Brenda
Dominic
I have made a fun arrangement of the famous Latin Jazz tune Blue Bossa. Blue Bossa is normally in C minor but I transposed it up a third to E minor which is also a better guitar key. It has a Latin groove mixed in with some Bossa Nova. Member’s can have access to this […]
This piece has a choro feel mixed with Andalusian rhythms. There is lots of syncopation and a variety of chord progressions including, II-V-I, circle of fifths and Andalusian cadences. Can you spot where they are? The tutorial will reveal: Interactive Sheet Music/TAB
Here is a new piece I wrote to celebrate the changing of the seasons, it is actually summer in Melbourne but it’s only now that the better weather is coming. Interactive Sheet Music/TAB
This week’s lesson is on Baden Powell’s beautiful prelude and slow samba Samba Em Prelude recorded in 1962. It features and arpeggio style first section and a more lyrical second part. The tutorial will be posted this week! Members get access to the full score below: Interactive Sheet Music/TAB
Here is a latin waltz I wrote in E minor. It features a melody that moves along the first string, and quite a lot of arpeggio work. This is suitable for intermediate players and will help you to develop a 3/4 dance feel that is featured in so many Latin American pieces. Members get access […]
Here is a new Bossa Nova I wrote this week, called Bossa Bacana. It has some influences from Jobim and other Brasilian pieces. Interactive Sheet Music/TAB
Here is a new guitar Tango that I wrote this week. There is quite an Italian romantic flavour to it especially in the middle section. Interactive Sheet Music/TAB
I wrote this piece last week and performed it recently for the first time. It features an unusual tuning with drop Eb and a raised G# third string. Sheet music is shown below for LGM Members, a tutorial will go up soo too! Interactive Sheet Music/TAB
Here is my arrangement of the famous song Sway by Demetrio and Pablo Beltrán Ruiz first recorded in 1953 and made famous by Dean Martin some years later. I have been experimenting with the melody and adding some arpeggios in a flamenco style. I like to play this with capo 2 to add some brightness […]
New lessons include: Wave Bossa Nova Chords Quizas, Quizas, Quizas Manha De Carnaval Bossa Nova Chords Corcovado Bossa Nova Chords New in Learn Latin Guitar Vol.3 Allegro by Giuliani Picado Practice – Natural notes Harmonic Minor and Phrygian Dominant Improvising with scales Tangos Latin Jazz Chord Notation Bossa Nova #2 – Decending Melody Bossa Nova […]
Here is the chord progression to Waves by Carlos Jobim. These are the voicings I would use as accompaniment. Interactive Sheet Music/TAB
Here is my new arrangement of Quizas, Quizas, Quizas also known as Perhaps. See below for sheet music/soundslice. Interactive Sheet Music/TAB
In this lesson we will work through the famous Bossa Nova – Manha De Carnaval by Luis Nova. This chart will show you the guitar chords and chord voicings I use when I accompany a singer or another guitarist in performance.
Here is a new Latin guitar piece I wrote this week, it features a Rumba rhythm and also some fun triplet arpeggios. Tutorial coming this week! Interactive Sheet Music/TAB
Here is an arpeggio study that I wrote to help develop the RH and also work on LH slurs and position shifts. LGM Members can get the tutorial and sheet music below: Interactive Sheet Music/TAB
Hearts is an original finger style piece I wrote a few years ago and have finally notated it. It has an E Lydian feel, with a lot of open string resonances. Sheet music and tutorial below for members: Interactive Sheet Music/TAB
Here is a new piece I wrote recently which has a distinct Brazilian flavour. It’s in the key of B minor and features a fun syncopated melody and Latin Jazz chords and harmony. The tutorial will be available soon for LGM Members. look in the members area for the sheet music?TAB. Interactive Sheet Music/TAB
This is new original piece I wrote inspired by the Rumba Flamenco form. I have also added a Brasilian/Latin feel in the middle section. See below for the music or you can also purchase it in the sheet music shop. Guitar tutorial coming this week! Interactive Sheet Music/TAB
One of the most magical and fun techniques I have learned form flamenco is there Alzapua technique. In this lesson I will show you how to play a smooth and even Alzapua technique. Alzapua is a flamenco technique which is played with the Rh thumb. The RH thumb will play a sequence of down and […]
In this video I will take you through the chords for the main section and also some solo ideas. I have covered the intro and melody in a previous video (here). This section is loosely in the key of D major but having some idea of the modes you can use will help expand your […]
I have been working on a guitar arrangement of El Choclo by Angel Villoldo. I have nearly finished the arrangement. The current working edit is available to LGM Members below. There might be some small alterations made but it’s close to the final version, let m know what you think.
