My arrangement of Malagueña on my signature Flamenco guitar, made in Spain.
Learn it here:
This popular theme originally written by Cuban pianist Ernesto Lecuona has been interpreted many times by many guitarists. For my arrangement, I put together material from Sabicas and of my own. The guitar I'm playing is the Ben Woods Signature Model by Ortega Guitars (BWSM), a Flamenco negra with many modern upgrades and a custom size. It's an amazing instrument available with another version (BWSM2) and 2 more of my signature guitars at Guitar Centers in USA and Thomann Music in Europe.
This familiar melodic theme is possibly the most iconic Flamenco Guitar melody known to the general public. What can be confusing is that there is also an authentic Flamenco song form called the Malagueñas palo, hailing from Malaga that is based off the cante jondo "deep Flamenco singing". It is either played as a guitar solo piece or accompanying a singer, which is also very beautiful but the melodic themes are completely different.
'Alternail' technique here is evident as an alternative to picado in some places with fast runs. Alternail is just my term for using the index nail like a pick. I've always played these runs with picado, but now I find using alternail creates less stress for my hands and mind.
This Ortega Guitars video is part of a series of videos shot with Ortega Guitars, by BTC Media at Gnome Studios in Nashville, TN 2018
#benwoods #flamencoguitar #malagueña