Amores Perros

The 2000 Mexican film Amores Perros, directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, is a powerful and gritty triptych of interconnected stories set against the backdrop of Mexico City. Its emotional intensity is significantly heightened by the masterful score by Argentine composer, Gustavo Santaolalla.

Santaolalla’s music provides a sparse, melancholic undercurrent, allowing the narrative to breathe while simultaneously grounding the stories in a distinct, Latin American sensibility. This score was a critical part of Santaolalla’s rise to international prominence, setting the stage for his future acclaimed work in cinema.

Santaolalla nearly said no to the Amore Perros project altogether. From his interview with the On Being Podcast:

The way I came into making music for movies, for example. I’ve always been told that my music was very visual, but my first coming to some type of recognition was because I did the music for Amores Perros. And I almost didn’t do that music because I was so busy making records at the time.

I never saw a script. I never saw a rough cut. And it was Alejandro’s first—he was a first-time director. And I was so busy, I said: “Tomorrow, I’ll call and say, ‘Please, I’m not going to be able to do this.’”

In the middle of the night, I woke up, and I start started thinking, “What if this guy is a genius?” So that’s how that happened. He turned me onto Walter Salles. And suddenly, I was doing The Motorcycle Diaries, and suddenly when we presented The Motorcycle Diaries at Sundance, I was doing Brokeback Mountain. And I remember the first time I was nominated for a Grammy, I lost. I thought, “This is it. This is my career.”

For my version of this music, I created an all-in-one arrangement of the soundtrack’s guitar themes:

Amores Perros

Memorias

and Quiebre Fuego Y Revelacion

You might also like to play…
(some pieces from Gustavo Santaolalla)

Babel: Tazarine | fingerstyle guitar + TAB

Brokeback Mountain 1 | fingerstyle guitar + TAB

The Motorcycle Diaries: La Muerte de la Poderosa | fingerstyle guitar + TAB

How to play Amores Perros by Gustavo Santaolalla

The guitar tab for this piece is beautifully written across 2 pages, and very easy to play, It’s a GREAT piece for beginner guitar players. Enjoy! The guitar tab is available below:

[guitar tab] **Gustavo Santaolalla: Amores Perros | fingerstyle guitar

This piece is played in standard tuning.