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I've meant to post questions on this forum many times, but I always found the answers or solutions through searching and experimenting before I did. Now I have not, so here I am like a beetle on its back waving its legs in the air.
I've only immersed myself in playing (if you can call it that) Soleares.
I feel like it's "my thing."
I have an obsession with Escobilla to the point where the people around me have probably grown to hate it with passion.
My second most favorite palo is Bulería. Often when I'm doodling around with my unorthodox, non-muy flamenco renderings of Soleá, it typically reaches the point where I feel that it would naturally progress into Bulería - and it makes me feel handicapped lacking the ability to ride that wave. I feel like I have the spirit but this realm is out of reach, and I really want to speak this language.
I have watched dozens of tutorials, even purchased some courses, and the pattern is that every time I watch a video, I think I understand some new aspect of it, but I'll never be able to apply anything I thought I'd learned.
My biggest problem seems to be that I have an absolutely abysmal sense of rhythm. I've gathered that this is an idiosyncrasy of mine that I have to find ways to cope with. I've tried a metronome and it was definitely helpful, but another problem is that I absolutely can't count while playing. What makes it even more difficult is the lore about typically counting from the "last" (12.) beat, except when you don't for some reason.
Then there's the accents on 12, 3, 6, 8 and 10 - the last of which is supposed to wrap up (remate) the cycle. Sometimes the accent goes on 7 instead of 8, which is even more difficult for me to follow - but I don't worry about that particularity at this point, just shaking my fist here.
Next we have the upbeats that are intrinsic to how this style "breathes." I have enough difficulty just keeping track of the downbeats, so this is another source of my frustrations in trying to develop structural awareness of how I'm proceeding through the compás.
Another quintessential, and - due to difficulties in facets mentioned above - frustratingly difficult element is what's not there, i.e. the empty space, the "air", the silence and subtle fading harmonics that instill meaning into what was said before and what is coming next. Taking into account that I have a difficult time just knowing when I've come a full circle, couldn't count to save my life, have sub-par innate rhythmic sense, and can't seem to develop intuition for the punctuation points in the compás, this "nothing" is like the final boss to me, and yet I feel like it might be essential for developing that feel for the currents running through Bulerías and mounting this wild horse.
Just for the record, I'm not overly ambitious about mastering this difficult palo. I just want to get a basic, simple, down-to-earth groove going, but I just can't seem to be able to take even the first steps.
I don't even have a specific question, I'm just hoping that someone would come up with some trick or exercise or make me notice something that eludes me, by insight, by accident, or just sheer luck. External references (videos, books, articles, etc.) also welcome (although I've been through quite a few, but I'll give anything a try).
RE: I, too, need help with Bulerías (in reply to swampflower)
I was like you, found it impossible to count, but now Bulerias is my strongest palo, not boasting but I've gotten to the point where I can play Bulerias in compas without counting it.
So what helped ? Start slow, and always practice with a metronome.
1.) make sure you can play solea in compas with a metronome, play a few compases and a falseta or 2 in loop repeatedly over and over with the metronome
2.) do not go into Bulerias from solea. I did it and I'd to come back to solea again. Bulerias has a groove, solea doesn't, so if you go from solea to Bulerias directly, it'll be very very difficult.
3.) After you have done 1. go to Tangos. Tangos is groove but isn't complicated , so this will really help you understand how groove is meant to work on flamenco. Same thing as solea, practice a few compases and a falseta in loop
4.) While working on these 2, simultaneously work on your right hand technique. Bulerias requires a good technique so make sure before you start Bulerias, you don't have too many weaknesses.
5.) After you do Solea and Tangos, switch to Bulerias but do not start playing complicated stuff right away. Practice the most basic pattern for Bulerias , the por media chord progression with accents on 12, 3 ,6 , 8, 10 in loops with a metronome, but do not play it at Bulerias tempo. Start at 100bpm, it won't feel like a Bulerias and that's fine. From 100, increase the tempo by 10bpm very slowly only when you're comfortable with the current tempo until you reach the 200bpm and above point. Do not practice anything else in Bulerias until you've this pattern extremely strong, to the point you can play it while sleeping.
