Tab For Spanish Guitar - What To Look For

When you begin to get the hang of guitar playing, one of the things on your to-do list will probably to get some tab for Spanish guitar pieces and see what it feels like to play some of that exotic sounding guitar music. When you start looking round, you will find that there is quite a bewildering range of Spanish guitar tabs from a bunch of artists you have probably never heard of.

One way to get a handle on the Spanish guitar repertoire is to go to YouTube and type "Spanish guitar" into the search box. Or if you have been doing some research on the web and have found the names of Spanish guitarists or composers, type their names in and see if you can find some of their work. You could also try searching the web for info on the Phrygian mode which is used extensively in Spanish music.

Here are a few names to start you off: Paco de Lucia, John Williams (the classical guitarist, not the movie theme composer), Rodrigo y Gabriela, Gypsy Kings. These artists are from different backgrounds but all are masters of that Spanish guitar sound.

John Williams is a classical guitarist who was a student of the great Spanish guitar innovator, Andres Segovia. Although he is bound by the constraints of achieving the clear, expressive classical guitar sound, his approach to Spanish music is as flamboyant as you are likely to find in a classical guitarist.

If you find tab for Spanish guitar music it will most likely sound best on a nylon string guitar. Flamenco and classical music is played on nylon string acoustic guitars using the fingernails of the right hand. You can play Spanish music on steel string acoustic guitars but the strings might tend to break your nails if you try to use the flamenco-style picking techniques.

One book of tab for Spanish guitar that you should look for is "Spanish for Guitar: Easy to Intermediate Solos by the Spanish Masters". The book has arrangements of some very popular Spanish guitar solos. They are mostly from the classical guitar repertoire but if you can read tab and have some experience in guitar fingerpicking, these pieces are worth a try.

If you are interested in learning Flamenco guitar, Gerhard Graf-Martinez has published a course using printed books, CDs and DVDs to give the intermediate guitarist the means to achieve the authentic Spanish guitar sound.

Do you want to learn to play the guitar? Learn How To Play A Guitar For Free is a constantly updated blog which contains all the resources you need for: learning to play solo guitar, how to learn guitar chords, how to learn to read and play easy acoustic guitar tabs, finding a free online guitar tuner, looking for free guitar lessons online, and how to learn guitar scales.