Tanguillo de Cádiz
by Traditional
Acoustic Guitar - Digital Sheet Music

Solo Guitar - Level 3 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.557060

Composed by Traditional. Arranged by Richard Hirsch. Folk,Instructional,Multicultural,Traditional,World. Individual part. 5 pages. Richard Hirsch #166523. Published by Richard Hirsch (A0.557060).

A happy easy-going folkloristic piece for solo Flamenco guitar. The piece is based on a traditional song in the Tanguillo rhythm from the city and province of Cádiz in Andalusia, Spain. The Tanguillo is a straight forward 2/4 rhythm with a slight swing and is readily accessible for beginning students of Flamenco guitar. It was the first rhythm I learned from my maestro Juan González “Triguito” in Madrid many years ago. The rhythm for Tanguillo is the same as that for Zapadeado, which is what Juan taught me. It is an excellent first introduction to essential Flamenco guitar techniques; the rasqueado (strumming) and the picado (finger picking). The standard rasqueado starts with the little finger of the right hand striking down over the strings followed by the other fingers, ring, middle, index. This sequence of strikes can be repeated to create a rolling rasqueado. Other rasqueados begin with a strike up over the strings with the thumb, followed by little finger, ring, middle, and index striking down. Some rasqueados are followed immediately with the index finger brushing up and down over the strings. One special type of rasqueado called the “abanico” (fan) is made with the thumb striking up over the strings followed by middle finger and the thumb striking down: thumb up, middle down, thumb down, ending with a strike up with the thumb. It is a really cool technique and considered by some purists to be the most flamenco of all rasqueados. For all the rasqueado techniques in the notation, the student should follow the notation carefully and practice diligently to acquire true mastery. The finger picking “picado” techniques used in the runs and melody of the Tanguillo differ from the normal plucking techniques used in classical and fingerstyle guitar playing. Here, as in most Flamenco finger picking, one uses the “apoyando” stroke which means the finger strikes through the string and come to rest on the string above (or below sound-wise). The thumb does the same but comes to rest on the string below (or above sound-wise). The fingers, including the thumb, tend therefore to be much more “in or on the strings” when playing Flamenco as opposed to hovering over the strings as they would be in classical or normal folk fingerpicking guitar playing. The “picado” should be done with alternating index and middle fingers. It does not matter which finger comes first, just be sure to alternate through the entire sequence of strokes. This may be difficult in the beginning but in the end the student will acquire both speed and consistency of tone in the runs and melodies by using alternating strokes. I have notated the Tanguillo in the key of A major in the first position on the guitar although I often play the piece in a higher position using a capo on the second, third, or fifth fret. This puts the piece in the keys of B, C, or D major. Flamencos often use capos when playing, although they tend to speak of the music as though it were played in the first position. So wherever the capo is on the fretboard counts as the nub! The taps on the face of the guitar (golpes) in the notation are not essential but definitely make the piece sound more authentic gitano-andaluz and are yet another technique that must be learned and mastered when playing Flamenco guitar.