Bemba Colorá in D

Bemba Colorá in D

José Claro Fumero's 1947 guaguancó was immortalized by Celia Cruz with La Sonora Matancera. The title — 'colored lips' — is a playful, irresistible taunt. The A section features rich upper-structure voicings (Fm9, F7#5, Bbm6, Ab13), while the B section pivots to a ii-V-I in Ab before a chromatic Db7-C7 cadence back to F minor.

Bemba Colorá in D

D major is one of guitar's most resonant keys. The open D string acts as a droning root, and the open A string provides the fifth. This gives D-based strumming a wide, ringing quality that flatpicks and fingerpicks love. D is a beginner-level key on guitar because the open D and A strings provide a powerful bass foundation, and the open high E is the 2nd scale degree adding brightness. Beginners will find this key approachable since most chords use open voicings with minimal stretching.

Voice Leading

The bass line moves through D to D (ascending unison), D to G (ascending perfect fourth), G to F (descending whole step), F to D# (descending whole step), D# to D (descending half step), D to G (ascending perfect fourth), G to G (ascending unison), G to C (ascending perfect fourth), C to F (ascending perfect fourth), F to F (ascending unison), F to B (ascending tritone), B to A# (descending half step), A# to A (descending half step), A to A# (ascending half step). A half-step bass movement creates a strong leading-tone pull that demands resolution. The predominantly stepwise bass motion creates smooth, connected voice leading. When the progression loops, the bass returns from A# to D by major third.

Scales for Improvisation

D major pentatonic works because every note is either a chord tone or a safe passing tone — there are no avoid notes. For soloing, this means you can play freely without clashing. Over dominant seventh chords, D Mixolydian adds the flat seventh for an authentic blues-rock edge.