: A tribute to Tom Jobim and the Bossa Nova aesthetic.
Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, the classical guitar lacked a unified modern manual that systematically addressed advanced South American syncopation, polyrhythms, and picking dynamics. Sergio Assad—widely celebrated for his work in the Assad Brothers duo—composed the 24 Studies to fill this gap.
: A tribute to the bossa nova legend Antônio Carlos Jobim. sergio assad 24 studies
The classical guitar repertoire underwent a massive technical and harmonic shift at the turn of the 21st century. At the forefront of this evolution is the Brazilian composer and guitarist Sérgio Assad. Best known as half of the legendary Assad Brothers duo, Sérgio Assad has spent decades redefining the boundaries of guitar performance.
In the vast landscape of guitar etudes—from the pedagogical cornerstones of Sor, Carcassi, and Giuliani to the musical revolutions of Villa-Lobos and Brouwer—Sérgio Assad’s 24 Studies (published 2013–2014) stands as a landmark 21st-century contribution. Written with the same comprehensive ambition as Chopin’s piano etudes or Villa-Lobos’s famous cycle, Assad’s set is not merely a collection of technical exercises, but a gallery of miniatures where virtuosity and poetry are inseparable. : A tribute to Tom Jobim and the Bossa Nova aesthetic
Find the sheet music. Tune your strings. Set your metronome to a clave . And dive in.
: A tribute to Ernesto Nazareth, featuring a live performance by João Luiz at the Portland Chamber Music Festival Gilbertiana : A tribute to the bossa nova legend Antônio Carlos Jobim
Sérgio Assad’s "24 Studies" (often published as Estudos or 24 Estudos for classical guitar) are a staple of advanced-intermediate and professional guitar study repertoire. They focus on technical development, musicality, and idiomatic guitar textures rooted in Brazilian and classical traditions. Below is a concise, practical guide to approaching them efficiently.
Both collections are published by . The 24 Preludios Chopinianos are available in four separate books:
Complex, shifting right-hand patterns that require precise string crossings and finger independence.
Sérgio Assad (b. 1952), one half of the legendary Assad Brothers duo, is a composer of rare hybrid vigor. His musical DNA blends the rhythmic vitality and harmonic color of Brazilian choro, samba, and baião with the structural sophistication of classical and jazz idioms. Unlike a purely academic etude set, Assad’s studies reflect the life of a working performer-composer: every finger-twisting pattern serves a real musical situation found in concert repertoire, from Brazilian folk dances to contemporary atonal gestures.