All styles

Africa and the Indian Ocean

Afrobeat on guitar: chords and rhythm.

Fela Kuti's afrobeat sits on one or two chords, Dm7 and G7, for long minutes. Each guitar plays a short, muted figure that locks into the others' and the horns': the groove comes from the whole band.

i7 – IV7Level · Advanced

The progression

Pick a key: the charts change right below. "Listen" plays the progression with its rhythm; a click on a chord plays it alone, the arrow opens its page.

Key

In D minor · 104 BPM
  • Dm7
    D minor 7××12
  • G7
    G 7321

The rhythm

One bar of the strumming hand, beat by beat. While it plays, the stroke being played lights up.

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  • the high strings, cut short

From the same world

Afrobeat's interlocking guitars, the arpeggios of the Congo, desert blues, Algerian raï and the séga of the islands.