Group 1
Join us this week for an exhilarating journey into the heart of Flamenco guitar with the Alexander Gil! In this special Two Week Intensive, Alex will dive deep into the captivating world of Flamenco, sharing his insights and techniques that make this style so unique and expressive.
What's On The Agenda?
- Rasgueados Technique: Unleash the rhythmic power of your strumming with the dynamic Rasgueados technique, a quintessential element in Flamenco music.
- Alzapúa Technique: Explore the Alzapúa, a thumb-led playing style that adds depth and richness to your Flamenco repertoire.
- Tangos Compas & Basic Falseta: Feel the beat of Tangos Compas and learn a basic Falseta to bring your Flamenco compositions to life.
Why You Can't Miss This:
- Expert Guidance: Alex Gil, with his profound experience and passion for Flamenco, will guide you through each technique, ensuring you grasp the essence of these styles.
- Interactive Learning: Engage in a lively session where you can ask questions, receive personalized tips, and truly connect with the Flamenco spirit.
- Community Connection: Join fellow guitar enthusiasts in discovering new aspects of guitar playing, sharing experiences, and growing together.
Timeline:
- Sign-Up : until Sunday, Nov 19th
- Course Period: Nov 20th - Dec 1st
- Optional check-In via Zoom: Nov 28, 10am PST
Assignments
- Practice the three exercises, record yourself, and upload an unlisted video to YouTube or Vimeo.
- Share the link for Alexander to review.
- If you have any questions, post them below!
More exercise and rhythms in the 2nd week!
NEW ASSIGNMENTS
LAST VIDEO
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Hi, don’t think my last message sent, just need clarification on R hand position when striking strings, ie. angle of hand , distance of hand placement over strings etc, as i don’t seem to getting the motion correct, nor the individual finger independence, thanks Alexander, cheers Deb
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Deb Covell and Alexander....Deb, thank you for asking this question...I have the same question. My name is Michael (a beginner guitar player)....
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Hi Michael, I am finding it very hard to do , however, it does seem to improve in very small increments, as I practice, but still I would like to ensure my hand position is ok, so I don’t develop bad habits. Hope you are enjoying the challenge, keep at it ! ! Cheers Deb
Michael Moulton
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Deb Covell great to have you here and thanks a lot for your question! I normally like to place my wrist with a little distance to the top of the guitar (like the classical guitarists always do). Imagine you are holding an egg between the ankle of your wrist and the top of the guitar. This image helped many students of mine, maybe it works for you aswell. The advantege is that you can attack the string more frontal and get more power (especially on your thumb when you are doing the Alzapúa).
for the first exercise however it is better if you stay closer to the strings, since your ringfinger has to attack the strings and in case you have a wide distance between your wrist and the strings the ringfinger won‘t be able to get to the strings properly.
In my opinion it makes totally sense to change a little bit the position of your wrist between exercise 1 and 2 for the reasons I explained above. However make sure that you still feel comfortable by doing so. Let me know if it helped a little bit.
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Alexander Gil thanks for that Alexander , will try to place a video this weekend of my technique; cheers, Deb
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Hello, I'm Michael, an older student and beginning guitar player. This is a great 2 week program...just 2 days in to it and already having fun...
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Michael Moulton great to have you here! Looking forward to your results! If you have any questions please let me know how I can help you!
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Hi Alexander. Your videos were great. Here is a very short video showing my attempt at exercises 1,2 and 3. Have done rasqueado before but not the other 2 exercises. Only practiced for a few minutes before recording the video. Appreciate any feedback.
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Immanuel great to have you here. I have a few tipps for you specially in exercise 2 and 3.
2. try to have a little twist in you right hand (like the classical guitarists often like to do) so that your thumb attacks the string more frontal and not only with his left side. This will give you more power and control over the strings you play.
3. When you are going up with your hand, make sure that the index finger is going all the way up (since it has to come down later). This can be achieved with a little more upwards rotation with your wrist.
let me know if any of this tips helped you, looking forward to hearing your results!
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Hello everybody!
I sincerely have to apologize for answering so late. I didn‘t know there were two groups for the challenge….
I will answer all your questions tomorrow for sure!
Thank you all very much for being part of the Flamenco Challenge! :-)
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Attached is a video of my Rasgueado, Alzapúa, and Abanico...Thank you Alexander Gil Alexander...
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Michael Moulton sounds great Michael, and looks really good, hope to put up,a video possibly tomorrow if I can , nice to meet you, cheers Deb
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Michael Moulton great work, thank you very much for your video!
Rasgueados already looking great; be careful that your hand stays in a stable position and the movements are only coming from the fingers themselves. It looked a bit as if your wrist is also trying to push downwards as if to help the fingers to jump out easier.
Abanico; be careful that the fingers are not locked inside the palm of your hand or the thumb, because compated to exercise nr.1 we are also working from our wrist and want to avoid any kind of unnecessary tension in our hand.
I hope this helps a little bit :-)
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Alexander Gil Thank you for the critique....
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Dear friends, please find login details for today's Zoom Check-In with Alex at 10am PST!
Martin lädt Sie zu einem geplanten Zoom-Meeting ein.
Thema: TWI Zoom Check-In
Zeit: 28.Nov. 2023 07:00 PM Amsterdam, Berlin, Rom, Stockholm, WienBeitreten Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86769728297Meeting-ID: 867 6972 8297
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New Assignments posted!
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Alexander Gil Hi Alex,
As we discussed during the check- in zoom, here is the score of Miller's dance arr. by Rene Izquierdo along with his video of the piece.
Would you kindly suggest Rasqueado RH fingerings and direction ( as a Flamenco guitarist) for measures:
15 thru 23
32 thru 34
46 thru 58
83 thru 90
Thanks very much for your help!!
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Barney thanks for your question. I would recommend to play the following rasgueados.
the 16th notes a, m, i, i, (all downwards exept the last indexfinger going upwards) and the triplets with the Abanico techniques.
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Barney try to always use the same Rasgueado for the same pattern:
if you have 4 chords then it‘s a,m,i,i (last i going upwards)
if you have 3 chords then it‘s either an Abanico or you can try to play a,m,i
if you have 2 chords (f.ex. 22 and 33) then try either m (downwards) and p (upwards) or two times index finger (down, up, down, up etc.)
I hope this helps a bit! :-)
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Alexander Gil Thanks Alex! I will try your suggestions. I appreciate you taking a look at this great Falla piece.
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Alexander Gil I'm having fun with the exercises from video #4 and 5...If this thread is still active on Sunday, December 3, I hope to upload a video.
As we consider the next step in learning Flamenco, what can you suggest? What Tonebase resource? Or other resources?
Thank you
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Michael Moulton thanks for your question. I highly recommend to check out the guitar course by Adam del Monte. He is a great teacher and an amazing guitarist himself. Another option would be to take some private lessons with some teacher you choose. This would allow you to get instant feedback on your playing and dive deeper into topics that might interest you.
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Michael Moulton of course you can check out all the resources that tonbase has to offer I‘m sure you will find great lessons, I just haven’t found any time yet to take a look at them but for sure they are all great! :-)
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LAST ASSIGNMENT VIDEO IS UP!
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And here is the recording of the Zoom Check-In:
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Alexander Gil Thank you again Alex for your wonderful guidance during this two week intensive. Hope to see you again soon on Tonebase to continue more on this broad topic.
Best regards,
Barney
