Flamenco Crash Courses – Are They Worth It? (Full Version)

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Lucerom -> Flamenco Crash Courses – Are They Worth It? (Jun. 8 2011 18:01:23)

Every once in a while I find myself day dreaming about attending one of these week long (or 3 -4 day) Flamenco Crash Courses.

But I always ask myself, "Is it really worth it?”. Don’t get me wrong… I would go just to hang out with one of the great maestros just for the experience. However, aside from the experience alone, the cost of tuition, airfare, accommodations, food, and extra activities adds up to a small fortune. Perhaps it might make better sense when you work the course into your vacation (maybe plan an additional week or two).

I'd love to hear feedback from people who have attended a crash coarse abroad (especially beginning / intermediates) with a celebrity like Tomatito, Gerardo Nunez, Oscar Herrero, Manolo Sanlucar, etc...

If You Attended a Crash Coarse: Tell Us About Your Overall Experience

  • Did you truly walk away with a ton of knowledge?
  • How much did your playing improve?
  • Did you find it overwhelming and difficult to keep up?
  • Or was it completely worth it for the experience and the awe of being in the presence of Flamenco Greatness?
  • Knowing what you know now, if you could do it all over again at what level achieved would you recommend attending?
  • Would you wait until you were intermediate/advanced or would you just go balls out as a beginner after you learned some basic open chords?

    Also, how are these classes structured and what type of materials do they give you to work with when the course is finished? How are you supposed to retain all the information?



Argaith -> RE: Flamenco Crash Courses – Are They Worth It? (Jun. 9 2011 12:04:15)

Fantastic post Lucerom; hope you receive a lot of feedback.
You have raised very good questions.

A



edguerin -> RE: Flamenco Crash Courses – Are They Worth It? (Jun. 9 2011 17:42:29)

I attended two such courses in Cordoba many (!) years ago (i.e. in the mid 90ies).
One of them, given by Phillipe Donnier and two cantaors was great, and although I had to leave early because of major dental problems, it really gave me a lot of input, and I came away "with a ton of knowledge". As a beginner to intermediate player I found it a bit difficult to keep up, since everything was in Spanish ( I speak Spanish passably, but musical/flamenco theory isn't exactly colloquial language [:D]) but since we were a small group of about 6 or 7 players, there was plenty of time for explanations, and everybody was very friendly and patient.

My second experience was rather frustrating: a week long of daily classes with Paco Serrano and his friend. About thirty players in one room, all levels. No explanations. Paco would play a falseta, and everybody was supposed to grasp it immediately. Not being used to learning by watching, and without notation this was more than difficult.
The assistant would go through the rows of players: "Y ahora tu". He's show you the falseta again, but if you didn't grasp it by the second time he lost interest [:(]
I don't think that even the advanced players really gained any new insight.

Bottom line: The immersion in flamenco is definitely a great experience. Today I'd go for one of the courses where you have individual (i.e. one on one) training. If you're not a complete newbie, that'd probably have you come away with that "ton of knowledge" and a feeling of having been "in the presence of Flamenco Greatness" [;)]



Florian -> RE: Flamenco Crash Courses – Are They Worth It? (Jun. 9 2011 18:43:29)

quote:

Paco would play a falseta, and everybody was supposed to grasp it immediately. Not being used to learning by watching, and without notation this was more than difficult.
The assistant would go through the rows of players: "Y ahora tu". He's show you the falseta again, but if you didn't grasp it by the second time he lost interest
I don't think that even the advanced players really gained any new insight.


hehe thats funny

you can kind of get the vibe that he would be that kind of a teacher from his Encuentro video....all of his explanations if any are very short ....not cause he wanted to but because he had too



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