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Just a quick question, should I subscribe to Jason Mcguire's or Pedro Cortes' flamenco lesson site? I am currently trying to expand my knowledge of Solea and Alegrias falsetas so I figured I should subscribe to one of these guys.
RE: Jason Mcguire OR Pedro Cortes? (in reply to cRobson12)
hi MARDUK subscribes to both if you can find him here...or at http://flamencodiscussion.com/ Jason's site is awesome on so many levels [it has great transcriptions from nigel jones though you will need sibelius 3 or higher]...dont think pedro's has notation or tabs...pm Marduk
Posts: 1240
Joined: Nov. 6 2008
From: Sydney, Australia
RE: Jason Mcguire OR Pedro Cortes? (in reply to cRobson12)
Not sure about Pedro Cortes's site.. But I've been a member of Jason's site and Jose Tanaka's site.. Jason's site has more solea falsetas, and Jose's has more alegrias falsetas..lol
I find Jason's site to be more to the intermediate/advance level and Jose's site is more to beginner/intermediate level.
Jason's videos has more videos angles of the hands but Jose's videos has more in depth explanation of how/what to play when etc.
Why not take a 3 day trial of Jason's site and a trial of Jose's site and see which you prefer.. and if you choose Pedro.. tell me why cuz I'm curious about his site too =)
RE: Jason Mcguire OR Pedro Cortes? (in reply to cRobson12)
I subscribed to Pedro, the site is good but is not worth the 30 dollars in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, the lessons are great but there are not enough off them and it seems like he isn't updating the site anymore.
Next month I will be switching over to Jason. It is a good site to have for a few months but not a constant subscription
RE: Jason Mcguire OR Pedro Cortes? (in reply to cRobson12)
]
quote:
not worth the 30 dollars
!! guess you should try them all anyway... thought about skype lessons with ricardo? did some early on in the piece [ i was the guinea pig ]......quite different from the site type lesson... still be there if i did'nt have such a crappy internet connection.... . good luck...
Posts: 495
Joined: Nov. 27 2005
From: North Carolina, USA
RE: Jason Mcguire OR Pedro Cortes? (in reply to cRobson12)
Jason's site is awesome. He also has some free falsetas on his discussion board. I'd do those before joining, you can expect to spend a week on each part if you really want to get them down. I still haven't, even his easy stuff is hard for beginners. He has lots of deep very challenging material that honestly is way beyond me.
Jose Tanaka has been doing lots of updates to his site lately that are really interesting. He is going literally step by step(spoon feeding) from how to tap your feet and count, how to tell difference between phrases in 2's, 3's, 6's and 12's in buleria and how to count, tap foot and play for each. It is in depth in a way I have seen nowhere else. He plans to do this for all major palos. I will stay with his site until I get comfortable enough to appreciate the others. There is advanced material as well as accompany stuff too. I highly recommend it but would prefer people stayed away long enough for me to master it so I can look cool...
RE: Jason Mcguire OR Pedro Cortes? (in reply to cRobson12)
bit the bullet and joined pedro's site...thought i'd share a few thoughts... i still have a good 6 months on jasons site...[ free account from minera thread ] think most of us know how awesome jason's site is so thought i'd offer a few words on Pedro's... i think an indepth comparison between the two is a bit futile as both contain a lifetime of practice... but i am really enjoying Pedro's as a counter balance to the material Jason offers... Pedro's has very limited scores or notation...which is appealing to me as you rely purely on Aural and Visual brain functions...[ i am a fairly fluent sight reader and have spent much time lately trying to avoid pages of transcriptions and work more with Aural memory...] his 24 minute video on rasquedo technique alone is in depth and a treasure to find.. along with all technique exercises...nicely broken down and not rushed through... and the Cante section has been a revelation...excellent practice resource here! he does offer great explanation in all lessons, big on terminology, and is really focused in on 'groove' ,breaking it down...less in the falseta department more on the accompanying...possibly a more organic process than Jason's site [ also helpful to come in at this angle to tackle some of Jason's technical challenges] Both sites offer a huge personality at work.. Pedro is also great at responding to emails..[give a few days] and has helped my partner find some resources for cante [ she is making the transition from a career in blues/jazz singing to flamenco cante...working on tientos]
both site's have a similiar feel and layout....maybe jason's is updated more as a few of pedro's categories are left blank...though personally dont feel it falls short in any way. given the fact that spain is still a few years off for me i am enjoying the 'here it is' approach to pedro's site and the detailed explanations...warm personality...his family history and connection to flamenco over 3 generations is also a great read...
