How long to learn flamenco

Our faculty feedback is crucial to your success as you move to Level 5 — the starting point of advanced-level guitar technique. In fact, recording your performances is not only a great way to receive individualized coaching, but also an invaluable tool for self-assessment.

Each video recording will prepare you for various aspects of performance such as phrasing, continuity and musicality. Moreover, it is a great way to capture your progression and to archive your repertoire for future reference. Spending a few months in each level, it will take you approximately 26 to 32 months to complete the entire course, depending on your current proficiency, the time you dedicate towards your practice, and your goals.

Goals can be defined with prior experience in mind. Students can typically classify themselves in one of three categories below:. Beginner: You have little or no prior background in music or Flamenco guitar. In the beginning levels, in addition to exploring the basics of Flamenco guitar music such as compas, modes and rasgueados, spend time learning the technical basics: Proper technique for both your right and left hands, note placement, and coordination.

Take as much time as you need to build a solid foundation. To ensure that you are on the right track, we highly recommend that you take advantage of the faculty feedback. Pay particular attention to the left hand close-up clips, making sure that you have mastered difficult sections at a slower tempo before speeding up to the original tempo. Intermediate Guitarist: You have some experience practicing a few pieces in basic traditional forms such as Soleares.

In levels 1 through 4, review the basics of Flamenco guitar technique and musicianship by identifying which techniques and falsettas you need most help, and then focusing on improving those skills.

Master each of the basic techniques covered in these levels. If you have some background with sheet music, checkout the optional scores provided with the falsettas. Do not forget to submit at video clips of yourself playing Level 4 pieces, so our guitar instructors can provide valuable insights to help you progress to Levels Take the time to work on difficult falsettas, slowly, systematically, and deliberately, until you have mastered them before playing the entire piece at the original tempo.

I never do scales, or any kind of technical exercises whatsoever. I only practice actual music. Think about it. Any well rounded repertoire is going to include everything that you would practice — picado, arpeggios, tremolo, rasgueado, etc. So what would be the point of practicing these separately as a technical exercise when you will get all the practice in the world for these playing actual music, and you get the benefit of sharpening up that music to a high degree as well.

Ricardo Posts: Joined: Dec. The best numbers I can give you is that it took well over 11 million Golpes to go through my first tap plate. THat number includes practice and performance. When it comes to flamenco guitar there is the old saying sabicas referring to years of playing for cante and baile that really make the difference. For sure we all have experienced wasted time on tecniques or music or whatever that was "wrong" in some way or other and should not include that in our 10K hrs.

WIth music I think there will come a point in a performers life where playing the same old thing over and over is no longer productive either as you reach a plateau.

My personal thing is not to worry so much about hours but rather inspiration. Try to look for inspiration to PLAY the instrument and you will always be more productive. I no longer pick up the guitar at home unless I am inspired.

I practice all the time, do not keep track of it, but I am a slow learner. Keep in mind that time is irrelevant and the individual learning abilities are different.

It might take you a few minutes to achieve a certain proficiency on a technique and it might take me days. As many have stated previously make practice time productive. Xavi Posts: 68 Joined: Jul. The researchers on "expert performance" - who were the primary sources for Outliers and and its popularized 10K hrs. Virtuosos are experts in maintaining high-levels of quality practice over many, many years.

Bulerias Posts: Joined: Jul. The 10, hour rule sounds about right. However, I also agree with Ricardo as far as quality time vs. There's a pretty big difference, and simply looking at the numbers provides an incomplete picture of one's level of playing, IMO. I agree about the quality vs. I try to get all quality practice time in, and save the strumming chords or stuff that doesn't progress my skills for campfire stuff.

I am just enjoying improving and enjoying the ride, and I am really enjoying the current piece I am working on - Oscar Herrero's "Sombra Y Candil" Taranta!

It'll take a "few" hours to get this one down! NormanKliman Posts: Joined: Sep. It takes me at least minutes to warm up. In that time, I'll make a lot of mistakes and stop a few times because my hands get tired. That means that almost every time I pick up the guitar, the first 20 minutes of playing isn't very good.

I prefer to spend that time playing exercises because otherwise I'd be reinforcing a routine of making mistakes in my performance material. Erik van Goch Posts: Joined: Jul. Ramon I expressed my feelings about the subject various times before in long posts about the art of studying and i partly agree and partly disagree with your "the music offers all the exercise you need" approach.

My father was 1 of the teachers and confronted with the extremely bad hand coordination of his new "reasonably high level of proficiency" students he immediately decided to include extra lessons focussing on technique only on top of the usual 1 hour a week lesson 1th year classical guitar students received were technique was indeed integrated in there performing repertoire.