La Cumparista is a famous song written by Uruguayan composer Gerardo Matos Rodríguez in 1916. It is one of the most popular tangos ever written. I have arranged it here for solo guitar and transposed it to E minor from the original G minor. The tutorial will be posted this week but members can get […]
This week on LGM: I had a gig at Paris Cat this week so I wasn’t able to publish a tutorial. If you would like to see footage form the gig you can watch it here. The performance was with Nathan Slate and Jaime Carrasco from the band La Rumba. I have re-arranged the LGM […]
Here is my arrangement of Luis Miguel’s famous Bolero – Became Mucho. My version has a Bossa Nova feel. The tutorial is coming out this week but members have access to the sheet music and play along track below:
Available for members: Full score/TAB and interactive sheet music you can print
In video we will explore the scales the you can use over The Girl From Ipanema. Improvising blends your knowledge of harmony, scales, voice leading and technique. The scales that I use here are only one option but I think they work well in a Latin Jazz context. I have included a backing track for […]
This is a popular Bossa Nova by Carlos Jobim also known as Jazz ‘n’ Samba. I have changed the key to A major which works well on guitar. The performance and video tutorial will be posted on Saturday 9th April, members can get early access to start working on the sheet music below: Guitar […]
Tico Tico (full title “Tico Tico no tuba”) is a popular Brasilian song written by is a Brazilian choro song written by Zequinha de Abreu in 1917. The most popular guitar version is by Paco De Lucia which includes a backing band. In this arrangement I have tried to capture the Brazilian flavour with my […]
Members Content below: Video Lesson Tutorial Sheet Music/TABS
Title: One Note Samba Key : C#minor Time : 4/4 Style: Bossa Composer: Antonio Carlos Jobim (1927-1994) Writen by famous Brasilian song wirter and composer Carlos Jobim, this sog rose to fame in the 1960s. It has an unusual chromatic descending bass line and very simple (one note) melody. Played with the open E this […]
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Title: Black Orpheus (Manhã De Carnaval) Key : A minor Time : 4/4 Style: Bossa Nova Composer: Luis Bonfa (1922-2001) was a celebrated Brasilian guitarist famous for this particular song Manha De Carnaval which was featured in the production of Orfeu da Conceição also known as Black Orpheus. Bonfa worked alongside the likes of Jobim, […]
Baden Powell was a leading Brasilian guitarist and composer. He wrote in many styles including Bossa Nova and Samba, Popular Brasilian and Latin Jazz. He toured internationally for many years especially Europe and collaborated with many well-known artists including Vinicius de Moraes, Billy Blanco and Paulo Cesar Pinheiro. Here is one of Baden Powell’s slower pieces, it […]
The flamenco Rumba is one of the most popular forms and also one of the simplest. Though many of the flamenco styles os palos are based on counting to 12m the Rumba is in 4/4. We count 1-2-3 1-2-3 1-2 with the 1 being accented. The first beta usually is accented with a golpe, the 4th beat […]
The Malagueña is a Spanish dance that originated in the Spanish city of Malaga. It features a 3/4 feel and a familiar bass arpeggio that returns throughout. There are many versions of this dance and it is found in both Spanish classical and flamenco as well. This version offers some fun and challenge for intermediate […]
This song was released by the Spanish pop group Navajita Plateá. It has a nice melody which I wanted to capture on the first string so I transposed it to G and I am using a drop D and drop G tuning. The sheet music/Tab is available below or in the sheet music page
This is quite a well known piece in the classical guitar repertoire written by Joao Pernambuco. It translates to “sounds of bells”. Pernambuco was a respected and successful Brasilian guitarist and composer. The piece has the following features: drop D tuning in 2/4 time some tricky bar chords and scale passages It is in the […]
Here is a beautiful prelude by Brasilian guitarist Garato. He lived in the first part of the 20th Century and was an icon of Brasilian guitar. He wrote in many South American guitar styles including choro, samba and bossa nova. His guitar music is complex and rich in jazz harmony and challenging guitar techniques. This […]
Armando’s Rhumba is considered a jazz standard, it was written in 1976 and appears on the Chick Corea album My Spanish Heart. The original key is C minor but I have transposed it to A minor for guitar, you can also use a capo on 3 to get the original key sound. I have also […]
Daniel Fortea was a Spanish guitarist-composer and educator. He was one of Tarrega’s students along with Emilio Pujol and Miguel Llobet. He founded his own guitar school in Madrid in 1909.
