# Flamenco Guitarist Saying Hi



## FlamencoD

Hey Classical musicians, I am a flamenco guitarist that has recently taken an interest in listening to and learning about classical music. A co-worker of mine has a music compostion degree and has thousands of different classical pieces spanning all the different genres. We trade music (flamenco and classical) and he'll give me concertos or simply period pieces as I request them. I generally listen to it as background music at work or home. I also currently have a slight fascination with Juilliard and the difficulty of getting into a program like that (not that I'm trying as a flamenco guitar player to get in ).

Anyway, I've posted a few pictures of my handmade flamenco guitar below. It is made by Francisco Navarro, and it is his "Blanca" Concert Flamenco guitar. Blanca describes the light wood color of the cypress which make up the back and sides. It has a spruce top. There are "negra" flamenco guitars that use a dark wood, usually Indian rosewood as the back and sides. The rest of the materials on my guitar (and most flamencos) are similar to a nice classical (honduran cedar neck, ebony fret board, rosewood plate head stock, etc.). The cypress and spruce give a nice punchy sound, less creamy than a nice classical, but more robust, with a very colorful tonal pallette. There are also construction differences between a classical and a flamenco guitar - different bracing patterns, thinner tops, "golpeadoras" (clear plastic applied to the wood near the sound hole for protection from the percussive effects we do), and others.


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## millionrainbows

FlamencoD said:


> Hey Classical musicians, I am a flamenco guitarist that has recently taken an interest in listening to and learning about classical music. A co-worker of mine has a music compostion degree and has thousands of different classical pieces spanning all the different genres. We trade music (flamenco and classical) and he'll give me concertos or simply period pieces as I request them. I generally listen to it as background music at work or home. I also currently have a slight fascination with Juilliard and the difficulty of getting into a program like that (not that I'm trying as a flamenco guitar player to get in ).
> 
> Anyway, I've posted a few pictures of my handmade flamenco guitar below. It is made by Francisco Navarro, and it is his "Blanca" Concert Flamenco guitar. Blanca describes the light wood color of the cypress which make up the back and sides. It has a spruce top. There are "negra" flamenco guitars that use a dark wood, usually Indian rosewood as the back and sides. The rest of the materials on my guitar (and most flamencos) are similar to a nice classical (honduran cedar neck, ebony fret board, rosewood plate head stock, etc.). The cypress and spruce give a nice punchy sound, less creamy than a nice classical, but more robust, with a very colorful tonal pallette. There are also construction differences between a classical and a flamenco guitar - different bracing patterns, thinner tops, "golpeadoras" (clear plastic applied to the wood near the sound hole for protection from the percussive effects we do), and others.


Nice guitar! I would assume that a Flamenco guitar is louder than a classical. Here are some guitar recordings I like:

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This guy Elias Barreiro is the real deal!


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## FlamencoD

I think you're right that a Flamenco guitar is a little louder than a Classical. It is lighter, too, and built to be very percussive. My guitar only weighs 2.7 lbs. I'll have to check out those videos when I have a chance.

This is a condensed version of the current piece I am learning (the piece I am learning is almost 7 minutes long), it is a "Taranta", one of the many forms of Flamenco (it's not me in the video):


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## Sonata

Beautiful guitar! Do you have any specific recordings of flamenco that you'd recommend?


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## FlamencoD

Gosh, there are so many great pieces and flamenco guitarists. One of my favorites to play is a Rondena by Juan Martin called "Aurora". He isn't considered one of the technical "masters", but he has good lesson material and has taught many a flamenco gutiarist how to play. Paco De Lucia is considered the greatest master of all time, Paco Pena is one of the traditional technical masters IMO, and Sabicas is one of the master grandfathers of Flamenco. Vicente Amigo and Tomatito are also hot players. A lesser known player who I enjoy very much is Ricardo Marlow. He is a great composer and player.

