On a another thread: http://www.synthzone.com/ubbs/Forum37/HTML/009224.html Drdalet shared with us the nice chords he uses (on his Yamaha arranger in'full fingered' split mode) on the tune: "Girl From Ipanema". Realizing"Girl From Ipanema" as a universally recognized and played by most (or at least many of us) here, and that this song is open to so many chord voicing & chord substitution possibilities, I thought it would be interesting to find out what chords & voicings are used on this tune by other musicians here as well. For the sake of consistancy & the fact that this song is most commonly shown in fake books in the key of F, I request that people present their chords & chord voicings in F as well.

Here are the left hand chords (and LH chord voicings) I typically play (on my Tyros in 'fingered' mode, with split point set at F#2 ) for this tune. To fill out the chordss to include chord extension alterations such as (b9), I include this note in the right hand harmonized below the melody note. For example, in measure 6 of the A section, if I choose to include the b9 note, I'll play a Db below the melody note played in my right hand. In this instance I would play a C7 chord in the LH instead of the C9 voicing shown and voice it : E-Bb-C to avoid the strong dissonance of D2 with the Db3, though sometimes this dissonance can be a desirable thing.


A Section:

|FMaj7|./.|G13|./.|
FMaj7: F-A-C-E
G13: F-B-E

|Gm7|C9|FMaj7|F#13|
Gm7: F-G-Bb-D
C9: E-Bb-D
FMaj7: F-A-C-E
F#13: E-Bb-Eb

Bridge (B) Section:

|GbMaj7|./.|B7| ./.|
GbMaj7: Gb-Bb-Db-F
B7: F#-A-B-D#

|F#m7|./.|D9|./.|
F#m7: F#-A-C#-E
D9: F#-C-E

|Gm7|./.|Eb9| ./.|
Gm7: F-G-Bb-D
Eb9: G-Db-F

|Am7|F#dim| Gm7|C9|
Am7:G-A-C-E
F#dim7: F#-A-C-Eb
Gm7: F-G-Bb-D
C9: E-Bb-D

I now look forward to hearing what chords (and voicings) others here use on the "Girl From Ipanema".

Scott

Addendum:

Yet another terrific ASSET of arranger keyboards is that they allow us to discover different chord substitution possiblities which will work with a particular song. These include discovering tri-tone substitions: http://www.apassion4jazz.net/tritone.html and other types of substitions (on bass, chord alterations (b9, #9, b13, alt, dim, etc) which open up the musical chord palette of playing & sounding possiblities.

Perhaps some of you wonder WHY when you play a familiar song from sheet music or fakebook it doesn't sound the quite same as heard on the record or when performed live by pro musicians. One reason is that the chords presented in fakebooks are typically just the basic bare boned chords, and more often than not, NOT the ones actually played on the record or by pro musicians when you go out to hear music (especially jazz & standards) at a leading nightclub. Chords & how you voice them & which ones you use can make the BIG difference in sounding amatuer or professional. Here's a great book on chord substitions which I highly recommend: http://aebersold.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=HCS&Category _Code=ARRCOM

[This message has been edited by Scottyee (edited 10-30-2004).]

Hi Scott

I sent you my music part for Garota as .enc file.

Chico

Scott, didn't you leave out the 2nd line of the bridge?

F#m7 D9

acctjm: Thanks for catching that. I went back and made the correction. - Scott

Hi Scott,

My progression:
Intro:

|Am7|D7b9 |Gm7|C7b9|
The melody is the same of B Section(2nd part)


A Section:

|FMaj7|./.|G7(13)|./.|

|Gm7|C7b9|FMaj7,AbMaj7|Dbmaj7,C7b9|

Repeat A Section


Bridge (B) Section:

|GbMaj7|./.|B7(13)| ./.|

|Gbm7|./.|D7(13)|./.|

|Gm7|./.|Eb7(13)| ./.|

|Am7|D7b9| Gm7|C7b9|

(C) Section:

|FMaj7|./.|G7(13)|./.|

|Gm7|C7b9|FMaj7|Gbmaj7|Fmaj7|Gbmaj7|Fmaj7|

Cheers
Chico




[This message has been edited by ChicoBrasil (edited 10-31-2004).]

