All styles

Folk, country and Spain

Gypsy rumba on guitar: chords and rhythm.

Gypsy rumba, made famous by the Gipsy Kings, takes the Andalusian cadence (here E minor, D, C, B7) over a tight rhythm: a downstroke, the palm slapping the strings (the golpe), then back-and-forth strokes. It is played loud, often by several guitars.

i – ♭VII – ♭VI – V7Level · Intermediate

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 E minor · 104 BPM
  • Em
    E minor23
  • D
    D major××132
  • C
    C major×321
  • B7
    B 7×2134

The rhythm

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

1
·
2
·
3
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4
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  • strum down
  • muted strings, as percussion
  • strum up

From the same world

The acoustic guitar, its open strings and alternating bass, then the Andalusian cadence of flamenco and Gypsy rumba.