Bailando — Enrique Iglesias (2014)

Why it's in this book

"Bailando" is February's anchor song, and it is here for one precise reason: it has the same chords as "Zombie", the song you started the year with. E minor, C, G and D, in the same order and in the same key. What changes is everything else: the rhythm, the instruments and the language. That way you hear for yourself that a chord progression is not a song, and that the same loop works for rock and for Latin pop. It is also one of the Spanish-language songs in the book, and its chorus has a short range, good for breaking voices. In the room with no instruments it is sung with the clave in claps; in the ukulele room, with the four "Zombie" chords; and in the music room, with drums, staccato keyboard and Spanish guitar. A fair warning: in the chorus the record adds a fifth chord, A minor. The class version keeps the usual four; anyone who wants can add it, because on ukulele it takes just one finger.

Why this song

Play the "Zombie" chords on the ukulele, E minor, C, G, D, but this time with a fast, cheerful strum. Without changing a single note, you are now playing "Bailando".

The question on this page is: if the chords are the same, what makes one song sound angry and the other sound like a party?

Historical context

Enrique Iglesias was born in Madrid and grew up in Miami. He has sung in Spanish and in English since the 1990s. In 2014 he was working on his tenth album, Sex and Love.

The song is not only his. He wrote it with Descemer Bueno, a Cuban songwriter, and with Gente de Zona, a duo from Havana who mix reggaeton with Cuban music. At first Iglesias did not like it and did not want to record it. Later he said it was one of his favourites on the album.

Foto: Mariadelamora, CC BY-SA 4.0, vía Wikimedia Commons

Gente de Zona and Enrique Iglesias in concert in the Dominican Republic, in 2016. On the screen, people dancing: the song does what its title says.

There are several versions: the Spanish original, one with the Jamaican singer Sean Paul in English, and two in Portuguese. This page is about the original.

It was number 1 in Spain. On the US Latin chart it spent 41 weeks in a row at number 1: a record broken only three years later by another song in this book, "Despacito". It won three Latin Grammys, including Song of the Year.

Musical characteristics

The "Zombie" chords. The verse turns on E minor, C, G and D, in a loop. It is exactly the chord loop of "Zombie", in the same key. If the two sound so different to you, it is because a song is not just its chords: it is also its rhythm, its instruments and its voice.

The clave. Cuban music has a rhythmic backbone: a five-hit pattern that repeats every two bars, with uneven gaps, three hits in one half and two in the other. It is called the clave. In our class band the drums play it over this loop, and it fits the record.

A Spanish guitar. On top there is a Spanish guitar with a flamenco feel. That is what gives the song one foot in Spain and the other in Cuba. In the band, the Spanish guitar strums flamenco-style.

A chorus that fits your voice. The chorus melody moves very little: it has a short range. That is why the whole class can sing it, even with changing voices. The title word is where the second voice sings a third above: the same melody, three notes higher.

The fifth chord. In the chorus, the record adds a new chord: A minor. The loop becomes A minor, C, E minor, D. In class you can play the chorus with the usual four chords; if you want to sound like the record, add the A minor.

Hard facts: E minor, 4/4, 91 beats per minute, 4:03. The form: verses and choruses taking turns over the same loop.

Guided listening

Play the music video. In the opening, before the voice, listen to the guitar. Does it remind you of any music from Spain?

In the first verse, play or think the "Zombie" chords. Check that they fit.

When the chorus arrives, clap the clave over the record: all five hits. If you lose it, start with just the first three.

In the chorus, listen for when the chords change. At one point a chord appears that was not in the verse: that is the A minor.

At the end, play ten seconds of "Zombie" straight after. Same chords. What has changed?

Trivia and curiosities

• Enrique Iglesias did not want to record it. It ended up as the longest-running number 1 on the US Latin chart, until "Despacito" came along.

• The Spanish-language video was the first in that language to pass one billion views on YouTube. Today it has more than 3.7 billion.

• The dancers in the video are from Ballet Lizt Alfonso, a Havana company that mixes ballet, flamenco and Cuban dance. The same mix as the song.

• The Spanish version was the theme tune of a Telemundo soap opera, Reina de corazones.

Classroom activities

• The clave on your body. In the room with no instruments: feet keep the beat and hands clap the clave. Once it works, half the class sings the chorus on top.

• Same chords, another song. Ukulele: E minor, C, G, D. Play eight bars of "Zombie" and then, without stopping, eight bars of "Bailando". Only the strum changes.

• Thirds. The chorus in two parts: the second voice sings three notes higher on the title word.

• Band. In the music room: drums with the clave, keyboard with short, detached chords, Spanish guitar with a flamenco strum, everyone else on ukulele.

• Analyse. Listen to the chorus and write down when the A minor appears. Is it at the start or in the second half?

Key vocabulary

• Chord loop — bucle armónico
• Clave — clave: patrón de cinco golpes en dos compases
• Range — ámbito
• Third — tercera: la segunda voz, tres notas más arriba

Resources

Official music video — Filmed in Santo Domingo and Havana, with Ballet Lizt Alfonso.

Ukulele tutorial — UkeDan, in Spanish. Chords and strumming.

Guitar tutorial — Guitarraviva, in Spanish. An easy version for acoustic guitar.

Piano tutorial — Peter PlutaX. Easy version.

Drums — Charlie Taracena. The drum part for the whole song, to copy.