Roberto Menescal, music · Ronaldo Bôscoli, lyrics · Brazil, 1961 · English version Little Boat
O Barquinho
O Barquinho (The Little Boat) is a song by Roberto Menescal and Ronaldo Bôscoli from 1961. The idea came when a boat carrying Menescal and his friends broke down at sea off Cabo Frio. Menescal counts almost three thousand recordings, sung in Portuguese, English, French, Spanish and Japanese.
Listen in this order
The path starts with the first Brazilian records of 1961 and 1962, goes to a live jazz club in Boston, then follows the song through singers in Brazil and abroad. Menescal himself joins in on the last two. Each step gives one thing to listen for and one thing to try.
Maysa made the record for her 1961 album Barquinho, which a Folha Vitória feature names as the song's first recording, though others dispute that. Menescal says the string players applauded when the take ended.
A singer with strings behind her
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Listen for
Maysa's voice leads, with the string section of an orchestra behind her. The record lasts only two minutes and twenty seconds, so the whole tune passes quickly.
Try it on your instrument
Hum the tune along with Maysa until you know it. Then play it on your instrument with the from the chart. A smaller version: play only the first four .
João Gilberto put the song on his 1961 album João Gilberto, with an arrangement credited to Antônio Carlos Jobim. Menescal says Gilberto and Jobim kept the recording secret from him and played him the finished track at Jobim's house.
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Listen for
João Gilberto sings and plays guitar. Listen to how quietly and evenly he sings, and to the steady rhythm his guitar keeps going under the voice.
Try it on your instrument
Play the 16 with the from the chart and keep the rhythm light and even. A smaller version: strum one chord per bar, and sing or hum the tune over it.
The Tamba Trio of Luiz Eça, Bebeto and Hélcio Milito recorded the song in 1962, the year of their first album on Philips.
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Listen for
Three musicians make up the group, and they keep one relaxed beat from the first note to the last. The record is only two and a half minutes long.
Try it on your instrument
If you play with friends, try the tune with just a few of you, each taking a part: one on the tune, one on the , one on a light beat. Alone, play the tune and the chords in turn.
Gábor Szabó's group played the song live at the Jazz Workshop in Boston on April 14 and 15, 1967. The take came out on Impulse! that year on The Sorcerer.
Two guitars together · Recorded live in a club
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Listen for
Two guitars take the lead, with bass, drums and hand percussion keeping the rhythm going. The track runs more than four minutes, about twice as long as the Brazilian records on this path.
Try it on your instrument
Play the 16 through once as written. Then play them again and change the rhythm of the tune a little, or add one note of your own at the end of a line. A smaller version: play the tune twice and only change how hard you play it.
Elis Regina recorded the song on her 1969 album Elis, Como e Porque. Menescal remembers telling her it did not suit her, and she asked Erlon Chaves for an arrangement far from .
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Listen for
Elis Regina sings it in two minutes and six seconds, the shortest record on this path. Menescal calls the arrangement anti , so listen for how it differs from the quiet records before it.
Try it on your instrument
Play the tune again at a faster, firmer pace than you used for the earlier steps, and notice how the same notes now sound more urgent.
Nara Leão was on the boat when the idea for the song came, and she sang it on her 1985 album Garota de Ipanema.
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Listen for
Nara Leão, who was on the boat trip behind the song, is the singer. At just over three minutes, the record is longer than any of the 1960s Brazilian records on this path.
Try it on your instrument
Sing the tune out loud, in any language or just with sounds, while you play the . Singing makes the shape of each line clearer than playing it.
Stacey Kent recorded the song for The Changing Lights, made in 2012 and 2013, with Menescal on guitar. She sang the Portuguese words and passed over the English version, which she did not find comfortable.
With the composer on the record
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Listen for
Kent sings in Portuguese, and Menescal plays guitar on the record. It lasts just over three minutes, a little longer than the first Brazilian records.
Try it on your instrument
Play the tune over the from the chart at a soft volume, and try to keep your playing as even as the record sounds. A smaller version: play only the chords of the first eight , softly.
Luísa Sonza & Roberto Menescal · 2026 · Bossa nova
Bossa Sempre Nova
Luísa Sonza conceived the 2026 album Bossa Sempre Nova, and she and Menescal recorded the song for it together.
With the composer on the record
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Listen for
Both names are on the credit: Sonza and Menescal. At 2:52 the record runs a little longer than the first Brazilian ones from 1961.
Try it on your instrument
Play the tune once through for yourself, then play it again while thinking of a different mood each time, such as happy and then tired, and see what changes.
Menescal and Bôscoli write the song in 1961, and Maysa's album Barquinho is said to be its first recording. João Gilberto records it the same year, and in 1967 Gábor Szabó plays it live in a Boston jazz club.
1980s
In 1985 Nara Leão records it. She was on the boat trip that gave Menescal the idea for the song.
2010s
Stacey Kent sings it in Portuguese in 2013, with Menescal on guitar. Joyce Moreno includes it on her album Raiz, released in 2015.
2020s
Luísa Sonza and Menescal record it together for the album Bossa Sempre Nova, released in 2026.
More great versions
4 more, from 1961 to 2015. Tap a cover to play it here.
1960sPery Ribeiro1961
Charlie Byrd1962 · Bossa nova
Walter Wanderley1962 · Bossa nova
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010sJoyce Moreno2015 · Bossa nova
Pery Ribeiro
1961
The Bossa Nova Wave
Pery Ribeiro recorded the song in 1961, around the same time as Maysa. Menescal learned of it only after he came back from Argentina.
The tune's layout, its keys and the chord chart, for anyone who wants to play along.
Show the form and chords
How the tune works
B♭ majorusual key
16 barsA form
B♭ major → D major → A♭ major → C major → G♭ major → B♭ majorkey centers
A16 bars
B♭
D
A♭
C
G♭
B♭
The song is a single strain that goes round again. Bars 1 and 2 sit on . Then it steps through short areas, two bars each: leans toward D, sits on its own, leans toward C, and sits on its own. Bars 11 and 12 ( ) bring it home to B♭. Bars 13 to 16 pass through Dm7, , Cm7 and , one a bar, and lead back to the top. The key areas come from a reading of the iReal Pro chord chart.