Bossa Rhythm and feeling syncopation

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brad ekr

over 2 years ago

Syncopated rhythms give me the nightmares... reading.. writing.... playing.

After much slowing down and repetition, I parsed out the Blue Bossa backing track rhythm against the metronome as best as I could.

I came up with the following for the 2 bar rhythm, using mostly eighth note divisions. (Although I cannot play it along with my own metronome.)

7= eighth note rest
t=thumb bass eighth note (or slap eighth rest)
q=quarter note
e=eighth note:

||: q q te 7e | te 7e 7t q :||

First, is this even close to the actual rhythm being played in the backing track?
Second, will it work over Black Orpheus? What would you use over Black Orpheus if not?
Third, can I suggest a remedial bossa rhythm / syncopation video lesson for those of us who can't dance?
Fourth, is there a video that I missed that already shows the how bossa rhythms work?

Thanks,
Brad (trying to worry less)

Alan B

over 2 years ago

Not sure whether I'm lucky or lazy but as a drummer in a former life who played lots of Bossas, I feel it rather than count it. It either feels right or it doesn't. Just listen to lots of different bossas, particularly Antônio Carlos Jobim stuff. Sorry, this is probably not much help !

Ben Spectre

over 2 years ago

Hi Brad,

I wish I knew the answers to help, but I'll leave a comment here to bump this thread for one of the moderators.

brad ekr

over 2 years ago

Well, no worries here, but thanks. The internet is a big place and search phrases like "bossa nova rhythm" produce a ton of results. I haven't had much time to come back to this problem or revisit Black Orpheus, lately anyway.

I think the thing that throws me is that I don't have the feel for upbeat accents after rests. So when I look at rhythm "slashes" or notation, which, for instance, represents something simple like offsetting a phrase by an eighth note, it makes the written part look so much busier than it actually is.

Then it's all downhill. I lose the momentum of the groove, lose where the "one" is and all is lost... the form crumbles, the metronome mercilessly clicks its monotone domination of time and I have to stop and restart.

I realize the solution is to listen to a ton of Bossa Nova music and entrain the feel into my body motions, but... that's a lot of listening and commitment for casual player like me. I tend to feel things "wrong" anyway, so I may pick a bad spot for my internal beat one.

After all, I AM that kid who is out of sync with the rest of the kids when you "do the hokey pokey"....