Flamenco Resources for Beginners »

Because Rafa plays flamenco so awesomely, I thought it’d be interesting to research the origins of flamenco a little bit and then share that with you.  So here’s what I found.  The website is pretty cool if you want to learn how to play flamenco too -

“A particular kind of music/dance (and some would say lifestyle) native to, but no longer restricted to, a small region of Andalucia in Southern Spain. Like American “blues” it probably has ancient antecedents, but as a distinct genre is only a couple centuries old. Not all Andalucian folk music is flamenco. Not all flamenco artists have been Andalucians (e.g., Sabicas), or even Spanish (e.g., Greco).

Some classical guitarists (understandably, if they haven’t studied flamenco) view flamenco as a “style” of guitar playing emphasizing certain techniques above others and having a distinct sound. Thus (oversimplified) if you play rhythmic rasqueados and fool around with Phyrygian scales and a lot of Ami>G>F>E, it’s flamenco. Not so. At most, flamenco-ish.

Flamencos themselves (i.e., guitarists, dancers, singers, aficionados), whatever their own specialty, and for both formal and historical reasons, usually agree that what is fundamental to flamenco is cante (song), i.e., a body of several dozen forms with specific rhythms, melodies, and in some cases themes, sung in a certain way”