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Hi Newbie here so hi to all. I just wondered if anyone could recommend an English speaking teacher in Madrid. I messaged Oscar Herrero a while ago but no reply, so I take it he either can't read my message is busy or not interested... Has anyone had any tuition over there? I've been playing classical for a while now but new to flamenco. Like anywhere I know there are good teachers and cowboys.... Any help would be great Thanks John
I wouldn't worry too much about English. Those who cater to tourists and say they speak English usually don't do much better than the rest anyways The go-to for a beginner in Madrid is Amor de Dios, El Entri's academy or anyone in his "clan". Since these are usually group classes, that also ups your chances of having someone there who can translate if worse comes to worse. Oscar Herrero might just be overbooked. He gets a lot of foreign students because of his books/videos series.
PS Any reason why Madrid? You'll get a better range in Sevilla/Jerez/Barcelona....
PPS You'll learn more from someone who speaks little English. copy, listen repeat.Flaunt mistakes as artistic flourish. Learn some Spanish. it is all a mashup.
PPS Duolingo is a great too for learning English as a Spanish speaker. Best way of learning Spanish.
but you think Cano Roto bulerias over Jerez bulerias??? Not possible........
The real problem is that no matter how good the guitarists are here, they just don't have the cantaores to back it up! At least not many... It sometimes feels like their talent is wasted up here when they could be killing it with some of the cantaores from down south.
Make a plan about what you want to learn and which questions you have. Otherwise you will go home knowing just 3 new fancy chords and 4 falsetas for a ton of money.
but you think Cano Roto bulerias over Jerez bulerias??? Not possible........
The real problem is that no matter how good the guitarists are here, they just don't have the cantaores to back it up! At least not many... It sometimes feels like their talent is wasted up here when they could be killing it with some of the cantaores from down south.
I was told by a top level guitarist who claimed to witness certain Caño Roto virtuosos failed miserably on stage with otherwise "easy" to accompany old school Andalusian cantaores in festivales. Seems their forte being the baile format where the cante is predetermined to the choreography, hence the type of cantaores that are prefered are this type. Again....so I hear.
That wouldn't surprise me in the least. I've also heard some cantaores complain about the accompaniment here. I wouldn't be surprised if the next generation of guitarists sort of branches off into purely instrumental stuff. Amos Lora pretty much exemplifies that: awesome guitar player but definitely not your go-to guy if you want an acccompanist.
My guess is that it started going downwards when Andalusian artists stopped moving to Madrid to make it big. Now they just do their rounds for a week or two and go back home so the locals have less opportunities to learn from the best and there just aren't many really good cantaores in Madrid anymore. Now it's basically a huge guitaristic circle-jerk since there aren't any cantaores with enough influence to boss them around. Then there's the huge influence of El Viejin. Although he was also good with cante, he was a genius with baile and a lot of them try to emulate his style. And last but not least, the so-called culto has had a very negative effect on flamenco and particularly on cante. I'd go into why I think it's been particularly bad for cante but that would be one of those rabbit-hole discussions.
In any event, it's "bad" enough that I've decided to move out soon. I feel like I've learned most of what I could learn here. It's been great for technique, rythm and compas and I would recommend to anyone learning flamenco to come here for a while but there is something missing. Now I just have to decide where the hell I'm going to go in Andalucia! I guess the obvious choice would be Jerez but I haven't made my mind up yet. Huelva's been drawing my attention for some reason, probably just because I haven't been there yet (except for a really quick stop over) and also because fandangos de Huelva has to be one of the best inventions of mankind after wine and French cheese.
@johnfraser sorry if this post is off the original topic. Just venting some opinions on why I think the Madrid scene is the way it is. Despite all of it, if you're a beginner at flamenco guitar, it really is a great place to start.
I loved Jerez intensely during festival but I think it would be too "small town" for me to live there long term. I could live in Sevilla though, and you're only an hour by bus to Jerez.
Yeah I guess that's true, probably more to do in Sevilla. I personally tend to prefer smaller places where there's more of a sense of community but I've been surprised how in Spain even the big cities seem to keep that small village feel. In Paris most people probably don't know their neighbors and don't have any sort of real relationship with them. At least that's been my experience. Where I'm living now there's a small courtyard in the middle of the building with appartments on both sides all the way up to the 7th floor. Every morning the neighbors have a chat at the window. It's mostly retired women gossiping or talking about the weather but man are they fun. A few weeks ago somebody forgot to close their window one night before engaging in some pretty loud love making. It's been over two now weeks and it's still the main topic of discussion Oh the drama!!
Hi all Thanks very much for the replies The reason I ask about Madrid is because I am going anyway, and because I thought it would be a good opportunity to try some Flamenco music to accompany my classical training. I am particularly interested in the right hand techniques associated with flamenco. Thanks for the advice re a teacher, and perhaps using one that only speaks Spanish. That does appeal and it sounds like a good challenge be. Someone mentioned Skype, can anyone recommend anyone that is a good teacher over Skype? I have never used it but can sign up Thanks again
I'll send you a PM with details fo the guy from Sevilla who teaches me by Skype. It works well IMO. He speaks a little English but i speak a little Spanish so we flip between the two.
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