How to Play the Brazilian Choro for Guitar

Choro is a Brazilian musical style that is the precursor to the Samba and Bossa Nova. It's characteristic rhythm can be described as an upside down Bossa Nova and is a very lively and syncopated beat every guitarist should know.

Most classical guitarists will have come across two songs that are exemplars of the choro: Heitor Villa-Lobos' "Choros no. 1" and the melodic "Sons de Carrilhoes" by Brazilian choro composer João Pernambuco. In these two compositions, you will see repeated instances of the following rhythmic figure, a 16th note followed by an 8th note followed by another 16th note:

This jumpy rhythm is our entryway into the choro. In this guitar tutorial, we learn how to play the choro rhyrhm using the chords from the classic Brazilian song Sons de Carrilhoes (The Sound of Bells):

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