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mark indigo -> RE: Good flamenco books (in English) from a musical POV? (Jul. 3 2023 17:52:21)
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quote:
So I'm looking for some good books in English that explain various palos, ways of playing compas, etc. Not looking for techniques and all
I wonder what you mean by "techniques and all" as opposed to "ways of playing compas" cuz in my head technique IS the way of playing (Manolo Sanlucar said, "without technique you can't play anything"), so "ways of playing compas" will involve technique....
I would suggest Oscar Herrero Paso a Paso volume 4, the first one on Solea (DVD+book). The whole of that DVD is devoted to Soleá compás. It takes everything apart, demonstrates and explains different ways of expressing the compás, llamadas, remates etc. etc. You can apply the way it is broken down, demonstrated and explained to pretty much any other palo. There are further volumes on Soleá, falsetas and then cante accompaniment, and then more volumes on Alegrias. The first 3 volumes of the series cover technique, including the techniques you need to play compás...
Also Herrero did a 5 volume book series which covers Solea, Siguiriyas, Tangos, Bulerias and Fandangos, but I don't like it so much for several reasons, one of them is because the audio is not provided for all of it.
Also, I have to say that I don't see flamenco as something you can learn intellectually from a book that "explains" it and that's it, you've got it, away you go.... I think that stuff has it's place, but the real learning is in hours and hours of listening, and comparing the things you have learnt to the things you hear, noticing the things that are the same, the variations etc. etc. and going to find a local dance class and sitting playing compás for them, and applying the things you've learnt - anything you learn from a book you will have to figure out how to actually apply it in the "real world" of playing... and if you can find a singer then accompanying them too.
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