Gerhard Graf-Martinez is a passionate flamenco guitarist and teacher. The wealth of his knowledge is captured in this two-volume work, which also reflects valuable experience gained from his activities as a tutor at national and international seminars and workshops. The CD included with volume 1 contains all the pieces and musical examples for volumes 1 and 2. Besides being a pure pleasure to listen to "Flamenco puro," it also conveys the authentic sound and the pulsating "compás" of this music. This is the only way to learn to play the music properly yourself. This is an excellent self-study course that includes many photographs, some to illustrate techniques, others of guitars, guitarists, etc. Self-contained chapters cover all basic techniques plus compás, palmas, nail care, and an overview of current guitarists, guitar makers, construction and sound of flamenco guitars, etc. All musical examples are in standard notation and tablature (tabs), and performed on the accompanying CD.