Why sing it in the key of F when the key C is more suited to a male vocal range? The original recording was in Db by the way. Sounds better instrumentaly in those keys too.




[This message has been edited by alfredo (edited 10-31-2004).]

Hi,
I take the middle part for intro with this chords:

|F#Maj7/ab B7/a|
|F#min7/b D7/c|
|gmin7/c Eb7/Db |
am7-d7#9-gm7-C7#9
etc...
Notlos

------------------

Intro
|: F maj7 | Gb7 +4 :|


Verse
| F Maj7 |(D-7) | G7 | G7 |
| G-7 |C7 (Gb7+4) | F Maj7 | Gb7 +4 |

Bridge
| Gb Maj7 | Gb Maj7 | B7 +4 | B7 +4 |
| F#- Maj7 | F#-7 | D7 sus | D7 |
| G-7 |G-7 | Eb7 sus | Eb7 |
| A-7 |D7 +4 b9 | G-7 |C7 +4 b9

Sometimes I pretty it up by playing D-7 11 for the G7 in bars three and four.

Alfredo.

Girl From Ipanema was composed by Antonio Carlos Jobim on F Key .

Chico

Dirk.

Very interesting progression but I prefer the kind of prog. with Jobim's flavor as:
Em7,A7b9,Dm7,G7b9,Cm7,F7b9,Bbm7......

Chico

ChicoBrazil,

The key was Db, not F, and the live version was in D.
The original and best-known version is that performed on the 1963 album Getz/Gilberto. On the album João Gilberto performs the song in Db. Astrud Gilberto, Tom Jobim and Stan Getz are also on the album.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000047CX/002-6986519-6757627?v=glance



[This message has been edited by alfredo (edited 10-31-2004).]

Hi Chico,
About the original song "the girl..." I'ts possible that he make it in F, but the first recording of stan getz,joao gilberto and astrud gilberto (also jobim)was made in
Db I have also a live version in D. From the same artists on cd. (source from the Getz/gilberto album)

Notlos

------------------

Yesterday was in G, not F.

Hi scott,

I have read your topic complete now and i see you recomend one of my favourite teachers in Theory-books "Andy laverne".
He has wrote also 2 great books for re-arranging songs and piano chords.
Also john megahan is a good sollution if you want go deep in to chord progressions.

Notlos www.notlos.com


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Excerpt frpm "The True Bossa Nova"
http://www.megatar.com/documents/newsletters/archive/MTN-200110.html#Article1

Interview with Marcos Silva, a Brazilian Keyboard Master:

"What is the authentic Bossa rhythm? A: Aha! I grew up in Brazil, and spent half my life there, and I never heard a Brazilian drummer play bossa nova the way Americans usually hear it played.

Let me write it down. Here's two measures of 'WRONG', and then there is a correct example. ['RIGHT.'](see link)

Why is this one wrong and that one right? A: First, the Bossa Nova is not really a rhythm. The Bossa Nova is a period of time. The true Bossa Nova is music from that period. It's not just the rhythm.

In my opinion, the American guys went to Brazil, and they brought it here -- Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd -- To play that true rhythm on the drums is very hard. So these musicians went out and they played some 'Latin stuff.' And the combination wasn't a happy one, you know what I'm saying? (laughs)

They were playing root-root five-five, like in 'Ricky don't lose that number'. And I don't know anybody in Brazil who plays the bossa nova with the clave rhythm.

In other words, this whole simplification that says you take the samba clave rhythm and you move the last beat one click later, and now you got your bossa nova, it's just not true.

