How to Play Bossa Nova Guitar Chords

By Cody John

There are many different styles of guitar playing. They can be very distinctive and use special ways of playing. For example, flamenco guitar playing employs some very unusual finger strumming methods that are unique to flamenco guitar. Bossa nova music also has its special methods and techniques. This style of music is very much main stream now and Latin music in general has structures that work in mainstream rock and pop songs.

Bossa Nova Guitar Chords

There is a whole family of guitar chords that are very much used in bossa nova music and they are called Major seventh chords. To start with a beginner should learn just three of these chords. These are C major seventh, F major seventh and A major seventh. The F and A versions are useful shapes all the way up the fretboard. When you strum them you can hear the signature sound of these chords. The extra note to make the seventh chord is the 11th. For C major seven this means adding a B note to the C chord. This is achieved by simply dropping the finger on the B string. For the A chord you add a G# and for the F chord you add an E note. This type of chord is used in other styles of music but not to such a large degree as in Bossa Nova.

Bossa Nova Guitar Plucking

There is a method of plucking and damping the guitar strings that is used extensively. This involves you plucking 4 strings and damping them to provide the rhythm. You can damp the strings early or late to add emphasis to the chord sequence. The thumb usually plucks one of the base strings and the three fingers pluck the top three strings. They are all plucked and damped in unison.

Using a Nylon String Guitar in Bossa Nova Music

You will find that nylon stringed guitars are used in bossa nova music to provide a softer feel to the backing chords. The mixture of the nylon strings with the plucking and damping described above will make your guitar playing sound authentically Latin in feel.

You can see the full chords shapes of all the major seventh chords on my downloadable guitar chords chart on my guitar warrior website.

http://www.guitar-warrior.com

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