How to Play the BOLERO Rhythm for Spanish Guitar - In 5 Easy Steps

One of the most-fun-to play styles of music for the nylon string guitar is the sub-genre of Bolero. You may have heard of Ravel's Bolero (which is in 3/4 time), but the Bolero we're talking about is actually a staight ahead 4/4 time beat that is the backbone and basis for tons of great old classic Latin tunes like Bésame Mucho, Perfidia, Sabor a Mi, Sin Ti, Quizás, Quizás, Quizás, (Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps), Dos Gardenias, and countless others. 

If you're at all familiar with the Rumba beat, you are well on your way to playing a Bolero rhythm. In fact, I consider the Bolero a more straightforward and less "jumpy" or syncopated Rumba rhythm. If you have basic nylon string fingerstyle techniques under your belt, we can learn this beat in 5 easy (hopefully!) steps.

The Bolero Rhythm in 5 Easy Steps

Step 1: Simple down strokes

Let's start with an E minor chord and strum down with the index on each beat (the letter i indicates we're using our index finger of the right hand and the arrows that appear to be pointing upward are actually telling you to strum down across the strings from low E to high E):

Step 2: Percussive slaps

As you count to 4, slap the guitar with your palm – thereby silencing the strings momentarily – precisely on beats 3 and 4: 

Step 3: Offbeat up strokes

The next element to add is an upstroke with the index finger after each slap:

Step 4: Now with the thumb

This time at an upstroke between beats 2 and 3 with your thumb:

Step 5: Adding some flair

If you only make it to step 4, that actually will do us just fine as accompaniment for a Bolero. However, it's common to add a little extra interest between beats 1 and 2 (specifically on the "and" of 1). We can achieve this by playing one of the most essential nylon/Spanish guitar techniques there is: the 4-stroke rasgueo.

This technique appears simple enough at first but may take a while to master. What we do is bring your four fingers in making a fist while anchoring your thumb on the guitar or preferably the 6th string (that means we won't hear the 6th string for this strumming technique, but that's OK). Now make a downstroke with the pinky finger (e) without releasing the other fingers then do the same with the ring finger (a) followed by the middle (m) and finally the index (i). When executed correctly, this produces a quick 8th note triplet into the next (2nd) beat: 

A Staple of Surf Music

Once you're feeling good with this rhythm, you can play tons of great classic Latin tunes, but you also can play a lot of surf guitar music which uses this rhythm extensively. Try it out!

(* the above video and lesson for this blog post is an excerpt from my Quizás, Quizás, Quizás for Solo Guitar mini course.)