Flamenco Practice Guitar

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Flamenco Practice Guitar - Rt. Hand

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Robug

Posts: 28
Joined: Apr. 18 2014

Flamenco Practice Guitar - Rt. Hand

In 1964, I had the pleasure of meeting and spending time with the flamenco great, Juan Serrano. He was performing at an intimate jazz club for a week in our city. He showed me a device one of the luthier's in Spain made for him as a practice instrument for traveling. It was a simple board with pegs, a bridge and six strings. Of course, it made no sound (except for percussion) and was useful only for rt. hand techniques but he was very pleased. Five years ago, I searched for such a device (it apparently has no real name) and I found and purchased the one in the embedded picture. I have found it to be very useful as it can accompany me everywhere (traveling, waiting for my shopping wife, etc.), is silent and attracts little attention, and has hastened my mastering of tresillos, rasqueos, golpe, tremolo, arpeggios, alzapua, and others. It is true that it does nothing that a real guitar could not do better, however, there are many times when I want to practice that a guitar is either unavailable or inappropriate. Even rumba rhythms can be mastered with this device. (I hope the image is visible, it is my first attempt to post such on this forum)

Peace from my Panamanian Paradise….

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 18 2014 21:18:49

Erik van Goch

Posts: 1787
Joined: Jul. 17 2012
From: Netherlands

RE: Flamenco Practice Guitar - Rt. Hand (in reply to Robug)

I recently googled some of the artists my father met during his Dutch performing years (50ties and 60ties). One of those artists was Manolo Marin, the first flamenco dancer who brought his own guitar players to the Netherlands in stead of using a local orchestra (like the one my father played in).
My father became good friends with one of those guitar players, Fernando Carranza, and they spend quite a lot of time together.

When i googled Fernando Carranza (to see what became of him) the only hit i found was that his name was linked to an add were a device like above was commercially offered. I have no idea if the device Juan Serrano used was inspired by the Carranza one but i can tell for sure the Carranza one is inspired by a prototype build by my father (who made one for himself in the 50ties and showed it to Carranza during their meetings). The one my father made is still in our possession and more practical in use as the ones commercially offered, which in comparison are more difficult to hold. Like the Juan Serrano one it was a simple board with pegs, a bridge and 6 strings. My father simply calls it an arpeggio board :-)

http://www.deflamenco.com/tienda/producto/guitarra-de-flamenco/guitarmute-dvd.html

_____________________________

The smaller the object of your focus the bigger the result.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 18 2014 21:58:17

Robug

Posts: 28
Joined: Apr. 18 2014

RE: Flamenco Practice Guitar - Rt. Hand (in reply to Erik van Goch)

Thank you very much, Erik for the information. I would love to see an image of the prototype, if possible. From your description, it is very similar to the one Juan Serrano showed me. And, the timeline could mean that Serrano's device could have been inspired by your father's creation. Very interesting, indeed. I would add that the frets on the device I have are simply of no value other than cosmetic.

I did not see your link at first (I am new to this forum format). It is very interesting but different from that Serrano had. It looks very nicely designed and made.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 18 2014 22:27:30

Erik van Goch

Posts: 1787
Joined: Jul. 17 2012
From: Netherlands

RE: Flamenco Practice Guitar - Rt. Hand (in reply to Robug)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Robug

Thank you very much, Erik for the information. I would love to see an image of the prototype, if possible. From your description, it is very similar to the one Juan Serrano showed me. And, the timeline could mean that Serrano's device could have been inspired by your father's creation.

Not unlikely, although anyone with a wish for such a divice is likely to come up with a similar prototype. The trick is to feel the need for/think of a device like that to start with. Still, Carranza claims it is "the fruit of many years" which sounds a little more heroic then telling you encountered one when visiting the Netherlands.

