Solo Guitar

Songs and studies for solo guitar.

Flor de Lis | Lesson #128 | Solo Guitar

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.

Flor de Lis | Lesson #128 | Solo Guitar2022-09-19T11:38:27-05:00

Samba da Benção | Lesson #127 | Solo Guitar

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! […]…

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Samba da Benção | Lesson #127 | Solo Guitar2022-04-07T09:36:29-05:00

Isto aqui o que é | Lesson #126 | Solo Guitar

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 […]…

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Isto aqui o que é | Lesson #126 | Solo Guitar2025-02-24T16:36:55-06:00

Mas que nada | Lesson #125 | Solo Guitar

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 […]…

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Mas que nada | Lesson #125 | Solo Guitar2021-10-20T15:39:56-05:00

Gente Humilde | Lesson #118 | Solo Guitar

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.

Gente Humilde | Lesson #118 | Solo Guitar2021-09-23T07:22:09-05:00

Maninha | Lesson #116 | Solo Guitar

In addition to bossa nova, the waltz has been a musical style much appreciated by Brazilian composers like Tom Jobim, Edu Lobo and Chico Buarque, mainly to talk about love. In the early twentieth century, unlike samba and choro, European waltz was well accepted by society and was part of a common piano repertoire taught to young girls, daughters of wealthy landowners, businessmen and traders.

Maninha | Lesson #116 | Solo Guitar2021-09-23T07:31:39-05:00

Progressive studies #8 | Lesson #112 | Solo Guitar

I wrote this Choro-style study for a guitar magazine in 2004. The other day, I was going through a lot of music books and old sheet music stored in a closet when I came across this piece. Then I thought, wait a minute, this is a great piece to add to the progressive studies series! So, here it is.

Progressive studies #8 | Lesson #112 | Solo Guitar2021-09-23T07:47:17-05:00
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