Mas Que Nada was written and originally recorded by Jorge Ben. It was later covered by Sergio Mendes in 1966 and has gained a popular status amongst the Latin repertoire. The title translates to “yeah right” or “No way”.
“Sabor a Mí” is a bolero written by Mexican composer and singer Álvaro Carrillo. This is generally regarded as a standard of the Latin repertoire and I have made a guitar arrangement here that features a romantic melody and Latin jazz chords. The original key is G major but I have moved it up to […]
A beautiful choro by Italian guitarist/composer Mario Gangi. Gangi was a respected Italian guitarist, composer and teacher. It has some challenging techniques including bar chords and arpeggios up the neck but the final result is quite magical. Interactive sheet music for members below:
This week’s lesson features a beautiful samba-canção by the celebrated Brasilian guitarist and songwriter Luiz Bonfa called Sambalamento.
This week’s lesson is Wave by Antonio Carlos Jobim. Released in 1967 this is a lively Bossa Nova syncopated rhythm and some great Latin Jazz chords. This is an intermediate-level arrangement that combines the famous melody with the Bossa NOva accompaniment.
I have arranged Tom Jobim’s Chega De Saudade for this week’s lesson. In this arrangement, I have opted for a more arpeggio approach as there are long gaps between the melodic notes, you can also shape the chordal accompaniment with interesting dynamics to create compelling phrasing. I have put accents on the melodic notes so […]
This is a popular Latin piece by Marcos Valle often played as a Bossa Nova. I have made a solo arrangement featuring some extended chords and a melodic line that moves up the fretboard.
This is the fourth lesson in my series on Concerto Aranjuez, so far I have covered the opening of the Allegro and I also did a post on the first cadenza of the Adagio. I am now continuing the Allegro bars 61 to 200. This is the part where the guitar enters after the first […]
Besame Mucho is regarded as one of the most famous Latin songs. Written by Mexican songwriter and concert pianist Consuelo Velasquez, the melody was inspired by the start of a Granados piano piece. The song style is a Bolero which, unlike the Spanish Bolero, is a popular Latin song form that originated in Cuba. It […]
The Bolero is a popular Spanish dance of the late 18th and early 19th Centuries. It originated from the folk dance the Seguidilla from Madrid and Andalusia. One of the palos (styles) of flamenco is derived directly from the dance, the Seguidillas Boleras. This piece moves from a dance feel to a more melodic feel, […]
This Brasilian dance is by Argentinian guitarist and composer Jorge Morel’s and his most famous piece. It has a fast and lively tempo with a samba feel, and there are also elements of choro found here. Let’s explore the first half of the piece including the technical and musical challenges. Full Score, Interactive Play-Along […]
In this lesson, we’ll look at how I created a solo over a circle of fifths chord progression. We’ll look at the chord tones and modes that I am using so that you can work out how to create your own solo improv ideas. Here’s the chord progression: Here’s the solo with a description above […]
Astor Piazzola was an Argentine tango composer, bandoneon player, and arranger. His works revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed nuevo tango, incorporating elements from jazz and classical music. One of his most famous pieces is called Libertango which roughly translates to freedom tango. We’ll look at the first part main melody and […]
There are different ways to approach improvising and using a scale-based approach is very useful because it means you can practice scale patterns which you can then call upon when you are improvising. Learn the notes in C (natural notes) on the fretboard Following on from our previous lesson we will look at […]
In this video we will look at what the Latin jazz chords are in a major key. We will also look at how these chords are constructed and give a few examples of common jazz progressions. For this example, we’ll explore the chords in the key of C major. We derive the chords in a […]
We’re going to look at the start of Manha De Carneval and use chord tones to do get you thinking about improvising. Chord tones will give you a starting vocabulary of notes you case to improvise with. This lesson will help to famillarise you with where along the fretboard you can find certain chords […]
Água de Beber by Antônio Carlos Jobim This song was featured on the album The Composer of Desafinado, Plays released in 1963. The title means “Water to Drink”. Music written by Antônio Carlos Jobim and lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes. The song was inspired by a walk that Jobim and Moraes were having in the governor’s house in Brasilia looking for somewhere […]
With many years of teaching and performing experience under my belt, I have found that there certain exercises that have improved my guitar technique the, most. In this video I’ll show you what these exercises are and why they are important. Pressure As you get more advanced your hands will become stronger, it takes time […]
