Monday, June 9, 2008
Flamenco Guitar
This was one of the videos which really got me interested in learning Flamenco. Flamenco is a music genre that originated in Andalusia, Spain. It is in 3 forms: Cante - the song, Baile - the dance, and Toque - the Guitar. It is believed that Gypsies brought the Flamenco style from India! There is a strong resemblance with our ragas, and also with the hand movements in Indian dance.
Source: Flamenco-World
Coming to the Toque , the guitar playing - Flamenco Guitar is one of the most challenging Guitar techniques. Played entirely with fingers, like Classical, it has many advanced techniques like the Rasgueado, Alzapua, Golpe etc. The video above shows Grisha Goryachev playing the composition Con Garbo y Salero by Sabicas from the album Flamenco on Fire.
Flamenco to most of us in this part of the world, is may be a Desperado OST, Bailamos, Latino songs etc ... But Flamenco is not that. They might be using some similar playing techniques but that has got nothing to do with the Rhythmic structures in Flamenco or the art of Flamenco as such.
Check out the following link from a very informative Flamenco site - very nice one :-) What Flamenco is not?
Flamenco is gaining some popularity here. But anyway I didn't find any Flamenco Teachers here in Bangalore. So, I started Classical Guitar lessons as it will surely help in the similar finger-picking style of playing. Anybody who wants to learn Flamenco, but does not find any teacher can surely try learning Classical Guitar to start with. Who knows I might end up learning from...may be someone in Spain later in life?? :-) Well I don't think this happening anytime soon. For now I got this book El Arte Flamenco de la Guitarra by Juan Martin from a friend in US.
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29 comments:
so nice of you for sharing your musical journey... i would definitely check this blog often. request you to kindly keep the space updated :)
btw does BSM takes flamenco lessons?
Thanks Rajesh :) I would surely update it regularly. As for Flamenco Lessons in BSM - No, they only teach Classical Guitar there. I didn't find any place for Flamenco lessons in Bangalore. I suggest u to take a look at the nelow site I mentioned in the post, if u hav not seen already.
http://herso.freeservers.com
It has video lessons too.
-Suresh.
Hi Suresh , Love to know about your interest in Flamenco , I understand your feelings it almost difficult but not impossible to learn flamenco guitaring in India . Iam playing flamenco,western classical ,jazz and bossa nova and a few interest in rock but my passion with flamenco from past 5 to 6 yrs. if you need any help or suggestion can send me email slyknock@rediffmail.com.
warm Regards,
Enoch Harold
Allahabad ,India
HI Suresh felt very nice with your reply Firstly I started learning on my own but later I got contacted with professional flamenco guitarists in spain and canada.How much did this Yamaha flamenco guitar CG171SF if Iam not wrong costed to you , purchased it in India because I have searched many stores including furtados but I didnt found even one model of a flamenco guitar. Planned to open a proper Flamenco guitar school in India in future if God's will after all we should be proud that the toughest and deepest style of guitaring has origins from our country ( Gypsies From southern Rajasthan) PLease send the address and contact no. of shop from you purchased this guitar .
Hi Enoch,
That would be awesome. Any plans for the school in Bangalore?
Reg. the Guitar, I bought the Guitar when I was in USA. It costs about $350 there. I too didn't find any shops selling Flamenco Guitars here. Just check with Furtados guys if they take orders to get these Guitars. Or the only option would be to try getting it from USA if you or any friends go there!
-Suresh.
So, where are you learning the classical western guitar? I cannot seem to find any (beside GuitarCrush)
@mapuna You can check with the Bangalore School of Music for Western Classical (www.thebsm.org)
Hello Folks,
I wanted to give you some information regarding where to buy Flamenco guitars. You could check with Musee Musicals.
