Duende Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 I laughed in disbelief at this, it is as equally beautiful as it is just astounding! Eat your heart out Paul Gilbert and shred brigade http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEPLNaUR8lw&feature=player_embedded#at=104 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 Astounding, yes – It's almost as if he is chasing a note that keeps escaping him like some sort of manic fly. What really brings me up is the fact that this - not so young - guy has his motoric skills totally intact. Exemplary ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duende Posted February 28, 2011 Author Share Posted February 28, 2011 Astounding, yes – It's almost as if he is chasing a note that keeps escaping him like some sort of manic fly. What really brings me up is the fact that this - not so young - guy has his motoric skills totally intact. Exemplary ! He is probably like Yoda in Attack Of The Clones - after he has astounded everyone with his abilities, he suddenly goes back to his walking stick and hobbles off! The force is strong with Carlos!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 Talk about hammer time. As you say - - - astounding. B) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grampa Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 Montoya was one of my early influences. I saw him perform in '63 or '64. Fabulous! Back then there were 3 "big" names in classical playing, Montoya, Segovia who I also saw in concert and Manitas de Plata who was closer to real Flamenco than Montoya. All that left hand stuff he does was something we all wanted to do and I can do it fairly well. Vert Flamenco. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rambler Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Cool. But definitely off topic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Cool. But definitely off topic! Gigglelygig. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 Flamenco is a beautiful genre. It is actually distinct from classical. They just use a similar guitar. This one was callad a Tarana. I think that means tarantula. His fretting fingers sure did look like a spider dancing all over that fretboard. Notice that he has the guitar tilted forward. He cannot see his right fingers, nor, I suspect his fretting hand. There are times it appears he flubbs up, but that is the nature of this style. Play like a bat out of hades, if you miss a note, we'll catch it the next time aroudn. It reminds me of NASCAR. Drive fast, turn left. If you rub the wall or your opponent... it's all part of the game. Probably why Flamenco appeals to the blue collar crowd. It's the NASCAR of the guitar world! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grampa Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 Flamenco is a beautiful genre. It is actually distinct from classical. They just use a similar guitar. This one was callad a Tarana. I think that means tarantula. His fretting fingers sure did look like a spider dancing all over that fretboard. Notice that he has the guitar tilted forward. He cannot see his right fingers, nor, I suspect his fretting hand. There are times it appears he flubbs up, but that is the nature of this style. Play like a bat out of hades, if you miss a note, we'll catch it the next time aroudn. It reminds me of NASCAR. Drive fast, turn left. If you rub the wall or your opponent... it's all part of the game. Probably why Flamenco appeals to the blue collar crowd. It's the NASCAR of the guitar world! Flamenco = Nascar, a beautiful analogy. I've heard some Flamenco with the singers and dancers and it is so sensual it might get outlawed. Very intense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duende Posted March 3, 2011 Author Share Posted March 3, 2011 Cool. But definitely off topic! why is that? Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duende Posted March 3, 2011 Author Share Posted March 3, 2011 Flamenco is a beautiful genre. It is actually distinct from classical. They just use a similar guitar. Did you know that Segovia despite his nationality disliked flamenco immensely!! There are times it appears he flubbs up, but that is the nature of this style. Play like a bat out of hades, if you miss a note, we'll catch it the next time aroudn. It reminds me of NASCAR. Drive fast, turn left. If you rub the wall or your opponent... it's all part of the game. Probably why Flamenco appeals to the blue collar crowd. It's the NASCAR of the guitar world! excellent analogy!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brians356 Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 I saw Montoya perform a couple of years before he died at the Pioneer Center in Reno, NV. This is where the Reno Opera and the Reno Symphony perform, and there is a full orchestra pit in front of the stage. At the end of Montoya's performance, he stood up and answered the applause by waving and walking (rather unsteadily) towards the audience. The spotlights were in his eyes and he was unaware of where the edge of the stage was, for the audience watched in growing horror as he ambled, carrying his guitar in one hand and waving with the other, right off the stage and dropped like a stone into the orchestra pit, disappearing into the darkness! Women screamed, men gasped, then a terrible silence descended, and several doctors from the crowd vaulted down into the pit. I've played in that pit, and its concrete floor is nearly six feet below the stage. After a few minutes, they helped Carlos up and he waved to the shaken and relieved audience. Then he made his way back on stage, apologized in broken English, and played an encore piece. Apparently all he suffered were some bruises and a torn trouser leg. I don't believe his guitar was damaged much, if at all. A minor miracle. