I've recently become interested in Spanish guitar, particularly the Gypsy and flamenco styles, but I don't know how to get started. Are there any beginner textbooks or videos available? I previously bought a book that started with scale exercises, which I found very tedious, and ended up giving up. Thank you very much.
To learn a folk style you really need a mentor that can connect you to the oral tradition. Rather than scales and technical exercises, focus on learning rhythm and complete pieces. If there is a flamenco dance school in your area, see if they offer guitar lessons and the opportunity to accompany dancers.
Always remember: The notes are not necessarily the most important thing.
That said, there's a lot of overlap between flamenco and traditional classical guitar, so learning classical pieces (particularly by Spanish composers) will help build your fingerstyle technique. Solo Guitar Playing by Frederick Noad was the book I used for classical practice when I was younger.
Also check out pseudo-flamenco pieces that have been recorded by rock and country guitarists, like "Mood for a Day" and "Malagueña", and smooth flamenco crossover artists like Ottmar Liebert and Jesse Cook. You might find these too diluted from "real" flamenco, but they can be another entry point for building up your playing.
Not just you. Brian May brought Steve Howe in to execute the complex flamenco-style classic guitar in “Innuendo” while Brian himself played the main electric guitar parts.
So if Brian May can’t do it.. it’s fine.
YT Video: https://youtu.be/X468z5AwefI?si=G929iSPdDwzr4QkK
Ps. Practice. There is no other way. What you are trying to do is hard. Takes practice and dedication.
Spanish guitar is hard, there is not much crossover between spanish styles and modern pop/metal etc. It probably has more in common with classical music, but then the picking is completely different. It's not that Brian couldn't have done that solo, he's an amazing player and can play in multiple styles, it sounded like from the interview they just wanted to add a different perspective to the track.
If you want to listen to something I think very few people in the pop scene could replicate I would suggest listening to Paco De Lucia. Of course people like Al Di Meola who played with Paco were able to crossover into that world but he is a virtuoso in his own right.
Check out Melbay's catalog of books: https://www.melbay.com/Products/CategoryCenter/F36/Guitar%20...
A lot of the books come with digital downloads of PDFs of the sheet music / tabs along with the author performing the pieces on MP3s.
Get set up with a footstool, and position yourself in front of a computer screen with the PDFs open to practice.
This guy (Scot Taber) covers spanish/nylon guitar - https://www.youtube.com/@TheVersatileGuitarist. Also has paid courses.
I once had a mystical encounter with a drunk guy on a train who advised me to learn Spanish guitar before turning 30.
However, my path preordained by the universe was interrupted when I watched a professional flamenco tutorial and was put off by the teacher's long fingernails, which are apparently required to play, but which I found absolutely repulsive.
tangentially: https://youtu.be/JjDlbCfybbE?t=130
I recommend finding a good teacher who specialises in Flamenco if that's where your interest lies. They can help you navigate the various rhythms and techniques which are quite particular to the style. In-personal ideally, though I'm sure you can find someone who can teach via video call too.
I found very tedious, and ended up giving up
Technically, you paused and could restart this afternoon or next year or twenty years from now…
I've recently become interested
Unless you are guitar virtuosic, against adult standards non-beginner level Spanish guitar competence is years ahead of you. That doesn’t mean you can’t have fun (and you probably should). But doing things you don’t do well is the only way to learn. Good luck.
I just play english guitar and run it through google translate
- [deleted]