Here is another funny story. Before my father became a professional musician he was a professional painter/decorator. In the 50ties his band played in Congo for a year were he was also asked to decorate/paint a local bar/dancing. Like usual he created his own "african inspired" motives to decorate the bar/walls. In the late 60ties he became a guitar teacher at Rotterdam Conservatory. Around 2000 they moved to a brand new building and to his surprise the restaurant of that building was covered with the very same motives he created 50 years before to decorate that bar in Congo. When he contacted the builders all they could tell him those motives came from Africa :-).

My father made a lot of practical things, either to save money, either to make things fit to the mm (in the 60ties he lived in a very small house) either because things didn't exist yet or simply because he could. He's 81 now and just finished his best painting so far (he spend a full year on it).

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The smaller the object of your focus the bigger the result.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 18 2014 22:51:29

Erik van Goch

Posts: 1787
Joined: Jul. 17 2012
From: Netherlands

RE: Flamenco Practice Guitar - Rt. Hand (in reply to Robug)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Robug

I did not see your link at first (I am new to this forum format). It is very interesting but different from that Serrano had. It looks very nicely designed and made.

It is also a different model then the one my father built which probably is very similar to the one Serrano had. Unfortunately showing a photo is a bit difficult because i don't have one yet and on top i don't know how to post a photograph (previous attempts failed). I'll have to ask my brother to give me a hand.

_____________________________

The smaller the object of your focus the bigger the result.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 18 2014 22:58:40

Robug

Posts: 28
Joined: Apr. 18 2014

RE: Flamenco Practice Guitar - Rt. Hand (in reply to Erik van Goch)

Thanks very much again, Erik. Very, very interesting information regarding your father. I look forward to seeing his prototype.

Saludos de Panama

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 18 2014 23:07:27

Ruphus

Posts: 3782
Joined: Nov. 18 2010

RE: Flamenco Practice Guitar - Rt. Hand (in reply to Erik van Goch)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Erik van Goch

He's 81 now and just finished his best painting so far (he spend a full year on it).

How is his guitar playing now?
I always wonder whether aging will inevitably mean losing dexterity, and whether one must end up ever more sluggish until you put the axe aside altogether. ( Which is a very depressing thought to me, who only wishes to maintain a certain fluency to the last days.)

There are other fields I could keep alive in my eventual old days like writing, drawing, sculpturing, photography, etc.
But those six strings vibrating has something all too special to it, notwithstanding the pleasure of other subjects that are of no little pleasure either.

Ruphus

PS:
Of the device discussed I have seen another commercial version too.
I think it was much shorter, barely allowing what the right hand needs / with no place for the left hand.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 19 2014 9:07:20

Erik van Goch

Posts: 1787
Joined: Jul. 17 2012
From: Netherlands

RE: Flamenco Practice Guitar - Rt. Hand (in reply to Ruphus)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Ruphus

quote:

ORIGINAL: Erik van Goch

He's 81 now and just finished his best painting so far (he spend a full year on it).

How is his guitar playing now?
I always wonder whether aging will inevitably mean losing dexterity, and whether one must end up ever more sluggish until you put the axe aside altogether. ( Which is a very depressing thought to me, who only wishes to maintain a certain fluency to the last days.)

Unfortunately he is suffering arthrosis which means the cartilage between his bones is waring out. As a result fingers become more stiff and some (playing) actions become painful up to impossible. Plying the guitar has become painful to him, but most fortunately his lutes (his main passion) are way more hand friendly so he can still enjoy playing the Bach suites amongst others. But even on the lute he every now and then has to change left hand strategy when certain grips or moves structurally become to painful.

On top he is suffering hearing problems, he's half deaf and on top he can no longer enjoy certain kinds of music/instruments anymore because above a certain frequency the pitch of the notes change between the moment they enter his ear and the moment they reach his his brain, so above a certain frequency he hears different notes then are actually played.

Many professional players i know (still way younger then my father) suffer hand problems that makes playing (way) more difficult and i recently saw a documentary showing that players of symphonic orchestras often suffer physical/hearing problems, forcing them to stop being a professional musician at often very young ages.

