Welcome to one of the most active flamenco sites on the Internet. Guests can read most posts but if you want to participate click here to register.
This site is dedicated to the memory of Paco de Lucía, Ron Mitchell, Guy Williams, Linda Elvira, Philip John Lee, Craig Eros, Ben Woods, David Serva and Tom Blackshear who went ahead of us.
We receive 12,200 visitors a month from 200 countries and 1.7 million page impressions a year. To advertise on this site please contact us.
Hi all. im new to this forum biz but ye all seem to offer good advice. I have been playing guitar for close on 20 years, have been into flamenco for a few years, but only managed to start learning flamenco a couple of months ago. does anyone have any tips on how to proceed? i have so many questions and few answers. I am in Dublin, Ireland and cant find any other flamencos and it seems theres only one guitar teacher in the whole city. any advice on how to proceed would be great. also i dont read music..is that a big hindrance? thanks for any advice ye may have.
RE: best way to proceeeeed (in reply to hewsanchez)
quote:
i have so many questions and few answers.
There is a lot of information available on the internet, but if you have no reference to determine it's value, or usefulness to you then get a teacher before learning things wrong. I think John Walsh could be in Dublin?
Posts: 3497
Joined: Jul. 12 2009
From: Washington, DC
RE: best way to proceeeeed (in reply to hewsanchez)
There is a wealth of information in the Foroflamenco archive, from tips and answers to all sorts of problems and questions beginners might have to more esoteric issues. From picado to nail shape. From rasqueado to tremolo and hundreds of other questions. Just type key words into the search function and scroll through the threads that appear until you find what you are looking for.
Bill
_____________________________
And the end of the fight is a tombstone white, With the name of the late deceased, And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here, Who tried to hustle the East."
RE: best way to proceeeeed (in reply to hewsanchez)
Flamenco Explained is excellent.
Scott Tennant Pumping Nylon extremely useful.
I am like you, listened to flamenco a fair bit for decades (without understanding anything about it), played guitar and bass in bands for decades, but fairly new to the flamenco techniques and particulars. About a year ago I bought a couple of Udemy courses which were not satisfactory in retrospect. Then I found Flamenco Explained and subscribed, watched shed loads of technique YT videos, and started making some progress. However, when I started having lessons with Ramon Ruiz in January, he had to correct my techniques, which are very difficult to do correctly and efficiently without expert help. He said it was like my hands and brain were not connected. He was right too. That soon changed and the tension in my arms and shoulders greatly reduced after a couple of months.
A good teacher is invaluable for correcting technique, minimising tension, personalised training and steering in the right direction. Also compas and timing and helping decode various palos and performances.
For me, practising the various techniques correctly while reducing tension to the absolute minimum is vital and is what my brilliant tutor gave me before anything else.
I can read music a little. I like the music staves with the tab and fingerings underneath. When coupled with a recording, access to a good transcription has been really useful in working out how the notes and phrases fit into the compas. My reading skills are getting a little better now. This is good https://www.guitardaily.net/uploads/1/2/3/2/12329041/sabicas.pdf
Be patient, if you do it well and with passion, you will be rewarded I'm sure. Best wishes.
RE: best way to proceeeeed (in reply to hewsanchez)
Opinions
Plenty of lessons from real Spanish teachers available online. Almost all of the Spanish guitarists will offer online lessons via Skype etc at a price cheaper than a local teacher, and better.
Learn some Spanish and search on FB for what you translate to be flamenco guitar. You'll learn far more than from Juan Martín or some stupid Californian hack.
RE: best way to proceeeeed (in reply to hewsanchez)
Welcome to the forum! You can reach out to Grisha. He teaches on Skype, his prices are half of what most players his level charge and he is an exceptional teacher. Not reading music is not a hindrance for his teaching style.
RE: best way to proceeeeed (in reply to hewsanchez)
quote:
i dont read music..is that a big hindrance?
Not at all. Flamenco guitar music is not classical music. Forget about reading music.
What you need to know first is how music works rhythmically. What is beat, subdivision of beat, rhythm and time signature. Other elements in music like harmony or melody is secondary. Flamenco is not jazz or rumba.
Learning to play flamenco on guitar is a jong journey. It starts with how to practice correctly and efficiently. This is essential for beginners like us who started late. Why? Because developing flamenco guitar technique (obviously the right hand technique) at an acceptable level will take you many years. Folks give up for this reason. Be patient. It doesn't happen over night.
RE: best way to proceeeeed (in reply to hewsanchez)
If you consider online lessons check out Ricardo Marlow and look no more in my opinion. It is very good of course if you have a teacher to meet in person in your area but you could also combine it with some Skype lesson from Ricardo too that can take you to music places you cannot even imagine right now, because his knowledge in music is very wide and deep in many levels (a thing you can confirm yourself searching the foro threads). If I knew about the foro and Ricardo (and had today's internet speed and Skype etc.) back to the time I got really interested in flamenco I would definitely choose Ricardo and save a LOT of time.
RE: best way to proceeeeed (in reply to hewsanchez)
Thanks lads, @hewsanchez, I’m not in Dublin but about 40 minutes from the city. Send me a message if you are interested and we’ll see if we can arrange something. Regards John
Printable Version
New Messages
No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages
Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages
Locked w/o New Messages
Post New Thread