A few words about Alegrias (Full Version)

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metalhead -> A few words about Alegrias (Jun. 12 2026 16:07:32)

I have always been a Bulerias guy and my repertoire pretty much only includes bulerias falsetas. But I recently decided to explore Alegrias and I am so glad I did so. It's such a beautiful and "hopeful" palo. I overlooked something really good for so long lol.

What is your favorite alegrias btw?



Ricardo -> RE: A few words about Alegrias (Jun. 13 2026 15:17:58)

Being from Algeciras down near Cadiz, Paco de Lucía always excelled at this form. He first had these in E minor (or "Rosas" as Ramón Montoya called them), which feel much like Soleá in the minor key, these two combined into one piece from his first and third LPs:



And upgraded to the modern style with this master piece in A major, arguably his best composition and playing:


Of course for the singing, Aurelio, Pericon, Chano Lobato (we miss Morante to dump these here), and Rancampino. Camarón borrowed much from La Perla, and likely it is in this style where PDL felt him as a paisano. Having said that I was always quite impressed with this performance by Catalan folks at 12:56:




rombsix -> RE: A few words about Alegrias (Jun. 13 2026 18:13:26)

quote:

"hopeful" palo


Why, have you been feeling hopeless? I'm a psychiatrist, you know... [:D][8D]



Arash -> RE: A few words about Alegrias (Jun. 13 2026 21:08:30)

quote:

ORIGINAL: metalhead


What is your favorite alegrias btw?


La Barossa is definately No.1 for me.

But I really like this one as well:




AndresK -> RE: A few words about Alegrias (Jun. 14 2026 16:50:25)




metalhead -> RE: A few words about Alegrias (Jun. 15 2026 11:32:10)

Ha, interesting. Well, I am not really the most jolly person you'd meet. Lol.



metalhead -> RE: A few words about Alegrias (Jun. 15 2026 11:33:27)

I have heard La Barossa. Any solo pieces you can recommend por arriba or E maj? For alegrias, I found that key to be much better.



zendalex -> RE: A few words about Alegrias (Jun. 15 2026 11:54:57)

For me, Maestro Sanlucar by Vicente, all the way. Its difficult as hell though:
https://youtu.be/A3jtxV_1Y2g?is=JvJ40uaXHQgtAw4b

quote:

ORIGINAL: metalhead

I have heard La Barossa. Any solo pieces you can recommend por arriba or E maj? For alegrias, I found that key to be much better.



Stu -> RE: A few words about Alegrias (Jun. 15 2026 12:27:50)

quote:

I have always been a Bulerias guy and my repertoire pretty much only includes bulerias falsetas. But I recently decided to explore Alegrias and I am so glad I did so.


Ive always been kinda the oppostite.

Alegrias all the way. obvious to many, but since you ask. (but in various keys)
Tomatito - Canailla, La Ardila
manolo sanlucar - puerte del principe
Vicente amigo - maestro sanlucar and la tarde es caramelo and canto
any paco alegrias
Antonio rey - aromas de la caleta

bit different
santiago lara - sentimentos nuevos
juan carlos romero - tran tran
Ruben levaniegos - (on YT) El Despertar

I also got a few cool (modernish and very playable) falsetas I could share from various lesson with santiago lara and manuel valencia.



metalhead -> RE: A few words about Alegrias (Jun. 15 2026 14:46:26)

Yep. Maestro Sanlucar was quite good. And oopsie. You weren't wrong about the difficult part lol. Will be fun to learn.



Ricardo -> RE: A few words about Alegrias (Jun. 15 2026 17:45:31)

Paco (borrowed ideas transported from A to E major) and Tomatito (Encuentro) influenced mine (tabs for sale on my website):



Chicuelo has a nice one:



And this was one of the first flamenco guitar videos I ever saw when I started learning:


Years later I learned a lot from Gerardo:




metalhead -> RE: A few words about Alegrias (Jun. 15 2026 19:00:43)

Thanks for sharing. I will listen to them all.

In the meantime, I had a question. I immediately went to learning Maestro Sanlucar as soon as I heard it and noticed a lot of picado passages with awkward string crossings.

What are your thoughts on "finger dragging" as opposed to strict alternation? By finger dragging, I mean using the same finger to move from one string to the next rather than alternating fingers.

I’ve done this quite a bit in specific situations. For example, when a run requires only a single note on one string before moving immediately to the next. In those cases, I might play the one note with the middle finger, drag that same finger to the next string, and then continue alternating normally from there.

It has worked reasonably well for me so far, but most of the scales and picado passages I’ve played have been fairly short. Since this piece contains a lot of longer runs and some challenging string crossings, I’m wondering whether finger dragging remains a viable approach in that context.

Do you think it can still be completely fine, or does it tend to create consistency and speed issues over time?



Stu -> RE: A few words about Alegrias (Jun. 15 2026 20:07:45)

I was always taught and under the impression that it wasn't done... but I've seen it done penny.

Infact im chicuelos encuentro at least one of his picado runs is transcribed that way. With instances of dragging...

I've mentioned that specific run (cantinas) on this foro a few times and always struggled with it... I was playing alternate i m obvs.... and i hadn't noticed the double i instances.

Doing it this way, after some practice and un training my brain has made it so much more payable.


