General news.
“… Two girls were dancing and singing, strikingly beautiful gypsies, a woman in her sixties and a girl of about ten. Two guitarists, who looked like smugglers from “Carmen”, started strumming their instruments. I was blown away by this strong rhythm and great sound. One of them would stop playing from time to time and sing some strange coloratura vocals, which, as I found out later, they were authentic flamenco, the so-called cante jondo. Melody too, which have never been recorded, these are completely free improvisations. Inherited from Arabs, they use Spanish and Gypsy folk rhythms as accompaniment to songs and dances. Girls in long dresses with a train, with red carnations under high combs in her hair, They danced with extraordinary grace and passion, dead serious, haughty, never smiling, as if they were participating in some religious ceremony. The old woman surpassed both in her unbridled temperament; seemed to be possessed by Satan, and to this extent, that made me fearful…” Artur Rubinstein ” The beginnings of a Spanish career”
Flamenco is a folklore originating from southern Spain. However, it is an art that was influenced by various influences, different cultures.
Three elements are necessary for the entire flamenco performance:
– singing,
– dance,
– music,
which is why, flamenco artists perform in groups. No privileged or inferior elements are distinguished between the above categories. Each of them performs double functions: once appears in the foreground, and at other times it acts as an accompaniment. With dancers and singers, the accompanying role consists in this, that using palmas, pitos and heel tap, they make up the percussion layer.
Palmas – (class) is basic “instrument” used for almost all forms of flamenco. Palmas can be categorized by strength and volume. First – strong palms – producing a loud and sharp sound, and palmas sordas giving a quiet and soft sound. It is incredibly effective to perform palmas simultaneously by several palmeros complementing each other. I recommend it for exercise “applause” several rhythms with a flamenco clock.
Pitos – (finger shooting) a technique mainly used by flamenco dancers, probably originated and developed in the province of Beatica and around Cadiz even before flamenco itself was clarified.
Tap dance – heels clicking, the tip or the entire surface of the shoe. Technique used by dancers, who use specially shod shoes for this purpose. Very often performed also as solo parts at concerts, and also recorded on CDs.
Articulation techniques
1. Najpopularniejszymi i zarazem najbardziej charakterystycznymi dla flamenco technikami artykulacyjnymi są techniki scratched. Nie są one stosowane w żadnych innych “schools” guitar.
Ogólnie mówiąc jest to arpeggio, with maximum emphasis on rhythmic accents.
We distinguish several “version” scratched:
-
scratched pojedyncze
It is done by curling the hand in “fist” and releasing (straightening) kolejno palców od małego do wskazującego. This technique does not use the thumb. Particular attention should be paid to the precision of workmanship, because it is important here to have an even time interval between the individual beats, the same loudness of each stroke and, in the finale, the speed of the whole movement.
-
scratched – tremolo.
The technique is analogous to the previous one with a difference, that it is performed many times and intertwined back (arpeggio) index finger. We tighten “fist” – release all fingers one by one – little finger, hearty, the middle and index fingers and then we make an upward movement with the index finger. This technique is very difficult and requires very long training, however, it is very effective.
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scratched z powrotem palca wskazującego.
-
single thumb rasqueado back
-
scratched triplets.
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scratched “shooting”.
2. chopped technika jest grą melodyczną, similar to the classical guitar. Fingers are played here – index and middle (i,ma). In general, you should straighten up and strike perpendicular to the strings, then rest, lean on the neighboring one, lower string. It plays consistently (to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to… or vice versa: by-by-by-by-by-by-by…) regardless of the number of notes or transitions to other strings.
3. dotted techniqueis an arpeggio technique that involves striking several strings with your fingernails – down and up. The index finger is used for this (i), thumb (p) or simultaneously four fingers of the right hand (i,ma,a,me).
4. Technika golpe służy do podkreślania rytmu (accentuation) and consists in striking the upper soundboard of the instrument. Golpe is combined both with striking the strings and is used in rests. It is best to use the ring finger for this (a).
5. Technika tremolo means – similar to the classical guitar – two-part guitar playing. It consists in rubbing one of the bass strings with your thumb, then play from 3 do 5 sounds with fingers and,ma,a…
There are several different types of tremolo (and the order of the remaining strokes also depends on it).