In this lesson, we’ll look at the first half of Desafinado by Antonio Carlos Jobim (full version available for LGM Members below). The Bossa Nova pattern will be as follows with the bass note on beats 1 and 3. We start with F maj7 with the bass note on the 6th string, this is over […]
Our next lesson will involve practicing picado or rest stroke. Picado is used for melodic passages and scale work. It’s important that the right hand fingers are always walking or alternating. Keep practicing this walking as talked about in lesson 2. Here are some exercises and scales to practice your picado. We will put picado […]
Counting down my top 5 mistakes guitarists make. Note that these mistakes are not entirely just guitarist mistakes but are still very important things to try and improve on: 5. Right Hand Organisation I often see guitar students pay a lot of attention to their left hand but not enough to their right-hand work. It’s […]
Latin Guitar Scales you need for know (Great for improvising) Harmonic minor played over Am – E7 The A harmonic minor is a natural minor scale with a sharp 7th degree. This scale has a dark and moody feel and is characterized by a minor third interval which gives it a lot of tension. The […]
Sheet Music Download / Play-Along Track / Lesson Notes or
0:27 Right Hand Technique 3:27 Simple Right Hand Rhythm 4:38 Arpeggio 5:55 Left Hand Technique 6:37 Left Hand Exercise 1 7:20 Left Hand Exercise 2 8:02 LH Exercise 3 8:45 Synchronisation 10:40 Drills Video
Baden Powell was a leading Brasilian guitarist and composer. He wrote in many styles including Bossa Nova and Samba, Popular Brasilian and Latin Jazz. He toured internationally for many years especially Europe and collaborated with many well-known artists including Vinicius de Moraes, Billy Blanco and Paulo Cesar Pinheiro. Here is one of Baden Powell’s slower pieces, it […]
Lagrima is one of Francisco Tárrega’s best loved pieces. The title means ‘teardrop’ in Spanish and was written by Tarrega when he was living in London and feeling homesick. The piece is intermediate level because it uses a number of techniques including melody in a number of voices, arpeggio, and position changes. The form is […]
It’s important to learn and use the correct sitting and hand positions when playing guitar. Whether you are just starting or trying to improve your playing, it’s a good idea to revisit the basics periodically. Sitting There are a number of possible sitting positions which will work well. You can adopt the classical sitting position […]
The Concerto De Aranjuez is one of the most famous guitar Concertos ever written and the main theme from the Adagio movement is very well known. In this video, we will look at the first cadenza from the Adagio movement which features this famous melody. This piece was written by the composer Joaquin Rodrigo in […]
Inspiration is an instrumental piece written and performed by The Gipsy Kings on their self-titled album. It has a fast Rumba feel which is typical of their music. In this lesson, we will look at the opening chords and melodic passages played over these changes.
Here is the opening of Moorea by Gipsy Kings. We will look at the chord progression and then the chord riff that is played above that. The Gipsy Kings were a popular Latin group of the 90s (though they are still around today), they helped to popularise Latin guitar, combining flamenco and South American elements. […]
Mediterranean Sundance is an iconic Latin guitar piece written by Paco De Lucia and Al De Meola. It was a featured track Al De Meola’s album Elegant Gypsy. It was later reworked and released by The Guitar Trio which consisted of Al De Meola, Paco De Lucia and John McLaughlin on the live album Friday […]
A great arpeggio workout with some challenging bar work. Spanish guitar composer and virtuoso Francisco Tárrega wrote a number a studies for guitar. These, alongisde his more famous guitar compositions (Recuerdos De La Alhambra , Capriccio Arabe) form an important part of the Spanish Guitar canon. This study is quite straightforward in a musical sense […]
Tango is an intermediate classical guitar piece by Spanish guitar composer José Ferrer. This piece is in the form of a Spanish tango which features this main rhythm: It is in binary form (2 sections) with the A section the key of A minor and the B section in A major. There are also a […]
In this guitar tutorial, I will show you how to play the first part of Jorge Morel’s arrangement Misionera by Fernando Bustamente. Morel was an Argentinian guitarist who wrote and arranged for guitar.
Modes are types of scales, they include the major and natural minor scale but also include other more interesting scales which feature in Latin Jazz flamenco and Brasilian music as well. In this tutorial, we’ll look at modes on the guitar. I will try shed some light on this often confusing topic. I thought the […]
In this guitar tutorial, I’ll show you how to play this Alzapua passage in Entre Dos Aguas by Paco De Lucia. This is a descending pattern in E minor also known as the Andalusian Cadence starting with Em – D – C – B7. The melody is in the bass part and seeing […]
In this video tutorial, I will teach my arrangement of Cuban Dance which is a standard in the Latin Guitar Repertoire.
