Customer Reviews

Mel Bay's Flamenco Guitar: Basic Techniques (Technicas Basicas)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I am taking flamenco guitar lessons and this is the book my instructor has me use. While I am fortunate to have a gypsy-taught flamenco teacher I have done my share of self-teaching (particularly for classical guitar). Thus, I understand some of the special considerations that need to be addressed when attempting to learn a new style of music on your own. First of all, unlike the 1-star reviewer I think this is a good book to begin learning flamenco, although I do recommend additional aids for the self-taught student which I will detail in a bit.

Strong points about the book -

1) Each exercise, study, song is written in both standard notation and tablature.

2) Introduces rasgeado at the very beginning and the accompanying cd makes if very clear the sound you are aiming for. The down side is that there is very little suggestion of how to GET to the level of playing you hear for the first exercises on the CD. It has taken me 2 months to begin to sound like the first 2 pages of exercises on the cd. My teacher had me start out each exercise - 2 per month (I take 1 hour lessons twice a month). I started out just practicing each single finger-stroke in succession at 40 bpm. Once I could perform each exercise for 3-4 minutes with no flaws I'd move the metronome up 5 notches. Right now I'm at 65 bpm. Using this technique and practicing like this every night a beginner will eventually be able to perform these rasgueado techniques flawlessly at over 300 bpm. My teacher can play such techniques even faster and says eventually I will be able to also as long as I keep practicing with the metronome. The photos, while not the best I've seen on rasgueado, are still understandable. For better pictures on the rasgueado I recommend Flamenco Guitar Method for Beginners (ISBN: 0769261434). In fact, that book is what I recommend for someone who has never ever picked up a guitar and wants to learn flamenco as their first music. In fact, it makes an excellent primer to the Basic Techniques book.

3) Strict finger alternation, scales, tremelo studies and thumb studies rounding out the first chapter. Believe me...to get really accurate and sound like the cd (all the exercises,studies and songs - if it's in the book it'll be on the cd) will take several months of dedicated daily practice with a metronome using the technique I described above. Once you've done that it's time to move on to the first flamenco solos and the first introduced is the Sevillanas I,II,III,IV (track 23 on the cd) - one song with 4 movements that seque into each other. And it will sound great - very simple actually - all the notes are within the first four frets - but wow! EVERYBODY will know you are playing FLAMENCO when you play it! And when you finally do it's going to be a great moment. All those months of diligent practice on rasgueado, compas (rhythm) and tremelo will suddenly have been worthwhile. Also, the speed at which these beginning songs are played are slow enough for a beginner without sacrificing sounding like flamenco.

The remainder of the book introduces songs of each of flamenco type - Soleares, Alegrias, Fandangos, Rumbas, Bulerias. Each form having chapters with songs of each type. The back of the book introduces 2 regional flamenco versions of the Malaguena and a beautiful flamenco version of the classical guitar standard Romance de Amor.

Weak points -

1) This book does assume you have some knowlege about playing the guitar. If you are truly a rank beginner - have never picked up a guitar before and don't know how to play open chords or standard notation get the Anita Sheer/Harry Berlow Flamenco Guitar Method for Beginners primer (ISBN: 0769261434) first or any other beginning guitar book.

2) It does not give any instruction on how to properly hold your hands in relation to the strings, the angle of the attack of the strings by the fingers and arm, nor proper thumb rest-stroke technique (it is used almost exclusively in flamenco) or strum techniques. There is enough difference between proper flamenco right hand and arm techniques that using classical guitar techniques will be the wrong way to play flamenco and will effect the over-all "flamenco-ness" of a piece you are practicing. Neither does the Basic Techniques book go into detail the variety of rasgueado styles that have evolved over the centuries. For self-teachers to learn all of the things I mentioned above please be sure to pick up Oscar Hererra's 3 video set (I just found they're also available on DVD! Unfortunately I don't yet know the ISBN for the DVD set but will soon be ordering them. Email me if you are interested in the DVD ISBN) "How to Play Flamenco Guitar Step-by-Step" (video 1 ISBN: 0786646705, video 2 ISBN: 0786646721, video 3 ISNB: 0786646705) and Ioannis Anastassakis's The Art of Rasgueado (ISBN: 0786649224). Each of Herrero's videos come with a booklet of all the exercises and instrumentals in tablature. There is also a book which is purchased seperately that goes with the above video set (ISBN: 0786659416). Herrero's video series and book along with Anastassakis' Rasgueado book are superb complements to go with Serrano's Basic Techniques book for those trying to learn flamenco but have no access to a teacher.

All in all, this is a great book for a beginning flamenco player and is filled with historical commentary about each flamenco form. Definitely 2 thumbs up.

The exercises are a good supplement if you are using another method book. It does not include enough explanatory material if you are using it as your sole method. The section on tremelo, for example, could use explanation. The photographs and exercises for rasgueo are very good. The included pieces are not for complete beginners, though the exercises seem like they would be useful to master or practice for all levels - some of the exercises are not easy but make a notable difference in your ability to play once they are mastered. All the exercises and pieces are on the CD. The CD has only the music with no explanations or verbal text which is advantagous when you just need to hear the music example. This is a book which could be useful to a player for a long time I think.

