Chord & FretSamba · ciclo de quintas — Ukulele
What is the Samba · ciclo de quintas progression?
The Samba · ciclo de quintas progression is Gm → Cm → F → A# (vi – ii – V – I), in the key of Bb. Read as harmonic function it moves tonic → subdominant → dominant → tonic, arriving home on a cadence. Play one chord per bar and let it loop.
Four chords, a whole story: Gm (vi, home) → Cm (ii, the stroll) → F (V, time to come back) → A# (I, home). Hit play. First pass, just listen. Second pass, follow with your finger on the names — and notice that by the second-to-last chord, your body already knows A# — home — is coming.
Ukulele
Its fourth string is tuned higher than you would expect, so a chord's notes bunch close together instead of spreading from low to high, giving that clear, chiming sound. Brazilian styles are not the ukulele's home turf: it can carry a gentle bossa nova, but the percussive drive of samba, choro and pagode asks for more bite and low-end punch than its soft nylon strings can give. Its home chord A# keeps its lowest note on D.
Cadences — Harmony comes to rest here — hear every cadence type and train your ear · try it in Chord & Fret
Save this progression in Chord & FretReharmonize — Want richer substitutions? Reharmonize the progression in a tap · use it in Chord & Fret
Learn each chord of the trip
This is one shape of A#. In Chord & Fret, you open every position of all 4 chords in this progression along the neck — on any instrument, and hear each one. Open in Chord & Fret →
Metronome — Drill this change in time, with tap tempo and subdivisions · see it in Chord & Fret
When you're ready to go from reading to playing, the Chord & Fret app puts all of this interactive in your hand — grab it on the stores.