Suggested beginner's flamenco syllabus...

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Mistertaz

Posts: 3
Joined: Oct. 27 2019

Suggested beginner's flamenco syllab...

Hi everyone!

I'm a beginner with the guitar and flamenco, and have recently started learning some basics from online sources and have found a flamenco teacher locally.

I understand that flamenco is a more improvisational form with traditional structures, and doesn't have the formal structure of learning that classical guitar would have.

However, is there a suggested syllabus or text which is generally accepted as a good guide for beginners to follow with the assistance of a teacher? There seems to be a few texts around, but was wondering what most people on here considered the best contemporary one.

Thanks!
Taz.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 27 2019 6:25:07

devilhand

Posts: 1598
Joined: Oct. 15 2019

RE: Suggested beginner's flamenco sy... (in reply to Mistertaz)

Welcome to the forum. I'm a beginner too in terms of guitar playing. But I read about flamenco before. If you use search function in this forum, you'll find good answers to your question.

There are books for both old and modern techniques. The following 2 books (oldie but goodie) teach old school technique. First one has no audio. The second one has audio+video. Both are a good starting point I guess.

Juan Grecos: The Flamenco Guitar
Juan Martín: El Arte Flamenco de la Guitarra

Other sources every beginner should know are:
Oscar Herrero series Vol. 1-3. DVD come with booklets (tabs)
Graf Martinez Falmenco Guitar DVD Vol. 1 & 2 with books.

_____________________________

Say No to Fuera de Compás!!!

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 27 2019 13:21:34

Paul Magnussen

Posts: 1805
Joined: Nov. 8 2010
From: London (living in the Bay Area)

RE: Suggested beginner's flamenco sy... (in reply to devilhand)

I second devilhand’s nominations. If you have a teacher, then Juan Grecos’s book is particularly good. Unfortunately it’s out of print, and second hand copies may be expensive (you could try Scribd).

Also excellent is Dennis Koster’s The Keys to Flamenco Guitar (in 3 volumes); although it does assume you know the basics of playing the guitar, as do the Graf-Martínez books.

Another good source of elementary material is Luigi Marracini’s You Can Teach Yourself Flamenco Guitar.

https://www.amazon.com/Flamenco-Guitar-Juan-D-Grecos/dp/B004NRT2PA/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Juan+Grecos+the+Flamenco+Guitar&qid=1572188748&s=books&sr=1-1#customerReviews

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R2CP9K8HTEVL5A/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=3795757681

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R1WHP7XJLKGO03/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=0786689269

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R394XWXWI5NMWK/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=0786602341

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 27 2019 15:06:46

flyeogh

Posts: 729
Joined: Oct. 13 2004

RE: Suggested beginner's flamenco sy... (in reply to Mistertaz)

Hi. I hope there is something here that might be useful. But if not it is only 2 or 3 minutes of your life. Hopefully you'll forgive me.

I've started on my flamenco guitar route 3 times. 17 and 10 years ago I was determined but within one or two years my efforts ground to a halt

. I'm now exactly 300 days into my 3rd effort. I've promised myself that I will play 2 or 3 pieces in my local bar (without clients running out) after 500 days. And so far that is keeping me focused and looking good.

I practice between 1 and 3 hours a day. I missed 3 weeks with tennis elbow after practicing very stretchy chords and over doing it. And I missed 2 weeks when I traveled back to England.

I use a pro in Jerez for 60/90 minutes about twice every three weeks. I show him what I'm trying to play. Ask lots of questions. He plays/I play/we play. Basically I use him as a sounding board. He corrects any techniques where he sees issues. Some lessons he might spot just one thing but that is all I want. As Ricardo never tires of saying

"practice doesn't make better, it makes permanent" so any issues corrected early are very welcome.

I then use an online course with interaction. Loads of materials. You can look at openings, compas bases, adornments, falsetas, with cante, with dance - mix and match.

Each week he does a live 2 hours. Normally about 12 people connect but only 6 or 7 interact via chat or make requests beforehand by email. You can get him to look at anything, any level, even things not from his course materials (this week for example he covered: Soleá por bulerías » por medio «- Base – Falseta – Cante. Cante – Bulería – Amantes de Lin Cortés. Rumba – falseta » por arriba «. And everything is available in edited form at a later date. Before I'd used books like the ones suggested above but they were too rigid (in structure) for me.

I do look at things from numerous books, youtube, et al, in addition. And I spend quite a bit of time listening to flamenco.

Why do I think this time I will succeed:

I have the time to do a minimum of one hour a day.
I only play what I like. My pro did offer a picado for Fandangos early on but it wasn't musical to me. I dropped it. And now we work on only what I select. To little time to play what I do not like.
I stick (largely) to only four palos (Solea, Farruca, Fandangos and Tango). I remember trying to follow courses before that had a new palo every piece/chapter/week. Just too much for me.
I use a metronome frequently (but only when I've mastered a piece).
I play a lot of base compas.
I play a non flamenco piece every now and then (at the moment 'House of the rising sun', 'Every breath you take', 'Angie').
I exercise technique every day and now my rasqueos, stretchy chords, barre chords, arpeggio, picado have improved no end.
I'm starting to record myself more (as advised here).
When I'm waiting for the train to go to my lesson I play on the platform and don't give a monkeys if someone hears me (tx to the guys here who encouraged that

).

Not saying these things will work for everyone but I'm sure very pleased with my progress.

Not sure how helpful that is but I'd be weary of following some structured course unless that is very much your thing. Set your own structure based on what you want to achieve (the good folks here will always help out). Enjoy your journey and do update us on progress.

_____________________________

nigel (el raton de Watford - now Puerto de Santa Maria, Cadiz)

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 27 2019 15:36:12

Mistertaz

Posts: 3
Joined: Oct. 27 2019

RE: Suggested beginner's flamenco sy... (in reply to Mistertaz)

Hi everyone!

Thanks for all the suggestions, and especially the overall long-term advice on how to approach learning Flamenco! All your responses are very appreciated!

I’ve gone the more modern approach and am trying Kai Narezo’s ‘Flamenco Explained’ website and Orhan Atrafana’s ‘Atrafana School’ material. I’ll see how I go with them and perhaps supplement it with the above-mentioned texts. I’m only doing this as a relaxing hobby, so I don’t expect to make any rapid progress. I’m just trying to enjoy the process. However, if anyone wants opinions on these two online resources, feel free to ask me in a couple of months. :)

Taz.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 27 2019 23:15:43