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Paco
de Lucía: A new tradition for the flamenco guitar.
Excerpt
1: The Origins.
(Excerpt
from the book "Paco de Lucía:
A new tradition for the flamenco guitar ". Author: Paco Sevilla.)
At
six, seven, and eight years of age, the relationship between Paco and the guitar
was a reflection of the relationship between Paco and his father. It was a form
of communication, an unspoken dialogue between a father and a son, a dialogue
in which the one spoke of the difficulty of life in Andalucía and how essential
it was to rise up the ladder that would lead to a good future, while the other
responded by saying, "Don't worry, I will study without stopping to rest".
Was
the young boy's interest in the guitar something natural, or was it imposed upon
him by his father? Paco says, "It was a natural occurrence. It was something that
was going on in my house when I was born... my father, my brother... I'm the youngest
in the family. So when I first became conscious that I was a human being, I already
had a guitar in my hands. I already knew compás [flamenco rhythm], I already knew
how to play."
"Even
before I began to play the guitar I knew all the rhythms... soleá, bulería...
all the rhythms, and I would say to my father, 'That falseta is out of compás.'
And my father would say 'What? Bullshit!' But I would insist, 'No, no, it's out
of compás' and I would play the compás on the table, and we would see that I was
right. This was before I was playing the guitar. It was very fortunate for me,
because - this is why the gypsies are the best, they hear the music from the beginning
of their lives. It is very fortunate. Then when I started to play the guitar,
I knew what to do, where to go, how to play. That was really the most important
for me."
But,
when asked if his father had been demanding when it came time to work on the guitar,
Paco explained, "Hombre, claro! I owe everything I am today to my father. If it
had not been for my father, for his forcing me when I was a child... When one
is a child one loves only to play, to go out in the street and play ball and fool
around. My father forced me to play the guitar when I was little. Automatically
I began to create my own falsetas [melodies]. I began to make things up. I would
have one falseta, then two, and eventually the need to play in public forced me
to create my own school."
Asked
to respond to the rumor that his father had tied one of his leg to the bedpost
and insisted that the practice until he fingers bled, Paco responded, "No, not
to that extreme, no! My father forced me, clearly he has forced me, but not in
that way. He forced me in a way that was more psychological than physical".
"My
father would ask me, 'How much have you studied?' And when I would answer that
it had been ten hours, or twelve, and I saw his happiness, it was all the compensation
that I needed. And, in fact, by age twelve I was earning money."
"Sometimes
I think," he add, "that, if I hadn't been born in my father's house, I would be
a nothing, a nobody, any old thing. I don't believe in hidden geniuses. The artist
is good even if he is under a rock and is unrecognized. But the talent and artistry
that one has is not enough. One must always continue to struggle, just like the
first day."
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