First entry--Moron de la Frontera

[Bob Weisenberg]

Here are some suggestions you might find useful. (If this is old hat to you, perhaps it will be useful to some other reader.)

1) Tarantas is an excellent choice for someone like yourself who has some physical restrictions. It has no set rhythm. It uses a lot of open strings. And it sounds as good with a few notes as with many.

2) Try forgetting for awhile about how others do it and just start playing around with the scales and chords you already know, without worrying about how it sounds. Just experiment freely without judgment. Over time discard the things that are difficult for your hands to do and develop the things that are easy and enjoyable. As a quick example, you might develop a style that is quieter than average, punctuated by an occasional accent, because you can't play forcefully all the time.

You will probably find that there is plenty you can do that is quite enjoyable musically, and a lot less frustrating than trying to copy someone else's material. Again, this works well with Tarantas because it is free-form and doesn't require a lot of difficult positions. It is much harder to improvise freely with Soleares or Bulerias, for example.

3) Try using the singing as your model rather than the guitar. A cantaor singing Tarantas can, like a Blues singer, squeeze a lot of musical emotion out of a very few soulful notes. It is possible to do the same on the guitar, but most players don't do it because there is a tradition of speed and complexity. (Listen to some American Indian flute music for another example.) Playing lots of notes is enjoyable, too. But with your physical restrictions and your love of traditional duende, you might find it more satisfying to invent your own Tarantas style and melodies more based on the singing rather than the guitar.

Try this out if you haven't already and let me know what you think. Then I might have some further suggestions. Also, since you are clearly an avid reader, I would recommend the book "Zen Guitar".

[Marvin Steel]

Originally Posted by Bob Weisenberg

Hi, I'm happy to make the first entry in this forum. I've been playing flamenco for many years, but this is the first time I've looked into flamenco forums. I wasn't familiar with the old site, but this looks great so far.

I was brought up in the Moron school, and was very fortunate to have lived there and study with Diego del Gastor and his nephews.

Since then I've moved on to develop my own style, but it is still heavily influenced by the gypsy thumb style of playing. I'd love to hear from anyone who is interesting in this. There is a good article about my time in Moron at my CD Baby website: CD Baby: BOB WEISENBERG: American Gypsy .

If there is enough interest, perhaps we can create a Moron forum.

Bob Weisenberg

Bob, I heard your playing of Diego on your other site, I loved it. I am a Flamenco artist. Also, I play the guitar, mostly stuff of Diego's in my own distorted style, or botched up version.
Go to my blog, De Cordoba where you can see a 7 page article in a Spanish magazine about my drawings of Diego. You have to scroll down "older posts" to see it. I hope you read Spanish?

Your idea about a Moron site or or forum sounds great, I would help if I could.

Do you know Bill Davidson or Evan Harrar?

Marvin

[Bob Weisenberg]

Hi, Marvin. Thanks for writing. I'm enjoying your blog, but how do I get beyond the covers to the articles in "Mauror". I played around with it, but I couldn't find the text. Thanks.

[Frontera]

Originally Posted by Marvin Steel

Bob, I heard your playing of Diego on your other site, I loved it. I am a Flamenco artist. Also, I play the guitar, mostly stuff of Diego's in my own distorted style, or botched up version.
Go to my blog, De Cordoba where you can see a 7 page article in a Spanish magazine about my drawings of Diego. You have to scroll down "older posts" to see it. I hope you read Spanish?

Your idea about a Moron site or or forum sounds great, I would help if I could.

Do you know Bill Davidson or Evan Harrar?

Marvin

Awesome flamenco art Marvin. Most of my playing is Moron de la Frontera style with some falsetas based on other old flamenco masters. Melchor de Marchena is one of my favorite along with Diego del Gastor.