Black Orpheus

A Boss Nova standard from the 1959 film, Orfeu Negro made in Brazil by French director Marcel Camus and starring Marpessa Dawn.

Published: 01 Oct 2011 Updated: 21 Mar 2022Visits: 1Code: UL504

Category: BossaInstrument: Any Subjects: Jazz • Repertoire • Latin • Bossa

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Black Orpheus

Black Orpheus (Portuguese: Orfeu Negro) is a 1959 film made in Brazil by French director Marcel Camus and starring Marpessa Dawn and Breno Mello. It is based on the play Orfeu da Conceição by Vinicius de Moraes, which is an adaptation of the Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, set in the modern context of a favela in Rio de Janeiro during Carnaval.

Orfeu Negro

Black Orpheus — Premium Play-along Track

Premium Play-along Tracks are only available to Premium members and Active/Private Students.

Here is a Demo of Desafinado to get an idea of the quality of these custom play-along tracks.

Play-along Demo: Desafinado

DesafinadoPremium Play-along Track with Guitar Melody Played


I, (Curt) originally created these tracks to perform over for gigs and this was a demo for booking gigs.

These Premium Play-along Tracks are available to LearningUkulele.com Site Members and are my personal one-of-kind tracks I (Curt) and Chuck Anderson recorded and arranged.

Black Orpheus is in the Real Book - Volume 1 Sixth Edition book.

Black Orpheus is on my, 2002 Midnight at the Jazz Cafe, The Curt Sheller Trio CD.

The film is particularly noted for its soundtrack by two Brazilian composers: Antônio Carlos Jobim, whose song "A felicidade" opens the film; and Luiz Bonfá, whose "Manhã de Carnaval" and "Samba of Orpheus" have become bossa nova classics. The songs sung by the character Orfeu were dubbed by singer Agostinho dos Santos.

Black Orpheus is in the The Daily Ukulele — Leap Year Edition 366 Songs for Better Living book.

Black Orpheus won the Palme d'Or at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival as well as the 1960 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and the 1960 Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film (in those awards the film was credited as a French production; only in the 1961 BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Language Film was Brazil credited together with France and Italy).

Large tracks of the film were shot in the Morro da Babilônia, a favela in the Leme neighbourhood of Rio de Janeiro. In 1999, the film was essentially remade as Orfeu by Carlos Diegues, this time with a soundtrack featuring Brazilian singer-songwriter Caetano Veloso.

Black Orpheus…

Midnight at the Jazz Cafe

Black Orpheus is available on my 2002 Jazz Trio CD: Midnight at the Jazz Cafe.

With the help of two great musicians, I’m allowed to put together some melodies and chords and capture a little jazz for the first time on CD. I’ve picked some of my favorite songs and thrown in a couple of originals. I hope you enjoy this slice of time in my musical career and development.

Links & Resources

Main Song Download(s)

The main downloads for this Song.

SL78

Black Orpheus - Lead Sheet for Premium Play-along Track

Updated: 31 Dec 2016

WEB_CONTENT_ONLY

Black Orpheus - Premium Play-along Track

Updated: 31 Dec 2016

Related Lessons

Related Lessons for Black Orpheus.

UL42-7

Core Chords - The Big Six - Building a Solid Chord Foundation

Updated: 07 Sep 2021

The Big Six Core Chords is a series of lessons for building your core, essential 4-part chords. These chords commonly called jazz chords, are really just 4-part chords used in a wide range of musical styles. These chords include: Seventh , Major Seventh, Minor Seventh, Half Diminished Seventh or Minor Seven Flat Five, Diminished Seventh, and Augmented Seventh. These six chords form a core set of chords.

ULHA-RB1-49

Black Orpheus

Updated: 05 Apr 2023

Harmonic Analysis (RMA) Worksheet for the song: "Black Orpheus".

Related Lesson Series

Related Lessons Series for Black Orpheus.

