Juan Martin's Solos

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Juan Martin's Solos

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TANúñez

Posts: 2559
Joined: Jul. 10 2003
From: TEXAS

Juan Martin's Solos

Does Juan Martin's Flamenco Solo's book/DVD contain some good stuff?

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Tom Núñez
www.instagram.com/tanunezguitars

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jun. 14 2004 21:07:25

miguel

Posts: 56
Joined: Apr. 20 2004

RE: Juan Martin's Solos (in reply to TANúñez)

Hello
I dont have it but i've heard that the DVD is bad quality. Im not sure about the level of difficulty ect of the "solos"

regards
Miguel

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<<No hay música más rica ni más viva en todo europa>> ---Manuel de Falla---

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jun. 15 2004 8:14:16

Jon Boyes

Posts: 1377
Joined: Jul. 10 2003

RE: Juan Martin's Solos (in reply to miguel)

More slightly 2nd hand information..

If you are after instructional material ('how to' do a ras, 'how to' improve your alzapua or whatever) then don't buy it as its basically just a collection of solos graded by level of difficulty.

However, if you are after a bunch of easy-to-intermediate level solos, comprising mostly old school falsetas, in the style of Nino ricardo Montoya and Sabicas, then you'd probably like it. Its marketed as easy to advanced, but IMO Martin has a rather different concept of 'advanced' to most of us

His original book 'El Arte..' and his original video series are a better bet for actual teaching/instruction, and are great value if you don't already have them.

Jon

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jun. 15 2004 9:22:12

Jonathan

Posts: 9
Joined: Jan. 14 2004

RE: Juan Martin's Solos (in reply to TANúñez)

quote:

ORIGINAL: El Zurdo

Does Juan Martin's Flamenco Solo's book/DVD contain some good stuff?

no.

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Jonathan Nagy

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jun. 15 2004 18:49:49

frhout

Posts: 453
Joined: Apr. 28 2005
From: France

RE: Juan Martin's Solos (in reply to TANúñez)

It's always helpful to have as much materials as we can in order to learn flamenco, especially when Juan Martin is an excellent professional. I have the 3 VHS cassettes and books (advertised as having over 100 pages etc).

Now, the books are ok. They may have over 100 pages of music each but the format is horrible, sort of a third of an A4 page. So, in the end, there is not a lot in it. I also find it particularly annoying for Juan Martin or his commercial agent to decide on the layout of the book i.e. if you want to learn Rumba, you'll have to buy at least two of the three books. You got the first part of the Rumba in volume 2 and VHS 2, the second part of the same Rumba in volume 3 and VHS 3. I'm referring to the La Guitarra Flamenca - Learn Flamenco Guitar with Juan Martin. I don't have the DVD, this may be a different series.

One could probably say that in this instance, Juan Martin is a better businessman than a teacher.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 1 2005 21:29:31

Graeme

Posts: 30
Joined: Apr. 2 2004
From: Lincoln, UK

RE: Juan Martin's Solos (in reply to frhout)

Sorry to disagree with Jonathan but I can't get enough of Juan Martin's material. And luckily, Solos Book 2 is just out from Melbay (try an Ebay search for Juan Martin); it's the one with the red cover: Intermediate to Advanced. Actually I'm not ready for it yet but I'll be making room for it on the shelf. Hopefully they will have sorted out the DVD problems of Book 1. For me the picture quality was OK but the sound was hopelessly out of sync.
Graeme

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 3 2005 21:45:27

gshaviv

Posts: 272
Joined: Mar. 22 2005
From: Israel

RE: Juan Martin's Solos (in reply to TANúñez)

I have the first book of Juan Martin. I didn't have any problems with the DVD except that it looks like cheap production. Sound quality wasn't the greatest but wasn't terrible either.

Its just a collection of solos, no methods. So you would need a methods book if you are not familiar with flamenco techniques. One thing is that his approach is different, so for example he does a Rhumba but without the traditional rhumba strumming. Its nice but..

I played about 4 or 5 tunes out of it when I got bored with it and went to look for more interesting stuff. I am not planning on getting his 2nd book.

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Guy

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 3 2005 23:08:33

Thomas Whiteley

Posts: 786
Joined: Jul. 8 2003
From: San Francisco Bay Area

RE: Juan Martin's Solos (in reply to frhout)

When the Juan Martin set of 6 came out I purchased it. First order of business was to copy each page and blow them up to 120%. Then paste two of the blown up pages on one sheet of 8” X 11” paper and copy this new page. The end result is copy that is large enough to read without the use of an electron microscope.

I like a bit of Juan Martin’s offerings and have all of his material, and just about everything printed concerning flamenco. Like everyone else I listen to and watch what I like and that may not include everything. My point is to enjoy the offerings of others and get inspired to create something of my own.

The DVD's are a different series and it has two volumes which include CD's of the music as well. There are some interesting pieces here and there. The original series of two books (later consolidated into one book) had a audio cassette and then a CD. It too has some good material.

It only takes a lifetime to collect all this material. The important thing is to use it, and do something with the knowledge you gain. Otherwise you have to be born in Spain which is a solution a bit late in my life! :)

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Tom
http://home.comcast.net/~flamencoguitar/flamenco.html

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 4 2005 2:40:17

Thomas Whiteley

Posts: 786
Joined: Jul. 8 2003
From: San Francisco Bay Area

RE: Juan Martin's Solos (in reply to gshaviv)

Guy;

That series did not include reference to techniques. I understand it was not intended to be a method book but rather a taste of different palos at different levels. The stated levels are questionable.

You would have to obtain a method series from another source if you are not familiar with flamenco technique. At the time of the release of the Juan Martin volume 1 CD/DVD, the Oscar Herrero series (3 VHS tapes) was released. It seemed to be a complement.

How do you grade a musical level as 0? Well, being a programmer it sure makes sense! Yes sir! 0 is the first numeric iteration. So 0 – 9 consists of 10 steps. That is a personal joke.

Now speaking of the production of the Juan Martin CD's/DVD's, it is an amazing offering to have a book, CD and DVD for under $30. You pay for what you get! By the way the amount of reverb evident in the sound of volume one and two would kill most (but not all) rock bands! Sometimes Juan is talking with full reverb. Lovely! Really professional!

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Tom
http://home.comcast.net/~flamencoguitar/flamenco.html

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 4 2005 2:50:29

gshaviv

Posts: 272
Joined: Mar. 22 2005
From: Israel

RE: Juan Martin's Solos (in reply to Thomas Whiteley)

Thomas:

My comment about it not being a methods book was to inform others not to expect it to be.

Juan Martin's book happend to be my first flamenco book. I was playing classical guitar for 15 years and then I stoped for 10 years (was doing my masters in engineering and that and playing was too much).

2 years ago I got the urge to start playing again. I bought a classical guitar as my old one got its neck warped, and a few sheet music books of classical stuff I used to play plus the Juan Martin book.

I went through the first 3 levels of Juan Martin just based on my classical technique (what was left of it after 10 years...) when I figured I need a methods book. Got the Oscar Herrero DVDs which I really liked after going though the first 5 DVDs I figured its time for a teacher.

It took me a while to find a good teacher. I didn't get along wth the first, I played better then 2 other teachers I tried, and the third guy wasn't really a flamenco player as he claimed, he just spent a month or so in Spain and thought it gave him the right to call himself flamenco.

I finally found a great teacher, Manolo Vargas. What I like about this teacher is that he really makes me feel the music and rythm.

Now I almost play only flamenco and seldom play classical.

Funny you mention the grade 0, I never thought about that, being a software engineer it just came natural to me...

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Guy

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 4 2005 5:50:52