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FLAMENCO GUITAR TRANSCRIPTIONS |
COLLECTIONS OF BULERÍAS, SOLEARES AND
SIGUIRIYAS FALSETAS
FROM 1909 TO 1995 IN STANDARD NOTATION AND
TABLATURE WITH CD
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NEW BULERÍA COLLECTION!!!
ACCOMPANIMENT PLAYING
The vast majority of flamenco guitar transcriptions on the market today are of solo
flamenco guitar and solo-oriented flamenco guitarists.
Part of the reason for this is the rapid evolution of flamenco guitar since
the 1970s. The solo work of the great accompanists of the past may sound
crude and simple to us today: not just primitive, as this may entail more
traditional or emotive playing, but simply outdated and lacking in interesting
ideas. However, close examination of the accompaniment of those great players
reveals highly developed levels of skill that would challenge many of today’s
extremely talented guitarists. Old-school accompaniment was based on strong
right-hand articulation and rhythmic precision, and it offers examples of techniques
that are falling into disuse such as thumbed single-note lines. Accompaniment playing
is normally more traditional, less extravagant, more respectful of rhythm, less
convoluted and more understated: all desirable elements in great works of art.
ACCURACY OF THE TRANSCRIPTIONS
I used audio processing software to slow down the recordings for transcription.
Each falseta has been analyzed dozens of times: Alternative fingerings have been
considered; multiple takes of the same falseta have been taken into
account, as well as similar falsetas from other guitarists; video has been checked when
available; and each transcription has been contrasted with its source by playing it
against the orginal recording at normal speed. In addition to this, I have spent
several years playing the falsetas and checking their accuracy. Although several
falsetas appear on the original recordings with imprecise phrasing, the
accuracy of the transcriptions can be guaranteed in over 95% of the cases in all
three collections.
APPROACH, LAYOUT AND
PROJECTION OF THE COLLECTIONS
Today, most guitarists study the work of the great Paco
de Lucía, who is the point of reference in today's guitar playing.
His success is due to his enormous talent, but the guitarists before him also
paved the way, and, in many cases, laid the foundations for some of his ideas.
The artists presented here are generally his elders, and in some cases his
mentors (Ricardo, Sabicas). These artists formed the base from which Paco and
others created modern flamenco guitar. Whether for learning tradition or forging
the next link in its chain, these studies will provide historical perspective of great
value to the guitarist. You will be able to analyze the different elements
present in bulerías, soleares and siguiriyas falsetas and the ways these elements have
been handled by flamenco guitarists over the last one hundred years. The collections
also provide an excellent method for strengthening your hands and
developing certain techniques (more on this below). Each falseta has
been labeled to aid in reorganization for analysis. You can organize falsetas by
guitarist, year of recording, key, technique used or musical idea. All of this
information is included in the collections. In this way, the evolution of an idea may
be traced throughout time, offering perspective on how guitarists handled the same
situations, the earlier elements they retained, and the variations they added.
We can also witness the impact of such greats as Ramón Montoya, Niño
Ricardo and Manuel Morao, whose work echoes throughout. Insight is provided on the
ancestral form of the soleá dating back to the café cantante period:
faster, more rhythmic and more closely related to dancing. The ever-expanding harmonic
palette in guitar playing can also be traced through the musical structures used in
the older falsetas that, over time, led to more sophisticated harmonies. The collections
offer an idea of the art of pioneering flamenco guitarists like Maestro
Patiño and Paco Lucena, as the oldest guitarists presented here studied directly
with them (Habichuela, Molina) or were only a generation or two away (Borrull,
Montoya). Diverse regional playing styles are represented, as well, with exponents
from Cádiz, Jerez, Morón, Sevilla and other areas.
All three collections include introductory texts on the techniques, rhythms, terminology
and symbols used in the standard notation and tablature. The soleá and siguiriyas
collections include summaries that group the falsetas according to the techniques or
musical ideas (alzapúa, arpeggio, picado, rasgueado, tremolo, etc.) The siguiriyas
collection includes a summary of 49 cierres and remates to end your falsetas. The
bulerías collection includes a summary of 16 different rasgueados (only one of which
is abanico) and 15 basic rhythm patterns from Melchor, Morao, Cepero, Parrilla and Rafael
Alarcón.
The transcriptions appearing on this website are low-resolution GIF images that
look nothing like the falseta collections.
Click here
to see a JPEG image scanned from the siguiriyas collection.