I am in Hyderabad at the moment and was on the lookout for Flamenco guitars. I visited them, and they didn't have stock of decent or good models I was looking for, in store. I wasn't sure if they would even have stock. I thought I would give it a try and enquired if they had Manuel Rodriguez(MR) 1C or Alhambra C1. To my surprise they had Alhambra in store at Musee Musicals, Hyderabad. I decided to go with MR C1(though it had to be shipped from their showroom in Chennai), as I wasn't happy with the feel i got from Alhambra. The price they quoted was considerably lower than the price advertised on Frutados website(I mentioned that that I could get it for the same price on Frutado, and they were willing to give me a discount). I placed an order for MR C1, and i'm awaiting it's arrival in a day or two. So far their service has been good. Not sure if it would be the same in their retail stores elsewhere, but I would urge you to give it a try. Perhaps you might get lucky ! One thing I liked is that the store used a inventory tool, which showed them how much stock of which guitar they had in stock, and where. The representative was kind enough to let me go through the list of guitars they had in their online inventory.
Thanks Arjun for the info!
-Suresh
Hi Suresh, I liked your post. I too share your first name, and the passion and love of Flamenco. I first heard flamenco in Rajasthan--the homeland of gitanos :) Since then it has always felt like the music of my heart :) I too purchased a guitar in US and started learning it but had to give it up due to carpel tunnel. Anyway now I want to jump back into it. I will visit your blog often and hopefully we can trade tips and triumphs :)
PS: BTW Suresh, San Jose, SBGS, Juan Martin's book! More parallels to my own Flamenco journey! Drop me a line at my below email. Im hosting a flamenco themed guitar jam session tomorrow in b'luru. U r welcome to join
SIR[substitute this phrase with the actual character underscore]OSI AT yahoo.com
Thank you! Great to know...I was busy this weekend, but I do hope to catch up for the next sesion!
-Suresh
Hi Suresh, Last weekend session was great! about 8 guys all jamming flamenco and other genres! If all goes well Im hoping to have another one this coming weekend with a visiting flamenco guitarist and other local guys. Do email me at the email id mentioned in my previous comment if youre free and wish to join!
With best regards
(also) Suresh
Sent you an email Suresh. Hope I got the mail ID right :)
-Suresh
Also you can contact me at my gmail ID - sureshkota
I everybody
Hope everyone is fine. Iam learning flamenco guitar from last 5 years and yeah it's going nice. I started on my own and since I was in the Middle East the sound helped me a lot. Anyways wanted to know if there was any flamenco school in India.
Hi All,
Recently I have developed my interest in Flamenco style. I searched for a teacher in mumbai but was unable to locate. So I started taking lessons online deciphering the style and practicing it from various artist. Could any one suggest me a good descent flamenco guitar available in India apart from Alhambra ? or shud I practice on classical guitar itself.
Hola all. Good to see the interest in flamenco here. I am also deeply passionate about flamenco but I could not find any teachers in India so I have come to Spain for six months to learn. I plan to start classes in bangalore next year. Let me know if you are interested- Vaibhavi
I plan to start flamenco guitar classes in bangalore next year, once I am back from Spain that is.
I TOO WANT TO LEARN FLAMENCO STYLE
BUT I GUESS THERE IS HARDLY ANY TEACHER AVAILABLE IN DELHI...
CAN ANYONE SUGGEST ME WHERE I CAN GET ME A TEACHER.....
hey guys , i'm from bangalore , im learning flamenco , since last year , im looking for a teacher in bangalore , im learning by graf martinez , juan martin's cds can u please tell me if there are any flamenco guitarists in bangalore ??
Looking for a Classical Guitar teacher for a Music College if you are interested please call on +91 9845780016
We are Looking for a Classical Guitar teacher for a Music College if you are interested please call on +91 9845780016
Ph: +91 9845780016
This is really amazing and he played really well hope you will post such a good stuff in future too. I have join one of the best guitar classes hope i will be play the things in same way.
Hello Suresh!
I'm looking for a flamenco guitarist in Bangalore for an event that we're hosting on the 8th of September 2016 that has a Spanish theme. Could you please let me know if you know of anybody who could help? Any suggestions will be appreciated! Please could you mail me back on nitya@activeholidacompany.com? Thank you!
Best,
Nitya Rao
www.activeholidaycompany.com
hi! I am Spanish singer woman, studying flamenco. I will be in India since october 2017, firstly in Varanasi. I will like finding flamenco guitar and/or schools, in order to keep improving my voice in this marvellous kind of music. Any contact, name, will be useful for me. My email adress is intersara2000@yahoo.es. Thanks a lot! Sara Ruiz Colmenar
This is an excellent thought provoking post.spanish institute in delhi
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