This book is nice in a way because not only does it feature everything in music notation, but also in tablature, atleast in a rather... more complicated type of tablature, so the rhythm is clear.
I believe that everyone who wants to learn flamenco should, no HAS to learn how to read music notation. So I don't know if I truly welcome the author's decision to waste half of the book on tabs.
Anyway, it gives a modest amount of study exercises for the various techniques you will need to practice for flamenco guitar. There's scales, legatos, thumb exercises, tremolos, RASGUEADO(the definitive FLAMENCO technique, BUY The Art of Rasgueado if you want to learn this technique) and some arpeggio exercises.
What is nice about this book is that it showcases different styles and forms of flamenco music with a one page description of the origin and rhythm, and a sample piece, which is of a rather beginner's difficulty, not too bad. This is what this book is really helpful for, not the exercises supplied in the first 20 or so pages. If you're just starting off with a nylon string guitar and need to learn proper stature, positioning, music notation, tone, etc... I highly recommend Christopher Parkening's Classical Guitar Theory Volumes 1 and 2. Everything taught as classical theory will crossover for flamenco.
In conclusion, this isn't the book to get if you're just now picking up a flamenco guitar, but once you get comfortable with it and have learned some theory, pick it up for its introduction to varied flamenco forms and styles.

This book would make a good supplement to someone taking lessons from a flamenco guitarist. This is not a good book for someone trying to learn this on their own. The right hand techniques of flamenco are syncopated and require the right form from day one.
Only if someone has the correct technique can they ever dream of achieving the speed needed to play a flamenco soleas.Flamenco guitar is the most demanding of all acoustic guitar techniques for the right hand, I would recommend Juan Martin or Herrera's videos to learn flamenco. You need to see the techniques to really understand how to execute them

I usually avoid Mel Bay but this one could last a guitarist a lifetime in learning.

I can't say that I have any more experience with Flamenco than listening to they Gypsy Kings and seeing one or two players in late night venues in South Beach (I do have a few years of experience with acoustic guitar and finger picking). I can say that this book is a good introduction into the amateur Flamenco world.

The book begins with some basics on how to hold your hand and how to read the music. Each picking finger is associated with a letter in PIMAS and your left fretting hand also has instructions as to what fingers you need to use. It gives a brief explanation of how to strum eighth note chords - something that all Flamenco players must know and probably the hardest part when starting Flamenco. Others have said it is better to see in action but you can check youtube out for that.

After the basics and some scales and chords to follow along with, you get into several short songs written in different styles of Flamenco. The songs are written in tab as well as standard notation. They are also gradually increasing in difficulty. I find myself starting from the beginning of these songs and just working my way through until I realize that my technique is too far gone to really be improving my skills, then I go back to the start. After playing for a few months, you should have learned some of the scales and chords through repetition. Then you can begin to "fake" play Flamenco, a highly enjoyable experience I can only liken to playing the blues but not needing the accompanying rhythm guitar.

Overall, the book is definitely not going to make you a master; but, the book can provide years of entertainment that will result in a steady improvement of your Flamenco guitar experience. I heard there is another "Juan" out there with a similar book/video that is better but... I am satisfied with how quickly Juan Serrano entered me into the world of amateur Flamenco guitar.

Randall

(...)If you are a beginner dont buy it. You will be lost beyond comprehension. (this book is basic technic though.) I have been playing classical for over two years and it still took some thinking out. It tells you nothing of hand position or guitar position. For all you know your friend could be playing the guitar while you hold it. Tuning? Whats that. The actual sheet music chosen for the book would drive a hyperactive cat to sleep. If you know a little about playing you want a little more interesting music and if you dont know how to play this book will be so confusing it is hilarious. Bless them. Lots of paragraphs on the bloody history but half a paragraph on anything important ie: Tuning, Position, music theory, Barring (whats a bar the beginner will be saying), Golpe. Not only this but you go from the Rasgueado on the first few pages then jump to a tremelo (something in classical you wont learn until at least 6 to 8 months in, if that, as you will be rubbish at it seeing as you are a beginner and will not have the dexterity of fingering). This book does not know what it is or who it is for. Could of been written by a drummer better. If it had a throw it in the bin star i would be using it. Solo Classical Guitarist by F.Noad will tell you in every single detail what you need to know about classical from the very first IE: position, tuning etc building you through progress into a better player. Maybe im just used to actual musical literature instead of money making tosh.

I received this book as a gift from my older brother, not kowing a thing about flamenco and just your basic beginner guitar knowledge. About a week of practicing with the book, I was able to play a couple of the songs. It explains to you method in a very understanble way. The practice section is very useful and the songs are not too hard to learn and sound exquiste. Great book if you are curious about flamenco.

I was very disappointed to find that this book doesn't include any significant instruction or commentry from the author. The nearest thing to a discussion on technique is a very brief section on 'rasqueado' with ridiculously tiny photos. The CD is practically useless as there are no introductions before each track to indicate which pieces they relate to in the book.

Not recommended.

If you really want to learn Flamenco Guitar by yourself, don't buy this one. It only waste you money. Spend a little bit more to buy another book.