Here's a post that Kai had put up ages ago, but seems to be difficult to locate:
Brooke Aday
Vicki
Hi Kai.
I want to ask you How do you recommend to divide the practice.
Thanks.
Hi Sergio - that's another big question!
I think it's very personal, and one has to know what they're capable of in terms of patience. You also have to know your goals and your weaknesses. For example, in my case I don't 'practice' compás anymore, but I will probably never stop working on my technique. And I 'practice' composition by writing music. Some people are the other way around and need to spend more time on compás. It's always good to ask where the gaps are. What's the thing that will most improve your playing on the global scale?
At the beginning, when it's all new, it's probably good to divide your practice into technique and material. Spend some time playing exercises and/or etudes, and spend some time working on new material as well as time polishing the music you already know. Part of working on the material is learning it in compás, so that may be covered there. And I consider playing compás part of learning material, so they're very related.
You might at first decide to do 15 minutes of each technique and then an hour of material. But then it's good to be flexible. If you're learning a new piece you're going to spend more time doing that, so maybe you do less abstract technique practice until you know the piece. And in your technique practice you may see that one technique needs more practice than the others. So now it doesn't make sense to give each technique the same amount of time if, say, your alzapua needs a lot of work.
And remember you can't do it all every day. Unless you're a full-time musician with no other responsibilities in life you're going to have a limited amount of time to practice, so focus on short-term goals but keep longer term goals in mind also.
I know this is very vague, but there's just no one-size-fits-all answer to a question like this.
Cheers,
Kai
Trovador Afónico
Some flamenco teachers advice against tabs. They say that learning has to be visual and aural. Thanks to your videos that's really possible.
How do you approach improvisation and composition? Wich "powers" do you need to master before trying those taks?
Last question. What are the best strategies for improve memorization in music?
Thanks.
I resisted doing TABs at first for exactly this reason, but the demand for TABs is too great to ignore. And to be honest, when I was younger I learned a lot of big pieces (Paco, etc...) from TABs, so there's definitely some value there - I wrote a blog post about this that you can read here: https://flamencoexplained.com/opinion/flamenco-tabs/
As for improvisation and composition - that's a big question! I try to teach the skills required for this from the very beginning by teaching how one compas flows into the next and how the bits of a compas are also interchangeable. Check out this video - https://learn.flamencoexplained.com/videos/anatomy-of-a-compas-solea-1971-manuel-de-la-chica - to see a more advanced lesson about that.
I think it comes down to listening and playing enough that it starts to make sense. You'll hear so many variations of certain traditional melodies and chord progressions that you start to see what the possibilities are. From there you start to make your own small variaitons, and with time that grows into writing your own falsetas. I know this is a slightly unsatisfying answer, but the truth is that it comes with time, but also with just trying to do it. You can start really small, by changing a note or two in something someone else plays, and that will lead you to the freedom you're looking for. But how fast that happens depends on a million variables and your own musicality and imagination.
Cheers,
Kai
Peter Bruijn Larsen
Trovador Afónico
Hi Kai. Do you have any video where you show the exact point of the finger for plucking the strings in the arpeggio and the picado?
Would be great to have this.
Hi Kai , I was looking for video that would help me count music in spanish. I would think there must be one out there but I can't find it. Didn't grow up in computor age. Thanks Bill
Hi
I'm taking the beginner course and I learned a lot already. Before signing I tried 4 or 5 other courses and this one is really the best in my opinion, if to compare to the LA guitar academy one for instance, or some courses in Spanish that I found which lack all the good details provided by Kai (I finally learned what 3/4 is!)
One thing that was not explained is the position of the thumb for the left hand. Kai said in one of the videos that it should not be pressed hard but where should it be on the neck? Does the position change depending on the chord? I'm a bit struggling with that.
Thanks
I think the thumb should be placed more or less on the middle of the neck. It might change position a bit, depending on the chord you’re playing.
gilles lancrey
Kai
Kai
Hey Gilles - So glad you're liking the course and sorry if I wasn't clear about the thumb placement. Ricky is right - you want the thumb not too high or too low on the neck, so basically the middle. Wherever it lands if your wrist is more or less straight is a good way to think of it. As for placing it laterally, wherever you feel most supported is the way to go. There is no magic 'correct' spot for the thumb, but chances are that if it's popping up high on the bak of the neck your wrist is bent more than is healthy.