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The smaller the object of your focus the bigger the result.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 19 2014 21:03:43

Robug

Posts: 28
Joined: Apr. 18 2014

RE: Flamenco Practice Guitar - Rt. Hand (in reply to Robug)

I am sorry to hear of your father's afflictions, Erik. I would like to say that getting old is not necessarily marked by steady decline in physical abilities (although eventually it all comes to a natural end). I am 71 years old now, I play a minimum of four hours each day and sometimes as much as seven. My hands continue to strengthen, they are perfectly steady, and I have no pain in my body (even though having sustained 11 broken bones in my life). I am perhaps not as fast as in the past. The difference in being 71 and 81 is significant and it is hard to predict how I will be when I am as old as your father but at least for now I am without a single indication of arthritis and such. I am only commenting to give encouragement to others who are younger and question what to expect in the future. I send my best wishes to your father.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 19 2014 22:24:49

Erik van Goch

Posts: 1787
Joined: Jul. 17 2012
From: Netherlands

RE: Flamenco Practice Guitar - Rt. Hand (in reply to Robug)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Robug

I would like to say that getting old is not necessarily marked by steady decline in physical abilities (although eventually it all comes to a natural end). I am 71 years old now, I play a minimum of four hours each day and sometimes as much as seven.........
I am only commenting to give encouragement to others who are younger and question what to expect in the future. I send my best wishes to your father.

I know people of your age who have similar problems like my father, but as you rightfully point out getting older does not inflict everybody in similar ways. Age is a factor but also genetics and the way you live your life like eating habits, environment, physical activities etc.
As far as arthrosis is concerned lack of activity can increase problems and my father does not play enough to keep things run as smoothly as possible. Quite often he is to tired to face the arts and last year his main focus was the painting i mentioned, a huge and incredible challenging water painting with numerous problems he and other painters generally avoid to include. With the exception of 1 small detail all the challenges he set himself in that painting came out 100% to his likings (he often was pleasantly amazed by the outcome himself), resulting in his best and most daring painting ever. The only thing about it i don't like is the fact the street view involved does not include the next shop in line, an old shop with hand painted windows using a kind of calligraphy my father applied in the early 50ties when he became the youngest member of a local decorating company. He actually was the one who introduced/suggested that kind of letter type which soon became the companies standard. Ironically it was the decorating companies boss who tended to inspire everyone he met to start playing the guitar (he would just put a guitar in your hands urging you to give it a try) and although my father already played the guitar it was his new boss that made him aware of the fact the repertoire of the guitar also included classical music which to my father was a real eye opener. Shortly afterwards my father left the company to become a full time musician, enjoying a very nice guitar his boss offered him for a very agreeable price (it basically was a steal).

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The smaller the object of your focus the bigger the result.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 20 2014 10:37:37

Robug

Posts: 28
Joined: Apr. 18 2014

RE: Flamenco Practice Guitar - Rt. Hand (in reply to Erik van Goch)

Erik, is it possible your father's art works are visible online? I would certainly love to see what he has done. I would also encourage you to chronicle your father's life story as it is very interesting. Those who are of his age have seen and experienced much change and much will be lost with his inevitable passing. Anyone who witnessed the WWII era, civil rights movements, Vietnam, etc. has much to share with the new generation. Likewise, the life of professional musician…… I am keenly aware of the loss of such information as my father passed many years ago and with him also passed most of his life experience. I send you and your father Peace from my tropical paradise.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 20 2014 13:55:03

Erik van Goch

Posts: 1787
Joined: Jul. 17 2012
From: Netherlands

RE: Flamenco Practice Guitar - Rt. Hand (in reply to Robug)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Robug

Erik, is it possible your father's art works are visible online? I would certainly love to see what he has done. I would also encourage you to chronicle your father's life story as it is very interesting. Those who are of his age have seen and experienced much change and much will be lost with his inevitable passing. …… I am keenly aware of the loss of such information as my father passed many years ago and with him also passed most of his life experience. I send you and your father Peace from my tropical paradise.

