How About Flamenco?Grab a pen, some paper, and a pair of castanets and you're ready to learn!

What do you think of when you hear the word "Flamenco"? Maybe you picture a beautiful Gypsy dancing along to a catchy Rhumba. Perhaps you imagine a guitarist like Paco de Lucia sitting in a cramped coffee shop, strumming a Spanish guitar amidst a fog of cigarette smoke. Personally, I think of the classic nemesis Don Flamenco from Mike Tyson's Punchout! for the NES; maybe that's just me, though.The true essence of Flamenco rests in its cante (song) and baile (dance). A Flamenco guitarist's job is to accompany one or both of those. In theory, the musical style of a Flamenco guitarist can be very diverse, but there are a few very common and popular aspects of Flamenco music (cliches, if you will), and those are what we shall be looking at in here.

2 Common KeysIf you're going to write your own Flamenco piece, you should know that a majority of them (not all) are either in the key of E major or A major. Perhaps this is because utilizing the open A and E strings is much easier than attempting a blazing fast piece in C major or F# minor or something of the like. I'm not saying that, if you want to make your own Flamenco piece, it should be in those two keys. It's just generally easier, however, if it is. With these two keys come a very distinctive cadence, known as the Andalusian Cadence.

Andalusian CadenceAs I explained in my "How About Cadences?" article, a cadence is the ending to a musical piece or phrase. The Andalusian Cadence is a very common cadence (and chord progression in general) in some Flamenco music. Since most Flamenco music is, as I mentioned above, either in E major or A major, there's a special type of cadence for each of those.

Por ArribaPor Arriba (literally "By up") is the name given to the Andalusian Cadence you'd use if you're in the key of E major. It consists of 4 chords; Am, G, F, and E. It's very simple using open chords...

|0-------3-------1-------0-------||1-------3-------1-------0-------||2-------0-------2-------1-------||2-------0-------3-------2-------||0-------2-------3-------2-------||--------3-------1-------0-------|Am G F E

...and provides a great cadence. As I said, it's sometimes used as a Flamenco chord progression as well. Do with it what you want. It sounds great regardless.

Por MedioPor Medio ("By middle") is the other type of Andalusian Cadence, found in the key of A major. The chord progression utilizes the same iv-III-II-I progression, only, since it's in the key of A major, the chords are different. In this case, they are Dm, C, Bb, and A. Again, pretty simple with open chords:

|1-------0-------1-------0-------||3-------1-------3-------2-------||2-------0-------3-------2-------||0-------2-------3-------2-------||--------3-------1-------0-------||--------------------------------|Dm C Bb A

Again, use it as either a cadence or a chord progression. Works great either way.

Phrygian Dominant ScaleIf you know your modes, you may already be familiar with the Phrygian mode. If you're not, don't sweat it. But the Phrygian Dominant scale takes the Phrygian mode and raises the third. The result is a drastically different (and incredibly cool) scale! It's used so commonly in Flamenco music that it's often referred to as the Spanish Phrygian scale. Starting on a C, here's your Phrygian Dominant/Spanish Phrygian scale:

|----------------||--------------1-||--------0-1-3---||----2-3---------||3-4-------------||----------------|

The Phrygian Dominant (and the Phrygian as well) is essentially a mode, and is effective when the root note of the scale is the third scale degree of the key you're in. C is the third scale degree in the key of G major, thus the C Phrygian Dominant scale above works very well in the key of G major. Which brings me to a stunningly similar (and very cool) Flamenco concept.

SethMegadefan12-06-2006, 12:55 AMiv to IIf you know your chord theory, that means that we're talking about the minor fourth chord followed by the root chord. This is most effective when the iv chord is a scale. A minor is the iv chord in the key of E major, so about the easiest example of the iv-I progression is this:

iv I|----------------0---------------||----------------0---------------||------------0-2-1---------------||------0-2-3-----2---------------||0-2-3-----------2---------------||----------------0---------------|Am E

Wow! Now that we've ended on an E major chord, we can immediately jump to yet another useful Flamenco concept, and that's the moveable E chord.

Moveable E ChordMind you, that's probably not the technical term. It's just what I refer to it as. But its name pretty much says it all: you take the E major chord shape and transition it up and down the fretboard, whilst keeping the 2 E strings and the B string open. It works great in 1st position, 2nd position, 4th position, 6th position, and 7th position, to name a few. Here's what I'm talking about:

|0-------0-------0-------0-------0-------||0-------0-------0-------0-------0-------||1-------2-------4-------6-------7-------||2-------3-------5-------7-------8-------||2-------3-------5-------7-------8-------||0-------0-------0-------0-------0-------|

There's just something about those open Es and the open B against the other notes of that chord that make it sound almost hypnotic, in a way. It's just a cool technique to know, because once you know the E major open chord shape (and you probably do) and which positions it sounds good in, then you can really make some cool chords! Alright, let's move on.

PicadoThe Picado is a very common Flamenco technique that's used when you're not using a pick. Conceptually, it's a brilliant idea, but it's difficult to master. Picado is the technique of alternating plucking with your index and middle finger, either for executing fast scalewise picking or tremolo picking. Let's take another look at the iv-I riff I posted above, only this time apply the Picado technique to it (i stands for index finger, m for middle):

|----------------0---------------||----------------0---------------||------------0-2-1---------------||------0-2-3-----2---------------||0-2-3-----------2---------------||----------------0---------------|i m i m i m i m

Now that we've established a good picking technique involving only 2 fingers for fast scalewise motion, let's take a look at another equally important concept using all of your fingers!

