Latin Guitar Tutorials

This page features posts that have member exclusive content and play along tracks .

 

I’ve Got You Under My Skin – Fingerstyle Guitar

Here is a new arrangement I have made of the beautiful Cole Porter song I’ve got you under my skin. I have moved the key down one semitone to E minor which fits a lot better on guitar. It features a flowing arpeggio style feel and also some Bossa Nova elements.   Sheet music and […]

Agua De Beber – Chords and Melody

In this week’s tutorial we will look at Agua de Beber chords and melody. Written by Antônio Carlos Jobim and lyrics written by Vinícius de Moraes. I have made a finger style Bossa Nova arrangement of this previously which you can find here.   Sheet music and TAB [restrict paid=true] [/restrict]

Nature Boy for Latin Guitar

  Nature Boy has a beautiful melody and really suited to the nylon guitar. In this arrangement I have shifted the key up to E minor which suits the guitar well. It also allows me to add some open string harmonics and utilise some classical style textures to fill in the gaps of the harmony. […]

¿Quién será? (Sway) Guitar Arrangement (Spanish Guitar)

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 […]

Manha De Carnaval Bossa Nova Chords

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.

Spain(Chick Corea) Chords and Solo Ideas

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 […]

La Cumparsita

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 […]

Bésame Mucho Guitar Solo

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:  

How to solo over Girl From Ipanema

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 […]

Tico Tico for Solo 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 […]

One Note Samba Guitar Tutorial

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 […]

Learn Armando’s Rhumba Guitar Solo

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 […]

Mi Favorita – Daniel Fortea

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 Guitar Solo

    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 Mi Guitar Arrangement

“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 […]

Guitar Choro by Mario Gangi

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:

Wave

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.

Bolero by Arcas

  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, […]

How to Solo over Circle of 5ths Progression

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 […]

Libertango by Piazzola

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 […]

Understanding Jazz Chords

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 […]

How to Improvise with Chord Tones on Guitar

  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 […]

Agua De Beber Guitar Bossa

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 […]

Desafinado Bossa Nova Guitar

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 […]

Lagrima Guitar Tutorial (Spanish Guitar)

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 […]

Inspiration by Gipsy Kings Guitar Tutorial

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. \ Sheet Music – TAB / Lesson Notes     […]

Moorea by Gipsy Kings Guitar Tutorial

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 Latin Guitar Tutorial

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 […]

Estudio by Tárrega

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 by José Ferrer Guitar Tutorial

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 […]

Misionera by Jorge Morel

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.   Sheet Music Download / Play-Along Track / Lesson Notes  

Learn Modes on the 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 […]

Entre Dos Aguas – Alzapua Passage

    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 […]

Cuban Dance Guitar Tutorial

In this video tutorial, I will teach my arrangement of Cuban Dance which is a standard in the Latin Guitar Repertoire. Sheet Music/TAB      

Corcovado Guitar Arrangement Part 3

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. Sheet Music/TAB or  

Corcovado Part 2

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 Bossa Nova Tutorial (part 1)

 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 […]

¡Rumba Flamenca! for Solo Guitar Tutorial

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 […]

Spain Guitar Version (Chick Corea)

   Spain is a Jazz Latin piece written by Chick Corea inspired by the second movement Rodrigo’s Concerto Concerto De Aranjuez. It features a syncopated melody that is played in unison and also includes a flamenco-inspired circle of fifths: the chord progress Gmaj7 – F#7 (b9) – Em – A7 (b9) – Dmaj7- Gmaj7 […]

Rumba Nova Part 1

This is the first part of a Rumba that I wrote recently and perform often. It is in the Rumba style which is a flamenco form of medium to slow pace characterized by a 3 – 3 – 2 pattern. This pattern is strummed in a certain way to bring out the accents on beats […]

Besame Mucho Bossa Nova

 Title: Besame Mucho Key : D minor Time : 4/4 Style: Bossa Nova Composer: Consuelo Velazquez Notes Originally written as a Bolero, this piece is one of the most famous Mexican songs. I have arranged it here as a Bossa. Two sections – Binary form Melody and Bossa Nova accompaniment. Chromatic chords and triplet […]

Milonga by Juan Buscaglia

This piece is called Recuerdos De Mi Pago (Memories of my home town).  It was composed by Juan Buscaglia who was an Argentinian guitarist/singer/composer. It is in the style of Milonga which is a slow Tango. The piece is at an intermediate level with some playing in higher positions, octave scales and arpeggiated chords in […]

Black Orpheus Part 2

Title: Black Orpheus (Manhã De Carnaval) Key : A minor Time : 4/4 Style: Bossa Composer: Luis Bonfa (1922-2001) was a celebrated Brasilian guitari st 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, Stan Getz […]