Biography & About The Timple

The timple is, without a doubt, the most significant instrument of the Spanish Canary Island folk music. Unlike other diminutive guitars, the timple contains 5 strings, and is commonly tuned as GCEAD.

The youthful timple virtuoso entered the Conservatory of Music of Las Palmas at age seven, whose hands were too small to play the guitar, and whose precocious talents turned to classical piano. He later discovered the Canary Islands timple, and by serendipity began studying under the tutelage of the late José Antonio Ramos – perhaps the most celebrated timle player and innovator of all time. José Antonio Ramos was one of the first to experiment with alternative sounds for the timple, and treating it as a solo instrument, and Germán López continues to honor his legacy to this day.

Since creating a sensation in 2014 at world music’s most important showcase, the WOMEX Conference, Germán has assumed his role as the foremost innovator and master of the timple and as a global ambassador for the music of the Canary Islands. Germán López has since performed nearly 200 performances in multiple tours of North America, Spain, China, South Korea, Norway, the Czech Republic, North Africa, and elsewhere. Recent North American highlights include SF Jazz, the Savannah Music Festival, and the Krannert Center's Ellnora Guitar Festival. His upcoming tour will span 6 weeks all across North America, followed by a documentary crew uncovering the magic of his project