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Despacito

by Luis Fonsi • Lesson #78 • Jun 18, 2017

Video lesson

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One 4-chord progression for the entire song!

This entire song uses a single 4-chord progression, repeating over and over. This makes things super simple to memorize, since you don’t need to remember something different for the verse vs. chorus vs. intro, etc. A choice you’ll have to make is whether or not you use a capo. If you don’t use a capo, you’ll need to play one barre chord (B minor). You could use a capo on the 2nd or 7th fret – the latter allowing you to play the progression using no capo. This can be handy if you don’t know barre chords yet.

Chord progression used if you use no capo:

Bm . . . G . . . D . . . A . . .

Chord progression used if you use capo on 2nd fret:

Am . . . F . . . C . . . G . . .

Chord progression used if you use capo on 7th fret:

Em . . . C . . . G . . . D . . .

Chords w/ no capo

E –––2–––3–––2–––0––––
B –––3–––0–––3–––2––––
G –––4–––0–––2–––2––––
D –––4–––0–––0–––2––––
A –––2–––2–––––––0––––
E –––––––3––––––––––––
    Bm   G   D   A

Chords w/ capo on 2nd fret

E –––0–––1–––0–––3––––
B –––1–––1–––1–––0––––
G –––2–––2–––0–––0––––
D –––2–––3–––2–––0––––
A –––0–––3–––3–––2––––
E –––––––1–––––––3––––
    Am   F   C   G

Chords w/ capo on 7th fret

E –––0–––0–––3–––2––––
B –––0–––1–––0–––3––––
G –––0–––0–––0–––2––––
D –––2–––2–––0–––0––––
A –––2–––3–––2––––––––
E –––0–––––––3––––––––
    Em   C   G   D

Intro tab?

To be honest, this isn’t something I’ve been able to learn – it certainly requires a level of skill that’s in the intermediate/advanced range when it comes to fret pull-offs. To be honest, this isn’t something I’m too great at! Best of luck working it out though – check YouTube, because there are definitely some good tutorials out there.

Good luck!

I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions, comments, or feedback.

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