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Posts: 6447
Joined: Jul. 6 2003
From: England, living in Italy
Starting over - recommendations please
The events of the past week and Anders' photos have encouraged me to get my Eliasson blanca out again and dust off the fingernails. I am bored with my Granados books. Can anyone recommend something to help me start over with a fresh eye?
RE: Starting over - recommendations ... (in reply to Escribano)
This is great Simon:) i'd suggest to play anything you liked and played before then choose a falseta of a palo that you really feel like playing it. I may send you some written stuff, just give me a hint:)
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This is hard stuff! Don't give up... And don't make it a race. Enjoy the ray of sunshine that comes with every new step in knowledge.
RE: Starting over - recommendations ... (in reply to Escribano)
This guy, , has a load of good videos. He speaks a bit quickly but you can apply the 'monkey see - monkey do' technique... Depends what you like... he's got a 'Carcelero, carcelero' that's pretty nifty and not hard. This Granaina video has some great tremolo practice tips. I have no idea whatsoever where you are currently but I'll chip this in and hope for the best! More to the point, you're definitely doing the right thing getting the guitar out. Good luck! CH
RE: Starting over - recommendations ... (in reply to Escribano)
I´d say the same as srshea... I play the solea falseta and its very nice. I´ve used it a lot and the flamencos love it and ask where I´ve got it from.
Dont go for to high a level at a start. Its all about getting those fingers working again and it might take a bit of time. I personally find learning flamenco from scores to be dead boring, so if I was to learn something new, I would download the mp3 of some youtube thing I like (there´s a youtube to mp3 converter out there for free) and then use a slowdowner like amazing slowdowner or something similar. I learn faster this way.
Posts: 833
Joined: Oct. 29 2006
From: Olympia, WA in the Great Pacific Northwest
RE: Starting over - recommendations ... (in reply to Escribano)
Ditto what Anders sez.
Despite the winking smiley, my Ron’s solea suggestion was definitely straight-up. Worked through the second half last night, and I’m pretty stoked to be adding this one to my bag of tricks. A few variations on stuff I already play, but it’s nice to stretch a bit and play that stuff with different chord voicings and little details, instead of just falling back on the same ol', same ol’.
Also, I’m a total white boy and typically pick stuff up from tabs, so it’s a nice exercise to work on getting stuff just from audio and blurry video. I had to listen a little closer and work a bit harder, but it is a more satisfying way to learn, and after just two sittings with that falseta I feel like it has already “stuck” in a way that doesn’t always to happen with stuff I learn from tabs. When I learn stuff from tabs I often get chained to the tabs, or the stuff just comes and goes without every really sinking in.
And I’m pretty sure the first part of the falesta is a variation on something from Pepe Habichuela’s first record (yes? no? don’t have that record here and can’t find it on youtube), so that fits in with Maximilian’s suggestion, and goes back to your Granadino roots.
I guess it’s poor forum etiquette to cut and paste from another thread, but :
quote:
You're going to see more of me as I tackle a fresh approach to flamenco. I want to work much more on compás, chords, thumb work and rasgeados - which is at the core of the guitar, rather than fancy arps., picado and tremelo. This was something Ron was passionate about and I would like to see if I can do it. So, I will need some help.
I’m in the same boat. I hit a hand injury in, I think, the summer of ’09 and pretty much lost nearly three years of playing. Whenever I did pick up the guitar I made zero progress, and for the most part I just bagged it, and got to thinking about selling it all off and finding something else to do with my time.
But, I got back on the horse this spring, playing an hour a day and managing my, now three, hand injuries, and after a few months of getting back into the swing of things and building some chops back up I started hitting the same old walls from years previous. Having all that time taken away, and weighing the choice of giving up or going on put things into a pretty clear perspective for me, and I realized that if I’m going to get on with this stuff, which I plan to do (tried quitting; didn’t stick,) then I should buckle down and do it right.
So, instead of always fiddling around and having a bunch of scattered crap that I can sort of almost play in a half-assed way, I’ve stripped everything waaaaayyy down to basics. I’m going very slowly, playing a lot of stuff at half speed, and working only on a handful of very basic meat-and-potatoes things in the core toques, solea, tangos, tientos, siguiriyas, FdH, alegrias, bulerias. Nothing fancy at all, but I’m working on getting it to all sound GOOD. Real flamenco tone, tight compas, aire, swing. Pretty much exactly what Ron always told us to focus on, and which Ricardo continues to bust our balls about.
Posts: 15725
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
RE: Starting over - recommendations ... (in reply to Escribano)
We are always referencing Norman's site regarding the complexities of cante....but actually he has some really nice short classic excerpts of falsetas on his site that are quite fundamental for any level player beginner to advanced. Especially nice is the evolution of the alzapua falseta.
Posts: 1827
Joined: Jul. 26 2009
From: The land down under
RE: Starting over - recommendations ... (in reply to Escribano)
quote:
I am going for Tangos... 4/4 and all that. Put a bit of swing into my step.
Hey Simon,
I would recommend patiently studying these variations. This guy has a very authentic sound and a great feel.
Or a step by step guide for getting a handle on fandangos de huelva. Rhythm and compas is the most important. Once you have this it's easy to build a few falsetas. But without it the falsetas are worthless.
Posts: 6447
Joined: Jul. 6 2003
From: England, living in Italy
RE: Starting over - recommendations ... (in reply to Tomrocker)
Thanks. I need tabs and audio or video for any recommendations. I work through them at my own pace and I am not good at watching/listening without the tab.
RE: Starting over - recommendations ... (in reply to Escribano)
I did read what you said about prefering tab/scores to work from (honest!) but if you get the time, have a look at this alzapua video. If you have a go at these exercises you will have the thumb of flame.
Posts: 6447
Joined: Jul. 6 2003
From: England, living in Italy
RE: Starting over - recommendations ... (in reply to Anders Eliasson)
quote:
He´s speaking like me. Authentical guiry andalou.
I've learned what flamenco I have in Spanish, from books and teachers like Emilio and Albert in Granada. The wife doesn't like to converse in Spanish, so I want to brush it up. Guiri o gitano, no me importa.
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