Bésame Mucho – Chords and Solo ideas

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 is usually a slow and romantic song in 4/4 and is often played by Mariachi bands.

Today we’ll look at this piece in a Latin Jazz context. We’ll first look at my chord voicings and then I’ll share with you some ideas on how to improvise over them.

I am using a basic Bossa Nova pattern you can see the track below for how to do that.