In the past, the Flamenco guitarist always had problems with the volume of his instrument. Originally, the Flamenco guitar was exclusively used as an accompanying instrument for cante (singing) and baile (dancing). Compared with the loud taconeos (percussive footwork) of the bailaoras (female dancers) and bailaores (male dancers) and the voices of the cantaores (singers), some of which were quite powerful, the guitar was always too soft.
That is why the guitarrero (guitar-maker) was asked to build a loud instrument and the guitarrista (guitarist) was expected to play so that everyone could hear him. The guitarreros solved this problem by building instruments with strong, brilliant, high notes, a high volume in the middle frequencies, almost no bass and a tone which had a very short attack time, but also a very short decay. The Flamenco guitar responds instantly because it is very lightweight. The walls of the soundboard, bottom and sides are much thinner than those of a concert guitar. A Flamenco guitar with a good sound and a concert guitar are not comparable.
Everything else was up to the tocaor (guitarist). Over the years, the guitarists adapted a very loud, powerful toque which is still in use today, although electronic amplification is now quite common in Flamenco, as well. All techniques require playing close to the puente (bridge). Whether rasgueo (rasgueado), picado, arpegio or trémolo, the sound is always brilliant and dry. You will find more details later on.
Guitarrero = guitarmaker
Guitarrista/Tocaor = guitarist
|
Playability | Guitar Wood | Hand-made Guitars | The best Guitar ? | Glossary | |
Flamenco guitar vs Classical guitar  |
