Iguazu

This is an arrangement of Gustavo Santaolalla’s famous composition, “Iguazu.” By the late 90s, Santaolalla was already an icon in Latin alternative music as both a musician and producer, but “Iguazu”—specifically its haunting use in the 1999 film *The Insider*—kicked off his prolific “third act” as a film composer.

From there, his trajectory was legendary. He went on to score:

Amores Perros (2000)
21 Grams (2003)
The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)
Brokeback Mountain (2005) – Academy Award

In 2006, “Iguazu” returned to the screen in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Babel, earning Santaolalla his second consecutive Academy Award. This version, known as “Deportation/Iguazu,” featured a beautiful, sparse acoustic guitar intro that has stayed with me ever since.

I’ve been messing around with this piece for nearly 20 years. The original is played solely on a ronroco—a small Andean stringed instrument similar to a ukulele. Usually, I can emulate Santaolalla’s ronroco sound using alternate tunings or a capo, but not with “Iguazu.” Every attempt I made felt like a disservice to the original.

Instead of fighting the ronroco, I decided to follow the thread of that “Deportation” guitar melody from Babel. I started imagining what Santaolalla might do if he reimagined the piece today—perhaps for The Last of Us Part II. What if I approached the song as if it had been written for the guitar in the first place?

To me, “Iguazu” is so sacred that this variation might be a bit of sacrilege. At the very least, it’s an answer to a question that no one actually asked—but as a long-time fan, I just had to give it a shot.

You might also like to play…

Gustavo Santaolalla: Brokeback Mountain 1 + TAB

Gustavo Santaolalla: Morning (August: Osage County) + TAB

Gustavo Santaolalla: Leyendo en el Hospital (The Motorcycle Diaries) + TAB

How to play Iguazu | a fingerstyle variation

The guitar tab for Iguazu is beautifully written across 3 pages. While the chord shapes are relatively easy, I recommend this piece for intermediate guitar players and up. You’ll take care to ||: repeat :|| the sections as indicated in the guitar tab.

Enjoy, the guitar tab is available below:

My song structure looks like this:

Intro 2x, Verse 2x, Chorus

Intro 2x, Verse 2x, Chorus

[guitar tab] **Gustavo Santaolalla: Iguazu | a fingerstyle variation

My version of Iguazu is tuned 1 whole-step down. From low to high: D G C F A D