back from bath (Full Version)

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El Craic -> back from bath (Aug. 1 2004 19:04:57)

Hello I am just in from Bath International Guitar Festival from the workshop week, where I discovered that Jim Opfer is mad in the head and I spent most of the week doubled over laughing. Simon came down for a drink it was really nice to see him.

In fact i was still giggling away to myself on the plane which made me look silly.

We had an amazing, amazing time. When I said Rafael is an excellent teacher it was an understatement. But I am literally in the door and running on a very low tank.

B###s refused to allocate my guitar as cabin baggage on the plane on the way back. Luckily I had an old "approved cabin baggage" sticker in the case so i just went round the corner and swapped the stickers, which convinced the cabin crew. haha

anyway talk later i'm knackered...

JIMBO when you sign in, really nice to meet you. if i was talking to your face i'd just be laughing. (no offence i mean that in a nice way)



Jim Opfer -> RE: back from bath (Aug. 1 2004 19:59:41)

Emma,

Phew!,

Jeez! 7 hours up the road and just in, doubled up laughing all the way, sore ribbs.
Last recollection (before I nearly ran off the road at Motherwell) was the look on your face as Jess headered your sun glasses. Stoattterrrr! (if in doubt, go for 3)

Listen everyone, Rafael's a virtuoso player, a master and genuine great guy. If you get the chance to meet him or even better, take some lessons, jump at it.

If Andy, Mark and co, get to read this, then thanks for your freindship and help.

Ron, Rafa' sends his best wishes.

Anyway, had a great time and really enjoyed your company Emma.
(and to be sure, hear's me getting the blame for being Mad----27!) your a 'flamenco' with great toque, look forward to the next workshop.

Up at 4am later to get to airport for family hols, so away a few weeks. I'll try to keep in touch and sorry for not producing the Buleria audio.

Cheers
Jim.



Ron.M -> RE: back from bath (Aug. 1 2004 20:38:43)

quote:

Up at 4am later to get to airport for family hols


Jim,
Always nice to hear from you man!
Glad you got on great with Rafael. He genuinely is a lovely guy and a great player.
Have a great holiday with the family (where are you going?), and will see you later on when you get back.

cheers

Ron



Jim Opfer -> RE: back from bath (Aug. 1 2004 21:54:54)

Ron,

Rafa' stuck with 'us' the whole way. Other tutors seemed to do the 9 till 5 thing and then all meet up away from the students but as Emma would say 'not yer mann'.

We were landed with a student concert on Saturday afternoon, all these students running around from the other courses in a panic under pressure to play 'their piece'.

El flamencos didn't have a 'piece' so we went on for the show having sorted out what we'd do 1/2 hour before our time. Rafa' was cool and being the total professional that he is, just decided to explain compas and got the audience doing some palmas, we played some Rumba and Bulerias and the look on that gals face, sitting directly behind when Jess (student doing finger style course but tagged on most time with us) got up out her chair (front row) and started to dance, was reward enough. Can you imagine?
We all had a laugh but kept going, firing those bullets, while the audience got further and further out of time.

Cheers
Jim.

PS Cala D'Or Majorca.



Jon Boyes -> RE: back from bath (Aug. 2 2004 9:52:03)

Sounds like you had a blast.

So what did do you guys actually do in the workshop? What did Rafael cover?

Jon



El Craic -> RE: back from bath (Aug. 3 2004 10:39:34)

Very wise of Jim to book a holiday after this week. I'm at work and have a couple of minutes, i'm still tired, god the self-abuse...

Rafa began the week with a review of all techniques and he got us all to play together while he wandered about and looked at individual weaknesses. Some things are easily identified, some are more personal to individual physique and are left for a one-to-one later on.

We looked at some warm-up exercises before moving onto solea, rumbas, bulerias and fandangos which took up the rest of the week. Amonst this we looked at what to listen for, how to listen and learn good compas. We did palmas and we learned to sing falsetas and melodies while doing palmas and keeping the foot going. Discussed 2s in bulerias (at our request) haha I'm not going there though you are all doing fine amongst yourselves so work away. It was intensive we got alot of material down and alot of discussion on how to learn it well so as to have solid foundations ie good compas.

