The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
  1. #1

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    What was that (semi-famous) 19th century guitar piece that was inspired by a North African drummer?

    The story, as I read somewhere, goes like this: the composer traveled to somewhere in North Africa. Probably he was Spanish and traveled to Morocco or something similar. Once there, he heard this street musician playing a beat on his drum... he played it for hours on end. And the composer wrote this piece based on the rhythm motif that this drummer was playing.

    I can't get Google to find it for the life of me... aggravating! What was this piece?

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  3. #2

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    Tarrega springs to mind as the most likely candidate, although I didn’t know this specific story. Anyway wikipedia had the answer:

    From the later 1880s up to 1903, Tárrega continued composing and traveling, but limited his concerts to Spain. In 1900, Tárrega visited Algiers, where he was said to have heard a repetitive rhythm played on an Arabian drum and the following morning composed Danza Mora based on that rhythm.



  4. #3

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    That's the one! Thanks!!!!