Flamenco guitar lessons for Beginners

What could be more flamenco for a new flamenco player to play than a big, fat E chord?

Nothing, that's what.

Now here's where it gets interesting. As you'll soon learn if you follow the life we've planned out for you, flamenco delights in ambiguity.

As you see in the two 'open-string' versions of the F chord, the chord includes notes from the E chord. It's very common in flamenco to have chord voicings which straddle two different harmonies, allowing the guitarist to pivot in either direction.

These ambiguous voicings give flamenco guitar it's character. They are particularly useful in accompanying singers where the melodic line may be ambiguous as well.

If you already play guitar, you'll notice that the glamenco G chord tends not to include the high G in the 1st string you'd normally expect to see.

Both g and g# can be used melodically in flamenco and this voicing avoids a direct clash between those pitches.

Here's another example of harmonic ambiguity in flamenco. The first version of the Am shown is the standard voicing which is clearly an A minor chord.

The second voicing shows the same chord with an 'F' added on the 4th string. Whether the ear perceives this chord as an Am with added F or as a Fmaj7 chord depends on the context of the surrounding chords and harmony.

The same kind of functional ambiguity can be found in the Dm chord in por medio key.

A couple of features distinguish the "A" chord used in flamenco from the one you're probably used to playing.

First, you'll notice that the 1st finger holds down both the 4th and the 3rd strings. This can be a little uncomfortable at first since the finger has to "break" at the first joint to allow the 1st string to ring. Once you're used to it, however, you'll find that it is a very strong chord position which allows you to move the 3rd and 4th fingers to add other notes quite easily without changing the basic position.

Also, notice that I've add the b-flat on the third string in parentheses. This is because this note is so often added to the chord for rhythmic purposes that it could be thought of as part of the basic chord, in the same way blues and rock guitarists so often accent rhythm with the note on the 4th fret of the 5th string.

To get an idea of how this works, play the basic bulerías compás, using down strokes on beats 12, 3, 6, 8, and 10 and adding the b-flat for the other beats, like this . . .

and you'll start to hear how useful this note is in creating rhythm with one chord.

The Bb chord in flamenco is a chameleon that can change into a dozen different harmonies while retaining its essential harmonic function.

All the bass notes shown in parentheses can be added to the essential two-fingered chord formed on the 2nd and 3rd strings to add rhythmic or harmonic interest to the chord.

They can also create a secondary, passing harmony. For example, add the C (3rd fret/5thstring) and the E (2nd fret/4th string) and you get a C9 chord. Add the G (3rd fret/6th string) and you get a G minor. These secondary harmonies enrich the harmonic language, particularly when accompanying a singer.

You can hear a great example of this in Paco de Lucia's accompaniment of Camarón on Cada Vez Que Nos Miramos" on their 1970 recording, listed on the Recommended Listening page.

This basic Bb structure is the one used in the 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th falsetes in the Tangos on Flamenco Básico 1: Tientos and Tangos.

Like the Dm chord, the C chord doesn't get modified much in traditional flamenco guitar accompaniment. The most common variation you'll see is the addition of a G in the bass (3rd fret/6th string)