One thing you can do to check what your hand 'wants' is to hold out your left hand without the guitar with the palm facing up and the wrist straight. Your fingers will probably be curled up a little and your thumb will likely be facing towards the palm. Then drop the neck of the guitar between the fingers and the thumb without changing your hand. Finally, move your thumb as little as possible to get it to where it's resting on the back of the neck. This should be a good starting point, but feel free to adjust the thumb a bit or just let it follow your hand as you play notes or chords. Don't try to force your thumb into any particular place, always making sure the wrist is not too bent. And let us know how it goes!
Cheers,
Kai
Thanks Kai & Ricky. Much appreciated! I'm now going to practice those chords from lesson 3 :)
Tell us about the Spain move! Why? Where?
We're moving to Granada. We were supposed to go in early May, but with the virus our plans got all messed up, so we're currently driving East, where we'll wait things out until we can go. We'll have a lot to report when we get there! And the why is because where better to run Flamenco Explained from!
Cheers,
Kai
Ilia Alexeev
That sounds great. Enjoy your new adventure and Guitarnada!
Hello Kai and Everyone, just wondering how the move is going? Really anxiously looking forward to new videos, instruction and overall - more Flamenco Explained :)
Hola! I'm working to solidify a few essential techniques. I'm a classical guitarist dabbling with flamenco, and one of my biggest challenges is getting my picado faster. In the classical world we don't tend to play skills as quickly. Right now I'm getting comfortable with a tempo of quarter = 160, but I'm really shooting for quarter = 200. I'm also trying to get my abanico strum a little faster and more comfortable. It seems that the faster one strums, the more the motion is dictated by the wrist and not the fingers. Any thoughts? Should the right hand be closer to the soundhole when strumming (as the string tension is looser)? Also, any recommendations on how much flesh vs nail should go into melody notes played by the thumb (especially with Alzapua)?
Hey Richard - Have you watched the technique videos on these subjects yet? For the abanico we have a couple:
https://learn.flamencoexplained.com/videos/triplet-rasgueado
https://learn.flamencoexplained.com/videos/rasgueado-triplet-examples
For scales:
https://learn.flamencoexplained.com/videos/scales
https://learn.flamencoexplained.com/videos/technique-bootcamp-picado-scales-technique
You're right about the motion coming more and more from the wrist as you go faster with the abanico. At a certain point it doesn't even feel like you're using the fingers at all.
And one new tip for scales - before you use the metronome spend some time warming up in a way that each note sounds perfect. What I mean is that you literally take as long as it takes to get the finger and nail in the perfect place to play a beautiful relaxed note. As you get more and more used to playing perfect notes your fingers will get used to landing on that part of the finger every time. You'll sound better and you'll develop this really important habit of preparing your notes perfectly. When you feel like you're ready start the metronome, and don't faster than you can nail (pun?) every note. Only then do you start speeding up. Spend a few days getting used to this and see if that helps you speed up a bit.
As for playing closer to the soundhole, I'd say if you feel there's too much tension in your normal spot go for it, but it's not necessary.
Hi Kai,
I was watching the beginner Solea lesson when you mentioned that one can play it "por medio" or "por arriba". Obviously, each mode has a different set of chords but what do these terms mean? I tried to research the internet but couldn't get a straight answer.
Thanks.
Hey Omar - Por Arriba is the 'key' E phrygian (or what looks like E when you have the capo on) and Por Medio is the 'key' of A phrygian (or what looks like it with a capo). They're by far the two most important sets of chords/voicings that you need to know for flamenco. Does that make sense?
Cheers,
Kai
Omar
It absolutely does!
I am making such progress taking the beginner course having no background in music or guitar whatsoever (so please forgive me for using some terms incorrectly). Thanks a lot for the awesome content!
Best!
Omar.
That's great! Keep going and let me know if you have any other questions along the way.
Cheers,
Kai
Hi Kai!
I want to start of by saying, I love the courses and your videos! I'm so glad I dove in and subscribe to your online platform!
I just finished watching all the beginner videos - I'm still working on my finishing compas' - and want to know where to go from here? At the moment, I'm kind of spending time on technique work - picados, arpeggios, making sure I don't have a sloppy left pointer finger at the lower frets, etc - and then some time jumping from compas to compas. I want to dive into the palos and falseta courses you have but feel like I need to solidify my technique more. What do you recommend? Any thoughts?