Flamenco With Rafael – The Ultimate Flamenco Guitar Course

Name: Flamenco With Rafael – The Ultimate Flamenco Guitar Course
Rating: 4.8 (31 reviews)

Master the art of Flamenco Guitar from a lifelong flamenco performer & teacher. Play Bulerías and Rumba with confidence!

Created byRafael Lloyd Iglesias, Rafael Lloyd Iglesias

Last updated 2/2023

English

What you'll learn

To play with confidence – learn correct playing posture, left & right hand technique. Avoid future injury and improve playing fluency across all genres
How to improvise bulerías – learn the fundamental rhythm and structure behind the most popular flamenco style, the 12-beat bulerías – known as the 'cliffhanger'
How to start a party with the rumba – an upbeat, light-hearted style – and perhaps most recognisable form of 'Flamenco' with a party feel
Be able to recognise flamenco styles and history, eg the sounds of the Soleá, los cantes mineros (mining chants), the lighthearted Alegrías de Cádiz and others
What effective practice looks like, and how to self-correct common errors made by the thousands of students Rafael has taught over decades of musicianship

Course content

7 sections • 32 lectures • 2h 9m total length

Introduction & about your teacher1:35
Rafael introduces his flamenco background and outlines bulería and rumba, explaining how his cross-cultural life informs rhythm and right-hand technique applicable to electric guitar, jazz, folk, and pop.
Is this course the right one for me?1:07
Master flamenco right-hand technique and rhythm, with left-hand basics for guitarists of various levels, and explore bulería and rumba in this comprehensive course.
Capos in Flamenco1:07
Learn how capos, or cejillas, shape pitch and color the flamenco guitar sound, adding sweetness and authenticity by echoing the singer's pitch.
Posture: how to sit to avoid injury5:16
Left hand technique2:42

Right hand technique – introduction3:37
Right hand – part 21:50
More triplets4:42
Alzapua1:51
Practice basic right-hand techniques with Alzapua, lifting the plectrum and resting the thumb on the string below six, then alternate down and up strokes.
Arpeggios & picado2:32
Master the basics of flamenco right-hand technique, focusing on arpeggios and picado with deliberate finger placement, a still hand, and a walking knuckle motion to produce a percussive sound.
Alzapua – close up0:56
Master alzapua, a flamenco thumb technique using rest stroke to strike down two or three strings and return up, with evolving thumb and wrist motion at speed.
Summary of rasgueos2:42

How to play bulerías4:28
Learn to play bulería by breaking down its fast flamenco rhythm, using A and B flat chords, and practicing compas with palmas.
Basic compás5:10
Introducing rasgueos4:24
Learn rasgueos and rhythm variations in flamenco guitar, moving between B flat and C chords, with upstrokes on beat ten, al golpe accents, open G options, and building rhythmic blocks.
Introducing a falseta7:11
Adding triplet rasgueo6:07
Rafael demonstrates a triplet rasgueo with an eleven-beat finish, emphasizing rhythm as the main challenge in flamenco guitar, and shows thumb, index, and finger patterns with foot tapping.
Playing a short buleria1:31
Arrange a short buleria piece by mixing the learned elements in a random order, offering options to follow or cut and paste from start to finish.
Golpe (close up)4:24
Master the golpe within the buleria compas, tapping with the ring finger from the knuckles, and explore the falseta with the right-hand technique on the fourth string in B flat.

How to play rumba10:42
Master the rumba rhythm and compas through counting, foot taps, and palm dampening, then practice syncopation and rhythm variations to add flamenco flair.
Introducing rumba falsetas9:57
Learn to play a rumba melody with thumb rest strokes and downstroke, focusing on the right-hand flamenco technique and relaxed fingers, with F and G chords.
Arpeggio8:18
Rumba close up4:16
Practice the rumba with me3:45
Learn the rumba piece by playing along with the instructor to see how the rumba fits together on flamenco guitar.

