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Absolute Beginner Method?
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Fulcanelli
Posts: 18
Joined: Sep. 2 2006
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RE: Absolute Beginner Method? (in reply to Fulcanelli)
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Thanks Rod. I get your gist. As a teacher, I'm not interested in selling my students DVDs. I can show them. With only two flamenco students, I don't have time to write up detailed lessons. That's where a good book comes into play. The realm of flamenco method (books) has changed quite a bit in the past 25 years. The books I purchased when first started buying them, they were really simple, very basic songs, not even complicated rasgueados, but still for someone new to the guitar and the music, were useful. Today, the books are far more involved. As I already said in my initial post, Graf-Martinez, while being a nice method, is not a beginner's book. There's too many details to focus on with both hands for someone NEW to both fingerstyle playing (which I am working on separately with these students) and chords. The Grecos book I've mentioned is very basic, starting with basic chords like Am, Dm, and E. Graf-Martinez starts from the beginning with more advanced chord movements. I know my students and this is definitely too much for them to take in at this point. I have studied (and taught) guitar all my life and when I got interested in the classical guitar, first off, I could already play, and second, I did it progressively, in layers. First, a method book, then scales, Guiliani right hand studies, then Carcassi and Sor studies, then intermediate pieces, etc. etc. I suppose some would find merit in jumping right into an advanced beginner/intermediate method and starting from that point, but I don't. And since I am the teacher.... As a dedicated teacher, it is my job to intuit where to start and how to proceed in sharing my knowledge of music; I do not treat all my students the same in terms of how we study. I like the Graf-Martinez book and have ready access to it, so I'm sure when my we will work out of that one as well, but in a few months.
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Date Sep. 5 2006 17:19:06
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Ricardo
Posts: 14848
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
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RE: Absolute Beginner Method? (in reply to Fulcanelli)
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quote:
As a dedicated teacher, it is my job to intuit where to start and how to proceed in sharing my knowledge of music; I do not treat all my students the same in terms of how we study. I usually stay out of the teaching/method threads because there are so many ways that teachers do things different than each other to achieve the same result. But felt I wanted to give a few suggestions. You say you don't treat all students the same, but have already lumped a couple of begginers into the "in need of an easy FLAMENCO method book" category. I personally don't think there exists such a thing if you mean authentic flamenco, but I have seen the watered down type of books that would work for you. I respect and understand why you want the graduating difficulty method that makes the student feel like they are going somewhere. They require someone that can read notes or tablature, at least a little. But, there are many flamenco maestros that can't read at all, so why must a beginning student know how? Why not just SHOW them how to play 2 chords and strum a basic, but authentic, flamenco rhythm pattern? There are advanced classical players that could blast through a method book, sight read it even, but not do as I just described. When it comes to flamenco, books can be a good tool, or reference, but so long as the student is really playing something on his own. Anyway, just some thoughts. Sorry if it comes off as very anti-academic. Ricardo
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Date Sep. 6 2006 7:42:14
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d85jrs
Posts: 2
Joined: Apr. 24 2006
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RE: Absolute Beginner Method? (in reply to Fulcanelli)
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About the Aaron Gilmartin DVDs- this was the first method I bought as an absolute beginner. To be perfectly honest, it was basically useless to me. As a kind of documentary introduction to Flamenco, sure, it's great, but for someone with little or no knowledge, it could be frustrating. Aaran Gilmartin is a fantastic guitarist, and the performances are great. But the lessons are structured very poorly, and he tends to ramble quite a bit. It seems as if the director, Happy Traum, called Aaron up one morning and said do you want to start making a Flamenco DVD in fifteen minutes? For an experienced classical player, the DVD might be great. But for me, and most beginners I imagine, it isn't ideal. I quickly switched to GGM's Vol. 1, which I've found to be great. I don't know if any method is perfect, but this one seems to be comprehensive, and is definitely well structured. The man's a German, after all.
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Date Sep. 8 2006 3:54:57
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