So, dude to my fathers technique lesson we were forced to do a variety of exercises at least during the lesson I did them because i was told to do so but lacked the mind, the focus and the attitude to benefit from them.

On top i was addicted to chess at the time and on every hour spent behind the guitar i spent at least 10 hours behind the chess board if not more.

After 4 years of University school "training" i consequently became in danger of being kicked of dude to lack of progress we had to do exam every year to pas. So i began to take my guitar study a little more "seriously", confusing making long hours repertoire as well as exercises with actual studying But 1 day something strange happened So i started to do the exercises i learned 4 years before, only to find out those "stupid" and "simple" 1,2,3,4 fingering scales were way to much info to deal with as well if you demand absolute control.

So i went back even more, studying single fingers, parts of fingers, bio-mechanica, brain-muskle coordination, total relaxation vs controlled energy input, tonal development vs. Playing an open string, focussing on tonal development, energy control and exploring every single cel in your guitar and your body can be a 1.

To make a long story short, after studying the guitar like this with complete focus and the right state of mind doing exercises that are more simple than you can ever imagine i reached "total" musical and technical control in both my exercises and my repertoire in apr. After i gained total control i soon got bored with playing the same pieces over and over again with nothing left to improve and went back to the chessboard Obviously i lost everything i gained as quickly as i learned it The last 4 years of my university training i spent most of the time behind the chessboard once again, restricting guitar study to 40 hours of power-study in the mount preceding the yearly exam I guess that AFTER i passed my 40 hour workout successfully reaching maximum musical and technical control a couple of warming up exercises on a daily base on top of playing my repertoire would indeed have been sufficient to maintain that level of professionalism, but every time i reached that level of perfection i got bored instantly because there was nothing more to improve How true!

Moreover, as in my case not a musician and 55! Regarding the method of study, it is often individual and envolves over the time, meaning that as in my case, the purely technical exercise takes place in the performance of a piece that day-by-day I try to do better, Doitsujin Posts: Joined: Apr.

Ruphus Posts: Joined: Nov. And leaving him time to invest into other instruments too, like into all kind of flutes, trumpet and violine. However, a case like yours or his appears only doable for who has came along in a natural way without introducing individual hiccups, which unfortunately seems to occure only with a small percentage of playing careers.

He just nailed perfectly how things deduced for me over such a long odyssey, without me condensing them as well in a message. That restraint and focus is extremely hard to achieve and maintain, I know. This way might be different from an instant fun route, but only initially; allowing you the most of pleasure in the end.

There exists a kind of elixir of technical ease and it is such a pity to miss out on it and drag chains around that develop only heavier the farther you go. Athletics are not the way of artistics. For me, I fall into the category of "I don't really practice Many great players have filled large volumes with the material they practice, and have published it for other players to study i.

You can fill a room with such material, and have a lifetime of study ahead of you, which is very fortunate for you if you love this kind of thing.

You will become an awesome player with a very large knowledge base, and never have to worry about having nothing to do! Of course, we learn to use all these tools as we acquire them, step by step, and song by song. The setting will often be club dates, weddings, and social events. Five years of study, averaging around 2 or more hours a day hopefully more! A high degree of refined technique in both hands must be developed as well. So, you have to decide…do you want to be a brain surgeon, or a jazz guitarist?

Probably becoming a brain surgeon will be a bit less of a commitment! Tools: Extensive knowledge of scales and associated modes and arpeggios, advanced ability in special techniques associated with the style.

Advanced picking technique. People often consider the classical guitar as the most difficult and challenging style to learn and master. I am not sure if that is true, but it is certainly a contender! It had grown out of a long tradition of plucked instruments going back to ancient times, and whether as the lyre or the lute, it has always been extremely popular in the cultures where it has appeared.

Because of its long tradition in so many forms and in so many cultures, a very wide range of music from many centuries is played on the classical guitar. So, one of the distinguishing features of playing the classical guitar is the fact that the repertoire spans many centuries, rather than the relatively limited time frame encompassed by the repertoire of other styles of guitar.

Howard Morgen, who I studied with to learn jazz and fingerboard harmony, is such a player, having studied classical guitar so as to apply the right hand abilities to his 7-string Jazz guitar and the jazz standard repertoire. The classical guitar has always pushed the limits of what is possible on the guitar in a musical way, and the technique required to play its repertoire is precise and unforgiving. You can get away with imperfect or homegrown technique in many styles, but not with the classical guitar.