ARTISTS INCLUDED IN
THE COLLECTIONS
The number of falsetas of each artist is indicated in parentheses.
BULERÍAS COLLECTION (includes two CDs with slow and normal versions)
Ramón Montoya (6), Luis Molina (2), Antonio Moreno (5), Manolo de Huelva (2),
Miguel Borrull hijo (1), Perico del Lunar padre (3), Sabicas (1), Niño Ricardo (11),
Manolo de Badajoz (8), Melchor de Marchena (5), Diego del Gastor (4), Eduardo el de
La Malena (1), Antonio Arenas (1), Juan Carmona (4), Pepe Carmona (1), Juan Maya "Marote"
(4), El Poeta (1), Ramón Gómez (1), Manuel Morao (36), Paco Cepero (20),
Manuel Parrilla (23), Juan Morao (1), Rafael Alarcón (3), Enrique de Melchor (1).
TOTAL: 145 falsetas (94 por medio, 28 por arriba, 18 in A major, 3 in E major
and 2 in A minor)
SOLEARES COLLECTION (includes one CD with normal-speed versions)
Juan Gandulla "Habichuela" (4), Javier Molina (8), Antonio Moreno (4), El Hijo de Salvador (12), Ramón Montoya (36) Niño Pérez (3), Manolo de Badajoz (8), Perico del Lunar padre (1), Antonio Delgado (3), Miguel Borrull hijo (1), Niño Ricardo (17), Paco Aguilera (8), Melchor de Marchena (59), Diego del Gastor (8), Sabicas (1), Andrés Heredia (5), Eduardo el de la Malena (7), El Poeta (10), Manolo de Brenes (5), Manuel Morao (5), Félix de Utrera (3), Antonio Arenas (5), Juan Carmona (4), Juan Maya "Marote" (1), Perico del Lunar hijo (5), Manuel Parrilla (2), Diego de Morón (9), Enrique de Melchor (2).
TOTAL: 236 falsetas (177 por arriba and 59 por medio)
SIGUIRIYAS COLLECTION (includes one CD with normal-speed versions)
Juan Gandulla "Habichuela" (6), Javier Molina (7), Antonio Moreno (1), El Hijo de Salvador (2), Ramón Montoya (20), Niño Pérez (3), Manolo de Badajoz (9), Perico del Lunar padre (1), Miguel Borrull hijo (4), Niño Ricardo (21), Melchor de Marchena (36), Diego del Gastor (8), Sabicas (1), Andrés Heredia (6), Eduardo el de la Malena (2), El Poeta (10), Manolo de Brenes (7), Antonio Arenas (2), Félix de Utrera (5), Manuel Morao (8), Juan Carmona (4), Juan Morao (10), Manuel Parrilla (4), Diego de Morón (1), Jose Luis Postigo (1), Diego Carrasco (1).
TOTAL: 180 falsetas (146 por medio, 30 por arriba and 4 in A major)
Click
here for more information on these artists.
ORDERING INFORMATION
Each collection has about 70 pages and is available as an individual spiral-bound
edition with sturdy plastic covers. Each falseta appears in standard notation and
tablature and each collection includes a CD (the bulerías collection includes two
CDs with slow and normal versions of each falseta). Please read the following
information. To place your order, or for information on anything not covered in
this web page, please e-mail me at the following address:
Each collection with CD costs 40 euros, and the cost of shipping each collection
to a destination outside of Spain is 7.50 euros. Domestic shipment (within Spain)
is cheaper; please contact me for details.
FORMS OF PAYMENT:
1) Cash on delivery (COD). This is the best option for shipment to destinations
within Spain.
2) PayPal. Secure credit-card payment or through a PayPal account. Click on the
buttons below to add one or more collections to your shopping cart.
| Bulerías collection |
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| Soleares collection |
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| Siguiriyas collection |
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3) Postal money order. The Spanish postal authorities extend this service to the
following countries: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cape Verde, Croatia, Czech
Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan,
Luxembourg, Monaco, Portugal, Rumania, Senegal, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey and
United Kingdom.
4) Bank transfer in euros. A very quick and easy payment method. Your bank will
probably charge you a commission for sending the transfer. Until recently, this
payment form involved two commissions: one charged by the bank sending the transfer
(your bank) and another charged by the bank receiving the transfer (my bank).
However, this payment form now only involves the commission charged for sending
the transfer. Your bank will tell you how much you will be charged for a bank transfer
in euros to an account in Spain. Contact me for further details.