Here's a few Paco Pena videos to get you warmed up:

Here is a Farruca, a form of flamenco in 4/4:





Here's a Paco Pena Malaguenas:





Here is a Paco Pena Soleares, a very traditional form of Flamenco:


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## FlamencoD

Watching that Classical video, and from what I've heard of other old classical guitar players, at least compared to Flamenco, the playing seems very rigid and stiff. Is this a component of Classical guitar, or, is it just me?


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## tdc

FlamencoD said:


> Watching that Classical video, and from what I've heard of other old classical guitar players, at least compared to Flamenco, the playing seems very rigid and stiff. Is this a component of Classical guitar, or, is it just me?


I think both styles generally have their strengths and weaknesses, but it is more dependent on the player. One could speak in generalities and point out weaknesses in most things, for example Flamenco can sound quite robotic at times, particularly when playing fast scales - the notes almost sound more like percussion than an actual melody, there is little color and variety compared to Classical music. The compositions are generally simpler, more repetitive and one-dimensional than classical music compositions. Is this a component of Flamenco guitar, or is it just me?


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## FlamencoD

tdc said:


> I think both styles generally have their strengths and weaknesses, but it is more dependent on the player. One could speak in generalities and point out weaknesses in most things, for example Flamenco can sound quite robotic at times, particularly when playing fast scales - the notes almost sound more like percussion than an actual melody, there is little color and variety compared to Classical music. The compositions are generally simpler, more repetitive and one-dimensional than classical music compositions. Is this a component of Flamenco guitar, or is it just me?


You took it to a whole other level. My guess is that you are confusing "Nuevo Flamenco" with real Flamenco. Real flamenco is not simple, or colorless, and there is a LOT of variety and very complex rhythmic structure in many forms, especially Bulerias. There are almost 50 forms of flamenco, some sound similar, some not so much. Flamenco guitar is a fairly percussive art, so much of the techniques are intended to be percussive. The picado (fast scales) are intended to be short bursts of a note rather than a sustained note, so I guess this gives the scale a percussive quality (not to mention - speed). Flamenco guitars are designed to have less sustain than a classical guitar - punchier sounding and more percussive. Not all picado is fast, some is slower, with emotion and feeling, just as some forms of flamenco are more complex and emotional than others. There are phrases within flamenco that are repeated, chord progressions, etc., as that is part of many forms of musical art, but usually each progression has a different approach or is varied from the previous passage. If you saw the current piece I'm working on, I doubt you'd say Flamenco is simple. Just like with classical, it can be as difficult as any one person can make it. Flamenco guitar is every bit as challenging as classical guitar. My instructor, who has a classical guitar performance degree, told me he believes Flamenco is the most difficult guitar style to learn.

I'm not saying either one is superior to the other, which is how you came across in your post, btw.

Anyway, here's an example of one of my favorite forms of Flamenco called Rondena:





Farruca is another one of my favorite forms:





And yet another Farruca:


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## tdc

^ I was being a little contentious in my post because your post struck me as kind of disrespectful to put up in a classical forum. I was using generalities though and realize my points were not indicative of all Flamenco, just as yours are not representative of all classical players (though I see now you were referring specifically to 'older' players I did not see that initially). The truth is I enjoy a lot of Flamenco and want to learn more about it as a musical style. I have a lot of respect for players like Paco de Lucia who was great at Flamenco but also at other styles, including classical.


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## millionrainbows

The first flamenco I remember hearing was a vinyl LP "Flamenco Magic" on Columbia by Manitas de Plata. I'll never forget that first cut, because it had these church bells ringing at the first. It made a big impression. I should get the CD, I really should.


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## Cnote11

FlamencoD, I'm a big fan of flamenco, but I've always stayed predominately on the instrumental side of the spectrum, even though I quite love the vocals. You seem to be quite experienced with the genre, so I was wondering if you could recommend me some things from the "cante flamenco" side of it all.


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## FlamencoD

I would say Camaron DeLa Isla, as he is the most famous, but I'm guilty also in that I prefer just solo guitar material.


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