Alzapúa

Here is another contribution, tientos. I have realised that there are so many other flamenco forms to add to the blog that I should just get started and record them, despite the extremely high interest in technical exercises. In fact more than 80% of the visitors to the site are looking for picado exercises. Maybe I should develop this side of the site a little more. If there is any interest, I can write out, in TAB, the three falsetas played here as well as the the alzapúa for you.

Tientos is a paused, melancholy form of Tangos which first appeared at the end of the nineteenth and start of the twentieth centuries. It is most often heard as an introduction to tangos because it is such a close variant. Usually, this joining together of tangos and its slower form is known as “tientos-tangos”.

Please read the comments below for some more interesting insights into tientos…

 

 Tientos [1:56m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Here is a tangos that features a Solo Compas backing track. I have been practising picado recently and here are the results. Of course, still lots of work to do with respect to technique, but the practice is paying off, slowly but surely! Read the rest of this entry »

 

 Tangos [2:46m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Here it is, after far too long, is some music for you. It is, after all the purpose of the site. Continue reading, using the link below to hear the mp3. This soleá is por medio and the cejilla is on the fourth fret. It is really a technical exercise, but with some very useful vocabulary for soleá por medio. The idea of practising crotchets and triplets came from Gabriel Cabrera in Málaga.

Here is the tablature.

Read the rest of this entry »

 

 Soleá por medio - exercise [3:01m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download