Learn about Flamenco Guitar

Interviewer: Today we have the chance to interview a professional flamenco guitar player from Montreal, Dominique Zula (ph). Dominique, tell me, how many years you have been playing the guitar? Dominique: I have been playing flamenco guitar for 10 years, but I have played all sorts of different styles before that like over the last 20 years, I guess, even more. Interviewer: Why did you choose the flamenco guitar? Dominique: Because it's very physical. It's a very intense music and it's the best way I found to express myself. Interviewer: Is there a difference between a flamenco guitar and the classic guitar? Dominique: Flamenco guitar is very more intense, a bit more violent, aggressive, has a lots of -- it's much more -- there is a lot of dynamics, strong, soft, and lots of rhythm guitar and lots of free playing. So it's very different. Interviewer: Do you need to know how to read music? Dominique: No, you don't. For any kind of music you don't need to read music. But flamenco is an our old tradition. So I learned by, the traditional way, is by copying the person in front of you. He show something to you and you try to copy it. Interviewer: Do you have a special exercise that you have to do everyday? Dominique: Flamenco thumb, it goes -- you rest on the string below. So it's very typical for the flamenco guitar to do this kind of sound. Compared to this, which is grounded. So I practice that. These are legatos from the left hand. Before breakfast I do that. Interviewer: How many different styles of rhythm exists? Dominique: The flamenco is they like to say there is 80 different styles, but actually there are five or six and all the other ones are derived from these five or six basic rhythms. Interviewer: Do you have a special treatment for your nails? Dominique: I put the crazy glue to harden the nails and also some Kleenex that gives it a thicker texture. So my nails do not break, because I play it very hard with the dancing like this all the time. So my natural nails would not, actually, survive this kind of treatment. Interviewer: What qualities do you need to become a flamenco guitar player? Dominique: First of all, you need to be a bit obsessive, or very passionate about it. That's the first thing. After that, if you need rhythm, lots of rhythm. You need to be open, you need to be able to learn really fast and memorize very fast. Because also the dancing, we learn to dance as we go on .We don't write, we don't choreograph on paper whatever, we just invent and we memorize all the time. So you need good memory. Interviewer: We know that -- we saw the dancer before, but the musician also know how to dance? So .. Dominique: No, no, no dancing. No dancing. Interviewer: Oh! Please. Dominique: No, no dancing. Interviewer: So, it was Tita for Watchmojo.com.