Posts: 1240
Joined: Nov. 6 2008
From: Sydney, Australia
RE: Jason Mcguire OR Pedro Cortes? (in reply to cRobson12)
just joined Pedro's site.. and it's really low on content. And I think it hasn't been updated since 2009? Having been a member in all 3 sites.. I would still have say Tanaka, Mcguire then Cortes is what I prefer. Cortes has bulerias, farucca, seguiriyas, solea, solea por bulerias, tangos, tientos and rumba.. other than rumba and tientos, all has 1 beginner, 1 intermediate and 1 advanced falseta.
Altho I have to check out the cante corner more in depth.. but I won't be updating my subcription to the site.
Posts: 1240
Joined: Nov. 6 2008
From: Sydney, Australia
RE: Jason Mcguire OR Pedro Cortes? (in reply to cRobson12)
Having checked out most of pedro's stuff, his site would be a source of good material if he would actually consistently update it. His style is very groovy, contrast to Al's views, I think Pedro explains pretty little(other than the cante section), maybe I'm comparing him to tanaka who has great in depth explanations. I really like pedro's style of playing.. Very extremely groovy, just sad that there's not much of it on the site.
RE: Jason Mcguire OR Pedro Cortes? (in reply to cRobson12)
The problem with Jason McGuires site is that he does not allow you to print or download the tab, so if you are working on the material you have to always be connected to his website. Not very convenient for those of us that use laptops with small screens. This is the reason I cancelled my subscription with him.
Jose Tanaka is good but he is not consistent with his uploads, some months you get nothing and other months you get alot. His website is being upgraded and has had tonnes of technical issues. You need to download Mozilla for his website as it does not work with regular Internet Explorer. In the past 4 months the lack of uploads and the technical issues have made it a pain to use. Why do I have to download all sorts of software on my latpop and rollback flash player to a previous version to watch his videos?? Maybe in another 6 months after he is on his new platform it will be better but for now I cancelled my membership and will check back in the future.
RE: Jason Mcguire OR Pedro Cortes? (in reply to bule_b)
quote:
My advice is to try Ricardo's Skype lessons.
IIRC Ricardo, ToddK and Grisha--all foro members--offer one-on-one, individualized instruction via Skype. For non-interactive video lessons the ones I've seen on YouTube by Adam Del Monte are my favorite.
RE: Jason Mcguire OR Pedro Cortes? (in reply to bule_b)
quote:
The problem with Jason McGuires site is that he does not allow you to print or download the tab
you can but you need sibelius...save as scorch files...potentially expensive program so understand your frustration there, just lucky i guess i had sibelius installed. good point though PDF would be alot more practical for most.
quote:
contrast to Al's views, I think Pedro explains pretty little(other than the cante section),
you could be right HE...i really am looking alot at cante at present so Pedro felt like a goldmine... hoping to check Jose's site soon...still found a wealth of info on Pedro's site...guess the extended harmony and voicing 's appealed to my ears, maybe my background in jazz and contempory harmony helped here as i can ''hear'' what he's doing to a large degree, personally offers me a creative approach as opposed to just learning tablature, trying to learn more from transcribing and aural memory these days...nothing wasted IMHO hows the lessons with greg? noticed arrebato have a a new disc...such a great ensemble..one of my favorites anywhere and such a fine player and composer.
quote:
Ricardo's Skype lessons
my experience here is great..highly recommend..as said before pity my internet is'nt far off dial up...cool to know grisha and todd offer the same...thanksPGH
Posts: 1240
Joined: Nov. 6 2008
From: Sydney, Australia
RE: Jason Mcguire OR Pedro Cortes? (in reply to Guest)
quote:
ORIGINAL: AlVal
you could be right HE...i really am looking alot at cante at present so Pedro felt like a goldmine... hoping to check Jose's site soon...still found a wealth of info on Pedro's site...guess the extended harmony and voicing 's appealed to my ears, maybe my background in jazz and contempory harmony helped here as i can ''hear'' what he's doing to a large degree, personally offers me a creative approach as opposed to just learning tablature, trying to learn more from transcribing and aural memory these days...nothing wasted IMHO hows the lessons with greg? noticed arrebato have a a new disc...such a great ensemble..one of my favorites anywhere and such a fine player and composer.
I have to say you're right in that area but the thing is that you're an advanced player, so it'll be easier for you. beginners like myself would have more trouble picking things up.
I like his chord inversion lessons, but he just went "these are the chord inversions in this key" and played about 6-7 chords in succession, and I have no idea what those chords are replacing, is this particular fingering the replacement for the A, the B or are all the chords shown the inversions of the same chord?. Would be better if he went, this is the inversion for the A, and show the chord, and the B, etc etc
Lessons with Greg are good, but after my 3 mth overseas holiday last year, I have only about 6 lessons since Oct.. either we don't have time free together, or as my recent situation dictates, money is pretty tight lately. but will be going to the Sydney Opera House for the album launch, I really like greg's music. It grabs me alot..
