# Charo and classical/Spanish guitar



## Tapkaara

Because I was born in 1978, I perhaps grew up right after the heyday of the famous Spanish entertainer Charo. I think she is more readily known for her outrageous sex kitten persona and shouting "cuchi cuchi!" as she wildly skaes her chest.

Perhaps some do not realize that he is a highly repsected flamenco guitarist, often cited as one of the best ever. I've found some cool clips of her on YouTube and I would like to hear what our resident guitar players think of her style and technique.

As someone who does not play the guitar personally, I think it's still easy to see this woman has special talent.


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## Mirror Image

These threads just keep getting weirder and weirder.


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## Tapkaara

THIS is not a weird thread. She really is a respected guitarist in the classical/flamenco tradition.


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## Mirror Image

Tapkaara said:


> THIS is not a weird thread. She really is a respected guitarist in the classical/flamenco tradition.


Perhaps she is, but she doesn't play my kind of flamenco. It isn't authentic enough for my tastes.


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## Tapkaara

Mirror Image said:


> Perhaps she is, but she doesn't play my kind of flamenco. It isn't authentic enough for my tastes.


I think the two YouTube links I posted have her performing very traditional flamenco works in a traditional style. How do you figure they are not?


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## Mirror Image

Tapkaara said:


> I think the two YouTube links I posted have her performing very traditional flamenco works in a traditional style. How do you figure they are not?


Have you listened to real traditional flamenco guitar before? Anyone who's been listening to flamenco for a long time knows it's not in her blood.

Charo plays with an adapted flamenco style that's more suited for the mainstream, which for her is okay, but she's not the real deal.


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## Tapkaara

From Wikipedia:

She studied classical and flamenco guitar while residing in Murcia, and can claim Andrés Segovia as her guitar teacher. (Segovia taught general music classes as community service in schools around Murcia.) She took guitar lessons from him and other teachers from the age of nine on. As a result of her training and skill she has been named "Best Flamenco Guitarist" in Guitar Player Magazine's readers' poll twice. One of Charo's regrets is that because of her flamboyant stage presence, she has been overlooked as a serious guitar player.

Saying she is not the real deal is the result of the last sentence in that paragraph.

She plays both traditional flamenco as well as more mainstream cross-over stuff.


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## Mirror Image

Tapkaara said:


> From Wikipedia:
> 
> She studied classical and flamenco guitar while residing in Murcia, and can claim Andrés Segovia as her guitar teacher. (Segovia taught general music classes as community service in schools around Murcia.) She took guitar lessons from him and other teachers from the age of nine on. As a result of her training and skill she has been named "Best Flamenco Guitarist" in Guitar Player Magazine's readers' poll twice. One of Charo's regrets is that because of her flamboyant stage presence, she has been overlooked as a serious guitar player.
> 
> Saying she is not the real deal is the result of the last sentence in that paragraph.
> 
> She plays both traditional flamenco as well as more mainstream cross-over stuff.


The reason why she's overlooked as a "serious" guitarist is because she's not a serious guitarist.

Like I said, flamenco was not her destiny and one must dedicate their life to flamenco in order to become a proficient player. Do you think I would have ever became a good jazz guitarist if I played rock music instead? No, I study it and I continue to study it.

You're a language teacher, you should know that it's a lifelong quest to master a language like French or German for example, well flamenco is the same way. You must dedicate your life to it in order for you to become better equipped to "speak" the language.

Fortunately, for Charo she found her niche, but it wasn't in the realm of flamenco guitar, it was in the realm of entertainment.


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## Weston

I'm wondering now if we should reevaluate Liberace as a serious pianist.


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## Tapkaara

What's unfortunate is people are judging her or her background as an _entertainer_ and allowing that to get in the way of how she should be evaluated as a pure _musician_.

Whether or not Liberace was a great pianist is fodder for another thread. But has anyone heard her play the guitar? Has anyone seen the YouTube clips I posted here?

This seems like the same sort of prejudice that composers get for writing film music. Because of being attached to "vulgar entertainment" their talent gets unfairly clouded.

