HOMESPUN
Taught By Aaron Gilmartin.
Level 3
Two DVD set, includes music and tab
Combined time: Three hours, thirty minutes
DVD One: Tangos and Alegrias
DVD Two: Soleares and Bulerias
The passion and fire of flamenco, with its driving dance rhythms and spectacular
melodies, has inspired guitarists for generations. This Spanish Gypsy folk music
has its roots in the Middle East, and you can hear strains of Arabic, Jewish,
Eastern European, Indian and other ethnicities in its powerful rhythms and harmonies.
Aaron Gilmartin’s clear, concise instructions will get you started playing flamenco guitar right away. All you’ll need is a basic knowledge of the fingerboard and a nylon string guitar to learn this exciting musical tradition. Whether you now play classical, folk, blues or contemporary fingerstyle guitar, these DVDs will open a whole new world of music to you.
Along with flamenco history, terminology and technique, Aaron teaches four of the most important flamenco forms, each with its own recognizable “feel,” or aire: Tangos, a dance rhythm in 4/4 similar to the sounds made popular by the Gypsy Kings; Alegrias, a lighter, more uplifting style; Bulerias, the exciting and popular form played by everyone from Sabicas to Paco de Lucia; and Soleares, the “mother of all flamenco forms.” In each form you’ll learn the basic compas (rhythmic feel), and become familiar with strumming and picking techniques such as the rasgueado, abanico and picado.
Throughout the two DVD lessons you’ll develop your tone, rhythmic power, strumming
variations and the improvisational melodies (falsetas) and heart-thumping rhythms
that make flamenco so exciting to players and listeners alike.
Aaron Gilmartin works as a guitarist with Dionisia Garcia
in her latest flamenco show, Llorca’s Mirror, currently in their 18th month of
residency at Taperia Madrid in Manhattan. He has also been an accompanist for
Ballet Hispanico since 2001. Aaron received a B.A. in Classical Guitar Performance
from California State University and was granted two years’ study abroad in Sao
Paulo, Brazil where he studied bossa nova, samba and other styles. Aaron learned
his first flamenco rhythms as a student of Wolfgang “Lobo” Fink in Mexico, and
has since studied with Dennis Koster, Arturo Martinez and Paul Bollenback. He
works as a songwriter and a composer for film and television, and played on the
soundtrack for Julie Taymor’s hit film “Frida.” He is lead guitarist for Dorothy
Potter and her band Azuleja, performing classic Cuban son and Brazilian favorites
in Spanish and Portuguese.