This guy (Scot Taber) covers spanish/nylon guitar - https://www.youtube.com/@TheVersatileGuitarist. Also has paid courses.
Ask HN: How do you learn Spanish guitar?
11–20 of 44 posts
Re: Ask HN: How do you learn Spanish guitar?
#12To learn a folk style you really need a mentor that can connect you to the oral tradition. Rather than scales and technical exercises, focus on learning rhythm and complete pieces. If there is a flamenco dance school in your area, see if they offer guitar lessons and the opportunity to accompany dancers.
Always remember: The notes are not necessarily the most important thing.
That said, there's a lot of overlap between flamenco and traditional classical guitar, so learning classical pieces (particularly by Spanish composers) will help build your fingerstyle technique. Solo Guitar Playing by Frederick Noad was the book I used for classical practice when I was younger.
Also check out pseudo-flamenco pieces that have been recorded by rock and country guitarists, like "Mood for a Day" and "Malagueña", and smooth flamenco crossover artists like Ottmar Liebert and Jesse Cook. You might find these too diluted from "real" flamenco, but they can be another entry point for building up your playing.
Re: Ask HN: How do you learn Spanish guitar?
#13If you gave up on scales, you aren't going to learn any kind of guitar other than churchband boomchunk.
Re: Ask HN: How do you learn Spanish guitar?
#14As someone who plays flamenco, it starts with finger style.
Playing with your hand NOT resting on the strings or body, using TPIMRp (little p is pinky), master playing patterns. Travis picking is popular. Boogie woogie is too where you play three notes together with PIM and playing the bass line with T.
A pinching pattern or claw hammer is another method. Once you’ve mastered (I mean, can play Eric Clapton and Co) it then take it into the minor keys and learn the directional flamenco picking. Where you flick RMI downwards striking your fingernails, following it with your T in a downward pluck, then pulling IMR upwards. Some people reverse this but it’s always the same when it’s repeated. Eventually you’ll be able to picado like a pro. Malagueña watch out.
Your finger nails are now important. Learn about shaping them with a filer or getting gel tips. Your girlfriend can help in this department.
As others have said, there’s no short cut, only practice and patience. Eventually it will click.
*EDIT* https://youtube.com/shorts/IfOFLtf0h8c Paco De Lucia is a great one to study.
Re: Ask HN: How do you learn Spanish guitar?
#15If you gave up on scales, you aren't going to learn any kind of guitar other than churchband boomchunk.
This comment may be strongly worded and thus downvoted but true. To achieve a certain level of technical excellence, tedious and repeated practice is definitely necessary.
Re: Ask HN: How do you learn Spanish guitar?
#16here is a contemporary performance, where singing and clapping , with guitar, shows another side of spanish music that is more focused on having fun, very very competent fun, but just for the joy of it, and the guitar is not that intimidating....
https://www.npr.org/2021/04/20/988256921/c-tangana-tiny-desk...
Re: Ask HN: How do you learn Spanish guitar?
#17Check out Melbay's catalog of books: https://www.melbay.com/Products/CategoryCenter/F36/Guitar%20... A lot of the books come with digital downloads of PDFs of the sheet music / tabs along with the author performing the pieces on MP3s. Get set up with a footstool, and position yourself in front of a computer screen with the PDFs open to practice.
I don’t think doing this on your own will be effective. I would only recommend these Mel bay books if you have a teacher to work with you on it
And even then these Mel Bay style beginners books are probably good for 6mo at most before you should be playing actual music
Flamenco in particular is something else. How you grow your nails, how you use your wrist, all this stuff is something you don’t want to spend hours at home doing only to realize you built a bad habit that will never sound right or even worse lead to RSI
Re: Ask HN: How do you learn Spanish guitar?
#18do the scale exercises
Re: Ask HN: How do you learn Spanish guitar?
#19If you're on HN, you've probably experienced the dopamine rush of encountering something new, understanding it well enough in short order, applying it, and seeing results; or building something that others engage with in the same way. Or being especially good at math, or science, or computers, seemingly without much effort.
Music is (for most people) not like that. For getting proficient at instrumental music, the skill floor is high, progress is slow, and only comes through hard boring work which rewires your brain. Teachers tell you to do boring things, and say things that don't make sense, and you will be frustrated. Eventually you realize that you can do things you couldn't do before.
There are whiz kids who don't appear to experience this, but I think they do; they are just wired to not hate it as much as the rest of us, and are doing it when their brains are nicely plastic.
When I say "getting proficient at instrumental music" I mean to differentiate from learning how to play Wonderwall or Louie Louie and having a great time singing along. That's absolutely valid, it's a great place to be, and that love of the instrument forms the basis of further progress.
Re: Ask HN: How do you learn Spanish guitar?
#20As someone who plays flamenco, it starts with finger style. Playing with your hand NOT resting on the strings or body, using TPIMRp (little p is pinky), master playing patterns. Travis picking is popular. Boogie woogie is too where you play three notes together with PIM and playing the bass line with T. A pinching pattern or claw hammer is another method. Once you’ve mastered (I mean, can play Eric Clapton and Co) it…
And before you say “I don’t have a girlfriend”, by the time you’re good enough that fingernails are important, that will no longer be an issue.