The Girl from Ipanema: chords & grille (gypsy jazz)
The Girl from Ipanema by Antonio Carlos Jobim & Vinicius de Moraes, key of F (bossa), form A. Below is the full chord grid; on Haute Gitanerie you can play along with a scrolling chord ribbon, transpose to any key, set the tempo, and switch on a rhythm backing (la pompe) to practise your solos over the changes.
About
Written in 1962 by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinícius de Moraes, The Girl from Ipanema became the bossa nova anthem through the 1964 Getz/Gilberto recording, whose Astrud Gilberto vocal won the 1965 Grammy for Record of the Year.
The sound: a sunlit F major that glides away on a surprise: the bridge lifts to distant keys (G♭ major) before easing home. Smooth, understated, all in the phrasing.
Practising it: keep the bossa feel relaxed and even. Work the F major scale over the A section, then track the bridge's shift to G♭ carefully; target chord tones and let notes ring rather than rushing.
The Girl from Ipanema chords: the grille
A : | F | F | G7 | G7 | Gm | G♭7 | F | F#7 | F | F | G7 | G7 | Gm | G♭7 | F | F | F# | F# | B7 | B7 | F#m | F#m | D7 | D7 | Gm | Gm | E♭7 | E♭7 | Am | D7♭9 | Gm | C7♭9 | F | F | G7 | G7 | Gm | G♭7 | F | F |
Chords used
F · G7 · Gm · G♭7 · F# · B7 · F#m · D7 · E♭7 · Am · D7♭9 · C7♭9
Play along
Open the interactive grille for The Girl from Ipanema: loop any section, transpose to any key, set the tempo, and play over a rhythm accompaniment, with a real recorded pompe on featured tunes. In the browser, free.