David Bisbal began his career at the age of 18. In 2001, he competed on Operacion Triunfo and was seen by representatives of Vale Music. They signed him and his first CD, Corazon Latino was released in 2002. Produced in Miami by Kike Santander, it became an instant hit. It sold over a million copies in a matter of months.

His appeal rapidly began to spread outside of Spain. He toured Latin America in 2003, selling out more than 80 performances. He received enormous media attention for this. All the while, his music was tearing up the international music charts. 2004 saw the release of his second album, Buleria. This album matched the success of his first one very quickly. It had a distinct flamenco flavor coupled with his Latin style and was intended to honor Spain, his homeland.

On Premonicion, Bisbal collaborated with artists like Tomatito, Vicente Amigo, and Wisin & Yandel. This album had a very international flavor to it. Since its release, it has achieved multi-platinum status in the U.S. He has recently recorded with popular singing star Rihanna. The song is the Spanish version of her hit with Ne-Yo, “Hate That I Love You.” This can only do wonders for his career and with this much success already, there is no doubt that he will continue to have more. It is only a matter of time before this Spanish singer conquers the mainstream international charts and has us all singing a hit song off his latest album.

They all started out singing cante jondo (deep song) which is traditional flamenco with very heavy themes like love and death. They shifted over to rumba flamenco simply because they “liked to watch pretty girls dance,” according to their own words. An interesting to note is the left-handed players of the band play with guitars strung upside down. This is was because most of them could only borrow guitars for right-handed players when they were learning to play.

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They rose to popularity with their self-titled debut album. But they are perhaps best known for “Volare” off their second album Mosaique. It is a rumba version of “Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu,” by Domenico Modugno. They are very popular in France and the Middle East. They have also had great success in the United States as well with their music spending considering time on the mainstream charts. With sales over 18 million albums worldwide, it is not hard to see why. They have an appeal that transcends geographical boundaries and language differences. With the urgent beat of the flamenco running in their veins, these cousins are destined to continue to bring vibrant music to the rest of the world.

 Flamencos are also equipped with a tap pla

Flamenco guitar technique also differs from classical guitar technique in many ways. It is commonly played using a capo called a cejilla which makes the guitar sound brighter and more percussive. But the main purpose of the cejilla is to quickly change keys in order to adjust to the vocal range of a singer. Picados are single-line scale passages with great attack and articulation. Rasgueado is strumming with outward flicks of the fingers. Alzapua is using the right hand thumb for single-line notes and strumming across strings. All these techniques contribute to a very distinctive musical style that is known the world over. Accomplished flamenco guitarist have mastered all these so they can support flamenco dancers with the beautiful rolling rhythms of the flamenco.

Iglesias first performed the song on Ryan Seacrest’s radio show. It hit the charts a short time after that. The song had mild success commercially as well. It was released on iTunes on May 15, 2007 and a physical CD followed in June 11 of the same year.

The music video was directed by Jesse Terrero and parodies the process of making a music video. In the video, various ideas for the video of the song are pitched to Iglesias. There is a comical and surreal quality to the video that lends it its distinctive feel. In fact, it may feel a little off-putting the first time you watch it.

Another distinctive thing about it is that all the backing tracks are pre-fabricated instrumental loops from a well known production company. The same package where the loops came from is freely available to music consumers. In fact, the entire song is constructed from one library in the package. There is no modification to the loops at all. Now, go out there and be a music producer. It can’t be that hard if all you have to is buy a bunch of loops right…?

Ten days later, he performed the song live at a benefit concert. He was joined by Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi and Sheryl Crow. In June 2007, Iglesias performed it at London nightclub G-A-Y. Iglesias usually serenades a member of the audience when sings this song. A gay audience is no exception.

The music video of this song was directed by Joseph Khan. It casts Iglesias in the role of a heroic criminal. His love interest is Jennifer Love-Hewitt and Mickey Rourke plays his killer. The final scene is Iglesias being shot down in a desert outside a church. The video was also well-received. The song itself hit #1 in numerous countries. It also became a worldwide #1 by hitting the top spot on the United World Chart. It has met similar success in the UK and Australian markets. This song is also a consistent top download on iTunes. Looks like David Foster really knows what he is talking about. Like there was ever any doubt about that fact?

