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Jazz guitar for beginners · Tune 9 of 10 · Jazz harmony
Seedling Bossa DG original
A gentle bossa nova in A minor, with straight quavers and a minor ii–V–i. Free jazz guitar sheet music with TAB and chord boxes. Press Play to hear it on a guitar, with the chords strummed behind it, then turn off the tune and play it yourself.
- Key A minor
- Time 4/4
- Tempo Bossa nova (straight quavers), crotchet = 126
- Chords Am7, Dm7, Bm7♭5, E7
The chords
Learn these first. The dots are where your fingers go, numbered 1 (index) to 4 (little finger); an open circle means play that string open, and × means don’t play it.
The music
Play counts you in with one bar of clicks. Chords only leaves the tune to you; Tune only leaves the strumming to you. Click any note to start from there.
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Swipe the music sideways to see the whole line.
About this tune
A gentle bossa nova that we wrote for this page. Bossa is played with straight, even quavers, not swung, and the melody floats over a steady rocking pattern. Bars 5 to 7 are the minor ii–V–i: Bm7♭5 to E7 to Am7, the minor-key version of the change in Sunday Two-Five. Bm7♭5 is the hardest shape here: four fingers, with the two outside strings left out.
How to practise it
- Learn Am7, Dm7, Bm7♭5 and E7, and play the changes slowly, two bars each, then one.
- Listen to the comping with Chords only: a bass note on beats 1 and 3, and the chord in a two-bar syncopated pattern around them. Try copying it with your thumb for the bass and your fingers for the chord, or keep it simple with a pick.
- Learn the tune. Notice the tie in bars 1, 3 and 5: the second note arrives early, half a beat before beat 3, and holds through it. That anticipation is the bossa sound.
- Play the tune softly and evenly. Bossa is quiet music; let the chords breathe.
About the tune
We wrote this tune for these pages, so it’s free to play, record and share.
Bossa nova (“new trend”) began in Rio de Janeiro in the late 1950s, when the guitarist and singer João Gilberto played samba rhythms quietly on a nylon-string guitar under jazz-style chords. It swept into American jazz in the early 1960s, and bossa tunes remain a staple of every jazz guitarist’s repertoire.
Where the tune comes from
We wrote Seedling Bossa for this course, so you won’t find it anywhere else. It’s free to play, teach, record and share.
Quick facts
- Tune
- Digital Greenhouse, 2026
- Key
- A minor
- Time signature
- 4/4
- Length
- 16 bars
- Tempo
- Bossa nova (straight quavers), crotchet = 126
- Chords
- Am7, Dm7, Bm7♭5, E7
- What it teaches
- Bossa nova: straight quavers and the minor ii–V–i
- Place in the course
- Tune 9 of 10 (Jazz harmony)
Questions and answers
Which chords are in Seedling Bossa?
Is Seedling Bossa free to use?
How do I read the TAB under the music?
How fast should I play it?
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