The basic dance steps were simple and matched the music well. Dancers used soft knee movements to allow for side sways and hip motions. The dance could be performed alone or with a partner. About ten different simple step patterns were published.
One variation of the basic 8-beat pattern was: "step forward, tap, step back, step together, repeat from the opposite foot." A different version of this pattern used a slow samba walk, replacing "step together" with "replace." Steps from the rhumba dance, such as box steps, and steps from the nightclub two-step, like whisk steps, could be adapted to fit bossa nova style. Dancers added movements such as placing one hand on their own stomach and moving the other arm at waist level in the direction of the sway, sometimes including a finger click.