Granada in E

Granada in E

Agustín Lara compuso 'Granada' en 1932 sin haber visitado España; cuando llegó por primera vez en 1959, la ciudad le pareció exactamente como la había imaginado. Mario Lanza, Plácido Domingo, José Carreras y Frank Sinatra la grabaron. El Flaco de Oro creó la España más española sin salir de México. El Am-E7-Dm es la cadencia flamenca del pasodoble: la cadencia andaluza que conecta el México de Lara con el Albaicín que él nunca había pisado.

Granada in E

E major is arguably guitar's most powerful key. The open low E and high E strings ring sympathetically as the root, while the open B provides the fifth. This triple reinforcement gives E-based riffs and chords unmatched depth and volume. E is a beginner-level key on guitar because both the low E and high E strings ring as the root, and the open B is the fifth — three open strings reinforce the tonic chord. Beginners will find this key approachable since most chords use open voicings with minimal stretching.

Voice Leading

The bass line moves through E to B (descending perfect fourth), B to A (descending whole step), A to G (descending whole step), G to D (descending perfect fourth), D to C (descending whole step). The predominantly stepwise bass motion creates smooth, connected voice leading. When the progression loops, the bass returns from C to E by major third.

Scales for Improvisation

E 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, E Mixolydian adds the flat seventh for an authentic blues-rock edge.