Rafa's speciality is that he teaches compas, first the accompaniment and secondly the falsetas but always very vigilant about the compas for both. I have never met another teacher who could really do this. A good relationship with a teacher is a personal thing and I have to consider that my Spanish is too basic, even so... He is also very observant and very good at recognising where someone is, what his/her ability is in terms of their ear for flamenco as well as technique. One guy came out of his one/one and said "bloodyhell my picado is three times better than it was 10 minutes ago" he was over the moon. Picado isn't Rafa's priority particularly, but this guy was bugged with a problem with it and Rafa helped him to identify it and work a solution unique to him, coz we're all different. Rafa's other speciality is that he would bend over backwards to give everyone as much attention as they feel they need and he manages to consistently treat everyone with equal importance and attention. He went way above the call of duty and it was not unoticed by all of us who have done a little flamenco before.

Jim played a lovely solo tangos and Mark (hope he joins the forum) played a lovely rondeña before our group thing on the final performance, despite our humour. The IGF staff looked genuinely taken aback that the rebellious flamenco crowd could produce such beauty.

Jon, Andy who was new to flamenco (although not other styles) is hooked, it was a pleasure to see him tap the canteen table and the crockery jump in compas.

All in all, a seriously useful and inspiring week. Next year there will be a course in Dublin and perhaps Bath IGF again, Rafa doesn't know yet. I confidently recommend it for anyone in the UK/Ireland. I really do.

RON get Jim to tell you his Lone Ranger joke. ;-)



Jon Boyes -> RE: back from bath (Aug. 3 2004 10:54:04)

Thanks for that. He really does sound like a great teacher. I hope I have the opportunity to study with him sometime.

Jon



El Craic -> RE: back from bath (Aug. 3 2004 10:57:18)

hello ur online! the other thing to consider is that i've been at this thing for 3 years and jim for about 30 and neither of us felt either heldback or overfaced despite the different abilities in the class. People just had different homework. Midweek I peaked and couldn't put the guitar down. in fact i was 30 mins late for class coz i was still practising after the am class and lost track of time for the afternoon session :-) pure joy



Billyboy -> RE: back from bath (Aug. 3 2004 11:03:37)

I popped round myself, as I was in Bath at the time, and you were all watching a video, of Blood Wedding or something, a bit odd to say how much the course costs, and Rafeil had a broad Cockney accent, a bit like Juan Martin LOL. I think the main benefits would be to meet like minded people, and have a laugh, but my experiance of Festivals is not good, especially the ones in Cordoba, and the price of the Bath one was astronomical, I worked out with accomodation, transport, fees etc it would have cost me £800, I would have expected some serious 1 to 1 tuition for that.
Cheers
Dave



Jon Boyes -> RE: back from bath (Aug. 3 2004 11:18:44)

Hi agin, yes I'm online[:)]

That's quite an achievement - teaching groups of people a musical instrument is a nightmare.

Teaching a group with very mixed ability (0-30 years experience! [&:]) is your worse nightmare.

Teaching flamenco to a group with very mixed ability?? Thats just masochism.[:D]

I must admit that when you guys signed up for this I was sceptical - not because I doubt Rafael, but because of the enormous hurdles involved for a tutor in this situation.
All the things you mention mark him out as a really thoughtful and inspiring teacher. If he's that good teaching groups, he must be awesome one to one.

I remember when I had lessons with one of my classical guitar teachers, I was just so inspired and hyped up by it. There was so much useful information to me in one hours lesson, that I used to come out of the lesson fired up, and sit in the carpark writing down notes furiously so that I didn't forget anything. Teachers that can spark you off like this are like gold. One lesson is worth 6 months of fumbling around on your own with books and videos.

..now how am I going to finance these trips to Oxford?[;)]

Jon



El Craic -> RE: back from bath (Aug. 3 2004 11:24:54)

Hello. You must be shy I don't remember meeting you. LOL.