The clave - we don't have that instrument in Brazil. So the thing about the clave and Brazilian music, I don't know where it comes from. These claves, bongos, and so on, if you hear them in Brazilian music they are just enhancement. They are not part of the music. In Brazilian music, the harmony and melody dictate where the music is going. "

Dirk

I have in my hands the original parts of Garota de Ipanema ,wroted in F key .
Arrangements for Stan Getz , João Gilberto, Astrud,was wrote more than one year latter.
The original first progression is :
Fmaj7,G7b5,Gm7,Gb7(#11)
I like this for piano but not for arrangers.
Chico

The point is that the key that "Garota de Ipanema" is most often heard in is Db because that's the key of the original hit recording heard millions of times. Listen for yourself, it's Db. You can keep thinking it's F, but the proof is in the original classic recording.
Listen: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000047CX/002-6986519-6757627?v=glance



[This message has been edited by alfredo (edited 11-02-2004).]

Just to add more confusion, I play this song in Eb, because it's my favorite key.

What's really important, of course, is not the key, but the relationship between the different chords in the progression. From this point of view, I would like to comment that I don't really like to play the second chord of the song as a "13th", because I think that this chord has a "strong" character and to me is more suited as a final chord before resolving to the dominant (but not in the case of "Girl from Ipanema", anyway...); as a passing chord between Fmaj7 and Fm7, I would play a "9th" instead.

Another interesting observation refers to the Gm7-C7-Fmaj7 progression: the C7 can be altered as a C7b9 or can be substituted with a Gb7 (I am not sure, but I think that this would be called a tritone substitution; maybe Scott can confirm this).

I just had an idea: what if we all post our personal rendition of this song? After all, like Confucius used to say, an example is worth a BILLION words!

Hello Alfredo.

You are 100% right.
I do not have the Jobim original song book.
I do not know A. C. Jobim musical creation
I do not have more of 20 different brasilian records of Garota de Ipanema.
I do not play Bossa Nova.
I am not musician.

Chico

This topic does not deserve to die like this.
We were finally talking music, instead of gear!

That quote is so wrong on so many levels. There is no such thing as a typical range within a specific key because you don;t know WHERE the melody falls.
The key of F is very comfortable for me ( a Baritone ) when performing Ipanima. C or D would be impossible without estrogin injections.

Dave It is amazing that people in music for many years would make such a comment. It's so obivious that the key one sings in is determined by the melody notes that would fit the individuals voice range as you stated here.

With all of the things in music that can be complicating, this fact should be obvious to anyone with a year or more music and vocal experience.

From a vocalist's point of view, selecting a key to best suit the singer's individual vocal range REMAINS paramount, but from a purely instrumental point of view, beyond the difficulty of playing in certain keys (different keys are more/less challenging to play on differing instruments), the sound of the same song will evoke a DIFFERENT mood. In general, sharp keys tend to sound brighter, and flat keys darker. Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart composed each of their works purposely in specific keys because of the specific mood it creates. People that are most sensitive to perceiving these key differences (all 12 keys) are those who born with perfect pitch.

Scott

Let me add to this that I am not singing it at all and I play it in F, because that's how I found it in The Real Book. Besides that I find it a pleasant key to play in - at least for this song.
How it was originally written is interesting to know, but Jobim changes keys too, probably to accommodate Astrud Gilberto or/and Stan Getz. I think if I would have to sing it, I also would find the best key for me to sing in. (and I am sure I would try to sing it in two languages, Brazilian and English.) Unfortunately I don't sing.

The chords I use are pretty much the same every one uses, with some changes. The only big difference is that during improv I play the bridge section:

F#M7/F#m6/F#m7/F#M7b5 So the notes go:
f#-a#-c#-f
f#-a-c#-d#
f#-a-c#-e
f#-a-c-e
then the same as during the melody:
BbM7/Gm7b5/Am7/Db79 (not b9)/Gm7/C7b9//


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drdalet