La Cucaracha
Traditional Mexican song
Three pickup eighth notes, “la cu-ca-”, then the accent on “ra”: the whole rhythm of the song lies in that opening, heard twice.
F major · 4/4 · 175 beats per minute · 16 bars · 22 s · intermediate level
The form
The sections of the piece and their chords: the map you learn before playing a single note.
Pickup A A
| Section | Bars | Chords | Phrase ending |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pickup | 0–0 | C V |
— |
| A | 1–8 | F · Csus4 · F · Gm7 · Dsus4 · Gsus4 · Gsus4/E · C · Gsus4 · C · Gsus4 · C · Gsus4 · F I · Vsus4 · I · ii7 · VIsus4 · IIsus4 · IIsus4 · V · IIsus4 · V · IIsus4 · V · IIsus4 · I |
— |
| A | 9–16 | F · Csus4 · F · Gm7 · Dsus4 · Gsus4 · Gsus4/E · C · Gsus4 · C · Gsus4 · C · Gsus4 · F I · Vsus4 · I · ii7 · VIsus4 · IIsus4 · IIsus4 · V · IIsus4 · V · IIsus4 · V · IIsus4 · I |
— |
The key
- F major
- 1 flat in the key signature: B♭
- Scale
- F · G · A · B♭ · C · D · E
- Pillar chords
- I = F · IV = B♭ · V7 = C7
The tricky passages
- Bar 1: fast runs (5.8 notes per second), a melodic leap (major sixth)
- Bar 5: fast runs (5.8 notes per second), a melodic leap (perfect fifth)
- Bar 9: fast runs (5.8 notes per second), a melodic leap (major sixth)
The plan: 8 days
Half an hour a day. First I help you understand the map of the piece, then we lay down the chord framework, learn each section phrase by phrase, work on the tricky passages, put it together and bring it up to tempo, until you can play it from memory.
More pieces from the library
- Las mañanitas · Traditional Mexican song
- La Bruja · Traditional son jarocho (Veracruz)
- Os escravos de Jó · Traditional Brazilian song
- Au clair de la lune · Traditional French song
- Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star · Traditional, with variations by Mozart
- Frère Jacques · Traditional French song