Bossa nova (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈbɔsɐ ˈnɔvɐ] (listen)) is a style of samba developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.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.[5][6] The "bossa nova beat" is characteristic of a samba style and not of an autonomous genre.

According to the Brazilian journalist Ruy Castro, the bossa beat – which was created by the drummer Milton Banana – was "an extreme simplification of the beat of the samba school", as if all instruments had been removed and only the tamborim had been preserved.[9] In line with this thesis, musicians such as Baden Powell, Roberto Menescal, and Ronaldo Bôscoli also claim that this beat is related to the tamborim of the samba school. One of the major innovations of bossa nova was the way to synthesize the rhythm of samba on the classical guitar.