How to best practice1:46
Nails on the right hand2:23
Use soft, nonabrasive nail files and buffers; file in one direction to protect nails; shape to a few millimeters above skin, with longer little finger and thumb nails for flamenco.
Using a sponge to practice1:54
Where to buy a flamenco guitar0:54
Explore where to buy a flamenco guitar, noting that Spanish guitars are traditional, but excellent makers exist worldwide, including England, Italy, and your own country.
Flamenco greats to listen to2:30
Common mistakes11:07
Explore common flamenco guitar mistakes and corrective techniques, focusing on relaxed wrist, thumb outside the sound hole, extended fingers, precise finger placement, light caressing strokes, and steady metronome-guided rhythm.

Bonus - keep up to date in the wider flamenco community0:35
Flamenco guitar is one part of the art of this genre. But often flamenco guitarists play with other flamencos, such as singers, dancers and percussionists. You can see an example of a (younger!) Rafael doing so here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idJE6kGGJ2g

We therefore invite you to join a wider community over at Discord – where you can see all things flamenco (guitar and wider) over at https://discord.gg/JYzEQPDm – which we will keep an eye on and participate in. We would love to see you there and help you grow the community of flamenco lovers!

In the future we plan to produce other high-quality & bestselling guitar courses you might be interested in: please keep an eye on https://flamencowithrafael.com

Also don't forget to subscribe to Rafael’s newsletter on https://flamencowithrafael.com to receive the latest updates about new course releases.

Requirements

Some familiarity with basic chords and how to hold a guitar is a recommended minimum

Description

Summary

Discover the beauty of Flamenco Guitar with this online course available on Udemy. Learn to play with confidence, mastering the correct posture and technique, while avoiding injury and improving your fluency across all genres.

Start a party with the Rumba and impress your friends with your knowledge of the most popular Flamenco style, the 12-beat Bulerías.

Recognize and understand the history of Flamenco with sounds of the Soleá, los cantes mineros and the lighthearted Alegrías de Cádiz.

Learn from decades of expertise and get the guidance you need to practice effectively and self-correct common mistakes. With this course, you'll be able to play Flamenco guitar like a pro!

More information

In this two-hour course, Rafael Lloyd Iglesias will teach you the basics of Flamenco guitar. This beginner course covers:

different correct sitting postures, which are necessary to reduce risk of injury over your playing career;
essential left and right-hand techniques – which can be used in all guitar playing styles;
two flamenco 'palos' (styles) – the Bulería and the Rumba, with small building-blocks which you can put together to form a little piece at the end
broader context and history behind flamenco music, such as the regions different styles originated from and how this affects their mood and feel

Rafael is a lifelong musician, composer and teacher with worldwide playing experience and a unique teaching style that he has developed over the course of his career. He has taught thousands of students and played with many flamencos and other musicians across different genres such as jazz, folk and pop.

This course has been produced to appeal to all guitarists, regardless of background and playing ability: Rafael has taught beginners and professional musicians – all of whom can learn something new and improve their playing by immersing themselves in the culture and moods of Spanish flamenco music.

Whether you are a beginner looking to improve your technique (or provide some structure for your guitar journey), or a professional guitarist looking to open your ears to a new style, all musicians will have something to gain from Rafael's teaching method and the contents of the course.

See for yourself: various parts of the course are available to preview for free.

Who this course is for:

Beginner guitarists with some experience (can play a few chords, comfortable holding the guitar)
Amateur musicians with some performing experience (e.g. open mic nights)
Professional musicians (concert guitarists, touring guitarists) who wish to refine existing technique, expand horizons and open their ears.
Other flamenco performers (such as dancers, percussionists and singers) who wish to understand more about performing in a group and rhythms

Flamenco With Rafael – The Ultimate Flamenco Guitar Course

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Introduction5 lectures • 12min

Right hand technique in Flamenco7 lectures • 18min

Bulerías – the cliffhanger7 lectures • 33min

Rumba – it's party time!5 lectures • 37min

Different moods and styles of flamenco1 lecture • 8min

Tips & Tricks6 lectures • 21min

Bonus1 lecture • 1min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: