About the chords of “Cartagena”

“Cartagena” by Fonseca, Silvestre Dangond is in C Minor and runs at about 188 BPM, giving it a fast, energetic pace. Our analysis found 23 different chords across 98 chord changes; the ones that carry the song are Gm, F, Bb, Cm.

F is the chord you will hold longest — roughly 26% of the 2:50 the chords were tracked for. The song opens with Bb6 → F → Gm7 → Fmaj7 → Gm7 → Eb → F7/A → Gm. Play the timeline above to hear each change land in real time.

Difficulty: advanced — 7 main chords with 6 extended, altered or slash voicings. Guitar tip: put a capo on fret 3 and use A minor shapes — the song stays in C Minor but every chord becomes an open chord.

Chord frequency

Chord progression, in order

Bb6 – F – Ebmaj7 – D – F7 – D – G – Gm7 – Fmaj7 – Bbmaj7 – Eb – Bbmaj7 – Gm7 – Eb – F – F7 – Bb – F7/A – Gm – Eb – F – Cm – F – Bb – F – Gm – Gm7 – Dm7b5/C – Cm – F – Bb – Dm – Eb6 – Gm – Cm – F – Bb – D/A – C – Cm – F – Bbmaj7 – C/G – Dm7b5/C – Abmaj7 – F – Bb – F – …

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