Well, we had had 4 hours of playing at that stage and were choosing flamenco videos from Rafa's collection while he did a one-to-one with someone. Was it Carmen or Los Tarantos or one of the Jondo series, I'm not sure. I've taken lessons with El Carbonero de Jerez, Fernando Moreno de Jerez, Ramon Ruiz from London, Maria Pages young guitarist when they were touring and came to Ireland, some wierd dude in Barcelona, a couple of other people from Ireland when I started. I'm a novice, I've only been playing three years but I've tried alot of teachers for a broad perspective. How promiscuous!

I actually took lessons with Rafael a year ago and that was when I started to learn how to play. The course was worth it, in my opinion. I learned alot. Rafa doesn't have a Spanish accent. He moved to Madrid and studied guitar since 9. His mother was from Cordoba. I think I said this once before. He doesn't have a cockney accent though it's Oxford. Don't compare him with Juan Martin that's very unfair of you as it doesn't credit his ability as a player or a teacher, or a person for that matter, although I realise you were joking. Students from other courses commented that we got alot more attention from Rafael than they did from their teachers. I'm merely giving my impressions and experiences.

I think the course was £250 plus accomodation I paid back in Feb and got a discount too. I flew from Ireland. I might have spent £800 on beer though.

Was there anything I would change about the course? Of course. And the different abilities is one of them, but Rafa coped so well, we really couldn't have absorbed more in a week so i geniunely wasn't bothered about this once a couple of days passed. I learned more on this week then i did in the one/one week with Fernando Moreno, more knowledge and more material, and FM is a good teacher. So there you are, the incredible adventures of a cheeky irish flamenco fanatic. :-)



Billyboy -> RE: back from bath (Aug. 4 2004 10:06:20)

I was being a negative miserble sod with that post, how much was the accomodation? I have never seen a course on accompaneing, which would be great, but it would probably be difficult to do.
Dave



El Craic -> RE: back from bath (Aug. 4 2004 10:24:45)

[:(] whereas i on the other hand radiate mischievous youthful charm...

Rafa teaches compas. How to play it, how to feel it and how to work with it. Many teachers don't.

Kate's Emilio Maya does cante acompaniment. Sounds intriguing. Otherwise go chat up a gay cantaor. I might have more options only joking.

Accomodation might have been another £100, can't remember it was Feb. IGF set the fee not Rafa but it's pretty standard for a Sunday to Sunday residential. Food was appalling, craic was mighty.

It's not cheap is it, getting passionate about anything? Depends how much you want it...

'ta luego..



Jim Opfer -> RE: back from bath (Aug. 6 2004 15:11:06)

Dave,

Why did you not say hello? you could have joined us and stayed on for some serious playing into the wee hours or, mmm.... could have had just a few beers instead.

Mixed abilities, no problem. The man did very well. I didn,t mind going over basics and after half an hour or so, Rafa identified a technical glich in my ras and that got me sorted. Dead easy but I needed someone to identify and tell me.

Sure it cost a few bob but well worth every penny. Living in Scotland, every time I go somewhere for lessons it costs money so that´s that.

I managed to go right through the week learning none of the course material, the others got it all tucked away nicely but it´s kind of gone right through me. But no panic that´s just the way it is sometimes. I´m most pleased with the technique corrections and having spent quality time with some wonderful people talking about flamenco and lots of other things.

Ah! what a life?

Cheers
Jim



Billyboy -> RE: back from bath (Aug. 9 2004 9:51:12)

I regret not saying hello, I was with my mum, and the café wasn’t open so didn’t want her to get bored. Once I got playing or jamming, I would have been there all day, also didn’t want to disturb the class. I was playing the guitars in the reception Hall for a while, incidentally there was no one about, I could have walked out with a guitar and no one would have noticed, good job us flamencos are honest people.[8|] It is a big regret I didn’t go on the course though as it sounded good. Who was the girl in the class, was she a guitarist ?
Cheers
Dave



Escribano -> RE: back from bath (Aug. 9 2004 10:58:25)

quote:

I could have walked out with a guitar and no one would have noticed, good job us flamencos are honest people


I saw them too, in passing. Decided against it, they were Alhambras[;)]



El Craic -> RE: back from bath (Aug. 9 2004 11:06:52)

I think they were hoping someone would nick them...

