I asked Steve James about this music during the seminar at Paul Heumiller's house last summer. It came up in the context of the special strings he gets from a mom and pop manufacturer in Santa Barbara, CA. He confirmed the very guarded stance players of this music have taken. It seems to be very similar to the protectionism that went on with the early bluesmen, the Hawaiian slack key players, and the Flamenco players. This non-disclosure seems to stem from several factors: a striving for cultural insularity, a basis in oral tradition, and the preservation of one's livelyhood.

I was in San Miguel de Allende last December and heard several trios, one in particular that knocked my socks off. The requinto in particular was stellar, not to mention the vocals.

I'm interested in developing the technique of fast double-picking and "tremelo" using the fingers (not thumb) and would appreciate any tips, pointers on where to start.

Last night I was channel-surfing and hit the Art channel with Julian Bream playing "Recuerdos de Alhambra" inside the Alhambra in Grenada, Spain (great place, get there in your lifetime if you can!). That piece is the standard for tremelo.

Another very interesting guitar player is the Hawaiian slack key guitarist Moses Kahumoku. He plays nylon string guitar and incorporates classical/flamenco techniques into his playing. I'd like to incorporate some of these techniques into my slack key playing. Check out his CD on Dancing Cat, it's a winner.

I have no idea about any of the Trio playing techniques, except maybe the rasgueo since it seems very similar to the Flamenco index finger strum and mute. I'll post if I make any legitimate progress on the style.

I was watching a video on Paco De Lucia last night, "Light & Shade", and he made an interesting point about the importance of rhythm in Spanish music. It was in the context of performing "Concierto de Aranjuez". He said he used to listen to classical guitar recordings as a child and found them very irritating. Something was wrong and he couldn't put his finger on it. He later realized that classical guitarists tend to sacrifice feel and rhythm for the sake of technical and tonal perfection. He gave examples of performances where the guitarist completely abandoned his accompaniment for these technical and tonal targets. In his view, this is very incorrect and very untrue to the music. I've heard Keola Beamer make a similar assertion in the slack key world. To him, the most important thing is the rhythm of the alternating bass. This fosters the "aloha" attitude required to get the song across.

I guess I mention this because I find that I have had a similar unpleasant experience with classical guitarists playing music by Spanish composers. I have music by Narciso Yepes, Segovia, Christopher Parkening, Julian Bream, and others and their playing just does not do it for me. Yeah, it's technically beautiful and the tone is very pure, but it sounds wrong. It's like going to hear blues at Carnegie Hall. It sounds sterilized. Maybe I'm nuts!

I came across this OLGA-like tab site that has lots of Mexican Trio music:

http://www.atame.org

It's in Spanish, but you can make sense of the tab easily. It often has separate tabs for the requinto and any other stringed instruments used. The tabs seem to be arrangement specific so you may find 20 different tabs for the same song since each Trio has put their signature sound on the tune.

Yahoo!

"Thanks for your note. Along with the materials I mentioned at the IGS forum, I have gathered some additional materials since my last post on the topic. I've been meaning to post some info about them. They include:

A series of 5 books, in Spanish, entitled "La Musica Que Llego para Quedarse" pulled together by Jorge Munoz Bolanos (1987). I bought books 1,3 and 5. Book 5 has an index of songs and what volume they are in. There are 80 melodies in each book and these three seemed to have the most traditional Mexican tunes. The others have a higher concentration of American Pop and Standards. Lots of guitar and accordion info along with general rhythms info.

I also found a book of just lyrics, in Spanish, for Mexican songs: "Solo Canciones" pulled together by Ramirez Ayala. Hundreds of songs here but no music information. Probably a good book to have around for figuring out songs from records.

I've also added more trio music to my music library from Los Diamantes, Los Dandys, Los Tecolines, and Los Tres Caballeros. I also found a nice guitar duet recording by Guitarra Mexicana."

Anyone else come across anything interesting lately for this music?

I have a few cd's by a trio on the way and really enjoy the harmonies and falsetta.

Contact me while I still have this borrowed laptop.

"Hello Corn Dog:

I recently view your message posted in Internet, and here are some
advices to enjoy the trio music. I'm a "requintista" (not good enough),
and here is the true: there's no specific technique to learn requinto,
it's a matter of practice and constant repetition, as any guitar style,
however, some classical skills could be helpfull, like tremolo, harmonics, etc.

In the history of mexican music and bolero, there were a lot of good
requintistas, and a lot of styles, from the trios from the revolution
(trio calaveras, trio tariacuri, trio guayacan, etc.) to the romatic trios
like Los panchos, Los diamantes, etc.

Here are some names of important trios in the mexican history, there
are from several music styles, like Bolero, clave yucateca, rancheros, etc.
etc.

