Owen Flanagan

Music of Spain

This first video is a sample of Andalusian classical music.

Andalusian music is a holdover from the Moorish
occupation of the Iberian peninsula and while it is more
commonly played in north African countries today, you
can really clearly hear traces of the early Flamenco and
Spanish music that it helped create. In this recording you
can hear dumbek hand drumming playing rhythmic
figures reminiscent of the rhythms of flamenco dances,
as well as traditional Arabic oud performing similar to the
guitar. Even Flamenco vocalists sound similar to
Andalusian vocal. They each utilize the style of wavering
pitch popular in Arabic and middle eastern music.

This next video is an explanation of how to play through

traditional Spanish rumba on guitar. Rumba flamenca is a
style of flamenco that was created from the Spanish
occupation of Cuba. While in Cuba they play rumba with
different instrumentation and in traditional duple meter,
the Spanish version includes guitars, palmas, and other
instruments. It is also different from the typical Flamenco
style as it can be performed in both major and minor
keys. The video I shared is a tutorial of how to perform
the traditional spanish rumba guitar pattern which
borrows certain techniques from flamenco guitar playing
like rasqueados (the use of index middle and ring fingers for strumming) and planting of the
thumb on the low strings of the guitar for balance. One thing that differs from Flamenco playing
that differs from how a classical guitarist would approach the instrument is in the planting of
the thumb on the body of the instrument like this teacher does. Typically guitarists try to avoid
doing that as it can stifle resonance in the instrument and compromise both volume and tone if
done too much.