Flamenco singing

My wife and I recently had a holiday in Fuengirola, Spain. We were lucky enough to see a local festival and came across a concert of traditional flamenco guitar. I play the guitar and was therefore really happy. However, the locals also had a few singers (all male)singing along with the traditional guitar pieces. The singing seemed very "structured" as in being very ancient and was very powerful almost bringing the singer to tears ( and me). I had never heard this type of singing before or since. Can someone tell me more about this and how I could access some recorded versions of this please.

Hola.. I think you can find a lot in youtube.... the only things i know about flamenco are that the singing is called "cante" and the playing of "guitarra flamenca" it is called "toque"

Muchas Gracias Cristian I'm guessing from the infinitives cantar -to sing and Tocar - to touch. Would you ever use the infinitive Jugar -to play in (relation to a musical instrument)? I'm new to the course but I have found your replies very useful particularly regarding pronouns and their position in a sentence. I'm still struggling with how they are used with reflexive verbs however. Can you explain why the infinitive has an se in the infinitive e.g Levantarse to get (oneself) up but changes to me levanto -I get myself up in the present form. A wee point on your replies in English. In Scotland we spell it weird like this- not wierd as I see in some of your replies.

Hola John! Muchas gracias por tus comentarios!...(sorry about the "wierd" word...i`ll never forget it now! thanks!)... And yes, your guess was right!...the word "cantar" means "to sing" and "canto" or "cante" reffers to the sing itself...hmm let me see if i can explain...in english "you sing a song" in spanish you can either "cantar una cancion" or "cantar un canto"....so, "un canto" is "a song" or "a singing"...now, the "cante" (with an "e") it is a specific word that only reffers to the action of singing..but no only singing any song...it has to be a flamenco song.... READ THIS I GOT IT FROM WIKIPEDIA: "The cante flamenco (flamenco song) is one of the three main components of flamenco, along with toque (playing the guitar) and baile (dance). Because the dancer is front and center in a flamenco performance, foreigners often assume the dance is the most important aspect of the art form - but in fact, it is the cante which is the heart and soul of the genre". You can read the rest here...it has a lot of cool info about the types of "cantes"... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cante_flamenco Now...in english we use "play" to either define a "kid playing with a toy" or "a man playing a guitar"...in english we have 2 word..."jugar" (for the kid playing) and "tocar" (which has a lot of uses, one is "touch" as in "Me estoy tocando la nariz"...Im touching my nose" or to define someone who plays a musical instrument..."Yo estoy tocando la guitarra"...im playing the guitar... Now about the verbs, well for me it is a little bit difficult to explain it, but in practice is not really that hard...a lot of verbs , just by adding "se" to the end of it, adds the "myself" to it!!! take any verb, even if it doesnt make any sense..for example: "Comer" (to eat) if you add "se" it would turn to "Comerse" and it means "to eat myself" or "oneself "(i dont know if "oneself" word exists haha)...yes! i know it doesnt make sense but if you add the word to a complete sentence it can become something like: "El no pudo comerse toda la pizza porque era demasiada"... He could not ate the whole pizza because it was a whole lot" (or something similar). If i find any other info regarding this topic i will let you know, the thing is im not really an expert on grammar haha but im pleased to help someone who really wants to learn my beautyfull language, it is an honor! hehe.. By the way Scotland in spanish is called "Escocia" ;) and they say "Escocia es un pais muy bonito e interesante" ...i hope someday i could visit Europe ...maybe next, who knows! ;)... Mucha suerte!!! y gracias nuevamente por tus comentarios!

Hola Cristian. Escocia es un pais muy bonita Y siempre muy verde. Sin Embargo es muy frio! Muchas gracias por tus comentarios! You have been a great help to me. Tengo un libro en Gramatica español by( not sure of the spanish aqui) Juan Mendez.. He says in his opening in English "To my Students. With the hope that they will master the language they have learned to love." This is my Sueños. Muchas gracias. Nesicito dormir ahora. En Escocia es muy tarde. Tengo que trabajar manaña John PS Beautiful not with a y. Refer not double ff. Lo siento. Soy profesor. No puedo ayudar (myself)

Thanks John!!! I know i need to master my english! hahaha maybe ill sign up for "Rocket English" :P , dont worry any help i cant get is appreciated!!! Considering that english is not my first language i think im not that bad, but i still get some mistakes :S!!! but well that is a part of learning!!!... PS: This is my sueños...would be..."Es mi sueño".. And "pais" has a masculine gender, so when talking about a certain "pais" it should be "Es un pais muy bonito" with an "o", but if you only talk about "Escocia" without adding the "pais" then it is feminine!...."Escocia es muy bonita"... ;) saludos desde Tijuana Mexico, buenas noches!

There is a wonderful film about Flamenco entitled, "Flamenco, Flamenco". To me, Flamenco is the "soul music" of Spain. I try to experience this art form and learn through my senses and my heart not just my brain. Great Flamenco can indeed bring you to tears.

This is a TV Station from southern Spain and there are a lot of programmes with Flamenco. There's a show called Se Llama Copla that has Flamenco singing and I believe it's on everyday. http://www.canalsuralacarta.es/directo/ver/andalucia-television This radio station plays non-stop Flamenco. http://www.canalsuralacarta.es/directo/ver/flamenco-radio Hope you find what you're looking for. :) Just remember that Google is your friend. xD !Buena suerte!

¡Que bueno! Muchas gracias Morgan por éste sitio. Me encanta. Saludos, Rich

hola

Hey Mohammed, do you have something better to do than say "hola" on every post??

Diranu, pensé lo mismo que tu acerca de Mohammed B hahaha

No entiendo por qué la gente comprar esta lecciones y no usarles correctamente. (Mi intento sin ayuda) No entiendo por qué la gente compra estas lecciones y no los uso correctamente. (Esta frase es correcta. ¿Sí?)

I'm coming in a bit late on this conversation, so forgive me. John: I play the guitar also, and I was intrigued when I learned "tocar la guitarra", or "touch" the guitar, was the proper way to express the action in Spanish. I think it is such an elegant way of articulating what one does when he/she makes music with the instrument. To me, it is a perfect illustration of how beautiful and expressive Spanish is, which is one of the reasons I am learning the language.

Hola Diranu! The last phrase is 98% correct. It;s something very simple, but important. A lection (una lección) in spanish is feminine. So , in the last part of the sentence you need to switch "....estas lecciones y no LAS USA correctamente." Aside from that , everything is perfect! you almost got it right on your first try !!! Dan, a mi también encanta tocar la guitarra!

what is this about

Ahh . . . Mohammed . . . you're back for more points!!! :P

Ay, esto es la razón él hace estos mensajes pocos.

Sí, es muy malo para él. ¿Cómo aprende así?

Ahh - I should have commented to Christian before Mohammed. Thank you very much for the correction. I'm going to study that one for a bit so it soaks in. :)

Diane: No sé. Es mucho mejor a practicar español aquí.

De nada amigo Dinaru!!! Si necesitan ayuda, no duden en contactarme! Saludos desde Mexico!

Hi, thanks for all the replies (strange or otherwise) to my initial enquiry two years ago. I have continued to study spanish and play my guitar and will be visiting Cadiz in southern Spain this summer to see more flamenco y practicar mi espanol. I have learned my first joke in spanish which has been a great "icebreaker"when I try to practice my spanish in Spain. It goes: "La Comida ha sustituido el sexto en mi vida. Ahora no puedo entrar mi propio pantalones." Saludos desde Escocia!