Brazilian guitarist Diego Figueiredo is a rising star in the guitar world. He has performed in 60 countries, has 23 CDs and 3 DVDs to his credit, and has won several important competitions including the Montreux Jazz Competition and the VISA Prize Award. Diego’s virtuoso fusion of jazz, bossa nova, and classical music has excited the ears of world-class artists and audiences around the globe.

Diego is also a passionate educator, and we’re very excited to welcome him to the family with his first TrueFire course, Brazilian Jazz Guitarra! Here are a few free sample lessons from the full course. Enjoy!

Chord Substitution Ideas

Download the tab and notation for this bossa nova guitar lesson on TrueFire.

Let’s talk now about chord substitutions and harmonic options that are available to you, and some different ways to use them.

The Bossa Nova & Jazz Connection

Download the tab and notation for this bossa nova guitar lesson on TrueFire.

It’s important to realize that bossa nova and jazz are very similar: the harmony, song compositions, and improvisational techniques can be carried over from one to the other. If you know jazz standards, it’s easy to adapt it in the bossa nova style.

Inside vs. Outside Melodies

Download the tab and notation for this bossa nova guitar lesson on TrueFire.

I’ll go over some ideas about going inside and outside of the scales that make up the chords we’re playing. Start out by using the major scale and going a half-step below or above, but make sure to resolve it back before too long — you don’t want to lose the listener’s ear.

Take Cinco – Overview

I’ll show you a variation of a traditional jazz song called “Take Five”. I’ve changed up some things in the bass line and harmony, and played some scales inside and outside.

Take Cinco – Performance

Download the tab and notation for this bossa nova guitar lesson on TrueFire.

Let’s take a look at this performance of “Take Cinco”, which comes with accompanying tab and Soundslice so you can loop or slow down anything you need to work it up to speed. Make sure to listen for some of the concepts we talked about in the first section.

Take Cinco – Breakdown

Now I’ll break down this performance of “Take Cinco” for you so you can get all the details on how to play it yourself. Take the time to learn these etudes, and apply some of the concepts to your own ideas.

El Colibri – Overview

This is part of a classical piece called “El Colibri” that I use to practice my right thumb technique, going down and up. Let’s check it out.

El Colibri – Performance

Download the tab and notation for this bossa nova guitar lesson on TrueFire.

Let’s take a look at this performance of “El Colibri”, which comes with accompanying tab and Soundslice so you can loop or slow down anything you need to work it up to speed. Make sure to listen for some of the concepts we talked about in the first section.

El Colibri – Breakdown

Now I’ll break down this performance of “El Colibri” for you so you can get all the details on how to play it yourself. Take the time to learn these etudes, and apply some of the concepts to your own ideas.


Dig these free Brazilian jazz guitar lessons? Check out the full course here: Brazilian Jazz Guitarra