Seguiriya 2 Flamenco Guitar

Tragic and majestic, Seguiriya is arguably the most mysterious and haunting style in flamenco. The cante (singing) of Seguiriyas is dramatic and filled with deep sorrow & tradegy. The dancing is the darkest and perhaps the most powerful of all flamenco styles. Without fully grasping these fundamental phrases you won't be able to enjoy and develop it into the more progressive style in a near future.

This lesson builds on its precursor Seguiriya 1. It breaks down in detail the traditional phrases selected for an intermediate flamenco guitarist while incorporating some new and original falsetas to get your technique to a higher level. In the final video clip maestro del Monte demonstrates one possible way of transforming the falsetas covered in this lesson into a small flamenco guitar composition.

The rhythmic structure or compás of Seguiriya is almost an anomaly within the various compás forms of flamenco 1 2, 1 2, 1 2 3, 1 2 3, 1 2 (where the underlined numbers representing the fundamental accents), is the rhythm and accent structure which possess a trans-like quality. The interpretation of Seguiriya has also, like the Soleá, undergone various transformations. In the 1920s-1960s Seguiriya was played in erratically varying tempos just to be able to accompany the singer. For instance, when listening to the great singer (cantaor) Manolo Caracol, accompanied by the flamenco guitarist Melchor de Marchena, the flexibility of the compás makes it almost impossible to follow since it is treated so loosely. In the 1990s the legendary flamenco guitarist, Pepe Habichuela recorded a revolutionary way and 'feel' of interpreting the Seguiriya. It was very rhythmic and more up-tempo. Here Maestro Habichuela achieves a unique balance between the excitement of the faster pace but manages to preserve the seriousness and drama of the Seguiriya, an element that has eluded most of the guitarists who have tried to copy that way of playing the Seguiriya.

In this lesson Adam del Monte is playing a Blanca flamenco guitar by Candelas Guitars