Playing El Tao Tao by Grupo Control
The song is in G major. Standard tuning. The main chord progression repeats through most of the verse and chorus sections. You will see G, C, D, and Em used heavily. The tempo sits around 128 BPM, which means it moves fast enough that your strumming hand needs to be consistent. If you rush the transitions, it falls apart quickly. Most online versions of this song are wrong about one specific thing: the bridge section. The chords listed on those guitar tabs skip a minor key passage and jump straight back to G. When I tried to learn this from a tab site a few years ago, I spent about an hour trying to figure out why my fingerings felt completely off. The bridge actually goes through Em7 to Cadd9 before returning. Once I figured that out by ear, the whole song started making sense. Here is the basic structure as I have it written down:
Verse: G - C - G - D Chorus: G - C - Em - D Bridge: Em7 - Cadd9 - G - D
Outro: Same as verse, fading out on G The strumming pattern is fairly standard for cumbia music. Down-down-up-up-down-up. That is eight strokes per measure. Count it as 1-2-and-and-3-and. If you miss the pattern on beat three, the whole thing sounds sloppy. Practice it slowly first. I usually play at half speed until my hand memorizes the motion, then gradually bring it up to tempo. For the melody part, the vocal line hits mostly the root notes of each chord with some passing tones. If you want to play along with the recording, the vocal enters right after the intro guitar riff, which is about four bars long. The key is G major, so the vocal range sits comfortably between D4 and B4 for most of the song.
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Lyrics-wise, the song is straightforward. It talks about themes of love and dancing, which is typical for Grupo Control's style. The chorus repeats the title phrase multiple times, so if you are learning this for a performance, that repetition works in your favor. You do not need to memorize a lot of verses. One thing that trips people up is the transition from the bridge back to the chorus. The Cadd9 to G movement feels like it should resolve somewhere else, but it actually lands clean on the G chord into the next chorus. Try it slowly and make sure your G fingering is solid before attempting it at speed. If you are looking for official chords, Grupo Control has not released any authenticated sheet music for this track. Everything you find online is fan transcribed. My version came from listening to the original recording and cross-referencing with a couple of different user submissions to catch the parts I initially missed.
The total song length is roughly three minutes and forty seconds. If you are learning it for a live set, you can extend the intro guitar part or repeat the chorus twice at the end to fill more time. Some bands also add a brief instrumental break after the second chorus using the same progression. It works fine as long as you keep the energy up. I use a clip-on tuner and check my G chord frequently because this song is played at a high tempo and even slightly flat tuning throws off the whole sound. A cheap electronic tuner is enough. You do not need anything fancy for this particular track. Practice tip: isolate the bridge first. That is the hardest part for most players. Once you can play the Em7 to Cadd9 change cleanly at full speed, the rest of the song becomes much easier to put together. Most people try to run before they can walk and end up frustrated when the bridge breaks down during a full playthrough.
