Flamenco guitar music, together with flamenco singing and dancing, is a local form of expression which was developed by a certain people in a particular region of Spain - Andalucìa. It has become known outside Spain because Andalucìans have played it to larger and larger audiences and its general appeal and musical qualities have become apparent to more and more music lovers. As a result, quite a number of people have become interested in playing flamenco guitar themselves. But, traditionally, the Andalucìans have learnt the music from their family or friends within their small community; it was not written down. Therefore, it is very important to listen as much as possible to authentic flamenco played by people closely acquainted with it in order to appreciate the 'flamenco' quality of the music - which cannot be learnt from paper. In this book, we have attempted to write flamenco pieces as accurately as possible, using suitable symbols and explanations. Yet, in my experience, most students learn more quickly by listening to flamenco as well as reading it - especially when they first start to learn to play flamenco. This project is an attempt to combine both these approaches. The student can listen to a number of flamenco pieces, learn the notes and techniques from the written music, and then go back to the record to check that he is making the right sound. I was asked to compose some pieces easy enough for students to be able to play, but I found that flamenco pieces which are too easy do not sound attractive enough to encourage the student or to make interesting listening. So I have arrived at a compromise which I hope will satisfy most students. Some of the pieces are rather more complex than was originally intended, but most of the falsetas are quite straightforward. The rhythmic passages, rasgueados etc. are, for the most part not as intricate as I would play in other pieces, although I may use this kind of rasgueado when I play. My aim has been to produce some attractive and strictly authentic flamenco pieces easy enough for most students to play, yet difficult enough to encourage them to improve their technique and understanding of flamenco. Finally, I must add that flamenco is a free, improvised form of music, and the guitarist is not expected to play exactly what he has learned from somebody else. I strongly encourage him to experiment with the music. But before he can improvise he must have a very sound understanding of the compàs (rhythmic structure) and the character of the piece he is playing. Therefore, I advise the student to first learn these pieces strictly correctly. That way I trust he will get familiar with each of these flamenco styles and only then should he experiment and "do his own thing." Paco Peña 10 pieces from the album Toques Flamencos. In standard notation and tablature and complete with guidelines on technique and notation. Includes a CD TABLATURE
INTRODUCTION
Andalucla, whose musical tradition is embedded in its earliest history, must have built up that
tradition from the influences and remnants of the cultures left by the various peoples who passed
through or settled on its land. Among these different cultures one can note the Byzantine, Moorish,
Mozarabic and Jewish, whose influence must have finally crystallized and become integrated in the
songs and dances of the Andaluclan people. Andalucfa was under Moorish domination for many
centuries - Cordoba being at that time the capital of the Western Islamic world. Therefore the
music of this land already reflected the Oriental influence.
Later, in the 15th century, many tribes of gypsies found their way into Andalueta as a branch of
immigrants who around 1447 entered Spain by Catalonia. They lived mainly in the fields,
nomadically and in poor conditions. Traditionally the gypsies were not great poets - hardly surprising
considering their circumstances - but they had a remarkable facility for rhythm and music,
and in Andalucla they found a rich, colourful folklore of exceptional poetic charm. Unlike other
music they had come across elsewhere in Spain, this folklore suited their character and came to
form part of their lives. They assimilated it and added something different to it. This "marriage"
gave rise to the phenomenon of Cante Flamenco, neither "gypsy music" nor Andaluclan folklore,
but both. So, it can be said without doubt that there are two main elements in Flamenco:
Andalucla, with its old musical background, and the gypsies - without both, Flamenco would never
have existed.
Nobody knows for certain when it all started because there are very few written records available.
The first notice we have is about a singer of Seguiriyas, Tfo Luis el de la Juliana, around 1780.
But even that is a little dubious because it was not mentioned until a century later in 1881 - by
Antonio Machado Alvarez ("Demofilo"); in fact the Seguiriya seems to have developed later from
another style: Tonas.
There are three main periods in the history of Flamenco. From the beginning of the 19th
century to 1860 it was part of the life of Andaluclan gypsies and poor people who kept it for
themselves and never performed outside their communities. From 1860 to 1910 was the era of the
"Cafes Cantantes", special tablaos or places wholly dedicated to Flamenco music. Since then,
Flamenco has emerged from its original environment to become known throughout the world.
No evidence exists that guitars were used during the first period. But as Flamenco emerged
("Cafes Cantantes") the guitar, which was already the instrument of Spain, was brought in to
accompany and enhance the human voice. Paradoxically, it is the guitar as a solo instrument, rather
than the singing, which has made Flamenco popular, when in fact the guitar, like the dancing,
derives all its inspiration from the Cante Janda (Flamenco singing) - the purest expression of
Andalucfan art.
When accompanying, the function of the flamenco guitarist is to help the singer or dancer to
to bring out the best of his talent. He must create an atmosphere suitable to each piece, and he must
provide a good clear rhythm and follow the voice in whatever nuances the singer may bring to it.
Also he must colour it by playing falsetas, or brief melodic sequences, between verses. The guitarist
is then at the absolute service of the singing and from it he takes all his inspiration.
When playing solo, the guitarist must convey the whole atmosphere of Flamenco. The falsetas
become much more elaborate and musical to resemble the singing. The rhythm also becomes
stronger and more elaborate to resemble the "foot-work" of the dancer.
A La Feria (Sevillanas)
A Paso Lento (Tientos)
El Mantoncillo (Garrotin)
El Nuevo Dia (Colombiana)
En Las Cuevas (Farruca)
Herecia Latina (Rumba)
La Romeria (Alegrias)
Santuario (Soleares)
Son De Companas (Seguiriyas)
Tonos Levantinos (Tarantas)
Italiano
English
