Classical VS Flamenco
Do I need to learn classical guitar first before getting into flamenco?
I play classical, can I also learn flamenco?
Is it possible to learn classical and flamenco together?
I receive such questions quite often.
I was trained as a classical player in the mid eighties. I used to play pieces like this:
I play classical, can I also learn flamenco?
Is it possible to learn classical and flamenco together?
I receive such questions quite often.
I was trained as a classical player in the mid eighties. I used to play pieces like this:
Among the classical players of my generation flamenco was seen as a rather vulgar type of playing the guitar that lacked refinement and musicality. My own teacher, who was Segovia's student, would not let me even try a simple rasgueado as he thought it would damage my classical training in terms of both technique and general sensibility.
"Orhan, what do you think this piece is? Flamenco?" was something I used to hear from him quite often whenever I played a bit too loudly or without the proper tone.
However, all of us were secretly fascinated with flamenco. Especially with Paco de Lucia. I'd get together with my fellow classical guitar students and try to play Entre dos Aguas. It was fun.
For us the difference between classical and flamenco was insurmountable.
Julian Bream was the ultimate classical guitarist with his silky tone and romantic interpretation and then there was Paco Pena who I thought represented the absolute flamenco sound. Actually on one episode of Guitar in Spain narrated by Julian Bream, the two guitarists talk about the roots of flamenco tradition and then Bream mentions that it is a completely different style than classical on which Pena agrees..
"Orhan, what do you think this piece is? Flamenco?" was something I used to hear from him quite often whenever I played a bit too loudly or without the proper tone.
However, all of us were secretly fascinated with flamenco. Especially with Paco de Lucia. I'd get together with my fellow classical guitar students and try to play Entre dos Aguas. It was fun.
For us the difference between classical and flamenco was insurmountable.
Julian Bream was the ultimate classical guitarist with his silky tone and romantic interpretation and then there was Paco Pena who I thought represented the absolute flamenco sound. Actually on one episode of Guitar in Spain narrated by Julian Bream, the two guitarists talk about the roots of flamenco tradition and then Bream mentions that it is a completely different style than classical on which Pena agrees..
The only recognized example for the dual-function guitarist was Pepe Romero. An excellent classical player, Romero would occasionally play buleria or farruca as encores in his recitals.
However, Pepe Romero played flamenco with a classical flavour (and vice versa:-) and he did not delve too deeply into the various palos i.e. fandangos, seguiriya, tiento…
Anyhow, from a traditional standpoint, if you took Paco Pena as representing flamenco and Bream representing classical, the two genres of playing were as different as night and day. Playing both effectively would almost mean being proficient on two different instruments.
The separation between the two genres of playing seems more permeable these days.
Interestingly, it was flamenco players who breached the boundaries. Since Paco de Lucia's foray into jazz and improvisation, the doors opened for flamenco players to explore new sounds and fusions with different types of music. Also, again thanks to Paco, flamenco became a worldwide musical phenomenon not anymore the sole property of Andalusians.
Then there is Manolo Sanlucar who gravitated more toward the classical music with his Albeniz interpretations and ballet scores.
As a result of the broadening of the boundaries of flamenco guitar and the availability of videos and recordings over the internet, non-Spanish flamenco virtuosos, such as Grisha, emerged. I am sure more will come. Grisha studies music academically and plays both flamenco and classical guitar.
Anyhow, from a traditional standpoint, if you took Paco Pena as representing flamenco and Bream representing classical, the two genres of playing were as different as night and day. Playing both effectively would almost mean being proficient on two different instruments.
The separation between the two genres of playing seems more permeable these days.
Interestingly, it was flamenco players who breached the boundaries. Since Paco de Lucia's foray into jazz and improvisation, the doors opened for flamenco players to explore new sounds and fusions with different types of music. Also, again thanks to Paco, flamenco became a worldwide musical phenomenon not anymore the sole property of Andalusians.
Then there is Manolo Sanlucar who gravitated more toward the classical music with his Albeniz interpretations and ballet scores.
As a result of the broadening of the boundaries of flamenco guitar and the availability of videos and recordings over the internet, non-Spanish flamenco virtuosos, such as Grisha, emerged. I am sure more will come. Grisha studies music academically and plays both flamenco and classical guitar.
Now there are schools for flamenco guitar where people receive degrees. Paco Pena for instance teaches at the University of Rotterdam. Many methods accompanied by video instructions are available worldwide. Interestingly the once oral tradition of flamenco that was confined to a single geography has become a global music phenomenon with its own canons and teaching methodologies much like classical guitar.
Paco, once again, did something transgressive which punctured another hole in the wall that separates flamenco from classical: he made a live recording of Concierto de Aranjuez by Rodrigo.
