I have been practicing my bulerias compás along with this app. It’s quite challenging for me to stay perfectly in rhythm. I’m finding that I tend to rush. With a little practice, I can maintain a steady tempo at 170 bpm doing Kai’s standard right hand buleria pattern on muted strings. If I include left hand chord changes my proficiency goes down to about 155 bpm. It’s a good workout and takes a lot of concentration at this point. Is anyone else here using this app?
I find Dr. compas pretty good, some of the rhythms are challenging but it has got a click so you know where the beat is. But the back of service is hopeless. I have never had them email back, and there are lots of comments on chat forums that state the same.
Have you tried the compas loops on this site? They really sort your compas out. I also have a problem with speeding up especially if I'm a bit tense. Also I find the biggest challenge is transitioning between regular compas and falseta's and staying in compas. I alway's critique myself, 'is my compas good enough to back baille or cante', if not, then its back to the compas loops.
My back ground is solo classical, so compas has been challenging......and some rhythms seem to take a long,long,
long, time to sink in.
But doesn't it feel great when it works!!
I had forgotten that there are compás loops on the site. I will have to check them out. Thanks!
I usually just use a metronome. When I don't, I find myself slowly speeding up. I'll be doing compas or escobilla and be slowly picking up speed, and then I'll switch to a falseta and start messing up, because while I can play compas and/or escobilla just fine at the faster speed, I can't maintain that speed with more complicated falsetas.
I tried Dr. Compas, and it seemed okay. The free version will only play for 30 seconds, and I didn't like it enough to pay for it when I get most of the same benefit from a metronome.
I've tried the compas loops on Flamenco Explained, but just get lost. Hahaha. I'm hoping to see the compas loops get the visual count that was recently added to the other loop videos, I think that would help.
Hey everyone - Yeah, the loops can be really confusing at first, but once it clicks for you they're super helpful.
One thing first though - if either of your hands isn't quite up to tempo yet it's just going to be frustrating, and you may end up thinking your compas isn't good when it's really more of a technical thing. I recommend waiting until you feel pretty good about playing stuff at a given tempo (in both hands!) before trying to play with compas.
That said, you really want to hear the compas in the loops before trying to play along. if you don't yet - and it definitely can take a minute - I recommend just listening to the loops without playing at all. And don't always try to count and understand, either. Passive listening can be really helpful. Think of all the hit songs you hate but have memorize simply because they were on the radio all the time. If you just have compas playing while you cook or shop online for guitars you're not going to buy or whatever it'll start to work its way into you. As I always point out - it's not actually in the blood of the Spaniards or the Gypsies. They've just heard it a lot more.
Anyway, once you feel like you get it, you might try to just hum or sing the compas along with the loops to make sure you feel it. At that point if it all makes sense then dive in with the guitar and see if you can recreate what you were just singing. That way you'll know what you're trying to feel when you play along. In time the Loops become a really helpful study aid rather than a source of frustration, I promise!
Hope this helps, and keep me posted with your progress!