Because the physical technique required to play the repertoire is extremely precise, getting that technique requires either an intuitive knowledge of how to do correct practice to develop technique, or exposure to an effective pedagogical system that will teach you how to do that. The highest levels of ability in both hands are required by an advanced player, and even for the beginner and intermediate student a firm foundation is essential, or playing will be a struggle and progress will be impossible.

A correct approach to practice and an absolutely relaxed and comfortable technique must be developed from the beginning, and this is very, very often not the case, especially with the adult student. In my own experience, I never found a teacher who could do much more than give me music to play, and perhaps tell me which fingers to use. There is more information available today, but the real information for how to develop to the highest levels of ability is lacking in every method I know of — most methods are merely collections of pieces and exercises that would sound great if you knew the secrets of mastering them.

It contains concepts and methods not found anywhere else, and they have been proven to work for the average student, of any age. A moderate practice schedule of 30 minutes, 5 times a week can get you on the path of playing classical guitar. You will be playing nice sounding pieces within a few months, and, if you follow my methods, you will continue to develop nicely for as long as you play and practice.

To play the classical guitar at a high level, meaning, being able to play the more complex repertoire well, requires 3 to 6 hours a day for about 10 years. However, anyone can enjoy playing the classical guitar as a richly rewarding hobby that they CAN be good at just like tennis or golf playing the pieces they have developed with a professional polish IF they learn the methods that professionals use.

Time Required: Adult Student — 30 minutes a day, 1 to 2 years to acquire solid foundation and playing ability through beginning level, ready and able to make further progress. Professional Level: 3 to 6 hours a day for 10 years. Tools: ability to read music, complete mastery of correct practice techniques, complete understanding of technical mechanics of playing the guitar.

Full development of both hands. This concludes our examination of what it takes to become proficient in the various styles of guitar. I hope this guided tour through the musical terrain trodden by countless guitar greats has helped you see a little further,and a little more clearly into the direction that is going to be right for you. Jamie Andreas has one goal: to make sure that everyone who wants to learn guitar is successful. After her first 25 years of teaching, she wrote the world acclaimed method for guitar "The Principles of Correct Practice For Guitar".

She put everything into this method that was essential for success on guitar. Called "The Holy Grail" of guitar books, the Principles has enabled thousands of students who tried and failed to play guitar for years or even decades, to become real guitar players. In Jamie was profiled in "Guitar Zero" Penguin Press , a study of how adults learn to play guitar. Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. I took Classical guitar lessons for five years after playing folk and singing in my youth chords and progressions. After a thirty year lay off, I am back at it. Retired at age 71, guitar both steel and classical make a nice hobby. I find a one hour practice every day to be my norm where back when I could practice for four hours daily.

Sight reading music came back very quickly. Scales are huge with that. My first four months, I called my practice the pain sessions callous building, etc. I try to keep it fun. I get tired easily, but do not ignore the right and left hand exercises.

The challenge is when to do what, yet also play music for fun. I mix up the practice sessions. However, I always do the scales for warm up. I try to add a scale every couple of weeks, but that detracts from playing pieces.

Key, as Jamie has said many times, memorize a piece and work on finger placements and such, not tempo, until you get it down. And you will never get a piece perfect. I heard Segovia in concert in and the man made some technical mistakes. My instructor asked me if I noticed. All these little parts come into play. When to practice what can be a challenge if short on time. Just my thoughts.

As we get better, our mistakes become smaller and smaller, as Vladimir Horowitz noted. Segovia had big stage fright, and that will degrade anyone. Practice time must be adapted to each individuals case. This article seeks to give general guidelines. How about bluegrass flat picking? It incorporates some strumming, but mostly lead. The picking technique is different than rock or metal, but very challenging at least to me. What do you want to now about it MIke? When I gave you a few lessons, I showed you what you needed to do to improve.

It comes down to the basics of practicing — do the right thing, and do enough of it. Thanks for all that information. I am an old man trying to learn to play the guitar. I make myself to enjoy the process of learning. That keeps me going.

Otherwise learning to play the guitar can be very frustrating. That sounds good Sam. Please keep in mind, when you really know how to practice, you will never be frustrated. I am never frustrated with practice. I was starting to write a stock answer of my own, but now I see I could never do it as well as you. Thank you Jamie for the realistic and honest guidance on how long it realistically takes an average person to learn each style of guitar!

All the metal players I know are kids in their 20s who learned to play as teenagers! Anyways I am glad to have found your guitar advice so I can build a safe and correct foundation.

I may be too old to ever join a rock or metal band but I can play solo at least. My "Guitar Success Series" will teach you the most important things I teach all my students. If these things are wrong, all you will get is frustration from guitar practice! How Long To Learn Guitar? What you need to know for each style. Share 0. Tweet 0. Pin 0.