Paco, once again, did something transgressive which punctured another hole in the wall that separates flamenco from classical: he made a live recording of Concierto de Aranjuez by Rodrigo.
In various interviews he criticized classical guitarists for not playing this essentially Spanish piece of music properly, that is, in compas. His general accusation was that classical players would artificially "romanticize" the piece and take liberties with rhythm whenever it was too difficult for them to articulate a passage in the correct tempo. Paco's rendition of Aranjuez demonstrates that a flamenco player can be a "proper musician" with classical interpretive skills while respecting the rhythmical structure of the piece. He also recorded new versions of Falla's music with a guitar trio. Falla has already been played by classical guitarists for decades. Paco's rendition brings fresh insights to Falla's music on the guitar and once again proves that flamenco musicians have a say in the classical arena.
In the mean time, classical technique and education has undergone a serious refinement over the last 10 years or so. There are more and more young virtuosos emerging from all around the world. And these new stars are really young! Something I notice in the new classical guitar world is the increasing standardization of tone. 20 years ago everyone had their own peculiar technique and tone; Bream sounded completely different than Williams; Yepes had his own unmistakable sound and peculiar 3-finger scale technique; Romero brothers played classical pieces with a flamenco flavour, etc… It's not quite like that anymore. The new players have much better technique than the old masters yet the sound they make on the guitar is somewhat more 'standard' - for lack of a better term. I imagine this is because classical guitar technique is finally maturing into a well-structured canon, like piano or violin.
So, can a classical guitarist play flamenco?
The short answer is: yes. Provided they learn some of the peculiarities of the technique. I have many students who came to me with a solid classical background and their prior knowledge of the instrument and musical interpretation always worked in their favour.
However, one technique that classical players do not use as extensively as the flamenco players is the basic flamenco free stroke. I may have started to sound like a broken record but a firm grasp of the flamenco free stroke coupled with the thumb rest stroke is the main entry point of a classical player into the world of flamenco guitar.
The next thing to learn is the compas and how various components of a falseta musically come together. I will not go into this here as it is a very deep subject. Let me give you one example. A classical player will have a tendency to slow down toward the end of a falseta to conclude it. But in flamenco playing, a remate needs to be played in such a way that it brings the music back into the underlying compas. There are other similar aspects of flamenco playing that I convey to the classical players in my flamenco lessons
Can a flamenco guitarist play classical guitar?
Sure! Primarily if they are willing to learn how to read music. Classical music is composed on paper by people who are not necessarily guitar players. In flamenco you learn by mimicking the masters but you cannot do that in classical guitar. You have to read the score for yourself and come up with your own interpretation.
Let me conclude with a video from Adam del Monte. This man plays both flamenco and classical at an equally virtuosic level.
In the mean time, classical technique and education has undergone a serious refinement over the last 10 years or so. There are more and more young virtuosos emerging from all around the world. And these new stars are really young! Something I notice in the new classical guitar world is the increasing standardization of tone. 20 years ago everyone had their own peculiar technique and tone; Bream sounded completely different than Williams; Yepes had his own unmistakable sound and peculiar 3-finger scale technique; Romero brothers played classical pieces with a flamenco flavour, etc… It's not quite like that anymore. The new players have much better technique than the old masters yet the sound they make on the guitar is somewhat more 'standard' - for lack of a better term. I imagine this is because classical guitar technique is finally maturing into a well-structured canon, like piano or violin.
So, can a classical guitarist play flamenco?
The short answer is: yes. Provided they learn some of the peculiarities of the technique. I have many students who came to me with a solid classical background and their prior knowledge of the instrument and musical interpretation always worked in their favour.
However, one technique that classical players do not use as extensively as the flamenco players is the basic flamenco free stroke. I may have started to sound like a broken record but a firm grasp of the flamenco free stroke coupled with the thumb rest stroke is the main entry point of a classical player into the world of flamenco guitar.
The next thing to learn is the compas and how various components of a falseta musically come together. I will not go into this here as it is a very deep subject. Let me give you one example. A classical player will have a tendency to slow down toward the end of a falseta to conclude it. But in flamenco playing, a remate needs to be played in such a way that it brings the music back into the underlying compas. There are other similar aspects of flamenco playing that I convey to the classical players in my flamenco lessons
Can a flamenco guitarist play classical guitar?
Sure! Primarily if they are willing to learn how to read music. Classical music is composed on paper by people who are not necessarily guitar players. In flamenco you learn by mimicking the masters but you cannot do that in classical guitar. You have to read the score for yourself and come up with your own interpretation.
Let me conclude with a video from Adam del Monte. This man plays both flamenco and classical at an equally virtuosic level.
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