Desafinado Piano Tutorial
In this lesson we will examine one of the greatest pieces of music written by one of the greatest musical composers of all time.
The tune we are going to explore is “Desafinado” by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Newton Mendonça. They wrote a few songs together although Jobim received most of the credit for this composition.
The Story Behind The Song
The word “Desafinado” in Portuguese means “out-of-tune”. When Jobim was writing this song, a lot of people criticised his music for sounding strange with the unconventional use of the altered tensions such as b5s, #11s, b9s, and b13s.
Jobim was pushing boundaries by incorporating these non-diatonic tones into his music and Jobim and Mendonça decided to write a tune with many of these unusual scale degree choices in the melody.
The whole composition is full of these ‘quirks’ which gives the tune a lot of character and personality.
A Full Arrangement & Accompaniment
Jovino breaks down the harmony, the melody, and creates a full arrangement for you to learn and play.
Jovino also provides an accompaniment to the tune that could be played under any lead instrument or singer.
Related Lessons
We have voiced minor 251 progressions with our left hand and so now it’s time to spread the notes across 2 hands to get bigger chords with more impact!
In a minor 251, the 5 chord will be an altered dominant chord. In this lesson we apply altered dominant chords to the major 251 progression.
To play a rootless voicing we leave out the root of the chord and play one of the upper extensions to get a richer, more colourful sound.
Practice Tips
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Jovino recommends that you should always learn to accompany the tunes you are working on.
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This will give you a strong understanding of the harmonic foundation of the tune.
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If you are new to the concept of altered harmony, check out the course on Altered Harmony & Upper Structure Triads
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In those lessons we explore where chord alterations come from and how you can apply these beautiful colours to your playing.
