Flamenco on guitar. Spanish flamenco techniques with chords and exercises

Flamenco is a style of guitar playing that came to us straight from the homeland of the guitar - Spain.

It consists of very clear and fast playing with your fingers, and it contains elements that are not characteristic of the usual performance of works on this instrument. Thanks to them, flamenco acquires the same Spanish flavor and characteristic sound.

Of course, mastering this style is an optional thing for the guitarist. If you decide to try to do this, then this article will give you a complete understanding of what it consists of and how to play flamenco.

Flamenco guitar lessons. The subtleties of learning style

It should be noted right away that this style is performed exclusively with fingers. Forget picks as you can't play this style like that. Therefore, the first advice that can be given is to train your finger coordination. This applies not only to the right, but also to the left hand, since within the compositions there are a lot of techniques that are performed using legato. In addition, in this case, the speed and attack of your fingers are extremely important.

Therefore, first of all, practice playing slowly and gradually increasing the pace. As for the right hand, most of the works of the flamenco genre are performed using a special technique - rasgeado - with a four-finger fan blow. Most likely, you will not succeed right away, and your fingers will have to be trained. Do this gradually, one by one.

Basic Flamenco Guitar Techniques

Below are the classic techniques that make up flamenco.

Rasgeado with one finger

In a broad sense, as mentioned above, rasgeado is a fan strike on the strings. You sort of squeeze them and shoot them, passing them along all the strings at the same time. At high speeds, it happens that when the little finger just touches the string, your index finger is ready for another strike.

At the very beginning of your flamenco experience, you need to learn how to do these beats. Start with just one finger - just hit the strings from top to bottom. Then connect the second one, and so on.

Alternado

This technique is a simple alternation of thumb and forefinger while playing the strings. It is used to play the bass and melodic part at the same time on the same instrument. The arm kind of tilts forward a little and you pluck the bass string and the texture string in sequence.

Pulgar

Pulgar is translated from Spanish as "thumb". Basically, this technique is simply striking the string with your thumb strong enough to emphasize and accentuate the bass component of the melody.

Legato

The types of legato in flamenco do not differ in any way from legato in ordinary music. They are ascending - when you move from a note below to a note above, and descending - when the process is the other way around.

Arpeggio

Arpeggio is the guitar playing from the highest to the lowest, or vice versa. The types of arpeggios in flamenco also do not differ in any way from ordinary music.

Golpe

Golpe is another way of playing that is unique to flamenco. It consists of striking the guitar deck with your nails to produce a percussive sound. This greatly expands the accompanying capabilities of the guitar and allows it to be used as a noise instrument.

5-beat tremolo technique

This technique is somewhat different from the classic guitar tremolo, as instead of the four standard beats, a fifth is added to them. This is a somewhat broken rhythm to which you have to get used to, but this will have to be done, since this technique is the basis of all flamenco.

Types and differences from classical guitar

Its main difference from the classical guitar is in a special golpeador plate, which protects the deck from impacts on it during the performance of the golpe technique. In addition, flamenco guitar most often uses nylon strings, and in its construction it is as close as possible to the classical guitar.

Can you play this style on a regular acoustic guitar?

Yes - you can. But keep in mind that this is more difficult, since the strings on an acoustic guitar are stiffer and the attack on them must be stronger. Also, don't forget about the holpeador, which is missing on acoustic guitars.

Famous flamenco guitarists

  • Paco de Lucia
    Was born in 1947. His father is still widely known as a virtuoso of the flamenco genre. It was he who taught him to play the guitar, and thanks to him, Paco de Lucia has already mastered the instrument from early childhood. Already at 11 he gave his first concerts, and became widely known in his city and beyond. He is the founder of the New Flamenco style, into which other musical genres are also interwoven.
  • Andres Segovia
    He is one of the main popularizers of the guitar in the world. It was he who first thought about making the guitar not an accompanying, but a solo instrument. Therefore, he actively performed in various cities with a solo program. He gathered a large number of the public, and at the same time sought to open guitar classes in the conservatories. He succeeded - and now the guitar has really become one of the main instruments in music in general.
  • Al Di Meola
    A more modern guitarist who does not play in the style of pure flamenco, but weaves elements of jazz, Arabic and Latin American music into this music. He plays an acoustic guitar with steel strings, unlike many other guitarists in this genre. He is a recognized virtuoso, and still records albums and gives concerts.
  • Paco Peña
    A modern guitarist who still gives concerts and records music. He first appeared on stage at the age of twelve, and since that time has been constantly improving his skills. Recognized virtuoso who created the university flamenco course. Has performed with many famous guitarists such as Jimi Hendrix.
  • Pepe Romero
    One of the most famous guitarists on the planet. He developed a special technique called the Thousand Fingers Technique and gave impetus to the development of a huge number of guitarists from all over the world. For his contribution to music in 1996 he was awarded the Andalusian Music Prize.
  • Armik Dashchi
    Another guitarist who played the so-called "New Flamenco", in which he combined this genre with jazz and other forms of music. He first started playing flamenco after Paco de Lucia's performance. He still releases his albums, often recording several records a year.

If you want to learn how to play flamenco guitar, you can connect with musician in Warsaw, John Neko.

A guitar teacher, musician and composer will teach you how to play the guitar professionally.