Bossa Νova is a genre of Brazilian music, which developed and was popularized in the 1950s and 1960s and is today one of the best-known Brazilian music genres abroad. The phrase bossa nova means literally “new trend”. A lyrical fusion of samba and jazz, Βossa Νova acquired a large following in the 1960s, initially among young musicians and college students.

Influenced by West coast jazz, in the 1950s composer Antonio Carlos Jobim helped to form Bossa Nova, a new music that blended together gentle Brazilian rhythms and cool-toned improvising. It is mainly characterized by a “different beat” that altered the harmonies with the introduction of unconventional chords and an innovative syncopation of traditional samba from a single rhythmic division. The rhythms are usually played lightly as 3-3-4​-3-3.