Luis Fonsi - Despacito ft. Daddy Yankee - Guitar Cover

About Despacito ft. Daddy Yankee

At 89 BPM in B minor, "Despacito" sits in a comfortable tempo range, but do not let that fool you into thinking it is a simple strum-along. The signature guitar part leans on a repeated, syncopated arpeggio figure that drives the groove of the whole song. Getting that Latin rhythmic feel right in E Standard tuning means paying close attention to where you place each note in the beat, slightly ahead or behind it, rather than landing everything squarely on the pulse. The chord shapes themselves are not difficult, but locking the right-hand picking pattern to the percussion underneath is where most players struggle. Use the Practice Toolbar to loop that opening arpeggio figure slowed down until the rhythm feels natural before bringing it back up to speed. Luis Fonsi wrote the song as a deliberate nod to classic Latin guitar textures, so keeping the tone clean and the attack light will get you much closer to the recorded sound than any amount of distortion. This one rewards patience with its feel, which sits squarely in the Pop Rock world but pulls heavily from Latin acoustic tradition.

• The main guitar part is a repeating arpeggio figure in B minor that requires a consistent right-hand picking pattern to nail the Latin rhythmic feel.
• E Standard tuning is used throughout, so no retuning is needed, but keeping your fretting hand relaxed across the chord changes will help sustain the groove.
• Slowing the opening riff down with the Practice Toolbar is the most effective way to internalize the syncopated attack before playing it at the full 89 BPM.