Flamenco & Latin American Guitar Lessons

Flamenco is a professionalized art-form based on the various folkloric music traditions of Southern Spain. The genre originated in the music and dance styles of Andalusia. Flamenco has been influenced by and become associated with the Romani people in Spain; however, unlike Romani music in Eastern Europe, its origin and style is uniquely Andalusian which includes Moorish melodies and harmonies and highlights the use of the phrygian mode.

Flamenco is played somewhat differently from classical guitar. Players use different posture, strumming patterns, and techniques. The guitar also usually has a golpeadores attached which is a protective scratch plate to help protect the classical guitar from the technique known as ‘golpe’ which involves percussive hits to the guitar. I stock golpeadores’s so can convert a standard classical guitar into a flamenco guitar for the use of the ‘golpe’ technique.

Latin American Styles such as Brazillian bossa-nova, tango, and rhumba are also readily playable on the classical guitar.

Lesson Structure:

Students are free to choose the instruments, songs, and styles of music that they wish to persue. Being able to follow ones musical passions I believe is the best way to excel in music, so I nurture those desires with the support of sound technique, theory, and well researched performance and compositional practices.

Lessons are individually tailored to meet the needs and goals of each student. This includes the hand transcribing of music that each student wishes to study.

To faciliate these approaches, lessons are offered on a weekly basis and are one hour in duration. They usually involve half an hour of technical and theoretical work followed by half an hour of musical practice, either playing or composing. Some students choose to see me for two hours a week to draw more benefit from both the technical and practical aspects mentioned, allowing an hour for each component, however this is up to the individual in terms of time and cost.

Philosophy:

I am known for my unlimited patience and dedicated persistence to seeing my students attain their goals.

Whilst being friendly and encouraging I also strive for excellence with each student, striving to push them to the best of their abilities.

I am guided by the students’ unique musical journey rather than trying to steer them, however I can offer guidance when needed.

I understand that all students have different outside pressures and recognise that practise outside of lessons can often be difficult, if not impossible. I am happy to work with students who either practise a lot, little, or even not at all between lessons. The main thing is that my students should find their lives enriched by their involvement with music. Our approach, however, I believe should always be professional, no matter how much or little time we have, as the more we respect music, the greater the rewards.

Ages & Levels

I offer bass & guitar lessons for beginners as well as professional and experienced players that wish to improve and consolidate their musical skills and knowledge and teach all ages from around 10 years old and over.

Rates:

Rates are charged at $110 per hour inc. GST which is slightly lower than the currently recommended rate by the Music Teachers’ Association of Australia.

My rates include preparation time which includes the transcription of music individually for each student and the sourcing and making available of materials needed for each students’ musical direction and development.

I aim to provide the highest quality in musical tuition with fine attention to detail in the areas of technique, theory, and practice. With over 30 years of experience and several qualifications and accolades under my belt, I believe my rates represent value for money.