Flamenco Guitars

In the origins of flamenco, singing was the only protagonist of this art and, in fact, the guitar was not incorporated until later. Specifically, it is estimated that it was in the nineteenth century when the guitar was introduced to flamenco to add to the voice, but it was not until the twentieth century when the fusion between guitar and vocals really took place in an innovative way, giving it show quality, enriching it and changing its modus operandi in a certain way.

Although in appearance it is almost identical, the classical guitar and the Spanish flamenco guitar are different instruments, with different construction specifications and materials, with the aim of achieving another type of sound.  The flamenco guitar, in fact, is a mixture between the Castilian and Moorish guitars.

To begin with, the arrangement of the harmonic bars inside is different and the case is generally a little narrower than that of the traditional guitar, making it much more comfortable and quicker to play.

Its strings are slightly closer to the fingerboard, allowing the guitarist to exert less pressure on it and thus concentrate most of his energy in the hand in charge of strumming, which is usually the right.

If we look at the type of wood, we see that it is also different. In flamenco, for the hoops and the back, they use Spanish solid cypress and for the top, German fir. That’s where its characteristic metallic and pungent sound comes from.