VICTOR MONGE "SERRANITO" IN CONCERT. TABLATURE
Product Description:
Victor Monge "Serranito" is a legend in the history of Spanish music. His virtuoso technique combined with his supreme musicality has confirmed the fact, well known in musical circles, that he is one of the greats in flamenco guitar. As a composer he takes the greatest care in the form and foundation of his compositions, something which has taken him to an astonishing level of perfection in his music. This book gives notation and tablature for six of his compositions, as performed on the video of the same title. A biography and performance notes are included in Spanish, English, French, and Japanese.
Victor Monge "Serranito" One of the "three magnificent maestros" of the 20th Century flamenco guitar
BIOGRAPHY
Victor Monge "Serranito" is a legend in the history of Spanish music. His virtuoso technique
along with supreme musicality confirms something well known in international music circles:
today he is one of the greatest flamencos. His untiring work and innovative ideas to enrich
flamenco music brought the admiration of the great maestro Andres Segovia.
He is one of the most conscientious composers, carefully balancing the foundation and form of
his compositions, something which produces a remarkable perfection in his music. At each
moment his interior richness is evident, and the emotional experience of human interaction with
his environment and his own isolation is illustrated.
Profound and transcendental, his live performances are filled with strength and brilliance, but
also austerity: rhythmic silence, strength and harmony, classic cadences highlighted by his
technique which grants each note a deeply Baroque colour.
Victor Monge "Serranito", Spanish composer born in Madrid, self taught professional from early
childhood is considered one of the most virtuosic Spanish guitarists of his era. He represents an
example of precociousness, genius and prolific work in the history of the Spanish guitar. He
received his first lessons in musical education at the age of eight. Gifted with a great capacity
for performing flamenco, he began composing at the age of eleven.
After accompanying the foremost figures of the style, he edited his first solo recording in 1963.
At 21 he was introduced to the maestro Narciso Yepes and a coincidence became an influence:
the three fingered scale. In 1969 he became an independent concert guitarist. In 1970 the
maestro Andres Segovia conferred an invitation via Jose Ramirez to hear him play. He gave
him his written, signed approval.
His first major recognition arrived in 1971 when he was awarded the Premio Nacional de
Guitarra 'Ramon Montoya', in Cordoba and the Premio Nacional de Guitarra in Jerez de la
Frontera, awarded by the Catedra de Flamencologia.
Since 1970, he has toured the world many times. Outstanding concertist of his time and
intensity he has passed into history as the first flamenco guitarist to take his art to India,
presenting Spanish music on the most diverse stages of the world, such as Strasbourg on the
occasion of Spain's entry into the European Parliament in 1978.
In 1982 he gave the premiere of his work for guitar and orchestra in the Royal Theatre of Madrid
with the Symphony Orchestra. He has composed music for film and the official music of Spain's
pavilion at the Universal Expo in Brisbane, Australia in 1988.
In 1993 he represented Spain in the Israel festival, Jerusalem, Damascus, Iran, Iraq and the
Lebanon, and he gave a tour of Tunisia, Naples and Rome.
In December of 1995 he performed with his group in Bosnia as part of the celebrations for the
Dayton peace agreement marking the end of the Balkan war. In the same year, during his tour
of Canada he is dubbed the Prince of Flamenco.
In 1997 he toured Russia in celebration of the establishment of diplomatic relations between
Spain and the Russian Federation.
SOME USEFUL ADVISES
We recommend, even for a trained musical reader, to look both stave and tablature because
one is complementary to the other. Stave let us value the "tempo", measure and timing of each
note, and tablature tell us which part of the fingerboard the artist is playing on.
It is also very interesting to observe the fingering used in each piece. Two main reasons: Right
fingering is almost essential to achieve a good performance and to obtain the "flamenco sound".
The second reason is that the transcription becomes a "true" method of learning flamenco guitar
if fingering is performed as the stave says.
In flamenco music, tremolos are played in groups of four notes in the same string preceeded by
a low note played with the thumb. That makes a sequence of five sounds in one beat (p-i-a-m-i),
so this technique is performed in quintuplets (for the english readers, p=thumb, i=index,
m=middle finger, a=ring finger). These three fingers must not rest on the next string after
playing, ("apoyando" technique). The thumb may do it to emphasize a note, but we do not
recommend it because you'll get a better sound and a more homogeneus playing with the
"tirando" technique. Arpeggios must be played in the same way, ("tirando''), as in the classical guitar.
