All styles

South America

Samba on guitar: chords and rhythm.

Brazilian samba is counted in two. The thumb marks the bass on every beat, like the surdo, and the fingers place the chords in syncopation between them. Its classic progression, C, A7, D minor, G7, keeps pulling back to the tonic.

I – VI7 – ii – V7Level · Expert

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 C major · 96 BPM
  • C
    C major×321
  • A7
    A 7×12
  • Dm
    D minor××231
  • G7
    G 7321

The rhythm

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

1
·
·
·
2
·
·
·
  • the bass, with the thumb
  • the high strings
  • the alternating bass

From the same world

From Brazil to Argentina and Colombia, rhythms where the guitar does it all: the bass with the thumb, the chords with the fingers, and syncopation.