Flamenco guitar

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A flamenco guitar is a type of guitar, built for the purpose of playing Flamenco music.

Flamenco guitar can also refer to toque, the guitar-playing part of the art of Flamenco.

1 Construction
2 Music
3 Techniques
4 Characteristic forms
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Construction

The traditional flamenco guitar is made of Spanish cypress and spruce, and is lighter in weight and a bit smaller than a classical guitar, to give the sound a "brighter" quality. The flamenco guitar, in contrast to the classical, is also equipped with a barrier, called a golpeador. This is often made of transparent plastic, similar to a pick guard, and protects the body of the guitar from the rhythmic finger taps, called golpes. Originally, flamenco guitars were made with wooden tuning pegs similar to a violin. Some guitarists still prefer these pegs to the classical style tuning gears. The action or the height of the strings above the fingerboard is generally lower (<3mm at the 12th fret) than that of a classical guitar.

In short, flamenco guitars are better suited for flamenco music than classical guitars, however, some modern flamenco guitars (flamenca negra) use similar materials to high-end classical guitars.

[edit] Music

Main article: Flamenco

Flamenco is a genuine Spanish artform. It exists in three forms:

Cante: the song (this is the heart of flamenco)
Baile: the dance
Toque: guitar playing

Strictly, flamenco guitar is an accompaniment to singing and dancing in the traditional Flamenco forms. Those outside the Flamenco community often use it to mean vaguely Spanish-sounding guitar playing which utilises some of the techniques listed below, especially rasgueado. To gain some understanding of the stricter definition of flamenco, read the main article.

[edit] Techniques

Flamenco is played differently than the classical style, utilizing different strumming patterns and techniques. Most flamenco is played using a capo which increases the brightness (raises the pitch) of the instrument.

In addition to the techniques common to all styles (see List_of_guitar-related_topics#Guitar technique), flamenco guitar emphasises: