We had to include at least on Paco de Lucia falseta in the course, and this one seems to have been one of Paco’s favorites, given how often he played it. There’s a lot going on, both rhythmically and technically, so take this one slow and make sure you understand where each phrase starts and stop...

While perhaps not technically a falseta (there’s no real definition that I know of, but this feels like a bit less than a falseta), this is a great little bit to throw in between falsetas or after the singer has finished a letra. Check out the way the melody connects to the 10-11-12 phrase that p...

Not only is this a great-sounding Bulerías falseta, it’s also a fantastic picado burst exercise. It also features some interesting phrasing and syncopation, so stay focused!

This Bulerías falseta starts out with a Major 7 sound (the Vicente Amigo influence) that combines arpeggio and picado, but it ends with a driving thumb figure that changes the energy of the falseta - and that can also be used on its own.

This Bulerías Falseta combines arpeggio, picado, thumb and some left-hand stretches into a somewhat longer falseta than we’ve seen. It can be used as an introduction but also works anywhere else you’d play a falseta.

This picado falseta by Enrique Melchor features both the symmetric diminished scale, which is a staple of modern flamenco, and diminished arpeggios, which are somewhat more traditional. You may find you disagree with the fingerings given, which is fine if you find an easier way for you to play th...

Sabicas was famous for his minor Bulerías, and this may be his most famous falseta of all. It’s almost all picado in eight notes, and the phrases start on beat 1 and 7 instead of the more common beats 12 and 6.

This arpeggio falseta features some beautiful chords - and melodies within each chord - as well as some tricky syncopated anticipations of the downbeat of each phrase. You can also play the chord progression with rasgueados rather than arpeggios, or you can do both, as we do here.

Probably the most jubilant falseta in the whole Bulerías course, this one has some interesting staccato syncopation at the beginning, and continues to some syncopated versions of otherwise traditional phrasing.

This Bulerías falseta - which can also be thrown in as a “detalle” (literally a detail, this can be a short flourish or something less than a falseta that you throw in somewhere) - features a great thumb and index technique that’s unique to flamenco, as well as a different kind of 6-beat phrase.

A picado falseta that is phrased in 8th notes, which each phrase starting on beat 12 and ending on beat 6.

This Bulerías falseta starts on 11 and then goes on to a phrase that’s one and a half compáses long. The repeat features an extended ending with a very syncopated rhythm, and the falseta ends on 10.

This Alzapua falseta is relatively simple but has one new feature, which is that rather than start on beat 12 it starts on beat 11. Thinking of beat 11 as a pickup to a downbeat on beat 12 can help make this feel more natural.

This is a very traditional falseta in the Morón style (Morón de la Frontera is a town not too far from Sevilla that’s famous for its flamenco). The falseta is relatively simple and involves thumb technique in the right hand and some slurs in the left hand. The phrasing is very traditional and thi...

A relatively simple falseta that is traditionally phrased with 8th notes starting on beat 12 and ending on beat 6, until the final longer phrase which starts on 12 and end on beat 6 of the next compás.

The first Bulerías falseta I ever wrote 🙂 Each phrase is made up of 8th notes that start on 12 and end on 6, so by now it should just be a matter of learning the notes.

We wrap up the course by looking at how to put together a Tarantos guitar solo using all of your new material and adding in any other material you learn along the way.

We wrap up the course by looking at how to put together a Tarantas guitar solo using all of your new material and adding in any other material you learn along the way.

In this video we look at some of the important chord voicings commonly used in for Taranta and Tarantos to give it that distinctive sound.

A fun picado falseta of mine that ends with some tricky coordination between the two hands that sound quite powerful when you get the hang of it.

A fun picado falseta of mine that ends with some tricky coordination between the two hands that sound quite powerful when you get the hang of it. This is played slow and looped several times.

One of my falsetas that I use as an intro, this one features some advanced arpeggio patterns and a bit of alzapua and thumb at the end. It’s really two falsetas joined together, but since I almost always play them as one I thought I’d present them that way here. This is played slow and looped sev...

One of my falsetas that I use as an intro, this one features some advanced arpeggio patterns and a bit of alzapua and thumb at the end. It’s really two falsetas joined together, but since I almost always play them as one I thought I’d present them that way here.

A simple but very effective intro for Tarantas that features a lot of the “connective tissue” ideas at the end, this one is also taken from Paco’s ‘Tarantos Populares,’ but is played as Taranta and not in strict Tarantos time.