I'd appreciate responses from members who have 1) heard her play and 2) have a fair statement to make about it. Please do not judge her by the tacky entertainer persona...only make comments as it relates to her skills on the guitar. Thanks!


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## Mirror Image

Tapkaara said:


> What's unfortunate is people are judging her or her background as an _entertainer_ and allowing that to get in the way of how she should be evaluated as a pure _musician_.
> 
> This seems like the same sort of prejudice that composers get for writing film music. Because of being attached to "vulgar entertainment" their talent gets unfairly clouded.
> 
> I'd appreciate responses from members who have 1) heard her play and 2) have a fair statement to make about it. Please do not judge her by the tacky entertainer persona...only make comments as it relates to her skills on the guitar. Thanks!


No reason to get so uptight, Tapkaara.  I have a right to make comments about her or anyone as long as it remains civil and adheres to the rules of this forum.

I think my comments were fair as I was judging her solely on those clips you provided. She is an entertainer, so what's wrong with that? I never said there was anything wrong with it. Don't put words into my mouth. All I'm saying is I'm not impressed with her playing at all. It's adequate at best.

As I said, playing flamenco guitar is a lifelong quest. It has it's own musical language like any kind of music does and it takes a lifetime to master it.


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## Tapkaara

This is adequate at best?:






And no one's putting anything in your mouth MI, especialy not me.


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## Weston

Truth to tell, I was around back in the 60's and 70's when she would appear on variety shows. Usually the humor involved the host setting her up for some kind of double entendre created by her supposedly spotty English. I always found those moments cringe worthy, but she would almost always play guitar to offset that image even back then.

I might be forgiven for not rushing out and buying her records though. Flamenco is not part of my culture or a music I could fully understand and appreciate. The closest I come is Joaquín Rodrigo.


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## Tapkaara

Weston said:


> Truth to tell, I was around back in the 60's and 70's when she would appear on variety shows. Usually the humor involved the host setting her up for some kind of double entendre created by her supposedly spotty English. I always found those moments cringe worthy, but she would almost always play guitar to offset that image even back then.
> 
> I might be forgiven for not rushing out and buying her records though. Flamenco is not part of my culture or a music I could fully understand and appreciate. The closest I come is Joaquín Rodrigo.


But I think despite her goof-ball, bimbo image, her playing is exquisite. It's unfortunate that she has two things she's famous for (her comic image and her guitar), but she is mostly known for being a bimbo.

I do like flamenco quite a bit. What's not to like? I'm curious as to what you don;t enjoy about this style of music, Weston. Is it really that culturally shut off from you? I have no trouble enjoying art that my be alien to my culture, as long as it's good!


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## Mirror Image

Tapkaara said:


> This is adequate at best?:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And no one's putting anything in your mouth MI, especialy not me.


Yes, she is adequate and that's all she is. She's an entertainer, not a flamenco guitarist. Shouldn't she be selling crappy guitars with that Esteban guy? LOL....










One of the biggest jokes of the guitar world I've ever heard. Maybe Esteban and Charo can form a duo and call it "Cuchi Cuchi And The Sombrero."


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## Weston

Tapkaara said:


> I do like flamenco quite a bit. What's not to like? I'm curious as to what you don;t enjoy about this style of music, Weston. Is it really that culturally shut off from you? I have no trouble enjoying art that my be alien to my culture, as long as it's good!


Good question. I don't know the answer. I certainly don't hate Flamenco and I can appreciate the skill involved, but it has yet to move me emotionally. But the same could be said for Zydeco, Reggae, Gamelan, or Indian classical music. Granted flamenco is closer to the western classical styles than any of those examples. Maybe there are only so many different cultures one vessel can hold.


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## kg4fxg

*Classical Guitar*

WOW

I don't want to step into an arguement here. I play just classical guitar, I am not an expert in the area of Flamenco. I play a Guild GAD-C2, the C3 is the Flamenco guitar.

I like people like Ana Vidovic or Xuefei Yang. Sorry, I am not expert to comment but I can just about listen to anyone play classical guitar because I like it.


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