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.
you forgot to mention "sevillianos" but of course that isnt true flamenco, and is more of an adopted Andalucian folk dance, but of course you knew that anyway(LOL) but there again its got a great catchy tune, and its great to play
RE: How many hours a day do you prac... (in reply to sonikete)
quote:
pregones
Hey.. You used to be able to get a bocadillo with those in Madrid... 5 pesetas and a wee glass of tinto and an olive thrown in if you knew the places to go.
cheers
Ron
_____________________________
A good guitar might be a good guitar But it takes a woman to break your heart
RE: How many hours a day do you prac... (in reply to Guest)
Romerito, What is Yoda? We don't have it in Scotland (at least..I don't think so anyway.. ) We have Yoga classes for women trying to get their bums in shape and Yoghurt which some people with too much money think is better for you than Porridge. There's also Yodelling, which Duende does when he's not practising guitar. Oh sorry ...wrong Country...I'm getting my Switzerlands mixed up with my Swedens.
I've never heard of Yoda, myself....what is it?
cheers
Ron
_____________________________
A good guitar might be a good guitar But it takes a woman to break your heart
RE: How many hours a day do you prac... (in reply to Guest)
I meant the martinete etc, as a joke, but i guess it could be interpreted as sarcasm, i dont really know the difference.
But it wasnt meant as mean spirited at all, anyway.
Flamenco is impossible to learn all aspects of in a lifetime, its just too much, so take it easy, we are all beginners and will remain so until we die. And to master all palos, as well as becoming the perfect soloist as well as song and dance accompanist is something we can just aspire to.
The problem with flamenco is that its so damn addictive that its impossible not to try to at least become as good as possible.
RE: How many hours a day do you prac... (in reply to Guest)
On work days two hours, on weekends when my wife works up to 5 hours - this is usually the time I use to learn new things. Too much bare technique practise in a day can hurt your hands if you're not careful and it doesn't really help if you don't keep it up daily anyways...
Posts: 3532
Joined: Oct. 20 2003
From: Phoenix, AZ
RE: How many hours a day do you prac... (in reply to John O.)
quote:
ORIGINAL: John O.
Too much bare technique practise in a day can hurt your hands if you're not careful and it doesn't really help if you don't keep it up daily anyways...
I wish I had realized this 4 years ago. I have spent hours and hours on that kind of stuff and don't have much to show for it. For me, it would have worked out better to work on rep and that sort of thing...Live and Learn.
RE: How many hours a day do you prac... (in reply to Guest)
quote:
SONIKETE- yeah its hard to get peoples tone. I am learning that 99% of the time people don't have bad intentions
I just got to know you, so of course i dont have any bad intentions.
I mean we are all in the same boat so we might as well help each other filling the knowledge gaps we all have. Im sorry if you took offence to my bad joke!
I think you started a few good discussions about palos and cante that i´d like to continue, if anyone is interested.
There was this discussion over at paco´s forum about being a flamenco guitarist vs being someone who just plays flamenco pieces.
And some of the spaniards came to the conclusion that in order to be a flamenco guitarist, as opposed to someone who just play some flamenco music, you have to know how to accompany well, and to know how to accompany well you have to know the cante and baile almost as well as if you where singing/dancing it yourself.
So im all for your ambition learning all the palos!
RE: How many hours a day do you prac... (in reply to Guest)
quote:
Everybody i have studied with has said YOU MUST GO TO SPAIN
To become a flamenco guitarist, i guess they are right, but to study cante you only need a large record collection, a big collection of letras and a dictionary.
I doubt diego has a lot of time to give classes anymore but if you get down there and he does give classes, please let me know, i´ll sell some relatives to science research or something and join you.
RE: How many hours a day do you prac... (in reply to Guest)
quote:
I believe in the record collection too but flamenco is highly improvisatory so only actual experience count. The record collection just helps you make informed choices when accompanying.
