The sound of the flamenco guitar is one of the most distinct in the world. While many untrained ears might not be able to pick out exactly what the instrument it, those familiar with the different styles of guitar will instantly be able to recognise when a flamenco guitar is being played.

While the sound of the flamenco guitar is widely recognised, a number of flamenco guitar artists have also reached iconic status in the music world. Here are out top five flamenco guitar artists.

Ramon Montoya

Ramon Montoya is widely credited as being the father of modern flamenco. What we mean by this is that flamenco music used to be dominated by the singing and dancing, with the guitar being played in the background little more than an afterthought. Montoya changed this, bringing an aggressive style to his guitar playing that redefined flamenco as a dance style and made everyone associate it with this particular way of playing a six string.

He is widely regarded as the most influential flamenco guitarist of all time.

Carlos Montoya

Keeping it in the family, Carlos Montoya was the nephew of Ramon, and was another hugely influential flamenco guitarist. Although Carlos Montoya died in 1993, he is widely regarded as the man whom, through the latter part of the 20^th century, helped to cement flamenco as a credible music genre and ensure that there would be opportunities for other artists who enjoy playing this style long into the future.

Oscar Herrero

While Oscar Herrero has not enjoyed the commercial successes of some of the larger flamenco guitar artists, he is already assured of his place in flamenco folklore, and at the age of 54 he has many more years with which to cement his legacy.

Although Herrero has released a number of flamenco guitar records, his biggest contribution to the genre has been through a number of highly effective textbooks and DVDs that help teach beginner flamenco enthusiasts everything they need to know. Herrero has also created a number of resources for advanced flamenco guitarists, meaning players at all levels should be familiar with his work.

Eddie Freeman

It is natural to look at Spain and other Latin countries when seeking out the best flamenco guitar artists, but in Eddie Freeman England produced a highly successful and influential artist of their own.

Like Herrero, Freeman’s main successes came in the instruction and guidance of how to play flamenco guitar, and he was also famous for being able to transcribe flamenco music after listening to it. Freeman was also involved with the production of instruments, making him a central figure in 20^th century flamenco.

Vicente Amigo

Vicente Amigo is a Grammy Award winning flamenco guitarist who released his most recent album, Tierra, in 2013. As well as being commercially successful with his solo albums, he also plays guitar live and in session recordings with a number of prominent flamenco singers, and is indeed one of the most sought after guitarists in the world in this regard.