Tarantas Studies Flamenco Guitar

Tarantas is among a special category of its own within the flamenco world. It is part of a genre known as Cantes de las minas (Songs of the mines). The sister forms of Tarantas are Minera, Cartagenera and Murciana. These all originate, as their title suggest, in the throat of the mine workers of the south-eastern region of Andalusia, in Murcia and La Union.

This 2.5 hours Tarantas Studies is an in depth course on the fundamental and traditional elements of this style. It has many examples of the typical "flavor phrases" that are so characteristic of this melismatic style. There is a perfect blend of traditional and more progressive falsetas that turn this Tarantas lesson into a complete composition, making this a perfectly playable piece for intermediate and advanced players. It also includes a super cool thumb trick!

This highly melismatic style of cante (singing) is very much imitated by the guitar with a very particular way of using a lot of slurs; hammer-ons and pull-offs. It has a distinct echo-like tonality mimicking the echo in a mine.

The Tarantas are not danced to since they are free of any rhythmic structure (compás) that you find in the styles like Soleá, Alegrías, Bulerías, Tangos, etc. However nowadays, Tarantas can be used as a lyrical introduction to another rhythmic form even when danced, but it is NOT a dance in of itself.

In this lesson Adam del Monte is playing a flamenco guitar by master luthier Christopher Carrington with cedar top and Brazilian rosewood back and sides.