ABISMO DE ROSAS - BRAZILIAN WALTZ

This is another must-know in Brazilian Guitar repertoire: "Abyss of Roses" or, in good Portuguese, "Abismo de Rosas". It's a romantic waltz from the great Americo Jacomino and one of my personal favorites. It draws heavily from Portugal's influence and the main melody can be righteously linked to Fado music.

This piece is very friendly to arrangements for various instruments and can be used as a canvas for experimentation in that regard, being often used in conservatory courses on that subject. In this rendition I have not tried to stay very confined to the original version, but do believe that the essence of the content was kept intact.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

SONS DE CARRILHÕES - CHORO

João Pernambuco is one of the foundations of Brazilian Guitar and was a big name in the music scene of Rio de Janeiro in the early 20th Century, when Choro music was in its hey-day. Villa-Lobos once said that "Bach wouldn't have been ashamed of signing Joao's etudes as if they were his".

He composed this Choro-Maxixe which is extremely well-known by guitar players in Brazil, having been made even more famous due to its recordings by guitarist extraordinaire Dilermando Reis.

I've respected the original score for the most part and added a bit of detail here and there without harming the musical narrative. Keep in mind that Choro is street music so improvisation and creativity are most welcome. On the technical side, a good command of the thumb is needed not to scramble the three bass strings.

A must-know tune for all aspiring Brazilian Guitar players. Schedule a lesson and I'll teach you how to play it!

Villa-Lobos Etude #1 in E minor

This is an outstanding piece to develop right hand technique and can be practiced in many different ways using different sets of fingers (besides the standard way of course). Use of a metronome in those contexts is key for best results.

Nevermind the apparent grumpiness... there was a very loud lesson going on in the room next door and I was worried the the sound would leak into this recording. It made me like "Hotel California" a little less that day :)

VIAGEM

This is a beautiful song that I interpreted in my first EP "The Sound of Hope" in 2008. Viagem means "trip" and the melody sure takes us on one.

Played here on a very nice sounding Ramirez guitar.

Right Hand Subtleties - The Girl From Ipanema

This is perhaps the most famous piece of Brazilian Music across the world. I used it here as a way to demonstrate nuances for the right hand. Basically I focus in three parts: thumb, index and the duo (middle and ring finger).

 The Thumb keeps a straight pulse on the downbeat of 1 and 2 in every measure. The upper voices of the chords are played by middle&ring as the index is often left for percussive effect by deadening it's part of the chord voicings (ghost notes). I apologize for having tried to sing :)

Samba - Basic Rhythm For The Right Hand

This is a very basic little line to be learned. It allows easy application of rhythmic changes and different syncopation choices - the key word in Brazilian Popular Music.

Notice how I sometimes make it a little busier and at other times I leave more space. Controlling that is important both for solo interpretation and (most importantly) for ensemble playing. Particularly when you accompany a singer, as it's a big part of creating dynamics.

"Desesperar Jamais" (Ivan Lins - A Noite, 1979) Guitar Line.

This is a typical example of a Sambra groove alternating the bass line between the root and the fifth of the chord as you move parts of the voicing changing the extensions. A very important concept to master for all aspiring Brazilian Guitar players:

Basic Bossa Nova Rhythm

This is one of the most basic, mellow Bossa Nova rhythm patterns to be found. The chord progression comes from a nice tune called "Faz Parte do Meu Show" by the late Cazuza (RIP). A very soothing groove for sure:

 

A Common Chord Progression - Samba

Starting with a major 6/9 chord (widely used in the different styles of Brazilian Jazz) this little progression can be found in a variety of tunes, and shows some nice tritone substitutions for the V chord in the V-I resolutions:

 

Diary of a Samba Man

In the video below I made a small intro and "sambified" a song by the late guitar extraordinaire Randy Rhoads. I nicknamed it "Diary of a Samba Man" and believe it goes to show that we can draw inspiration from different venues and styles.