TRIO GUAYACAN
TRIO TARIACURI
TRIO LOS PANCHOS
TRIO LOS CONDES
LOS TRES REYES
TRIO LOS DELFINES
TRIO LOS ASTROS
TRIO LOS HERMANOS MARTINEZ GIL
LOS TRES DIAMANTES
TRIO LOS DANDYS
JOHNNY ALBINO Y SU TRÍO SAN JUAN
TRIO LOS GALANTES
TRIO LOS MONTEJO
TRIO LOS TECOLINES
LOS TRES ASES

Those are some I remember right now, but there are several more, I
recommend specially LOS TRES REYES, the requintista is Gilberto Puente, Indeed,
the best requinsista ever (he has a solid classical formation in the
Conservatorio de Cd. de México), It's still active. You can listen too
TRIO LOS TECOLINES, the requintista Sergio Flores (already dead) was
one of the best of the classical requintistas. Finally, LOS TRES
DIAMANTES have the third better requintista, as I see, his name is
Chamin correa, and has several solo records, he's still active too.

The trios with best voices, as I see, are LOS PANCHOS, TRIO
GUAYACAN,TRIO TARIACURI, AND LOS TRES REYES.

I don't know if you have listen it, but there's another bolero style, named "rondalla", it is something like the "mariachi", but more romantic style, it's usually a group of 10 or 12 guitarists (everybody sings, in different tones, ¡¡¡ really amazing !!!, 2 or 3 requintos or mandolinas, and one person with a bass, or "tololoche", these groups are outstanding singers, they have a good harmony in their voices and usually, very pretty and accurate requintos, If you could find some of these stuff, I'm sure you'll be pleased with it, I recommend you the "Rondalla de saltillo" as the best representative of this style.

I'm glad our music is important to people out of our borders, I send
you my best wishes to your requnitisto proyect, and good luck...I hope we continue in touch to talk about this topic, believe it or not, here In México, is almost in "extintion", but it's really inmortal music.

Saludos y buena suerte amigo...."

I love this forum!!! Thanks again to Bob, Woody, Trevor, Adrian, et al. The global musical connectivity you've help make possible is priceless.

El Sentimiento, La Voz, y La Guitarra de José Feliciano
Sombras.. Una Voz, Una Guitarra - José Feliciano
Mas Éxitos De José Feliciano
Cantas Otras Vez

Wow!!! Great guitar playing and singing in the Trio style with a bit of jazz/pop thrown in. Stripped down ensemble of José, bass, and congas/percussion. No f*cking strings like on the early '70s US market material. Some tunes, like Amor Gitano and Nuestro Juramento have been re-released in later compilations but there are some gems here. It's also cool to hear early arrangements that he then used for some English language covers like Tom Paxton's Last Thing In My Mind and Gerry Marsden's Don't Let The Sun Catch You Cryin'.

However, let me at least mention one website where you can find some mp3 music and lyrics with chords, to give you an idea of what I'm talking about:

http://www.elguitarrero.com.ar/

Let me recommend three good "starter tracks", all of them by "Los Chalchaleros". If you click on the word "Zambas" (left window) and then scroll down a bit, you'll find "La Lopez Pereyra". In the section for Chacareras, you can try "La Pockoy Pacha" - check the great finger-picking by Atahualpa Yupanqui, one of the icons of Latin American folk music. Finally, try "Santafesino" in the Chamame section.

Mexican "Trio" music is more modern and commercial, but there are some outstanding groups to listen to as well.

Thanks for the info and link. I need to dig into the music you have at your site. I'm not familiar with any of it. Great stuff!

Please post if you have any upcoming gigs in the NYC area.

Guarinonex:

I've looked through my music library and published materials and haven't located the tune. I'll keep looking though. Please post an email in your profile in case I find something.

What other trio style tunes do you play?

a) I am glad that you found this type of music interesting. BUT...

b) It is not mi site, unfortunately. (Just a coincidence. "Guitarrero" is used in many South America countries for "guitar player")

c) I actually live in NYC, but I am not a professional musician. So the probability of my having "any upcoming gigs in the NYC area" is pretty slim. (I will, however, play my guitar in the privacy of my Brooklyn appartment quite frequently, to the great enjoyment of Lolita - my cat!)

Cheers!

Avisáme cuando vos vienes por acá, e igual podríamos echarnos unos tintos, ¿no?

