Gabo Rocha
About
I'm a Brazilian guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, music teacher, and music producer with over 10 years of professional experience performing, recording, producing, and teaching music.
I specialize in Brazilian guitar, with a strong focus on Samba, Bossa Nova, MPB, and other Brazilian rhythms. My work combines practical playing with harmony, rhythm, ear training, technique, improvisation, and music theory, always connecting these concepts directly to real music.
I also created “Ritmos Brasileiros” (Brazilian Rhythms), a complete educational course dedicated to Brazilian rhythm acoustic guitar. The course includes 35 lessons covering 19 Brazilian rhythms, with practical applications and suggested repertoire. It was developed to help guitarists understand not only the rhythmic patterns themselves, but also how to apply them musically when accompanying songs and playing Brazilian music.
Creating this course came from years of studying, performing, and teaching Brazilian music, and much of that experience is also incorporated into my private lessons.
As a professional musician, I have performed and recorded in a wide variety of musical settings, from Brazilian popular music to rock, pop, R&B, and instrumental music. I have also worked as a music producer and as a music copyist for OSPA (Porto Alegre Symphony Orchestra).
Teaching Style
My goal as a teacher is not simply to give students exercises or songs to memorize. I want them to understand what they are playing, develop a strong rhythmic and harmonic foundation, and become more independent and confident musicians.
Whether you want to develop authentic Brazilian rhythms, improve your accompaniment, understand harmony and the fretboard, improvise, learn new repertoire, or simply become a more complete guitarist, I can build a learning path around your goals and musical background.
All levels are welcome, from beginners to experienced players who want to deepen their understanding of Brazilian music.
Curriculum
My teaching method is personalized and practical. Rather than following the same fixed curriculum with every student, I first identify each student's musical background, goals, strengths, and difficulties, and then build a study plan around their needs.
I believe that technique and music theory are most effective when they are connected to real musical situations. For this reason, concepts such as rhythm, harmony, scales, chord construction, improvisation, and fretboard knowledge are taught through repertoire and practical application on the instrument.
For students interested in Brazilian music, I place special emphasis on developing a strong sense of rhythm and groove. We work on authentic accompaniment patterns, right-hand technique, syncopation, bass movement, chord voicings, dynamics, and the stylistic characteristics of Samba, Bossa Nova, MPB, Baião, and other Brazilian styles.
Depending on the student's goals, lessons may also include ear training, improvisation, arranging, composition, music theory, and repertoire development.
I provide my own teaching materials, including original PDFs, exercises, chord charts, rhythmic studies, and repertoire materials that I developed for my Brazilian Rhythms course. These materials cover different aspects of Brazilian guitar playing and are adapted according to each student's level and goals.
Credentials & Affiliations
Bachelor's Degree in Popular Music — Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) - 6 semester
Teaching Assistant — Harmony, UFRGS
Teaching Assistant — Ear Training, UFRGS
Music Copyist — OSPA (Porto Alegre Symphony Orchestra)
Professional guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, music teacher, and music producer
Creator of “Ritmos Brasileiros” (Brazilian Rhythms) — an educational method featuring 35 lessons covering 19 Brazilian rhythms.
Professional experience performing, recording, producing, and teaching Brazilian Popular Music, Samba, Bossa Nova, MPB, Rock, Pop, R&B, and instrumental music.
