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Would like to hear of any experiences of having online lessons. Are they worth while? Any tips to get the best from them? Is there anything better than skype?
As Piwin suggested elsewhere I'd like to help out my prof, and also I should have a lot of time on my hands to practice.
Cheers
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nigel (el raton de Watford - now Puerto de Santa Maria, Cadiz)
RE: Lessons by skype or similar (in reply to flyeogh)
Skype Lessons Advantage -- - You can get lessons from best teachers in the world and not be limited to [no real flamenco] teachers in your area. It is very important because, for every technique, there is a lot of debate e.g. which joints flex, how much, wrist or no wrist ...etc. So it is essential for you to be able to trust your teacher's advice, which automatically happens if teacher is a great flamenco player himself, has met many other great players, has experience with teaching etc. - Often, You get full recording of the lesson (I got those from Ricardo when I took lessons) which are really really useful. When I watch the recording, I realize some important details that I didn't pay attention to during live lesson. - No time wasted in commute, you switch on and switch off.
Skype Lessons Disadvantages -- - Minor Technical issues: Skype and Internet are not perfect, sometimes stream hangs, audio-video go out of sync etc. - Optical Illusion: Your teacher's guitar body, his hands/fingers might be bigger/smaller compare to what you perceive on screen. So you can't just try to imitate his position. - Teacher can't just get up and correct your posture, your fingers etc. He can only say and show things. - You can't give your Guitar to teacher to play and have his opinion if there is something wrong with guitar e.g. high action or whatever else. - Infrequent lessons don't help build a relationship with teacher. OTOH if you live in same area, you probably could goto see his live performances, meet socially, have beer, hang out with other students and build people connections. - Teacher in your area can [probably] help you get introduced to local flamenco scene, can get you to help in dance classes, you meet more professionals and like minded people, get inspired, more beer.
Overall skype lessons are great to get doubts clarified by expert, specific help on [specially right hand] techniques etc... could be supplemented with pre-recorded online or dvd courses as skype lessons could get expensive (YMMV!).
RE: Lessons by skype or similar (in reply to himanshu.g)
himanshu.g many thanks for that. Sadly nearly all the advantages do not apply while nearly all the disadvantages do apply, under my current circumstances.
From what I have seen and reading between the lines of what you have offered, playing duets would be at best extremely poor quality and that is what we spend most of our time doing - thus drilling compas, building confidence (mine not his ), and having fun.
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nigel (el raton de Watford - now Puerto de Santa Maria, Cadiz)
Posts: 15432
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
RE: Lessons by skype or similar (in reply to flyeogh)
Can’t play together online. Einstein permits this but worse, the interfaces all have compression built in so you can’t hear the other person if you are making sound. But we circumvent this problem just fine with the metronome, it’s easy to set a number and address any problems if we both have a click to reference. That’s actually better than playing sloppily together and not learning how to do it tight and independent anyway.
During this crazy time I’m gonna offer full hour lessons at the 1/2 hr rate ($35), because not only musicians but average joe worker might be losing money as well, even just in stock market.
RE: Lessons by skype or similar (in reply to Ricardo)
quote:
But we circumvent this problem just fine with the metronome, it’s easy to set a number and address any problems if we both have a click to reference. That’s actually better than playing sloppily together and not learning how to do it tight and independent anyway.
While I was specifically providing the review of "Skype Lessons" and not "Ricardo's Skype Lessons". At foro, Ricardo has a very long history and needless to say that He is very good, specially at finding/suggesting solutions like above that make up for some of the deficiencies that Skype, as medium, has.
Personally speaking, Skype lessons, though few, helped me tremendously in developing the confidence that I was practicing correctly and not wasting time on what I shouldn't be doing. If I go back, I would do it all over again.
I would recommend everyone to just try it out, you might not get exactly what you want but Ricardo can try to offer next best replacement within the limitations of Skype.
quote:
During this crazy time I’m gonna offer full hour lessons at the 1/2 hr rate ($35)
I don't want to be happy about this situation because the offer is coming due to tough times we are all in. That said, this is a nice opportunity.
RE: Lessons by skype or similar (in reply to Ricardo)
quote:
I’m gonna offer full hour lessons at the 1/2 hr rate ($35)
Do you accept payment in toilet paper?
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"Anything you do can be fixed. What you cannot fix is the perfection of a blank page. What you cannot fix is that pristine, unsullied whiteness of a screen or a page with nothing on it—because there’s nothing there to fix."
RE: Lessons by skype or similar (in reply to Piwin)
If I were located in D.C, I would have taken private lessons with Mr. Marlow. No Skype or whatever. For me, I have to have a clear idea and topics which I want to learn to fill the gap. Without knowing beforehand what to ask and learn would lead to unorganized mess.
RE: Lessons by skype or similar (in reply to devilhand)
I tend to do that too, devil. But I wouldn't underestimate what you could learn even just going in without anything particular in mind. Even if it's on skype, I'm sure if you just play for a bit in front of Ricardo, he'll notice a lot of things you can work on. Truth is, a lot of times the things we want to learn aren't the things we actually need to work on the most. At least, that's how it's been for me.
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"Anything you do can be fixed. What you cannot fix is the perfection of a blank page. What you cannot fix is that pristine, unsullied whiteness of a screen or a page with nothing on it—because there’s nothing there to fix."
RE: Lessons by skype or similar (in reply to Ricardo)
quote:
ORIGINAL: Ricardo
During this crazy time I’m gonna offer full hour lessons at the 1/2 hr rate ($35), because not only musicians but average joe worker might be losing money as well, even just in stock market.
Ricardo, This is how we beat this ****, by giving what we can...
The Boss and I just now putting together a healthy $5 box meal to go as we close our restaurant at noon and do take out only. We make and bake everything from scratch and trying to stretch it all out to keep as many on shift and keep moving forward.
After a tense meeting with our accountant this morning and some tough words after she left I wrapped my arms around my partner, looked her in the eyes and said, we really have today to live.
Anyway, thanks for giving,
HR
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I prefer my flamenco guitar spicy, doesn't have to be fast, should have some meat on the bones, can be raw or well done, as long as it doesn't sound like it's turning green on an elevator floor.
RE: Lessons by skype or similar (in reply to ddias)
quote:
I'm getting bored of watching Netflix.
Maybe we should reinstate some of the challenges. Just to give an objective for those with time on their hands. There seems to be a bit of new blood joining the foro these days so maybe something simple so everyone can join in. Just a thought
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nigel (el raton de Watford - now Puerto de Santa Maria, Cadiz)
RE: Lessons by skype or similar (in reply to flyeogh)
quote:
During this crazy time I’m gonna offer full hour lessons at the 1/2 hr rate ($35), because not only musicians but average joe worker might be losing money as well, even just in stock market.
What a deal folks! Act now. Don’t know how often this special Covid-19 pricing will come around again!
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), and having fun. 
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