I'm thinking of getting a 2 hr lesson from Robbie Varga in the blue mountains, but that'll be a 1.5 hr drive away.
Back to the topic.. Pedro's falsetas are alot of the time, just ways of playing compas rather than actual falseta.. which is what I like. I really like to learn different ways of playing compas rather than learning falsetas. Rhythmic stuff gets me going..
RE: Jason Mcguire OR Pedro Cortes? (in reply to Guest)
quote:
quote: The problem with Jason McGuires site is that he does not allow you to print or download the tab
quote:
quote:
you can but you need sibelius...save as scorch files...potentially expensive program so understand your frustration there, just lucky i guess i had sibelius installed. good point though PDF would be alot more practical for most.
The full Sibelius program is $589. NO way can I aford to buy that to download or print his tabs.
The free Sibelius plug-in has save/print functionality too but Jason has protected his tabs and those options are blocked. Whilst I can understand protecting his videos from download, I think the tab protection is extreme.
He lost me as a member because of that, I'm not going to be tethered to my 13 inch laptop screen every time I need to practice.
RE: Jason Mcguire OR Pedro Cortes? (in reply to cRobson12)
all these chattering about the protected tabs of Jason .. if you guys really want the tab .. why don't you just use something like "Snipping Tool" or even simpler just use your "Print Screen" on your keyboard
The transcriptions take me hours/days/weeks to complete....... so I'm not really that impressed if you think you can can have them for free! if you want a score to read from then do the hard work and transcribe it like i have.
_____________________________
I think the definition of insanity is hoping to get a different result by doing the same thing over and over again. - Albert Einstein.
RE: Jason Mcguire OR Pedro Cortes? (in reply to HolyEvil)
quote:
ORIGINAL: HolyEvil Pedro's falsetas are alot of the time, just ways of playing compas rather than actual falseta.. which is what I like. I really like to learn different ways of playing compas rather than learning falsetas. Rhythmic stuff gets me going..
Jason had 2 Bulerias videos with only compas. Cant remember but they were like 4 mins each. Also you can pick up compas from the accomp vids, and in each falseta video he plays intro and outro compas, so there is really enough compas stuff for half a lifetime IMO. In Total i think thats the best site for learning, its very comprehensive. But it is no shortcut and you need to invest time in actually working with the videos.
About the tabs: there is technically no way to prevent people from download or print the tabs and i also dont think it is really big harm if people download it. Most of them will just use it for learning.
RE: Jason Mcguire OR Pedro Cortes? (in reply to cRobson12)
quote:
transcribe it like i have.
great transcriptions nigel..but should they not be saved as sib files?..never thought of this as a potential breach of copyright, guess as i have a subscription this would be ok....? The tabs as helpful as they are. led me to pedro's site...self transcribing..feel its the best way of playing a piece...but going ever so slowly...both sites offer so nuch in different ways.
quote:
...it's very slow
that is kind of wierd Kozz as im on close to dial up...working fine...??!!??
RE: Jason Mcguire OR Pedro Cortes? (in reply to cRobson12)
I am at both sites, Jason has a lot more material and covers more areas. and I would say its definately better. but pedro's site is great too because i love his style. his cante course is really good, but you need to rely on the videos more than the score with his site
hey kozz i have been going to pedro's site daily (im there right now) and I have not had any problems so far
RE: Jason Mcguire OR Pedro Cortes? (in reply to marduk)
quote:
hey kozz i have been going to pedro's site daily (im there right now) and I have not had any problems so far
I think I found the problem...somewhere I'll get a time out:
traceroute to www.flamenco-classes.com (216.251.43.17), 64 hops max, 52 byte packets 1 192.168.0.1 (192.168.0.1) 2922.551 ms 1.745 ms 1.617 ms 2 10.15.159.129 (10.15.159.129) 8.673 ms 22.682 ms 8.090 ms 3 ns3.upc.nl (212.142.8.1) 16.842 ms 7.072 ms 8.091 ms 4 84.116.244.13 (84.116.244.13) 11.868 ms 11.598 ms 14.489 ms 5 nl-ams04a-ri2-xe-10-0-0.aorta.net (84.116.130.178) 11.656 ms nl-ams04a-ri2-xe-2-3-0.aorta.net (84.116.134.89) 20.980 ms nl-ams04a-ri2-xe-9-1-1.aorta.net (84.116.134.97) 13.103 ms 6 213-46-161-138.aorta.net (213.46.161.138) 14.027 ms 24.605 ms 14.180 ms 7 yto-sa1-i.yto.ca.net.dtag.de (62.154.5.201) 110.778 ms 107.483 ms 109.784 ms 8 * * * 9 * * * 10 * * * 11 * * *
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