Do you wonder where to go to learn about flamenco history? Flamenco singing? Flamenco styles? The terminology?
Below you’ll find a variety of resources to assist you on your quest for more flamenco knowledge. While I’ve grouped them by subject, many categories overlap, so I encourage you to explore across groupings.
Flamenco terms
There are many flamenco glossaries online. Here is my favorite from Oscar Nieto. Here is another from World Flamenco, one more from Flamenco En Beirut, and here is one more, and one last one from El Mundo Flamenco.
Compás (rhythm)
Ravenna Flamenco, a site geared toward guitarists, has flamenco metronomes where you can hear the different rhythms. Compás Flamenco provides explanations along with some audio examples. Another place to go for explanations is Flamenco En Beirut. If you're interested in purchasing something, the Sólo Cómpas series is great for practicing, and there are many rhythm apps on the market as well.
Palos (styles)
Studio Flamenco offers in-depth explanations complete with examples of a variety of forms as does this guide from the Centro Andaluz del Flamenco.
Cante (singing)
You can read more about the different types of cante here and some important singers historically here at flamencoviejo.com. You can listen to examples of the different cantes through the Instituto Andaluz del Flamenco here*. Flamenco Viejo provides a wealth of information about the history behind different styles of cante.
History
Many of the above links provide historical info. This article from andalucia.com discusses flamenco in general and its origins, and this is a quick read from the Economist on the history of flamenco and where it's going. Horizonte Flamenco offers extensive articles on the history of flamenco in Spanish.
General info
You can learn a lot at Andalucia.com and from the Instituto Andaluz del Flamenco. Flamencopolis offers in-depth information about different types of carte, forms, history, and more, and it is approved by Concha Jareño herself. This resource from elcossio.com offers info on flamenco history, cante, geography, and important figures in Spanish. For some basics, check out my articles, The Five Elements of Flamenco and The Structure of Bulerías.
Learning more
Didáctica del Flamenco from the Centro Andaluz del Flamenco is a resource that offers online “lessons” complete with questions for the student.
Watching & listening
Click here for a list, and find lots of videos here.
(If you are looking for a video example of something specific you can do a search on this site by typing “video + …” in the search bar on this site. For example if you are looking for examples of alegrías type “video + alegrías” into the search bar, or if you are looking for examples of Manuel Liñan type “video + Manuel Liñan” etc.)
And of course there are tons of flamenco videos on YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, etc.
Here are some favorite dance videos: 25 Videos, 40 Videos, 21 Videos, 10 Videos
(Definitely join the list here to get videos and other helpful flamenco info delivered directly to you weekly.)
Letras (flamenco song verses)
Click here to access hundreds of flamenco verses with translations in English organized by palo.
Tomaflamenco.com also offers has an abundance of letras here.
Online flamenco dance learning
Access FREE quick and dirty flamenco dance tutorials here.
And here you can browse through posts that include activities you can do from home. If you’re looking for something more structured, check out our current online class offerings here or this article about Where to Study Flamenco Dance Online.
How-To posts
Click here for video dance tutorials and instructional articles on this site. You will also find a lot at Flamenco Bites & Rina Orellana.
Interviews
Click here for interviews with professional flamenco artists.
Still want more but not sure what you want?
Check out My Top 25 Favorite Flamenco Blog Posts from this site.
There you have it, some of my go-to sources for flamenco information …
Your Favorites?
What resources (on or offline) have you found useful to your flamenco learning? Please let me know in the comments below. There are a lot of flamenco documentaries out there too. I’ve chosen not to include those in today’s article but feel free to share any that you’ve enjoyed below.
*The site for the Instituto Andaluz del Flamenco is not very user friendly, but you can put “Instituto Andaluz del Flamenco” and the palo you want to hear into a Google search, and it will guide you to the appropriate page.