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 God wasn't done with him yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 , , , he stood up and answered the applause by waving and walking (rather unsteadily) towards the audience. The spotlights were in his eyes and he was unaware of where the edge of the stage was, for the audience watched in growing horror as he ambled, carrying his guitar in one hand and waving with the other, right off the stage and dropped like a stone into the orchestra pit, disappearing into the darkness! Women screamed, men gasped, then a terrible silence descended, and several doctors from the crowd vaulted down into the pit. Horrendous, yet utterly fantastic. Matthew said it : The force was with Carlos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonCarlos Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 Cool. But definitely off topic! I respectfully disagree, in light of some of the members posting their favorite twanger artist that really shouldn't be playing a six string instrument, it is refreshing to see the Yoda of guitar. I appreciate your post of the video. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mojorule Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 I like the bit where he apparently combines Albeniz-style tremelo (OK, so Albeniz stole it from flamenco in the first place) with Luther Perkins boom-chakka on the bass strings. Sort of Ring of De Falla. I'm intrigued by the capo. The look of his capo itself (rather cooler than your average Shubb), but also the fact that he uses one at all. Any ideas about that anybody? He's playing solo, so it's not as though he's trying to fit open-string stylings into a particular key to fit with a singer. Also, assuming it is proper flamenco, it should be improvised, so why would he choose to play in a capoed key rather than essentially doing the same thing a bit further down the neck without a capo? Of course tone changes on a nylon-string depending on how far up the neck you play, just as it does on any guitar, but I'm not really convinced that the choice of key makes that much difference here. All too fast to really let the notes linger and allow the tone to seep in. And I can't imagine that such a prodigious technician couldn't reproduce the hammers lower down sans capo. I must confess that I'm a total ignoramus when it comes to said device. I never needed one for classical guitar when I learned, and have never used one on either electric or steel-string either. In fact, I don't own one and never have. But then my classical repertoire is and always was extremely limited, and I don't play with singers, so just do open stuff in the first position and other stuff higher up the neck. Do you ever use a capo for classical, Matt? You are a real player with a real repertoire... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brians356 Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 Go read the Wikipedia entry for Carlos, it mentions his capo, his detuning with capo to get looser strings (watch them really flapping around in the video!) and his being ostracized by the flamenco community because he basically did his own thing and sort of invented his own style. He seemed to play whatever and however he wanted, which sounds normal to us, but in Spain it flew in the face of tradition. If you really want to get your eyes opened, go read the Wikipedia entry for "flamenco". What a world! Not for the faint of heart or dabblers. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 It is an old type of capo, sometimes called a capotasto or cejilla. They are quite common in the classical and flamenco genre's. It's simply a base or shoe, with a heavy guitar string tied to one end, wrapped around the back of the neck, then wrapped around, what is essentially, a tuning peg at the top center of the base. There is a strap of leather that goes between the string and the guitar neck so it doesn't gouge the wood. Turning the turn peg adjusts the down force on the strings. It is quite effective, cheap, and quite easily homemade. As with most folk music, most everybody, or should I say ever folk, knows the tune. But not all singers sing in the same key. So, if a flamenco guitarist knows a particular folk song in one key, but he has to accompany a singer in a different key, he just capos up. Flamenco is a bit like Bluegrass in that many people who participate don't have a lot of time for rehearsal. They may perform together only sporadically, or only once. So re-learning the guitar tune in a different key for one night is not practical. Montoya's capo appears to be made of glass or clear lucite. Cool! Why did he capo up when he is not accompanying a singer? Heck, it's his performance, he can play in whatever key he wants, however he wants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewilyfool Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Here looks like a nice one.....I guess they can get just as pricey as steel string guitars.... http://sfbay.craigslist.org/scz/msg/2240411557.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brians356 Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 TommyK, I suggest you read the "Carlos Montoya" entry on Wikipedia. He never accompanied singers, in fact he was ostracized by the flamenco community in general, as his performances were not considered to actually be flamenco. He was a solo guitar showman, who played whatever and however he wanted, which was anathema to the rigid, pedantic forms of flamenco. If you read the Wikipedia entry for "flamenco" you will soon realize how possessive and protective the different factions and generations of flamenco artists have been. There has been lots of infighting about what is "proper" flamenco, and Montoya never really tried to conform to any of it. Apparently he used a capo and de-tuned the strings to get a certain sound and loose action, not to play in any particular key. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 While I don't claim to be a biographical expert on Montoya, I do know that Flamenco is music, dance and singing. The Guitar being the primary instrument. That and the cajon. Which is a fancy name for a peach crate. Montoya's reason for the use of a capo is purely his own. I seriously doubt he never accompanied a vocalist. And vocalists are the primary reason we, as guitarists have to transpose from time to time. A capo is an expedient. I do, however, prefer to learn the standard 1st position chords, but that's my preference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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