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Djavan began his career as a singer in soap opera soundtracks in 1973. During three years, in his spare time away from the microphone, he composed around 60 songs, mostly sambas. But his sambas, with innovative rhythms in the melodies, represented something completely new at the time. In some songs, there are long phrases that are sung without pauses between words, and where the stressed syllables are the elements responsible for giving the melody an almost impossible syncopation aspect. You can hear this kind of melody in songs like Para-raio, E que Deus ajude, Capim, Jogral and Minha irmã, for example.

It was in an apartment in Parque Guinle, in the late 1960s, overlooking Christ the Redeemer, that Baden and Vinicius wrote one of the most famous songs in the history of Brazilian popular music. It is a simple song, made of only one part, that speaks mainly about samba as a form of prayer. The lyrics speak of a soft sadness that exists in samba and that represents its core. But that sadness hopes to stop being sad and become happy eventually. Who knows what goes on in the minds of poets? See a translation here. I hope you enjoy playing this arrangement! […]…

Isto aqui o que é, like Aquarela do Brasil. is a samba that speaks of a mythical place where everything is beautiful and smooth. This type of samba is known in Brazil as samba exaltação (exaltation samba), and it was a recurring type of samba in the first half of the 20th century. Carmen Miranda, with her flashy way of dressing and performing, along with Walt Disney, with his movie “Saludos Amigos”, were probably the main responsible for creating this idyllic image of Brazil at that time. You can listen to an early recording of this song here, and you will […]…

Recorded in 1963 for his first album named Samba Esquema Novo, this song was the first big hit of Jorge Ben Jor. Mas que nada is also one of the most known Brazilian songs in the world. It took a while for the song to be well accepted by musicians and specialized media, because it could not be classified neither as bossa nova nor as traditional samba. The song was different, the arrangement was different. It was not common to use a brass section in samba songs, although it became usual later in other styles of samba like Samba de Gafieira and Samba Rock. On the […]…

Chega de saudade is one of the most famous and beautiful Bossa Nova songs ever! And now you have a complete solo guitar arrangement for fun! Enjoy it!

Annibal Augusto Sardinha started his career he was 11, and that is why he became known as Garoto (boy). In addition to standard guitar, he also played mandolin, hawaiian guitar, portuguese guitar, tenor guitar, and electric guitar. Although he has not lived for a long time (he died at the age of 40), his music influenced musicians like Baden Powell, João Gilberto, Raphael Rabello, and has been influencing generations of musicians until nowadays.

This lesson is about how to play a solo guitar arrangement for the song "Estate", by Bruno Martino. I hope you enjoy playing this beautiful song as much as I do.

Learn how to play a unique solo guitar arrangement for the song O pato based in Getz/ Gilberto version recorded in 1964.