Más Que Nada (arr. Sam Burns): SSAATTB Choral Octavo

Sam Burns' arrangement captures everything that makes this song endure: infectious rhythm, warm harmonies, and genuine joy. The SSAATTB voicing sits comfortably across mixed voices while maintaining the bossa nova groove that defines the original. Singers at this level finally get to perform a song that feels both celebratory and musically substantial.

Sunshine, movement, and unstoppable optimism. The melody floats above a gentle, swaying harmonic foundation that somehow makes everyone want to shift their weight. There's a lightness here that doesn't read as frivolous; instead, it feels earned and genuine.

This arrangement works for any mixed or predominantly female choir with some jazz harmony literacy and comfort with Latin rhythms. Choirs performing a light spring concert or a program centered on world music will find this immediately appealing. Soloists can also benefit from the full arrangement as a backing track.

• Establish the groove early in rehearsal by having the rhythm section (or a recorded track) play independently while singers listen and internalize the feel. The bossa nova heartbeat needs to be in the body before worrying about entrances.
• Treat the written dynamics as suggestions rather than laws. Latin music lives in the spaces between volume levels; experiment with how soft you can take the verses while keeping the pulse completely secure.
• Isolate the jazz voicings in the arrangement. These chords sound thinner in isolation than in performance, so singers often second-guess their accuracy. Singing them as stacked triads helps build confidence.
• Let the text articulation reflect the Portuguese phrasing, not English speech patterns. The natural word stress in 'Mas que nada' falls differently than it does in English, and honoring that keeps the authenticity intact.

Open a second half with this piece to shift the temperature of your concert and give the audience permission to smile. It pairs naturally with other Brazilian repertoire, or stands alone as the palate cleanser between heavier works. Some choirs have success programming it as the opener of a casual, informal set.

• Reading and executing bossa nova rhythms with secure internal pulse
• Singing jazz voicings and secondary dominants with accuracy
• Balancing block harmonies while maintaining individual line independence
• Phrasing in a non-English language with idiomatic stress and inflection
• Listening across seven voice parts to find one's own entry point