Core “Jazz” Ukulele Chords - The Big Six

Updated: 13 Aug 2024

Core Chords for Ukulele, The Big Six - From four F7 chord voicings or shapes, your can build your massive 4-part, a.k.a., “jazz” chord vocabulary. Beyond basic open position chords, basic movable form chords and a core set of 4-part chords. There are just too many chords shapes too memorize.

Harmonic Analysis for Scale and Chord Selection

Updated: 09 Jun 2023

Harmonic Analysis (HA), also known as the study of chord relationships, is the method used to identify the harmonic role of chords within a chord progression or song. A chord progression refers to a sequence of chords, with each chord having a root note and belonging to a specific chord type. The function of a chord within a particular scale's tonality is determined by its relationship to that scale.

Related Books & Charts

Related Books for Black Orpheus.

AGCUKE1

A Guide to Advanced Ukulele Chords - Volume I

Updated: 13 Feb 2020

Beyond learning basic Ukulele chords, most players struggle with advanced chords. Commonly called "jazz" chords, these more sophisticated voicings find a wide use in all forms of music. A Guide to Advanced Chords for Ukulele - presents a highly organized and efficient approach to the mysterious subject of advanced chords. Chord dictionaries are not the answer.

AGCUKE1STD

Exploring Jazz Chords on Ukulele

Updated: 10 Jan 2020

Exploring jazz chords using a variety of common chord progressions based on songs from the standard jazz repertoire. Core Chords are the basic set of chords needed to play a wide range of music, in a variety of styles. This set of chords includes basic open position chords, basic movable form chords and the core 4-part "jazz" chords.

A Selection of Books & Reference Charts that are recommended for creating a solid foundation with your chosen instrument and music in general.

Books

Learning the Ukulele Fingerboard – C Tuning

Finally, learn the names of the notes of the fingerboard.

Six Secrets of Ukulele Fingering

Learn the six fingering principles to navigating the ukulele fingerboard. Fingering is one of the most universal topics.

Harmonic Analysis for Scale Selection and Chord Substitution

Harmonic Analysis is the understanding of the functional sequence of chords. It is the process used to analyze the harmonic structure of a progression, song or composition.

Ukulele – Reading Music Series – Primer

Learn to read single note melodies in the first/open position is a lot easier than you might think.

Daily Practice Material for the Contemporary Ukulele

An organized collection of daily practice and reference material for the contemporary ukulele player for developing the vocabulary and knowledge necessary for single note playing.

Checkout the Books for ALL available books.

Reference Charts

Ukulele Fingerboard Chart for C Tuning, Low or High G - G C E A

Ukulele Fingerboard Chart for C Tuning, Low or High G – G C E A

Ukulele Fingerboard Chart for G Tuning, Low or High A – D G B E

Ukulele Fingerboard Chart for G Tuning, Low or High A – D G B E

Key Signatures — Circle of Fourths and Fifths – ANSI A & A4 sizes

A handy reference chart of all 15 major and relative minor key signatures. US Letter 8.5 x 11 sized (ANSI-A) , A4

Checkout the Books for additional Handy, Dandy Reference Charts.

Related Song Files, Resources and Assets

Related Assets for Black Orpheus.

SL78

Black Orpheus - Lead Sheet for Premium Play-along Track

Updated: 31 Dec 2016

WEB_CONTENT_ONLY

Black Orpheus - Premium Play-along Track

Updated: 31 Dec 2016

WEB_CONTENT_ONLY

Black Orpheus, Midnight at the Jazz Cafe Recording

Updated: 21 Mar 2022

The Curt Sheller Trio's Midnight at the Jazz Cafe 2002 trio recording of Black Orpheus.

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Just browsing over both books, they look fantastic! I'm a guitarist and uke player for over 25 years and was thinking about writing a ukulele book but you've already written what I think are the best, most comprehensive and thorough books I've ever seen for the instrument. I just might end up buying every book you've written and I'll be giving my highest recommendation for your books to my friends and students. Thank you so much for taking the time to write such great books!Peter Rhee

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