Chao

I enjoyed the chat and info regarding unique trio's and guitar work. To continue the discussion I would like to share with this site's contributors some of my preferences. I enjoy the latin trios but even more the rondallas. The depth and richness of the harmonies and guitar/recquinto work and trad songs is more enjoyable for me than with the trio's. I don't particularly like La Rondalla Saltillo because they generallly use a recitation in the middle of a song (It's not the Ink Spots!) maybe because I don't understand Spanish I find the recitation distracting from the mood the rest of the song is creating. My favorite groups is La Rondalla Tapatia. I have about 8 of their lps and 5 cd's...although most of their recordings can be found on 4 cds in two "100 Anos..." anthologies distributed by RCA. My next favorites is La Rondall Yucateca but I have only been able to find two lp's and no cds designated solely to them. I would love to get other copies from someone. Next on my list of favorites is "La Nueva Rondalla Tapatia" on one lp dedicated to the music of Juan Gabriel. Does anyone know if they made more than one album? There are about 6 other rondalla groups which include; all children, all women, etc., but I don't care for them anywhere as much. One of my favorite non-Mexican groups was "los Trovadores de Colombia" a group I met in Bogata in 1966. Their rendition of "lamento Borincano" I think is the best I've ever heard...much better than the excellent version by Johnny Albino etc., whose rendition is more in keeping with a love song than a heart felt song of despair. I also have about 10 cd's and 8 lp's of a quartet, "Los Huesos Quincheros" from Chile hich I enjoy...particularly the mid 1970's version which contains a great sounding basso. And then again I have an extensive collection of Andean recordings...mostly instrumentals...which create great moods.

It's almost impossible to find a Puerto Rican trio that isn't good and some Mexican ones that are outstanding. As far tremolo guitar work is concerned I think the best can be found among the flamenco guitarists...my favorites being: Ramon Montoya, Sabicas, and Mario Escudero. Among latin jazz guitarists I like in particlar the electrical guitar work by Oscar Aleman during his short revival period in the mid 1970's. I have about 8 lp's(Argentinian labels) by him. I don't download music yet...being a former musician I have a strange aversion to this and other abuses of musical artists. So I generally buy what I can and swap with others for what I can't find. My cd recorder is the kind approved by musicians...they get a % of its purchase price...and I'm required to use only digital audio discs (a % of this cost goes to BMI and ASCAP). I would be happy to consider swapping material with others with similar interests. I also would appreciate being made aware of a free website that can provide me with english lyrics to Spanish songs. Anyone out there have any responses to the above?

quote:

---

Originally posted by Corn Dog:
I received a wonderful note from a lurker the other day on this topic. He's a chemical engineer in Tampico, México and a Trio player/enthusiast. I'm sharing his thoughts with his permission:

"Hello Corn Dog:

I recently view your message posted in Internet, and here are some
advices to enjoy the trio music. I'm a "requintista" (not good enough),
and here is the true: there's no specific technique to learn requinto,
it's a matter of practice and constant repetition, as any guitar style,
however, some classical skills could be helpfull, like tremolo, harmonics, etc.

In the history of mexican music and bolero, there were a lot of good
requintistas, and a lot of styles, from the trios from the revolution
(trio calaveras, trio tariacuri, trio guayacan, etc.) to the romatic trios
like Los panchos, Los diamantes, etc.

Here are some names of important trios in the mexican history, there
are from several music styles, like Bolero, clave yucateca, rancheros, etc.
etc.

TRIO GUAYACAN
TRIO TARIACURI
TRIO LOS PANCHOS
TRIO LOS CONDES
LOS TRES REYES
TRIO LOS DELFINES
TRIO LOS ASTROS
TRIO LOS HERMANOS MARTINEZ GIL
LOS TRES DIAMANTES
TRIO LOS DANDYS
JOHNNY ALBINO Y SU TRÍO SAN JUAN
TRIO LOS GALANTES
TRIO LOS MONTEJO
TRIO LOS TECOLINES
LOS TRES ASES

Those are some I remember right now, but there are several more, I
recommend specially LOS TRES REYES, the requintista is Gilberto Puente, Indeed,
the best requinsista ever (he has a solid classical formation in the
Conservatorio de Cd. de México), It's still active. You can listen too
TRIO LOS TECOLINES, the requintista Sergio Flores (already dead) was
one of the best of the classical requintistas. Finally, LOS TRES
DIAMANTES have the third better requintista, as I see, his name is
Chamin correa, and has several solo records, he's still active too.

The trios with best voices, as I see, are LOS PANCHOS, TRIO
GUAYACAN,TRIO TARIACURI, AND LOS TRES REYES.

I don't know if you have listen it, but there's another bolero style, named "rondalla", it is something like the "mariachi", but more romantic style, it's usually a group of 10 or 12 guitarists (everybody sings, in different tones, ¡¡¡ really amazing !!!, 2 or 3 requintos or mandolinas, and one person with a bass, or "tololoche", these groups are outstanding singers, they have a good harmony in their voices and usually, very pretty and accurate requintos, If you could find some of these stuff, I'm sure you'll be pleased with it, I recommend you the "Rondalla de saltillo" as the best representative of this style.

I'm glad our music is important to people out of our borders, I send
you my best wishes to your requnitisto proyect, and good luck...I hope we continue in touch to talk about this topic, believe it or not, here In México, is almost in "extintion", but it's really inmortal music.

Saludos y buena suerte amigo...."

[b]I love this forum!!! Thanks again to Bob, Woody, Trevor, Adrian, et al. The global musical connectivity you've help make possible is priceless.

[This message has been edited by Corn Dog (edited 01-13-2005).][/B]

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