The 8 Essential Latin Guitar Styles

TrueFire Foundry courses are independently produced courses presented by a hand-picked selection of top-notch artists and educators from around the world. Filmed in the educator’s own studio, Foundry courses bring fresh educational concepts and very effective teaching methodologies to TrueFire Students. Doug Munro’s Foundry course, 8 Essential Latin Guitar Styles will teach you how play Bossa Nova, Salsa, Samba, Calypso, Merengue and three other latin styles on guitar.

Hello I'm Doug Munro — welcome to my TrueFire Foundry course, 8 Essential Latin Guitar Styles, which I produced in my own studio.

This course is designed to teach you 8 of the most common Latin rhythm styles for the guitar. Many guitarists have one or two types of Latin style patterns that they can call upon if they need to create a Latin feel. This can be frustrating for the other players, especially if they are well-versed in different Latin styles. It can equally be embarrassing for you as a player and may limit the gigs that you are able to do.

In this course, I get rid of the one size fits all mentality that many guitarists bring to playing Latin styles. Each lesson covers a specific common Latin style that will have immediate application to your everyday playing. There are videos, play-along MP3s, and transcriptions in both standard notation and tab.

I also go over commonly used terms such a Samba, Bossa Nova, Afro-Cuban, Clave, Partido Alto and Montuno so that you can understand what to play if someone references these on a gig or recording date.

There is also a recommended listening list, which is the vital key to understanding these styles. The guitar is the central harmonic instrument in most Latin styles and I find it a great joy to lay down authentic rhythms that allow the other members of the group to interact with you and each other in a meaningful, musical way.

I cant wait to show you these styles and watch you develop as a player! Ready to get started? Grab your guitar and let’s dig in to 8 Essential Latin Guitar Styles!

NOTE! Doug Munro organized the course into 8 weekly sections for those students that prefer to have a specified regimen of material across a specified time schedule. However, for those students who prefer to work at their own pace, or even skip around you are certainly encouraged to approach the course in that way as well.