Well when it comes to the singing i dont think there that much improvisation, at least not with the classical verses.
When i comes to bulerias, yes, but thats a different beast.
(Someone correct me if im wrong)
Either the the singers are from the mairena/menese/chocolate kind of school then the old recordings will help you a lot. Or they are modern, then the latest records with cigala, duquende etc will help with the harmony and chord changes.
Jerez is different i guess, but the last time i tuned in to onda jerez there was this woman singing stuff for an hour, and i recognized all of it from things ive heard from records.
I think sometimes theres a bit of fashion going on, everyone sings letras from the latest recordings por tangos for example.
RE: How many hours a day do you prac... (in reply to Guest)
Of course, singers try to interpret it their own way. But usually you have time to practice with a singer a (short) while before, so you get used to their style, if you´re going to perform with them.
And then it helps a lot to recognize the letras they are singing even if they are doing a variation.
For example, sometimes you hear the same lyrics in a tango, tiento or bulerias, then you can just adjust to the palo, if you´ve heard it before.
I think its great that you practice a lot of palos, but do you actually go thru all of them?
Posts: 15725
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
RE: How many hours a day do you prac... (in reply to sonikete)
Wow this is almost a chat room. Lot of stuff I had to say about palos and accomp., but I can't even remember all the points I had. In general I would say, going to Spain is real important. Recordings are a good source and reference, but you won't learn how to accomp, unless you do it with a good knowleadgable cantaor. One that does different styles, can improvise, and do palmas for him/herself. And if you do it, then you learn it real fast, like I mean literally in minutes.
You can study all you want, but that is really the flamencologists job. Even a pro singer need not know ALL the palos. A guitarist certainly does not need to IMO. I have learned to sing several cante's with detail of whoever inspired me to, not for performing, but you know, for the shower or in my car. That does not guarantee that I could accompanying perfectly the same letra from an other singer with his own style. To accompany good the guitarist must pay attention, understand the structures, but let the singer LEAD him.
The worst thing the guitarist could do is hit the wrong chord, or anticipate the singer wrongly, then argue later "well that is not how I heard it from Caracol...". It is best to be focused on the singer you are working with and support him. Accompanying is better when it is educated guessing rather than pre-thought out chord/melodic folk song structure.
So Vicente does not need to work on "Murciana" because he already knows Taranta/Minera. The singer will lead the guitarist through the tones once the key/compas etc, is established. One need not, really, to know before hand that there will be a "cartagenera classica" in the middle of the performance of cante de las minas. It is not going to be a pop quiz of obscure cante when performing. You simply go to the minor chord when the tone is given, then let the singer lead through to the end. It is really much easier than memorizing tons of old melodies and the different ways each singer will do them. I mean if you know THIS one, great! But keep on guard, keep your ears open along the way.
There are times when the guitarist might resolve to a tone for the singer, like in Taranto or Malaguena, but those things are infact done the same way, even though the cante is not the same at all. So the guitarist's job is not so hard as it might seem.
Ok just my opinion guys based on my personal limited experience with singers as a non Spaniard.
RE: How many hours a day do you prac... (in reply to Ricardo)
quote:
ORIGINAL: Ricardo Now it is wife/kid/house bills etc. Luckily my work is playing guitar, so my nightly gigs are enough. But every once in awhile something hits me and again, I don't sleep cause I am up ALL night playing.
I'm in a similar position, although I don't understand how you CAN do that all night thing without waking everyone up? Do you have a soundproof basement or something?
Apart from waking everyone in our house, I'd have the neighbours to worry about as well, living as we do in a semi.
For me there is never enough time to practice properly. I have to do the ultra-disciplined thing that Todd talks about to get anywhere. Since turning pro/semi pro a few years back, I actually have less practice time than when I played guitar purely as an amateur. A lot of my time spent on music now is actually spent on the business side of things.
Printable Version
And you really should be spending more time studying your Murciana. 
) 
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