The Flamenco Project - Overview

Wow, I started this project last winter, probably at or around my birthday. About that time I was inspired to learn Flamenco guitar. I was bored with what I've been doing: accompanying myself singing pop/rock songs. I was looking for a new sound and a challenge. Well, I found them.

After hitting the internet for some background information and a few tutorials, I took my steel string guitar and gave it an... OW! Have you ever seen one of those cheese slicers that look like a slingshot with a wire strung between the forks? Yeah...

Adding a Flamenco guitar to my collection, I resumed my practice. I hit a wall, almost immediately. I didn't even have the most basic knowledge: how to hold it; the different strokes, strums, finger picking styles, scales, chord forms, etc. I needed help!

Good fortune reminded me of Drome Sound in Schenectady. I ventured thither, and a very knowledgeable man rummaged through three racks of books to grab the lone copy of The Keys to Flamenco Guitar by Dennis Koster. Finally, I had the rudiments at my finger tips. The challenge was to retrain my finger tips to play the guitar, as I call it, inside out and backwards from how I'd learned.

Here it is some eight months later and I have not yet learned my first song, though I am comfortable with the rudiments. I believe I'm learning faster than is typical, but slower than if I had a real teacher. As I progress, I will be posting thoughts and, if you're lucky, maybe some recordings.