I don't believe my fathers art work is visible online. Most paintings are made to please himself and not mend to sell or to leave the house. Only a handful of works were sold/given to archives, companies and friends. His last works were also made with the intention to make /sell high quality copies so he is not keen of me sharing these works. I should indeed annotate his life one day. It is incredible how much the world can change in only 1 generation or even a couple of years. With the internet the world basically has become our backyard. When my father became a musician there wasn't even something like television. As a matter of fact television ended his career as a performing musician since it totally changed the way people spend their spare time (one of the very first hours of television in the netherlands happened to be a special of the band of my father). He continued his career as a music teacher, both teaching at Rotterdam conservatory as well as teaching children in the surrounding villages. At that period of time (60ties/70ties) he could still tell from which village people came because every village had it's own small text variations in what is known as sinterklaas liedjes, a dutch tradition involving a man with a white beard, a red costume, a horse and many helpers (the now world famous zwarte pieten) giving presents to every child in december (in america sinter klaas became known as santa clause). So back in the 60ties every village had it's own local text variations, but when television picked up the phenomenon (fallowed by LP) the songs soon became standardized in every little detail. I always keep this in mind when i think of the evolution of flamenco. If over here people were unaware of text variations practiced 1 or 5 miles away from their hometown, how much more isolated must local flamenco has been in the early years when records were still very scarce. As a matter of fact, when my father started studying the Bach suites he still had to surge/find them in the archives of a specialized museum, one by one so every now and then he or others discovered another Bach suite not known to the local scene yet. My father is the second generation players in the Netherlands and when he started his career only a very limited amount of people over here could play the guitar at decent levels. Sometimes people would not believe he could play certain pieces and when he played it to them the reaction was not necessarily admiration but often "oh, if you can play it it must be less difficult as i thought it was". I'm afraid a lot of knowledge is indeed lost when my father leaves this planet but at least he leaves a couple of self made hand puppets, stuffed birds, furniture, paintings, a couple of records, his arpeggio board and stags of hand written partitures, among which a complete flamenco didactic developed for/used by Paco Peña's flamenco academy (not available for the general public but probably a future treasure to find for upcoming generations of music archive searchers). Peace and best wishes to you and all others as well, a tropical paradise sounds like a nice place to be.

_____________________________

The smaller the object of your focus the bigger the result.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 21 2014 1:21:23

Robug

Posts: 28
Joined: Apr. 18 2014

RE: Flamenco Practice Guitar - Rt. Hand (in reply to Erik van Goch)

Erik, thanks once again for sharing such fascinating stories. I learn
much of your culture, past and present, from your well-crafted
letters. If my father were still present, I would have so much to ask
him. He could explain old photos, ones filled with incredible
information but now almost completely mute as he is not here to
comment as to where, when, who, why…… I know almost nothing of his
family except his grandmother was and American Indian. His history
would change nothing but would be of great interest to me, just as are
the things your father experienced are interesting to me. You know, I
find the life experiences and stories of simple people to be the most
interesting. I rather avoid reading about the lives of famous and
infamous historical figures. But, it is almost impossible to find
honest writings of a simple person's experiences. And, the truth be
known, there are not enough good, insightful writers. Most, in my
opinion, prostitute their true artistic skills just to survive in a
highly competitive business. Anyway, thanks again and please share
more at your pleasure. And now, I will enjoy this glorious Panamanian
day by doing what I do every day which is to do ONLY things I find
interesting and pleasing. I will start with a breakfast of papaya,
maracuya (a type of passion fruit), quinoa with plantains (a type of
banana), mango, and the world's finest coffee which is grown 3
kilometers from my house. Combine all this with the morning's music
selection (I think it will be some Argentine Milonga's today), the
perfect companion, and a clear view of Vulcan Baru's summit……
Nirvana…. I have truly earned my local nickname, El Hedonista.

I send you Peace and Happiness….

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 21 2014 14:40:00