Besame Mucho — chords & grille (gypsy jazz)
Besame Mucho by Consuelo Velázquez — key of D (boléro), form A A B A. Below is the full chord grid; on Haute Gitanerie you can play along with a scrolling chord ribbon, transpose to any key, set the tempo, and switch on a rhythm backing (la pompe) to practise your solos over the changes.
About
Bésame Mucho is a bolero written around 1940 by the Mexican composer Consuelo Velázquez — recognised as the most recorded Spanish-language song of all time, cut by everyone from Sinatra to the Beatles, and a warm favourite among manouche players.
The sound — a dramatic bolero in D minor, its tonic coloured as Dm6 and its iv as Gm6, sliding through ii–V moves and half-diminished chords that give it that yearning, romantic sweep.
Practising it — keep the bolero feel gentle and expressive. Drill the D harmonic minor scale and your Dm6, Gm6 and A7 arpeggios, and phrase the melody vocally, breathing between lines like a singer would.
Besame Mucho chords — the grille
A : | Dm6 | Dm6 | Gm6 | Gm6 | Gm6 D7 | Eø A7 | Dm6 | A7 | Aø | D7 | Gm6 | Gm6 | Dm6 Bø | E7 A7 | Dm6 | Dm6 |
B : | Gm6 | Dm6 | Eø A7 | Dm6 D7 | Gm6 | Dm6 | E7 B♭7 | A7 |
Chords used
Dm6 · Gm6 · D7 · Eø · A7 · Aø · Bø · E7 · B♭7
Play along
Open the interactive grille for Besame Mucho: loop any section, transpose to any key, set the tempo, and play over a rhythm accompaniment — with a real recorded pompe on featured tunes. In the browser, free.