miguel bengoa flamenco

I have now written out, in tab and stave the scales based on A. Go to the “scales the notes” to find the pdf.

So many people claim to be self taught guitarists. But in reality, few successful guitarists are self taught: everyone has a teacher, thıough Abel Carlevaro is a possible exception. Some people have formal lessons and others, less formal lessons.

Many elite guitarists had formal lessons:

• Tomatito? Pedro Blanco (from Málaga Musical), amongst others.
• Vicente Amigo? Manolo Sánlucar, amongst others.
• Deigo del Gastor? Pepe Naranjo, amongst others…

If you are living in flamenco circles you will know that while there is an element of competition between guitarists, there is also a good deal of camaraderie. These are informal lessons and most often take the form of falseta swapping but also extends to analysis of fingering and help with technique. A guitarist that does not swap and share in this fashion will soon be known as ‘antipático’ and ‘pesetero’.

Having a teacher or living amongst this swap and share culture both inspires and puts pressure on you to be able to play your stuff properly because people will listen to it and take it apart. If you do not live in this culture, then you need to find a teacher. None in your area? Use the internet and nowhere better to go than Juan Ardila’s guitar2000.

There are many advantages of studying online as opposed to self study:

• It will help you to get rid of bad habits and/or prevent them in the first place. Bad habits take a huge amount of perseverance, analysis and time to correct. I know.
• You will not learn your music thoroughly because:
  • you will not have a target to aim for in front of you
  • you will try to learn things that are too difficult
  • you will not compare what you do with a falseta and what someone else can do with it.
• You will not learn the musical language behind the music
• You will not be able to ask someone who has walked the path you are on now when you have doubts.
• You will not get the little, though valuable commentaries that add you your understanding of what you are aiming towards.
• You can watch as many video lessons as you like and you can watch them as many times as you like.

You can see how the the guitar2000 classes work by following these links:

• Demo page
• List of lessons

Do not believe those web pages that tell you that you will learn to play the guitar in a mere weeks. Both flamenco and classical guitar require dedication, time and consistency. To become a very proficient guitarist, lifestyle choices have to be made - even if you are Paco de Lucía.

If you focus only on what you want to become as a player, you will miss this beautiful and fascinating journey where you learn to focus all of your mental and physical energy on this wonderful instrument you are playing. If you miss the journey, you will certainly miss your destination.

This first anthology was a collection of recordings of the basic flamenco forms of flamenco. This intention was more difficult than might appear at first sight due to the popularity of Opera Flamenco, and its most important representative: Pepe Marchena. A previous attempt had been made to preserve the old traditional otherwise known as the pure, unadulterated forms. This attempt was made by Manuel de Falla and Federico García Lorca in their ‘concurso de cante flamenco’ in 1922. However, this competition had little effect on the growing popularity of Opera Flamenco which obliterated any other interpretation that happened to be in its path.

Read the rest of this entry »

The inclusion of Camarón immediately after the sections on duende and voice types in flamenco is because of the revolutionary impact that he had on the flamenco world. Stuffy, secretive and aloof might be words used to describe some of the driest and most earnest flamencos before Camarón. Camarón unwittingly gave flamenco a universal appeal and promoted him to a cult figure in Spanish popular culture. Read the rest of this entry »

Duende

The flamenco singer, Manuel Torre (1909-1933), a man who was completely illiterate was eulogized by Federico Garcia Lorca as having a greater and more important culture in the blood. Torre had his own theory on what is known as “duende”. He is reported to have said to a singer: “tu tienes vos, tu sabes los estilos, pero no triunfarás nunca, porque tú no tienes duende” (you have a good voice, you know the styles, but you will never reach the top, because you have no “duende”). The same man, Manuel Torre, is also reputed to have said:-

”In the “cante jondo”, the singer always has to look for “duende”, until he finds it in the blackness of the Faraohs” (Historia del cante flamenco, p.171).”

Another time, after hearing Manuel de Falla Read the rest of this entry »