Sofía — Álvaro Soler (2016)

Why it's in this book

"Sofía" is the April song. It is Latin pop in Spanish, with a chorus the whole class sings, and the second voice adds a third right on the word "Sofía". Its chords in class are F, C, G and D minor: three of them belong to the loop you already play in "Love Story" or "Waka Waka", but the fourth changes, D minor instead of A minor. This month you do not just sing it: you write your own text over its loop, your own lyrics. In your classroom with no instruments, you sing the chorus and keep the rhythm with claps. With ukuleles, the four chords. In the music room, the drums play the clapping pattern and the ukebass follows the chords.

Why this song

In 2016, a song with a girl's name was playing everywhere: "Sofía". The odd thing is where it played first. Not in Spain, but in Italy, where it reached number 1 in three weeks.

The singer, Álvaro Soler, is from Sant Cugat del Vallès, near Barcelona. But he lived in Berlin, had grown up in Japan and spoke several languages.

The question on this page is: what does it take for a song in Spanish to succeed in countries where people do not speak Spanish?

Historical context

Álvaro Soler was born in 1991. His father is German and his mother is Spanish-Belgian. At 10 he moved with his family to Japan, and stayed there until he was 17. That is where he had his first piano lessons.

Back in Barcelona he had a band with his brother and some friends. In 2014 he left it to go solo, and moved to Berlin. His first hit, "El mismo sol", came out in 2015 and went to number 1 in Italy and Switzerland.

Foto: Sandro Halank, CC BY-SA 3.0, vía Wikimedia Commons

Álvaro Soler at a festival in Löbau, Germany, in September 2017. Much of his audience is in Germany, Italy and Poland.

"Sofía" came out in April 2016. He wrote it with four songwriters and producers from Germany, Morocco and Sweden. It went to number 1 in Italy, Poland, Switzerland and Belgium. The video was filmed in Havana, Cuba.

Musical characteristics

Four chords on a loop. The song turns around four chords that never change. In class they are F, C, G and D minor. A series of chords that repeats goes round like a loop: when it ends, it starts again.

Almost the usual loop. If you already play "Love Story" or "Waka Waka", you know three of these chords: F, C and G. What changes is the fourth: here it is not A minor but D minor. With just one different chord, the song has a different colour. This series is called a chord progression: IV–I–V–ii.

A chorus made for everyone. The chorus repeats a name, "Sofía", and a few words. You can learn it the first time you hear it. The chorus is the part that comes back the same several times and that everybody sings.

A third on the name. For the second voice, the plan is a third right on "Sofía". A third is the distance of skipping one note: from C to E. Two voices in thirds sound sweet and never clash.

A clapping rhythm. The song has a cheerful beat that makes you want to clap. In the music room, the drums play that same pattern.

A warning for when you play. The record is in D major: G, D, A, E minor. In class you play it in C major, one tone lower: F, C, G, D minor. Those chords are easier on the ukulele. Moving a song to another pitch is called transposing.

Hard facts: D major on the record and C major in class, 4/4, 128 beats per minute, 3:30. The form: verses and a chorus that comes back several times, always over the same loop.

Guided listening

Play the music video. In the first verse, count the chords on your fingers. How many are there before they repeat?

When the chorus arrives, sing along from the second time. Have you learnt it already?

Listen to the beat: clap along and find where the strongest hits fall.

In the last chorus, notice whether anything has changed since the first: more voices, more instruments, or nothing.

Trivia and curiosities

• Soler speaks Spanish, Catalan, German, English, Italian, French and Japanese. That makes it easy for him to give interviews and concerts in so many countries.

• He was a judge on the talent show X Factor in Italy in 2016, the same year as "Sofía".

• The song was not on the first edition of his album, Eterno agosto, from 2015. It was added later, on the international edition.

• "Sofía" is the most-watched video on his YouTube channel, ahead of his first hit, "El mismo sol".

Classroom activities

• Two-part chorus. The whole class sings the chorus. When it works, one group adds the third on "Sofía".

• The four chords. Ukulele: F, C, G, D minor, one chord per bar. Then swap D minor for A minor. Which song from the book do you get now?

• Your own text. In groups of three, write a new four-line verse over the same loop. The topic is up to you; you can swap the name in the chorus for another three-syllable name.

• With the band. In the music room: drums with the clapping pattern, ukebass on the chords, ukuleles and voices. Sing your verse between two choruses.

Key vocabulary

• Loop — bucle
• Chord progression — progresión de acordes
• Chorus — estribillo
• Third — tercera: la distancia de saltarse una nota
• Transposing — transportar: pasar la canción entera a otra altura

Resources

Official music video — From Álvaro Soler's channel. Filmed in Havana.

Ukulele tutorial — Miguel Villalba, in Spanish. Step by step.

Guitar tutorial — camposmusic, in Spanish. Chords and rhythm.

Piano tutorial — MUSICALE, in Spanish. An easy version.

Drums — The Drum Covers. Hear what the drums play, hit by hit.