It has actually proven to be a hit with fans despite much debate about which single would be released. Iglesias has publicly stated the decision was made by his recorded company. It is a decision which has proved to be the correct one. With the acoustic guitar, the great melody hook, and Iglesias’ trademark vocals, there is not much to hate about this song. Sure it may be a little fluffy, but it sounds different in today’s hip-hop and R&B dominated market. The arrangement is sparse and the song really stands on its own.

And for the boys out there, the video is sizzling hot. It features Saray Givati, a famous Israeli model as Iglesias’ love interest. Despite the melancholy nature of the song, the scenes onscreen are steamy. So much so in fact that some parts have been deemed overly sexual for certain markets. As a result, a censored version had to be cut for those markets.

One just hopes this continued trend to open pop songs with acoustic guitar riffs and then use synth drums does not continue indefinitely. Like anything, it gets old after a while. Let’s just all watch and wait to see what Enrique comes up with next.

The career of Enrique Iglesias started on indie label, Fonovisa. It turned him into a singing superstar in Latin America and the Latin American market in the U.S. He sold more Spanish albums than any other artist at that time. He then crossed over into the mainstream pop market and signed a hefty multi-album deal with Universal Music. He has produced numerous #1 hits on the Latin charts and has sold over 40 million albums to date.

With his dashing good looks, Enrique is a true entertainment celebrity. He has made numerous media appearances throughout his career. He is also a sought after product endorser and endorses Tommy Hilfiger’s “True Star Men” fragrance. His most recent performances include concerts in Italy, Uruguay, and Israel. He has also appeared as a guest on several television shows.

Enrique has also participated in a musical collaboration with Guy Chambers to write a single for Andrea Bocelli’s pop album. He has also written for Clay Aiken and The Hollies. Enrique co-produced a musical called Four Guys Named Jose and Una Mujer Named Maria. In terms of acting, he has starred in the film Once Upon A Time In Mexico.

An impeccable celebrity pedigree has not hurt him either. He is the son of singer Julio Iglesias and model Isabela Preysler. Several of his siblings and half-siblings are celebrities themselves. It is obvious all those great genes have not gone to waste. With great talent and superstar status, Enrique’s career is destined to go nowhere but up.

Julio started his career by winning the Benidorm International Song Festival in 1968. He signed a contract with Columbia Records shortly after that. A few years later, he transferred to CBS International. In 1984, he achieved immense success with the English ballad “To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before.” This was a duet with Willie Nelson and it cracked the top five on the Billboard Hot 100. He also won a Grammy in 1988 for his album Un Hombre Solo.

In the 90s, Julio went back to Spanish music and was nominated for another Grammy. His son, Enrique, was also nominated in the same category for his own album. 2003 saw the release of the Spanish album, Divorcio which sold 350,000 copies in Spain on its release day. He then embarked on a lengthy world tour for the better part of a year. This showed that his fan base was still very much intact.

Currently, Julio is promoting “Romantic Classics.” This is a collection of love songs from the past three decades that he believes will become the new “standards.” He has already released foreign language versions of this album which has further boosted its sales in international markets. It is almost certain his success will continue on.

The main reason why Spanish music is a great learning aid? It keeps you from getting bored. That is the main thing that prevents people from learning. Boredom. Rules, teachers, syntax. These are all boring. Music is fun. It stimulates your brain with rhythm and melody. It taps into your brain for a natural learning process. Your brain will be learning even without you knowing it.

The lyrics of Spanish songs will enable you to start speaking Spanish words and phrases. A word here and a word there and you will be speaking Spanish in no time at all. The greatest thing about this is you are not stuck with conjugation and pronunciation activities.  Instead, you are busy learning actual Spanish in a way that ensures you are able to retain what you learn.

Flamenco has several melodic characteristics. There are intervals smaller than a semitone. Portamento is used to change notes smoothly. Traditional flamenco songs usually only have a range of four and a half tones. Enharmonic scales and contiguous chromatic notes abound. There is a lack of regular rhythm and most styles express sadness and bitterness. Flamenco melodies also tend to descend. And these movements usually tend to proceed in contiguous degrees.

Rhythm is very important in flamenco. In this aspect, it is very similar to jazz and blues. It uses three basic counts which are the binary, the ternary, and the unique twelve-beat cycle that is unique to flamenco. However, there are also styles that are not subject to any particular time signature. But all things being equal, the compas defines flamenco. In fact, without a guitarist, the compass can be rendered by hand-clapping. Such fun!