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Posts: 14848
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
RE: I, too, need help with Bulerías (in reply to swampflower)
quote:
ORIGINAL: swampflower
I've meant to post questions on this forum many times, but I always found the answers or solutions through searching and experimenting before I did. Now I have not, so here I am like a beetle on its back waving its legs in the air.
I've only immersed myself in playing (if you can call it that) Soleares.
I feel like it's "my thing."
I have an obsession with Escobilla to the point where the people around me have probably grown to hate it with passion.
My second most favorite palo is Bulería. Often when I'm doodling around with my unorthodox, non-muy flamenco renderings of Soleá, it typically reaches the point where I feel that it would naturally progress into Bulería - and it makes me feel handicapped lacking the ability to ride that wave. I feel like I have the spirit but this realm is out of reach, and I really want to speak this language.
I have watched dozens of tutorials, even purchased some courses, and the pattern is that every time I watch a video, I think I understand some new aspect of it, but I'll never be able to apply anything I thought I'd learned.
My biggest problem seems to be that I have an absolutely abysmal sense of rhythm. I've gathered that this is an idiosyncrasy of mine that I have to find ways to cope with. I've tried a metronome and it was definitely helpful, but another problem is that I absolutely can't count while playing. What makes it even more difficult is the lore about typically counting from the "last" (12.) beat, except when you don't for some reason.
Then there's the accents on 12, 3, 6, 8 and 10 - the last of which is supposed to wrap up (remate) the cycle. Sometimes the accent goes on 7 instead of 8, which is even more difficult for me to follow - but I don't worry about that particularity at this point, just shaking my fist here.
Next we have the upbeats that are intrinsic to how this style "breathes." I have enough difficulty just keeping track of the downbeats, so this is another source of my frustrations in trying to develop structural awareness of how I'm proceeding through the compás.
Another quintessential, and - due to difficulties in facets mentioned above - frustratingly difficult element is what's not there, i.e. the empty space, the "air", the silence and subtle fading harmonics that instill meaning into what was said before and what is coming next. Taking into account that I have a difficult time just knowing when I've come a full circle, couldn't count to save my life, have sub-par innate rhythmic sense, and can't seem to develop intuition for the punctuation points in the compás, this "nothing" is like the final boss to me, and yet I feel like it might be essential for developing that feel for the currents running through Bulerías and mounting this wild horse.
Just for the record, I'm not overly ambitious about mastering this difficult palo. I just want to get a basic, simple, down-to-earth groove going, but I just can't seem to be able to take even the first steps.
I don't even have a specific question, I'm just hoping that someone would come up with some trick or exercise or make me notice something that eludes me, by insight, by accident, or just sheer luck. External references (videos, books, articles, etc.) also welcome (although I've been through quite a few, but I'll give anything a try).
At least you are asking all the right questions, indicating you are a good student. But that is a lot to cover. Start with your escobilla transition into buleria for a start, watch Jason at the timing points indicated:
the first transition is at 5:02 but watch from 4:40, 8:17, and at 14:35 he plays some straight solea but super fast throughout the buleria so you can keep track of count 1, it’s pretty cool:
RE: I, too, need help with Bulerías (in reply to swampflower)
To simplify things, my 2 cents is to practice playing a simple ramate phrase over and over.
- You can play it with nothing but index down and up strokes. - No rest, no dead air. Add that in later. - Pick your key: say, por medio, and play A and Bb. - Index down on the count. 12,1,2,3… Index up in between - start on 12! change chords on count 3 and count 10.
Additional points: The most important part to make it sound ‘more’ like bulerías is to accent the 12, 3, and 10. So unlike Solea, only have 3 accents in this example. Beat 11 is almost silent. Make the 12 (the start) really strong to drive it in during each loop, and beat 10 is sort of ‘closure’ or period of the sentence. You could really just accent the 12 and 3 counts.
I’m trying to simplify things as much as possible. But I think if you start here, you can then start to add swing, which is really important, and get it drilled in. This is similar to how Ricardo first taught it to me a long time ago. He may have a better way now. I also think you should post here for feedback to make sure you arnt drilling in something wrong.
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