Issue 1 - June 24th, 2012 |
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I would like to invite you to be part of this Weekly Magazine, my new adventure. As many of you know, I deliver some video lessons every week, but I realized there are more things to share and I decided to include in this magazine my videos, a weekly answer to any of the frequent questions I receive from my students and the ones who don't take lessons with me but follow my videos as well as a video recommendation for the week. Sometimes there will be additional material of my weekly activities in CFG-studio Malaga. If you have a question you would like me to answer, please feel free to e-mail me. I will be glad to answer it. I would like to thank to all the persons involved in this project and I wish you enjoy this magazine as I do when creating it!
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| Contents | |
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2.- Videos of the Week: "Remates por Tangos - Interactive lessons" - Beginners Level 3 3.- Video Recommendation of the Week: Kenny Werner Master Class |
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| 1.- Comments, Questions and Answers "What is the border line between a healthy habit of observing and questioning our own quality as musicians and a destructive way to criticize ourselves?" | |
COMMENT: I can assure you i would not judging on myself, IF.. i was a 'great' player with great skills! just like you are!! BUT... if i don’t know if i am going to hit the next super-stretch-chord right, or the picado as i want to, then of course you start being skeptic. In other words, as i said before, i watched Paco the way he played 40 years ago and i do realize, i need much more practice and skills and experience, and then, i will play great in front of people or in studio etc.. Plus of course it’s a thing to get used to play on stage and not getting nervous. I play much better after 2 hours of practicing than when i have to play for friends.... ANSWER: In the Francisco Sanchez – Paco de Lucía documentary (2002) he narrated a very special experience that, according to me, reflects the mentality we, musicians of ALL LEVELS, have: Once he was walking at the street and he listened the recording of “someone” playing flamenco guitar. At the beginning he liked what he listened, he thought: “That guy plays nice!”, a moment after, he realized the one who was playing in the recording was himself and immediately, started criticizing and judging himself experiencing a kind of uncomfortable feeling of dissatisfaction. That’s why, he says, he never listen to his recordings, because, as soon as he listen to them, he starts finding things he doesn’t like… As a musician of any level, comparing with great players don’t help to advance in our musical path. We think they feel comfortable with the way they play but many of the great players with great skills don’t and they continue struggling to be better and better. The difference is that you don’t know about their inner struggle because it is something we try to keep hidden. I have observed that self-criticizing is one of the most frequent psychological habits musicians have and it is one of the biggest obstacles. I have experienced that too for a long time. The question is: What is the border line between a healthy habit of observing and questioning our own quality as musicians and a destructive way to criticize ourselves? I can only talk about my personal experience, because this is something that involves an internal realization: Accepting my sound, my particular way to play and what I consider my limitations is the first step. This happens when I realized that even my limitations are part of what I call “me” and these can be also advantages if I can use them in a creative way. Then, one can raise the question: If a feel satisfied with the musician I am (even if I’m objectively a low quality musician) how can I continue making progress? I think it is because of the pleasurable experience you have when you play music that will keep you playing and practicing in a passionate way and, without even realizing it, you make much more progress that when you have the imaginary stick up your head waiting to be used by you as your own executioner. |
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| 2.- Videos of the Week: "Remates por Tangos - Interactive lessons" | |
What is a Remate? In flamenco there are 2 kinds of closures: 1) The cierre and 2) The remate. The basic difference between both is that the cierre is a very brief way to indicate a partial conclusion of a melodic line or a strumming while the remate is a larger and conclusive way to end a falseta, a solo or a complete piece. It can be half compas long, one compas long or even larger. There are many ways to play a remate, it can be with a melodic phrase (a fast scale for example), a strumming or a combination of both of them. These Remates por Tangos Interactive videos consist of different right hand remates. |
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| 3.- Video Recommendation of the Week: Kenny Werner Master Class | |
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