Flamenco guitar music in MIDI format.

    I've been trying to learn a bit of flamenco guitar over the past couple
of years, and more often than not find passages too fast for my simple
abilities - the potential of using MIDI to assist my playing and learning
(especially by slowing down passages) struck me as being worth investigating.
Also, I've not found any flamenco music transcribed in MIDI on the network,
so hopefully these pieces may fill a small gap.  It would also allow me to
test the acoustic guitar sound of my BOSS DS-330 sound module (the verdict is
that it's quite good, the main problem being solo notes that would be played
on the bottom 2 strings sound more like a harp than a guitar: see what mileage
you get with your own setup).
    I must stress that the pieces I have transcribed are not ones of the
technical excellence you would hear in a virtuoso performance of flamenco
guitar, though I hope you'll enjoy them all the same.
    The files are in MIDI format #1, as a single track (an initial program
change may be present with some of them) and, except where indicated, at the
same tempo throughout.  All the pieces were recorded as played with strings
"open", though, where indicated, the piece would often be played with a
"cejilla" or "capo" across the strings, either at the second or third fret:
to achieve the effect you would need to shift the pitch of your sound source
up 2 or 3 half-tones respectively.
    The	files are described here in an approximate order of complexity - I
didn't record any "golpe" or finger tapping that you would usually expect in
flamenco because I couldn't find a sound on the DS-330 that approximated it.
The typical flamenco "rasqueo" or strumming comes across surprisingly well on
the DS-330, but may be affected by a lack of polyphony on other sound sources.


malagn_1.mid : A very, very simple example of "Malaguena" used as an early
               learning exercise (about 10 bars of music): it would be played
               by beginners at about 1/4 speed!

solear_1.mid : A simple example of the solemn "Soleares" - a first complete
               piece, which even I can play at full speed......
               Cejilla at 2nd fret, so shift your sound source up 2 half-tones.

sevilana.mid : "Sevillanas" are lively, repetitive yet tuneful songs that would
               typically be accompanied by dancing and/or singing.  This piece
               comprises 3 Sevillanas.
               Cejilla at 3rd fret, so shift your sound source up 3 half-tones.

malagens.mid : "Malaguenas" - what the first exercise turns into when
               developed further!
               Cejilla at 3rd fret.
               The first few bars of this consist totally of fast strumming
               (doesn't sound too convincing on my equipment - I hope yours
               is better).
               Note this piece has varying tempo, and will undoubtedly sound
               awful if your sequencer or playing device can't handle tempo
               variations.

alegrias.mid : "Alegrias en mi" - Alegrias in the key of E major.
               I particularly like the gentler feel of this piece as it dances
               along merrily - I just wish I could play it properly on the
               guitar (it may well appear a relatively simple piece, but,
               believe me it isn't!).
               Cejilla at 2nd fret.

Enjoy!
          Marlon
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Marlon Cole                              Email: Marlon.Cole@nott.ac.uk
Systems Programmer
Cripps Computing Centre
University of Nottingham, ENGLAND.
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