To get a good sound in the "rasgueos" (strums), it is important that our fingers strike the strings
individually. This means that a finger does not "attack" the strings until the one before has not
finished its stroke. Let us say two little "tricks" which will help us to get a better rasgueo sound.
On one side, it is preferable to play on the strings "striking", better than "rubbing", so, the sound
will be shorter and more percussive; on the other side, we must not try to play ALL the strings of
the chord, this is not so important, but we should have in mind that the strums played with an
indexstroke must have the same force and sound volume in both directions, up or down.
It's also important to practise the p. a. i. Rasgueo (in Spanish, it is called abanico. =fan). This
type of rasgueo has three strokes: first, the thumb nail strikes from high to lower strings J,.,
second, the ring finger strikes from low to high strings i, and third, the index strikes from low to
high strings too i. Our wrist must be very relaxed to get a "round" and homogeneus sound.
Percussive taps on the soundboard x are made with the ring finger in the pickguard, between
the rose and bridge. They can be studied in three main different ways: one is doing it
simultaneously with a indexstroke rasgueo from low to high strings, another one is the same but
using a thumbstroke instead of the index, and finally we can practise it individually, without other finger movement.
The Alzapua is a thumb technique with three movements: 1.- bass note thumbstroke , 2.- low to
high strings thumbstroke i, 3.- high to low strings thumbstroke t. Sometimes this technique
begins in the second movement (this second one can be accompanied by a tap in the
soundboard). To obtain a "clean" sound with the alzapua, it is necessary to rest the thumb on
the next string under the played one on the first thumbstroke (bass note). The thumb joints
should be blocked to let all the finger muscles work together against the strings (the force
increases). As we have said before, we should not attack all the strings, it is better to do it with
less of them, we will get a more percussive sound.
SYMBOLS
It is necessary to use flamenco guitar techniques to play most of the rhythmic parts of the
pieces shown in this book. These techniques have been created by flamenco guitarists all over
the time, but in this case, we must observe particularly Victor Monge "SERRANITO"'s personal
technique. Thus, right hand playing is shown graphically in the stave and tablature through
symbols. We know most of them are probably well known by you, but, anyhow, they are
indispensable to practise the "toque" (playing), and get a good flamenco sound.
The "rasgueos", (strums), will be marked with one or several arrows placed under the chord,
and with small letters showing the right hand finger used to play the "rasgueo". We have used
"a" for the ring finger, "m" for the middle one, "j" for the index, and "p" for the thumb. The arrow
means a stroke from the low notes to the high ones (6th to 1st strings), and the arrow shows the
opposite, (1st to 6th
.). Thus, it will be possible to link the movements and make several different
rasgueos, if you know the chord, the adequate finger and the direction of the stroke.
The ( i )symbol, arrow in parenthesis, is a "muffled" stroke (toque "apagando"). It means a
stroke performed with the index or with index, and/or other fingers but inmediately after the
stroke, we have to muffle the sound with our right hand palm.
The ! symbol shows the action carried out simultaneously by the thumb, index, middle and ring
finger with the "tirando" technique, or any other combined action with the thumb and other right
hand fingers.
The X symbol placed above the stave, means a percussive tap on the sound board, done with
the ring finger.
Suspension points [... J placed near a small letter, mean that we should go on playing with the
same finger the letter says. When the suspension points are separate from the letters, it
means we should continue playing the last used finger sequence shown on the stave (arpeggio,
alzapua, picado, rasgueo, etc.).
Left hand action symbols: The most important ones are referred to the use of the barre (The
index finger presses several strings). Roman numerals show the fret where the barre should be
placed, and the numbers inside a circle show which strings the index must press (if there aren·t
any circles, the barre will be complete, with the 6 strings).
Slurs, (ligaduras), are shown by a curved line over the notes.
Numbers (0, 1, 2, 3, 4) placed beside a note show which left hand fingers are used to play it .
This symbol appears only if there are doubts, Most of the notes fingering is clear, looking at the
previous bars of the piece. (0 = open string).
Format: Book
Song Title: Composer/Source:
Calle de la sangre (Bulerías) Victor Monge "Serranito"
Cazorla (Taranta) Victor Monge "Serranito"
Llora la farruca (Farruca) Victor Monge "Serranito"
Paseando por Triana (Soleá) Victor Monge "Serranito"
Por la vera el Genil (Tangos) Victor Monge "Serranito"
Romance para un poeta Victor Monge "Serranito"
Italiano
English