Re. who was the girl in the class...dunno all i saw was men



Billyboy -> RE: back from bath (Aug. 9 2004 11:37:03)

The acoustics in that room with the guitars was amazing, like the guitar was being amplified. When I was in Bath went in a music shop there, ‘Duck, Son and Pinker’ by the way what a cracking name, like something from Monty Python. I listened to PDL’s new album, which was a complete disappointment, a thin sound and he doesn’t seem to have anything new to say.
Dave



Jim Opfer -> RE: back from bath (Aug. 10 2004 12:57:52)

quote:

Who was the girl in the class, was she a guitarist ?


Dave,

Was she a bit cross eyed behind the shades and did she ´flip´ her guitar during Rumba?
Hangover kicks in around lunchtime.
Em......! I don´t know.

cheers
Jim



Billyboy -> RE: back from bath (Aug. 10 2004 19:13:07)

It wasn't you in drag was it Jim LOL
dave



Barney -> RE: back from bath / photos (Aug. 23 2004 7:52:41)

HI Emma, Jim et al

Great to meet you guys on the course and great to meet Jon last week too - the gig is still nice and warm for you :-)

There's a couple of the photos from the course on-line now if anyone wants to take a look - URL is: http://www.markbarnwell.co.uk/ (then Flamenco / Bath IGF)

Hope everyone is well and Jim enjoyed some sunshine

Mark



El Craic -> RE: back from bath / photos (Aug. 23 2004 9:36:17)

Hello Marky Mark good to meet you too. It was fun and learned loads. More challenges ahead but some inspiration to work with now....

I got the CD from Andy with the lessons and the photos. So useful to have a video instead of just audio. He's only bought two guitars since he's got back :-)

Great photo of me drunk and asleep thanx for that [:'(]

[:D]



Jim Opfer -> RE: back from bath / photos (Aug. 23 2004 17:04:46)

Nice site Mark and great to hear from you. Hols went well, lots of sun to make us 'Scotch' crinklies, prune up nicely thanks!
You'll need to post some audio clips for us to hear your playing.

Cheers
Jim.



Barney -> RE: back from bath / photos (Aug. 23 2004 19:45:05)

Thanks Jim, and good idea - I've just put a post up in the Audio section called Santorini if anyone fancies a listen....



Billyboy -> RE: back from bath / photos (Aug. 23 2004 21:13:22)

I thought when I asked who was the girl, someone said they can't remember a girl being on the course, well there is one on the photo.
Cheers
dave



Jim Opfer -> RE: back from bath / photos (Aug. 27 2004 13:12:17)

Dave,

There were 3 girls on the course, depends who you saw, Emma (El Craic), Joyce and Birgitte. I think you've been replying to 'El Craic' thinking she was a he, easy mistake to make especially in a Bangkock bar after a few drinks.

Cheers
Jim.



Billyboy -> RE: back from bath / photos (Aug. 27 2004 13:25:44)

Jim I also thought before the photos that you were an old bloke with a slap head. I was going to introduce myself but couldent see the person I thought you were

Cheers



Escribano -> RE: back from bath / photos (Aug. 27 2004 13:42:02)

quote:

easy mistake to make especially in a Bangkock bar after a few drinks.


Tell me about it[:'(]

I could never mistake la guapa Emma for a bloke, excepting the roll-ups and motorbike, of course.[sm=kiss.gif]



Jim Opfer -> RE: back from bath / photos (Aug. 27 2004 14:47:49)

quote:

m I also thought before the photos that you were an old bloke with a slap head. I was going to introduce myself but couldent see the person I thought you were


Dave,

I am an old bloke with a slap head, that's not me in the photos, that's Emma.

Jim.



El Craic -> RE: back from bath / photos (Aug. 27 2004 14:51:45)

It's true, Jim's the one with the t##s and the red t-shirt.

Sorry for any offence Simon, you know me. [8|]



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