I've changed name

Like a lot of flamenco greats, I've changed name... ;-)
Apparently, I'm told by my digitally savvy friends that I stand more chance of being found if the name involves something people search by. No one, no matter how into flamenco they are is ever going to search I can count to 12. Not for the first time, I was being too clever for my own good. Paco however is searched. And it is entirely true that, even though Paco de Lucia and indeed Paco Pena inspired me, and that I aspire - and practice enough - to be a good flamenco guitarist, I am, as yet, no Paco. Please follow me here:
http://imnopaco.blogspot.com/
Please.

Paco at his best

Watch it first.


It was late. We'd been drinking. I was with my muso, tabla playing mate. I mention that because he knows what he's doing.

We were surfing flamenco on YouTube and clicked on this. And for about 30 seconds, we couldn't figure out what was going on. We started with 'Oh, Paco is so great' to 'wow, this out there' to 'this sounds wrong'. Then we got it. It took us that long. And then we pissed ourselves for 5 minutes. It's done so well. As I said we were drunk, and it was late. So we spent the next hour watching all the other shreds. Clapton is great.

By the way, this, if course, is how I think I sound on those bad days.

Siguriyas

I've been away. But not from my guitar. Now I'm on to Siguiriyas. I love it. I'd sum it up as: strong, driven, beautiful, bittersweet.
The count is like soleares but starts in a different place. You begin with the 2 beats then go to 3s.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 rest.

But I actually count it to 5, which for some bizarre and unfathomable reasons I can do easily with this but not with soleares or bularias.
1 and 2 and 3 and-a four-and-a five. Pause. One...

Equally strangely: counting this way to 5 rather than 12 makes me feel uber flamenco.

Here is someone doing it better than me. (Although I'm not bad at it, so feeling good about my playing. Watch our compadres.)

Two's company

No time to talk. Busy, busy, busy. But this is so cool. OK it's not flamenco. But it is genius. Anyone who plays guitar will marvel. Or laugh. I've never tried playing one guitar with another person but I would imagine it is - at least at the start - enormously difficult, especially playing one bit with one hand, and another with the other. You'll see what I mean when you watch this - half way through.

Little Tip

Man, I'm busy. Not time for playing hardly. Back down to 20 minutes a day. That's not going to get me to Duende. So I'm going to start a series of Little Tips. Or it might not be a series, it might be the only one. We'll see. It's dependent on a) global economy & how busy it keeps me 2) me knowing enough about flamenco guitar to create a series.
Like your body and the way you sit or walk, think of your hand having posture. Keep standing your hand upright when you're playing a picado. Don't slouch. But not so much you look like an stuck up type. Your trying to balance strength and speed. It needs to have some roundness to create force.
Well that's what I've learnt so far. But hey I'm no Paco.

Travel Embargo

I've said it before: travel might broaden the mind but it doesn't help your guitar playing. Every time I go away I find myself craving my guitar. And I travel a lot.
So today at lunchtime I popped into a nearby guitar shop where I tried out one of those travel guitars. If you don't know what they are, see the picture. I played a Martin one. Guess what? They're rubbish. Well, they're rubbish for someone who plays flamenco. They have no body so it's nearly impossible to play most flamenco right hand techniques. There's nothing to rest your thumb on for rasgueado or picardo, nothing to tap your golpe on etc etc. It's obvious really. They have no body and the body is critical to flamenco. What was I thinking?! So what I might do is buy a quarter size classical guitar. I need to measure my bag and measure the guitar. I'll keep you posted.

Review: Nino de Ricardo Masters of Flamenco

This is great guitar playing. Beautiful, lyrical, feisty playing. From my position of ignorance, he reminds of Sabicas in that it is traditional & played straight ie. it's before Paco. But Sabicas is slightly flowery, showy, whereas Nino de Ricardo feels more kind of earthy, in his own bubble. Like he's playing for himself rather than for an audience. Which I love. Then again, what do I know, I'm just listening, he might have been a right show-off for all I know.
Because it's old some of the recordings don't sound so good. But that's flamenco for you.
As ever, here he is an action. Maybe I'm just a junkie for the old days, before everything was ruined by something I can't quite fathom. Then again, that's probably just bullshit.