bossa nova

music
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Share
Share to social media
URL
https://mainten.top/art/bossa-nova
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

Portuguese:
“new trend”
Related Topics:
popular music
samba

bossa nova, Brazilian popular music that evolved in the late 1950s from a union of samba (a Brazilian dance and music) and cool jazz. The music is in syncopated 2/4 time. The composer Antonio Carlos Jobim and the guitarist João Gilberto may be considered the founders of this style, which was considered particularly characteristic of Brazilian culture and which in the mid-1960s began to be associated with movements of social protest. Instrumentation is varied and purposely simple, limited to a few rhythm instruments—e.g., guitar, berimbau (musical bow), drum, or a single-note piano accompaniment. In vocalized passages the musical background becomes more subdued to allow the singer greater range for improvisation. As a dance, the bossa nova differs little from the samba, requiring the same subtle body rhythm and two-step foot movement.