Area of Study: 4 (Fusions) ‘Samba Em Prelúdio’ from Esperanza

Bossa Nova

Means New Trend in Brazilian and is a style of Brazilian music combined with Jazz. It often emphasizes melody over percussion, evoking themes of longing, love, and regret.

Rubato

A musical term meaning to play with a free tempo, allowing the performer to speed up or slow down for expressive effect.

Counterpoint

The technique of playing two or more different melodies simultaneously.

G9 Chord

A chord consisting of a G triad with an added ninth note, commonly used in jazz music.

Fake Book

A collection of jazz pieces containing only lead sheets, requiring musicians to improvise based on their own knowledge.

Enharmonic Equivalent

Two pitches that sound the same but are written differently, requiring a choice between them in music notation.

Lead Sheet

A simplified music sheet containing the main melody and basic chord symbols for improvisation.

Substitution

The practice of using one chord in place of another within a chord progression.

Extended Chord

A chord with additional notes beyond the basic triad, such as ninths, commonly found in jazz music.

Stepwise Movement

Melodic movement by one scale step, often creating a smooth and connected sound.

Substitution

the technique of using a chord in place of another in a progression of chords, or a chord progression.

Origin

This piece is a cover and was originally intended as a male and female vocal duet.

Dynamics

Samba is often loud and associated with carnivals but the dynamics in this piece are much quieter.

Key Signature

The piece is in B minor and this piece is all about the harmony!

Melody features

The melody is syllabic.

• Ascending broken chords in the vocals can be heard at the beginning.

• There is a mostly step-wise movement in the melody from Verse 2

• The melody often consists of the highest notes of extended chords (for example the 13th which is a G in a Bm13th chord) and dissonant notes.

• The guitar solo uses tremolo picking and fast arpeggios

• Even though this is a modern piece you can still see ornamentation – There is a Mordent in bar 1.

• The vocals often use sequences – see bars 4-5.

Jazz Features

-Both the guitar and bass have a solo which is common in jazz.

The chords often feature extended chords which can provide dissonance – jazz harmony.

Monophonic Section

Although the open strings ring (this is called a harmonic) between the 1st and 3rd bar the opening

consists of only a bass guitar and is therefore monophonic.

Texture

Overall the texture is polyphonic/contrapuntal.