Spanish Romance is one of the most popular classical guitar pieces with an unknown composer. This piece is referred to by different names such as Romanza, Romance de Amor, or Estudio en Mi de Rubira (Study in E by Rubira).

The song is ideal for advanced beginners to intermediate level guitarists that are able to barre chords, and have a good foundation with the fingerpicking technique. This lesson covers the guitar arrangement including tabs.

Grab your guitar and let’s get started!

*Correction for video: Measure 20, beat 2 should use fingering 2.

Review of symbols and form

The song switches between the key signatures of E minor and E Major. We can think of the E minor part as the A section and the E Major part as the B section. With each section being repeated, the song follows the form A, A, B, B, A, A.

A characteristic feature of this song is the repeated picking pattern as the chords change. Here is a quick review of the fingerpicking symbols used in this piece:

p = pulgar or thumb

i = indice or index/pointer finger

m = medio or middle finger

a = anular or ring finger

Make sure to watch out for the barre chord symbols above certain parts of the music such as B.5 (barre on the 5th fret). The tabs will help you know how many strings need to be covered with a barre.

If needed, here are some resources to help you with this piece:

• 5 tips to get better at playing barre chords
• A simple guide to understanding music symbols
  

Spanish Romance – guitar arrangement with tabs

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

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

JG

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