Flamenco and blues

Costs are rising and times are tough.
Please consider a donation to keep this
place going.

Welcome to one of the most active flamenco sites on the Internet. Guests can read most posts but if you want to participate click here to register.

This site is dedicated to the memory of Paco de Lucía, Ron Mitchell, Guy Williams, Linda Elvira, Philip John Lee, Craig Eros, Ben Woods, David Serva and Tom Blackshear who went ahead of us.

We receive 12,200 visitors a month from 200 countries and 1.7 million page impressions a year. To advertise on this site please contact us.

Flamenco and blues

You are logged in as Guest

Users viewing this topic: none

Printable Version

All Forums >>Discussions >>General >>

Page: [1]

Message

<< Newer Topic Older Topic >>

Miguel de Maria

Posts: 3532
Joined: Oct. 20 2003
From: Phoenix, AZ

Flamenco and blues

I have been thinking lately, and when we talk about flamenco, we talk about the difficulty of the technique, the alien compas, and the "aire." It seems to me that these difficulties are in no way unique to flamenco guitar. All technique is difficult, unless you are just talking about a folkie strumming... improvising single lines is very difficult. There is a huge difference in playing something about right and playing something just right, and it's not apparent or even audible to the beginning player. It is based on control of technique, and also awareness of rhythm. A simple phrase of a bluesman can sound stiff and wrong if it is duplicated by a beginner, or even intermediate player. The advanced player does not struggle at all with technique and is free to concentrate on the true sound and feel of the music. But this is not at all unique to flamenco. Those of us who struggle with it in flamenco would struggle with it in blues or anything at all. There is a place we have to get to, a plateau of awareness, and perhaps the climb is steeper or longer in flamenco, but do not doubt that it is there in any form of music we endeavor to perform.

If you play a simple strum with the accents on 2 and 4, a "rock" feel, that may seem easy since we know what rock is supposed to sound like. But if you record yourself, you'll probably realize that the beats inbetween, the random little strums and offbeats, are a little off and something is wrong about the rhythm. This is nothing different from Ron's observation that hitting the 3 and the 10 are only half--or maybe less--of the battle. Some people are good with rhythm and can play them easily, but for the rest of us, we have to work on it and get it to sound good. And what we thinks sounds good might not sound good to us when we've played for a few years, or if we listened with a true objectivity.

Trying to play a long picado line complicates the essential nature of the a phrase. You have to get from here to there, how you do it could be a whirlwind or notes or 2, but you have to get there on time and get there right. Getting there on time and getting there right is the essence and the main movement--and it's not easy!

probably it would be good to play the simplest thing possible and see if it sounds good. Record it. If it doesn't sound perfect, if it doesn't make you move, then maybe it should be worked on until it does. Revisitng the fundamentals, the essence of music. It's hard to learn unless you work on it.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 3 2004 17:37:01

Ron.M

Posts: 7051
Joined: Jul. 7 2003
From: Scotland

RE: Flamenco and blues (in reply to Miguel de Maria)

Yeah Mike,
This is what I've been trying to say for a while.
When these Flamencos go for a few drinks with friends on a weekend, they play Flamenco with the same inhibition and naturalness as we would hauling out the guitar and jamming with a few blues or rock songs.
When I play Flamenco I am very aware I am playing a "foreign" music, completely alien to my culture.
Whether I will ever become "comfortable" with it....well I don't know!
I think maybe to attain that degree of assimilation, one would have to pursue that in Andalucia like Estela and others.
I can only say I love listening to it and enjoy trying to play that style of guitar.
And that's all that's pratical to do at the moment and mejor que nada!

cheers

Ron

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 3 2004 20:51:55