RasgueadoRasgueado is a technique in which all of the fingers are unfurled across the strings, so upper strings that usually form chords can be plucked with your index finger through your pinky, and melodies on the lower strings (typically E and A; sometimes D) can be played with your thumb. Take a look at this section from a traditional, anonymous Flamenco rumba (play the D and A strings with your thumb):

| | | | | | | | | | | ||----1-------1-------1---|----1-------1-------1---|--------0-------0-------|--------0-------0-------||----3-------3-------3---|----3-------3-------3---|--------1-------1-------|--------1-------1-------||--------2---------------|--------2---------------|------------------------|------------------------||0---------------3-------|0---------------3-------|------------------------|2-----------------------||------------------------|------------------------|0-----------------------|------------------------||------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|

Keep in mind that it also helps to put a little staccato on beats 2 and 3 of those last 2 measures. Flamenco on guitar, in addition to being musical, is also very percussive. What do you know, that just rolls us right along to the next point...

GolpeThis technique comes from the Spanish word Golpe, meaning "To strike." When you're using an acoustic guitar, tapping your finger against muted strings makes for an impressive percussive effect, and it's used a LOT in Flamenco music. Flamenco music makes extensive use of accenting certain beats or groups of beats, sometimes in odd spots. In a 4/4 time signature, your accents and mutes could be a simple pattern like this:

|x-x-x-x-0-x-x-x-x-x-0-x-x-x-0-x-||x-x-x-x-0-x-x-x-x-x-0-x-x-x-0-x-||x-x-x-x-1-x-x-x-x-x-1-x-x-x-1-x-||x-x-x-x-2-x-x-x-x-x-2-x-x-x-2-x-||x-x-x-x-2-x-x-x-x-x-2-x-x-x-2-x-||x-x-x-x-0-x-x-x-x-x-0-x-x-x-0-x-|

To something like this:

|0-x-x-0-x-0-0-x-x-0-0-x-0-0-x-0-||0-x-x-0-x-0-0-x-x-0-0-x-0-0-x-0-||1-x-x-1-x-1-1-x-x-1-1-x-1-1-x-1-||2-x-x-2-x-2-2-x-x-2-2-x-2-2-x-2-||2-x-x-2-x-2-2-x-x-2-2-x-2-2-x-2-||0-x-x-0-x-0-0-x-x-0-0-x-0-0-x-0-|

The main idea here is that if you want to accent certain beats, you can use the technique of Golpe in between guitar strums, or plucks, or whatever it is you want to accent. Flamenco is a very percussive musical style, so Golpe, when used correctly, can be your best friend.

Some Flamenco Guitarists You Should Check Out Right Away!Hopefully I addressed some major ideas here in this article, but what's a better reference than a few of the greats themselves? You can learn LOADS by listening to and analyzing other guitarists' techniques. So, I've compiled a brief list of some major, important Flamenco guitarists that anyone serious about learning more about Flamenco should check out.

Paco de LuciaThis guy's possibly THE most innovative and important Flamenco guitarist of all time. Chances are, if you know anything about Flamenco, you've heard (or at least know) Paco de Lucia. He emerged in the early 1970s and took Flamenco to a whole new level. His style was mainly Flamenco, yet he incorporated quite a bit of jazz and even some Brazilian music into his playing. He's notorious for being a genius at improvisation as well. All in all, this guy is to Flamenco as Jimmy Page was to rock and roll.Although it was thrown together at the last minute for the album "Fuente y Cuadal" (1973), the traditional "Entre dos Aguas" was given an added rhythm section, electric bass, and percussion, and the song became a mega hit in Spain. This pretty much launched Lucia's career, and if you want to get any of his albums, try the aforementioned "Fuente y Cuadal" and "Almoraima" (1976). He has MANY stunning pieces, however.

SabicasHere's another popular guy. Essentially, Sabicas' music defined Flamenco during the 1920s and '30s, and his works set the stage for almost all subsequent Flamenco music. His technique was a unique blend of traditional Flamenco styles along with blistering technical accuracy, two things that aren't always synonymous in Flamenco music. He teamed up with a popular Flamenco dancer named Carmen Amaya, and the duet toured the world. Sabicas is known for many things, but he is noted most for his incredible arpeggios and impressive thumb technique.Two of his most popular recordings are "Flamenco Puro" (1961), and "The Fantastic Guitars of Sabicas and Escudero", which is a collection of duets he recorded with Mario Escudero. These two albums in particular were a monumental influence to all up-and-coming Flamenco artists of the time and afterward.

Ramon MontoyaMontoya essentially was the innovator of Flamenco guitar, and became the first true Flamenco virtuoso of the 20th century. Like Sabicas, he stuck to traditional Flamenco ideas while incorporating his own impressive techniques into his playing. He used his influences like classical guitarist Miguel Llobert, and added his own ideas into his style. He was also one of the first Flamenco guitarists to break from the Flamenco "groups" and perform as a solo instrumentalist, which was almost unprecedented in his time. Montoya was probably the most important innovator of all time, at least from a Flamenco perspective.In addition to being a stunning player, Montoya also published one of the first books ever on Flamenco, titled "Metodo de Guitarra por Musica y Cifra" (1902).

Well, I hope that at least explained MOST of the important ideas about Flamenco music. In addition to learning a bit about its history, I want you to be excited to learn, play, and even create your own Flamenco-styled pieces! As with all my articles, I want my readers to be inspired by the time they've finished reading them. So use this article as a guide, and go play some Flamenco!

As always, rock on!

RumbaEm B7 Em Am Em B7 Em

FarrucaE Am E Am Dm Am E Am

TangosBb A Bb A Dm C Bb A

BuleriasA BbDm7 G7 C7 F7 Bb7 G7 A7 (ALL barre chords)

SoleaF C Dm E

VerdialesE F Am G F E

FandangosAm G F E