Netherlands here

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Netherlands here

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annika.a

Posts: 10
Joined: Jul. 15 2013

Netherlands here

Hello,

My name is Anna and I am from Utrecht. I am playing classical guitar and for me the biggest challenge in flamenco is improvising, so I would like to pick some new strategies from this forum.

And I would also like to discuss my research topic of which i'll post somewhere else.

Looking forward to it.)

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 15 2013 12:11:59

gerundino63

Posts: 1743
Joined: Jul. 11 2003
From: The Netherlands

RE: Netherlands here (in reply to annika.a)

Hey Anna,

Welkom op het forum!

_____________________________

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 15 2013 14:40:42

Erik van Goch

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

RE: Netherlands here (in reply to annika.a)

Welcome to the foro and greetings from Rotterdam. In most solo guitar flamenco performances the element of improvisation is extremely small. In most cases you play the pieces like you have studied/played them numerous times before. The main difference is that you construct your own pieces by combining separate falsetas and compas variations to your likings. Within the boundaries of the compas you are allowed to chance/alter things to your likings/abilities. At first you struggle to have enough material to play a complete piece and you simply play all the material you have in the best possible order. The surge to find/shape the material and the piece is more a process of learning and experimenting than of improvisation and in general once you found the best combination of material you probably play it in that order over and over again, until you find a better line. Over the years you learn/add more material which gives you the pleasant luxury to favor some variations over others. Gradually your piece will evolve with you and both at home and on stage you can switch between alternative lines... on a good day you can risk the more daring variations, on a lesser day you can choose some of the saver variations. In the same way material composed by others can be mixed with (and ultimately be replaced by) material you composed yourself. In my opinion good flamenco compositions are comparable with composed classical music but they offer you the possibility to chance things to your likings. Improvisation generally is restricted to investigating/learning/mixing different variations. Only when you are really inspired you sometimes play lines that are completely improvised and obviously every new idea has to start somewhere. Sometimes duets include parts that include improvisation over a chord progression. Lot's of classical (early) music demand improvisation skills that are comparable with flamenco, with only the main line written out inviting (and expecting) on the spot (or home prepared) personal variations on the theme by the performer(s).

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 15 2013 16:08:42

FullMetalGuitarist

Posts: 88
Joined: Aug. 22 2011

RE: Netherlands here (in reply to annika.a)

Hello Anna and welcome.

Erik quite nailed it but I have to put my 2 cents:

I'v encountered many classical guitar players (pros with a musical degree) who think that flamenco music is just different set of scales with some additional finger techniques.

However , flamenco is much more then that , in fact it is a whole new and different approach to music.

If you want to learn real flamenco , stick to the guys in this forum , they are real pros