That cantinas is also in my favourites



zendalex -> RE: A few words about Alegrias (Jun. 16 2026 12:21:35)

I think dragging is just fine as long as you dont do it too much. For me it makes sense and I believe Vicente uses it quite a lot (for which Manolo would beat him up of course).

Meanwhile when learning myself that alegria, I was not using any finger dragging. But maybe I am still paying for this by not being able to play it without mistakes from the beginning to end, except few times in my lifetime (luckily captured on video).

quote:

ORIGINAL: metalhead


What are your thoughts on "finger dragging" as opposed to strict alternation? By finger dragging, I mean using the same finger to move from one string to the next rather than alternating fingers.

I’ve done this quite a bit in specific situations. For example, when a run requires only a single note on one string before moving immediately to the next. In those cases, I might play the one note with the middle finger, drag that same finger to the next string, and then continue alternating normally from there.

It has worked reasonably well for me so far, but most of the scales and picado passages I’ve played have been fairly short. Since this piece contains a lot of longer runs and some challenging string crossings, I’m wondering whether finger dragging remains a viable approach in that context.

Do you think it can still be completely fine, or does it tend to create consistency and speed issues over time?



Ricardo -> RE: A few words about Alegrias (Jun. 17 2026 15:27:51)

quote:

What are your thoughts on "finger dragging" as opposed to strict alternation?


It is a luxury we are afforded in only one direction between two notes. You can not do it with an ascending melody. Simply put, use it but be conscious about it and careful so you don't get into sloppy habits. In my case I always check for optimal finger options that make the passage flow. In most cases I can avoid the drag by changing one note. In a few cases I have no real choice so I go with the least awkward thing and drag that one finger, always the same one, and try to be careful with the tone that it sort of still sounds like alternating. In other words I very much "prescribe it" for a special case, an exception to the general rule, and I don't think I ever use it when improvising.

Why is it a general rule to avoid? I am thinking of the very fast runs of Paco de Lucía where he manages to do better with awkward string crossings and strict alternations then dragging a finger. Not sure I have ever really even noticed it once in the fast runs. He basically proved to us students that strict alternation is

A. Logical, and his ascending runs always sound other worldly, and
B. He manages to do it descending. It "can be done" in other words.



zendalex -> RE: A few words about Alegrias (Jun. 18 2026 13:00:11)

Also a way to deal with inconvenient strings crossings would be to inject an "a" finger (while everything is played with i/m alternations). That way if say "m" is awkward when crossing strings, injecting an "a" into the scale would "reset" the approaching finger to "i" or "m" which could be more convenient. And of course that is after one tries starting the scale with "m" instead of "i" (or vice versa) and finding it to be still inconvenient.



metalhead -> RE: A few words about Alegrias (Jun. 21 2026 11:41:22)

thank you everyone for the recommendations and advises. Very much appreciated!

I have been more conscious of dragging because it did seem like it's not a good approach for these long picado runs.



metalhead -> RE: A few words about Alegrias (Jun. 27 2026 21:11:14)

The Pedro Sierra Alegrias was completely insane (in a good way). Is this the hardest Alegrias ever? Looked so to me.



xirdneH_imiJ -> RE: A few words about Alegrias (Jun. 27 2026 21:38:34)

I transcribed it a few weeks ago. If you slow it down it's pretty standard, it's the insane tempo and accuracy that makes you feel it's insane, but it really doesn't hold a candle to Calle Munición for example.



metalhead -> RE: A few words about Alegrias (Jun. 28 2026 18:33:38)

I see. How do you think Maestro Sanlucar holds up to these pieces and La Barrosa in terms of difficulty?



xirdneH_imiJ -> RE: A few words about Alegrias (Jun. 28 2026 23:47:10)

Maestro Sanlúcar is a very picado-heavy piece, all the rest is very playable at intermediate level. But it sounds original, very tastefully composed and of course played at high tempo and great precision. I used to play it quite a bit along with Queda la Sal by Gerardo Núñez.

La Barrosa is difficult even when you slow it down a bit and is generally a much less linear piece. Paco always had the capacity to surprise even the most well versed aficionado, something few are capable of. In general in music I rate this quality the highest, way above the technical aspect. If you want technical, you can look at many contemporary players who can perform at the highest level and say absolutely nothing, much like Pedro Sierra on the above video; at least that's the way I feel about it.



zendalex -> RE: A few words about Alegrias (Jun. 30 2026 13:34:44)

I am inclined to agree with the below, not the best from Pedro Sierra, who has a lot more to say in his later compositions.


quote:

ORIGINAL: xirdneH_imiJ

If you want technical, you can look at many contemporary players who can perform at the highest level and say absolutely nothing, much like Pedro Sierra on the above video; at least that's the way I feel about it.



Madboy -> RE: A few words about Alegrias (Jul. 1 2026 17:33:36)

Diego del Morao


https://youtu.be/S79ho6wVXLI?si=fz29va2yLG_9jrPI



Madboy -> RE: A few words about Alegrias (Jul. 1 2026 17:42:31)

Myrddin

https://youtu.be/0JAWibflB34?si=JOZ6EYgn66wWcFJU



metalhead -> RE: A few words about Alegrias (Jul. 3 2026 11:56:06)

If there's one thing I have learnt so far it's that nobody can compose like PDL. And Vicente and Nunez. So it makes sense.



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