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GowiththeFLOW on YouTube

Playlist · Latin jazz

Spanish Guitar Flamenco

Flamenco and Spanish guitar for lounge settings: rasgueado, picado and golpe technique, the Andalusian cadence, and why flamenco is not Latin American.

When to put it on

A quiet room, a meal, or late in an evening when the party has thinned out.

Why this works

Flamenco guitar carries an enormous amount of information in one instrument: a percussive golpe on the soundboard, a continuous rasgueado strum and fast picado runs, all from one player. That density is why a solo guitar can hold a room that would otherwise need an ensemble.

It is worth saying plainly that flamenco is Andalusian rather than Latin American. Its guitar language influenced the Caribbean bolero, but its twelve beat cycles work on a different principle from anything in the Afro-Cuban family.

The music behind it

Spanish guitar and flamenco: compas, rasgueado and what the palos actually are goes into what this material actually is, rather than when to use it.

The rhythm

The latin jazz guide covers the tradition in full.

Frequently asked questions

When would you put this on?

A quiet room, a meal, or late in an evening when the party has thinned out.

Where does the music itself live?

On the GowiththeFLOW channel on YouTube. This site links to videos and shows their thumbnails; it does not host audio and runs no player of its own.

Keep up

New mixes, and the notes that go with them

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