Repertoire: Spanish Set

Next up in the series is my Spanish set. This is a collection of Spanish music spanning a number of centuries. It incorporates pieces of music from the classical period in Spain to the Flamenco style through to Catalan folk songs. Spanish music is full of passion and ranges from the heart breakingly beautiful to fiery and ferocious.

There are some significant differences between the different styles of Spanish music. Pieces from the Spanish classical period are not too dissimilar to the pieces from my regular classical setlist. The key difference is that the pieces in my Spanish set are mostly taken from the late classical/early romantic period. They have a distinctive Spanish flavour which is something akin to flamenco without much of the strumming or fieriness. The flamenco pieces in my Spanish repertoire are by far the flashiest pieces. They involve lots of stylistic strumming and traditional flamenco techniques and have a bold Spanish flavour. Another sub category in my Spanish set is the traditional Catalan folk songs. These are all achingly beautiful and display all the passion we associate with Spanish music. These pieces form a great contrast with the flamenco pieces and provide a nice balance when mixed in the same playlist. The final sub category of my set is the Spanish pop/flamenco crossover pieces by bands such as the Gipsy Kings. These pieces all involve the use of backing tracks so I only play them when expressly requested by the client (as I’m predominantly a solo artist without backing tracks). They’re lots of fun and in the right setting such as a restaurant or themed party they go down a storm!

The Spanish set is most suitable for Spanish restaurants in need of some live entertainment or for themed parties (National holidays, days of cultural significance etc).

Don’t forget to check out the other posts in this series on repertoire; my pop/rock set and jazz set are available on the blog.