Girl from Ipanema

[Mr Green Genes]

Trying to learn "Girl from Ipanema". This songs contains a 6/9 chord. What exactly does that mean. Does it mean that both the 6th and the 9th are added to the major triad? Any help would be appreciated

[ragman1]

Basically, yes.

For example, G maj is G B D. The 6th of G is E and the 9th is A. So the 69 chord would look like G B D E A. But on a guitar it's not necessarily practical to play every note.

The most commonly used shapes are these. G69 (6th string root) and D69 (5th string root).

That's the 'full' chord but it's more usually played more simply:




Obviously there are other voicings (you can easily google them).

And some chords are very similar. A G69 would be as above. If you move the D69 down to make it C69 you'll see virtually the same notes are covered as the G69 except the root - C E A D.

In bossa rhythm playing the bass note is usually shifted, where practical, between root and 5th so on the D69 you'd shift between the D and A bass (5th fret, 6th string).

Also there are m69 chords.

Best thing to do is watch how good players play the chords. There's Gilberto (who plays Ipanema in Db!) and others. But it can get complicated :-)

[ragman1]

Here's Jobim. The first chord he plays is an F69 (the D69 shape at the 8th fret). He's not swapping the bass here.

Be careful who you get lessons from on the internet, there are a lot of cowboys out there. Be wary of obviously amateur people who start with FM7 :-)

The Brazilian people are best, probably, but Frank Vignola's study is good.

[ragman1]

This looks okay too, written by our very own Dirk - with video :-)

The Girl From Ipanema Chords | Jazz Guitar Online | The Blog

That's it, I think I've done my bit now, over to you...

[Mr Green Genes]

Thank you!

[rcandro]

Be careful who you get lessons from on the internet, there are a lot of cowboys out there. Be wary of obviously amateur people who start with FM7 :-)

There is controversy about this. In Jobim's songbook released in Brazil the first chord is a Fmaj7, as you can see below:



The same chord is shown on the site www.jobim.org:

Garota de Ipanema

Anyway, for harmonic purposes, both chords work well.

[mr. beaumont]

Cmon, don't get silly. First chord is Fmaj. Add a maj7, add a 6/9, it's jaaaaaz, man! Or bossa, whatevs, it's jaaaaaz.

I like an Fmaj13.

[rcandro]

Cmon, don't get silly. First chord is Fmaj. Add a maj7, add a 6/9, it's jaaaaaz, man! Or bossa, whatevs, it's jaaaaaz.

I like an Fmaj13.

Just avoid using the Fmaj without any dissonance.

[mr. beaumont]

Just avoid using the Fmaj without any dissonance.

I like the way you think

[pauln]

I like Fmaj7sus2 -> Fmaj7sus2b5... x 8 10 9 8 x -> x 8 9 9 8 x

It is more subtle, yet sounds just right.

[mr. beaumont]

Of course, that second chord is a G13, too...

[ragman1]

I wasn't saying don't use FM7, only that many good players use 69, and not always in F.

If you look on YouTube for 'Garota De Ipanema' you'll get all the Brazilian stuff. They all use 69, possibly without exception.

[rcandro]

I wasn't saying don't use FM7, only that many good players use 69, and not always in F.

If you look on YouTube for 'Garota De Ipanema' you'll get all the Brazilian stuff. They all use 69, possibly without exception.

No, you said that amateurs use maj7 chords. I don't agree. I don't think a single chord is enough to distinguish amateurs from professionals.

[ragman1]

No, you said that amateurs use maj7 chords. I don't agree. I don't think a single chord is enough to distinguish amateurs from professionals.

Not all. It wasn't a general statement. Actually Jobim played a FM7 in a video with, I think, Frank Sinatra. But I do think that a lot of quick 'n easy players just go for the FM7 because it's in most popular books. They haven't researched the tune enough, they just want to play it.

[CrackerJackLee]

An old thread, but a good one. I'd just like to share with other beginners something that may save them time and money.

Guitarists and pianists (and plectrum banjoists) have a great gig. We can harmonize each note of the melody instantaneously like a movie or average-out the melody with a series of snapshot chords - and both approaches work, depending upon the strictness of the rhythm. Most published chord charts "average out" the melody of each measure and provide "a snapshot chord" to comp on, with the expectation that the player will sub other qualities - as long as they support the melody. For a tonic major chord, options like M Madd9 M6 M69 M7 M79 M7913... allow for many possible arrangements of the same tune.

To play the changes instantaneously, as the melody develops, requires voicing and voice leading as in chord-melody guitar. The melody forms the appropriate tensions and extensions (top line) over an appropriate bass line (inversion/tritone sub) to sandwich the "function guide tones" somewhere in between (3b 3 7b 7 6? ), like a pianist outlining the melody "inside" the chords - leading the voices and keeping an audience. This approach is achieved by four fingers on the fingerboard in four part harmony grips like x1573x, x1379x, 5x361x or with partial barres 15x373 or 1x7369.

George Van Eps, Alan Reusse and Freddie Green used various degrees of reduced-chord voice leading, even within strict big band rhythm playing. Selection of a M7 or a M69 in a Bossa Nova then becomes the artist's choice of nuance, whereas the sample chord printed in any given chart is a moot point (sometimes you get ukelele chords from the 1930's). In the end we become our own arranger.

[christianm77]

6/9 sounds better

[matt.guitarteacher]

or with partial barres 15x373 or 1x7369.

Yeah Everyone always loves playing the old 1x7369. Careful not to use it in every tune though, or it becomes cliché. Just saying.