Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Mel Bay's Flamenco Guitar: Basic Techniques by Juan Serrano, Mel Bay Publications Inc ISBN: 0-7866-2556-2 Publisher: Mel Bay Publications Pub. Date: July, 2001 Format: Spiral-bound Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.6 (5 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Go to Spain!
Comment: My own experience studying first from this book, then with an actual teacher, David "El Poeta" in Jerez, Spain, is that the latter brought my playing on in leaps and bounds that I would never have achieved with the book alone. The book tries with the best intentions to explain the basic techniques etc. but at the end of the day if you want to learn flamenco you should put some time aside and take a trip to Spain, preferably the south where flamenco originated and continues to flourish. There you can see the flamenco guitar played in its proper context, i.e. accompanying singing and dancing, and this will help to clarify a million little details which are puzzling and frustrating as presented in the book. It's as good a printed introduction to this unique, challenging and passionate way of playing the guitar as any, but be prepared to venture into flamenco territory to really get to grips with this thing called flamenco guitar.
Rating: 5
Summary: Great start for Flamenco
Comment: 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. I highly recommend it as well.
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.
Rating: 1
Summary: Disappointing
Comment: 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.
 |
Title: Play Solos Flamenco Guitar with Juan Martin Book, CD, and DVD by Juan Martin ISBN: 0786664584 Publisher: Mel Bay Publications Pub. Date: March, 2002 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
 |
Title: Flamenco Guitar Method for Beginners by Anita Sheer, Harry Berlow ISBN: 0769261434 Publisher: Warner Brothers Publications Pub. Date: 22 March, 1985 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
 |
Title: You Can Teach Yourself Flamenco Guitar (You Can Teach Yourself Series) by Luigi Marracini ISBN: 0786602341 Publisher: Mel Bay Publications Pub. Date: January, 1995 List Price(USD): $10.95 |
 |
Title: Pumping Nylon by Scott Tennant ISBN: 088284721X Publisher: Alfred Publishing Company Pub. Date: July, 1995 List Price(USD): $11.95 |
 |
Title: Fifty Easy Classical Guitar Solos by Jerry Willard ISBN: 0825617294 Publisher: Amsco Music Pub. Date: March, 1999 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
