Customer Reviews

Traditional Flamenco Guitar, Vol. 2

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The author, although a longtime resident of California, was born in Spain in 1924, and (judging by a very interesting biographical handout that came with the tutor) certainly paid his dues in the grinding poverty of the flamenco world before, during and after the Civil war. His big break came in 1952, when Antonio chose him for the dance company with which he toured the world. He fell in love with Carmen Ruiz, who was dancing with the company, and in '56 they returned to her native San Francisco, where they opened a flamenco nightclub called El Patio Andaluz.

Sr. Córdoba's credentials are thus impeccable, and this tutor is obviously a labour of love. The three hefty volumes are 150-200 pages each, but as the text is presented in both Spanish and English, and the music in both staff notation and tablature (cifra), the content is only half what it might appear to be. Furthermore, 24 pages are repeated at the start of each volume. The author's remarks on the tape are likewise given in both languages.

There is a lot of good material in this tutor, much of it original, and I know people who are successfully teaching out of it; but there are many glaring omissions. There is nothing on holding the guitar, nails, hand position, tuning, golpeadores, or putting strings on properly.

But most alarming of all, NOWHERE is there any explanation of compás or its importance, the most fundamental concept in all of Flamenco. The Fandangos de Huelva commence, incomprehensibly, on beat 10. The Serranas, instead of being written in the usual 3/4 + 6/8, are written (admittedly accurately but still confusingly) in 2/4 + 3/8 + 3/8 + 1/4. The playing on the cassette is no better than adequate. The books are well produced, presented and printed, and spiral-bound to open flat. The English is good.

Because of the omissions cited above, this would not be my first choice for a tutor. It DOES contain a lot of accurate, useful and attractive material (and exercises), and in this sense it can be recommended.