What to Practise and for How Long
Before each lesson I ask my students: "How much did you practise over the past week?" With a look of embarrassment, they say something like: "Didn't have much time to practise this week." After I insist they reluctantly say "30 minutes" or "2 hours in total."
I guess they expect me to react saying: "Hey, that is not enough! You need at least 3 hours a day." The reason I ask is not to pressure them into practising more. I just want to determine how much they are able to accomplish with the amount of time they had.
There is not a specific amount of time required to play flamenco guitar.
There are many different ways one can incorporate practice in their daily or weekly routine. These all depend on what one wishes to accomplish. I do tailor the lessons for set goals for sure. But I am not going to tell you to have a goal in mind here. Nobody can really know what they want to do with their acquired guitar skills until they acquire them.
However, based on the countless mistakes I made and having observed countless students, I think I know the right place to start.
Primarily, regardless of how much time you can set aside and what you wish to accomplish, it is essential to use your available time efficiently.
The sheer amount of practise does not determine the quality of your playing. It rather determines the number of pieces (or falsetas) one can maintain at a given time. Masters who say they practise 10 hours a day don't do that to play better and better. They do that to keep their heavy repertoire of pieces in good shape.
Therefore, if you practise less you can play less. Less practise doesn't equal poor performance. It simply means you can play shorter pieces or less falsetas perfectly than many long pieces and hundreds of falsetas perfectly.
If you practise right, that is.
A big percentage of my students as well as atrafanaSchool members are busy with many other things in life. I am the same way. We don't have much time to practise
Here's what you need to do if you have up to 1 hour per day. (From 20 mins to 60 mins)
I am going to assume that you are a beginner but not an absolute beginner!
The right attitude
Primarily practising is not playing. While practising, you are putting in the labor to play well.
Does this mean practising is not fun? Is it the suffering you go through to become a better player?
If that's how you see it, you need to change your attitude right away.
You need to like practising. Enjoy every single note you play correctly. When practising a falseta slowly, savour the work as it is right now. Do not see it as something inferior to playing it at full speed.
For me there is no difference between 100 BPM and 200 BPM. In fact most often I enjoy the slow versions better because I am better able to hear the nuances and beauties of harmonies that way.
So you need to be in the moment when you practise. Not constantly thinking about how well you will be able to play in the future. Am I sounding like a meditation guru?
Set aside quality time
Set aside 20 minutes or whatever your available time is for everyday.
And turn off all the distractions.
Do a bit of stretching first. Watch the following video to see how I do it:
I guess they expect me to react saying: "Hey, that is not enough! You need at least 3 hours a day." The reason I ask is not to pressure them into practising more. I just want to determine how much they are able to accomplish with the amount of time they had.
There is not a specific amount of time required to play flamenco guitar.
There are many different ways one can incorporate practice in their daily or weekly routine. These all depend on what one wishes to accomplish. I do tailor the lessons for set goals for sure. But I am not going to tell you to have a goal in mind here. Nobody can really know what they want to do with their acquired guitar skills until they acquire them.
However, based on the countless mistakes I made and having observed countless students, I think I know the right place to start.
Primarily, regardless of how much time you can set aside and what you wish to accomplish, it is essential to use your available time efficiently.
The sheer amount of practise does not determine the quality of your playing. It rather determines the number of pieces (or falsetas) one can maintain at a given time. Masters who say they practise 10 hours a day don't do that to play better and better. They do that to keep their heavy repertoire of pieces in good shape.
Therefore, if you practise less you can play less. Less practise doesn't equal poor performance. It simply means you can play shorter pieces or less falsetas perfectly than many long pieces and hundreds of falsetas perfectly.
If you practise right, that is.
A big percentage of my students as well as atrafanaSchool members are busy with many other things in life. I am the same way. We don't have much time to practise
Here's what you need to do if you have up to 1 hour per day. (From 20 mins to 60 mins)
I am going to assume that you are a beginner but not an absolute beginner!
The right attitude
Primarily practising is not playing. While practising, you are putting in the labor to play well.
Does this mean practising is not fun? Is it the suffering you go through to become a better player?
If that's how you see it, you need to change your attitude right away.
You need to like practising. Enjoy every single note you play correctly. When practising a falseta slowly, savour the work as it is right now. Do not see it as something inferior to playing it at full speed.
For me there is no difference between 100 BPM and 200 BPM. In fact most often I enjoy the slow versions better because I am better able to hear the nuances and beauties of harmonies that way.
So you need to be in the moment when you practise. Not constantly thinking about how well you will be able to play in the future. Am I sounding like a meditation guru?
Set aside quality time
Set aside 20 minutes or whatever your available time is for everyday.
And turn off all the distractions.
Do a bit of stretching first. Watch the following video to see how I do it:
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