Here is the final part of my Corcovado arrangement. It is a bit more challenging than the previous section as we will be playing up the next more with position shifts and quick chord changes. It’s quite playable and with practice intermediate players should get this under fingers. Play Along Track or
In this next section we will look at the next 8 bars. The next four bars utilise bar chords Gm7 and C9 barring the 3rd fret and chords F#m7 and B7#5 barring on the second fret.
Corcovado, also know as Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars is a popular Brasilian Bossa Nova by Antonio Carlos Jobim. In this intermediate guitar arrangement I have changed the key from the original key of C and moved up one tone to D major to make use of more open strings. The feel is not […]
When it comes to guitar techniques on the guitar nothing beats the magic of the guitar tremolo. There are many guitar tremolo pieces in both the classical and flamenco styles but the most iconic tremolo piece is Recuerdos De La Alhambra by Francisco Tarrega. In this video I will show you how to practice and […]
I caught up with Milos recently to chat about his career and recordings. This interview is an excerpt of my longer form conversation with him about his recording of Concerto Aranjuez. The full interview is available here: https://guitarconversations.com/
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Today I want to share with you my arrangement of the popular Spanish/Flamenco piece Rumba Flamenca. The Rumba is a common flamenco dance form (Palo) characterised by the rhythm 3 – 3 – 2. A Rumba is traditionally played at a slow to medium pace but this arrangement is more dramatic at faster tempi. I […]
I’ve had a few comments about improvising over flamenco chords and in particular over the Spanish Cadence. The Spanish Cadence is a very common chord progression that occurs in Spanish music and flamenco which uses the chords IV – III – II – I. It is usually in a minor key and often occurs […]
Sheet Music Download / Play-Along Track / Lesson Notes or
In this video we will be exploring what the chromatic scale is and how to practice it on the guitar. The chromatic scale is a 12 note scale that includes all the notes within the octave. This will include natural notes and accidentals. So for example, we can play the E chromatic scale starting […]
The Milonga is an Argentinian musical genre. It is similar to Tango but is generally played quite slowly and generally in 2/4 time. It originated in the Rio de la Plata areas of Argentina, Uruaguay, and Brasil. Milonga has a syncopated beat, consisting of 8 beats with accents on the 1st (sometimes also 2nd), 4th, 5th, […]
This flamenco piece was written by Paco Pena and appears on his 1987 album Azahara. It’s a Guajiras which is a flamenco form or Palos which is based on the Cuban Punto Guajira Cubana. Basically it’s a 12/8 rhythm which comes back to a rhythm that looks like this:
I will be posting a video tutorial on this piece soon, in the meanwhile here is a performance of this beautiful waltz I recorded over the weekend. It’s called Se Ela Perguntar by Dilermando Reis. Follow me @sergioguitarist to get my latest news!
Here’s a new piece I wrote called Rio! I will be releasing sheet music for this soon, available to members. Hope you enjoy! Follow me @sergioguitarist to get my latest news!
The Mixolydian mode is a useful scale mainly for playing over blues and dominant 7th chords. It is similar to a major scale but has a flattened 7th degree. Let’s look at an example, you can improvise over a C7 chord using a C Mixolydian scale. The chord tones in C7 are C […]
Latin Jazz includes jazz music that is written in a Jazz style. These pieces usually take the form of Bossa Novas, Sambas, Cha-Chas, Mambos, and more. Here are some common jazz chords found in Latin Jazz Guitar Pieces. Minor 7 This minor 7 chord is part of the Minor Chord Family (there are 5 chord […]
These are the main differences between a classical and a flamenco guitars: Type of Wood Classical guitars are built to have a wide tonal and dynamic range. This is because classical guitar music requires lots of tonal variation like sweet, warm tones or harsher bright tones and it often requires very quiet dynamic or very explosive […]
Classical Gas is an iconic fingerstyle piece written and recorded by Mason Williams in 1968. It was originally called Classical Gasoline but due to a publishing error, it was shortened to Classical Gas. Interestingly Williams was not known as a musician, more so as a comedy writer for the show The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour […]
Over the last few years, I have had the privilege of spending some time with legendary guitarist Tommy Emmanuel. In this interview, Tommy shares his love of classical guitar and some of the players that influenced him. Sergio: You have mentioned in other interviews that you took some interest in classical guitar in the past. […]
I am doing lots of online guitar lessons along with many other guitarists at the moment. Zoom is an easy to use web conferencing software that has become an industry standard and seems to have surpassed Skype as the go-to online teaching software. It’s easy to use, all you need is a link from your […]
Today I want to talk about improvising in a Latin Blues style. I’m going to be using the E minor pentatonic in various positions along the fretboard and showing you my approach to using the scale in my solos. We’ll also explore some extra notes and ideas you can use to help improve your solos […]