Adelita is popular classical guitar piece written by composer Francisco Tárrega. It is a short yet beautiful piece with rich harmony and musical expression. This piece is a great fit for intermediate guitarists looking to expand their repertoire and refine their finger-style technique. In this lesson, you’ll find the sheet music along with guitar tabs to help you follow along.

Grab your guitar and let’s get started!

Note on barre chord symbols 

You might see barre chords written as C.1, C.2, etc… to represent the Spanish word “cejilla” which means barre. I replace this with B.1, B.2, etc… to represent a barre on a certain fret. 

Note that these symbols don’t always require barring all strings, so check the notation to see which string the barre starts on. The dashed lines indicate how long to hold each barre.

You can refer to this simple guide to understanding music symbols if needed.

Adelita guitar tabs

The numbers next to some notes on the top staff indicate which fingers to use on the fretting hand.

As for the form of the song, repeat the first 8 measures, then play measures 9 until the end. After that, go back to the beginning, and end at the “fine” symbol on measure 8.

By the way, you can the PDF of this song below.

To learn other songs by Francisco Tárrega, check out Malagueña, Gran Vals, Lágrima, Recuerdos de la Alhambra, or his arrangement of Moonlight Sonata.

📘 Get the free guitar practice guide here!

Want to learn more songs? Check out the sheet music with guitar tabs resource on this site.

Explore Songs with Guitar Tabs