flamenco as profession

[evans]

Hi guys, im a flamenco guitar player, i play it for over a year, and im thinkin of taking it seriously, as a profession, but i live in Mozambique(country),Maputo(town) and except one and other show of flamenco dance that rarely happend, there's nothing else about flamenco, no flamenco schools or teachers,no clubs,no nothing,the faculty(university) of music only has classic and jazz music, ,makes me wonder, am i the only one who plays flamenco in here???Anyway i would apreciate any hint or advice on what should i do to take it as a profession, should go to spain, enter a school or something???

[Payul]

Hi Evans,

maybe the Rotterdam Concervatory is something for you? it is lokated in The netherlands ( north of europe)
You can get a degree there and they have good connections with Christina heeren foundation or Conservatorio Profesional de Mùsica in Cordoba for a follow up.

codarts - rotterdam world music academy

Payul

[evans]

Hi Payul, thanks for the advice,if u dont mind, could u give an idea on what should i do to enter the rotterdam conservatory,and what do i need for that, cause i've never entered any music school,i've learned to play by myself and with the help of the internet,so i dont have any degree or something like it, and i dont know much about theory, or the names of scales, i just play...and anotherthing, cant i enter instead of the rotterdam conservatory the conservatorio professional de musica in cordoba directly???

[Tom Justus]

Evens,

I will be the last one to knock the aural tradition of learning music. It is largely how "ethnic-folk" music is taught and passed down from generation to generation. It is how I prefer to learn music as well. You could learn Spanish and save your money so that you can hang out with the gypsies and learn flamenco that way.

That being said, If you want to enter a music conservatory for professional training, and if you want to interface with other professional musicians, the common language is written music. If you want to master your instrument you should learn scales and chords encompassing the entire neck of the guitar, not just "first position" and basic chords. you should know the name of every note on the guitar. This basic knowledge will be required of you before you can be considered as a candidate for formal training in a conservatory. As you know, there are a lot of aids on the internet to help you with this. It is not glamorous, but I spend at least half of my practice time each day on both the guitar and fiddle on these basics. That way when I am at a session and the leader calls for a particular tune in the key of "g" I have a clue... Lastly, most of the professional performers that I know usually have other means of support in addition to music, Only a select few at the top can support themselves entirely by preforming music. In order for you to achieve this you have to be as good as them and get some lucky breaks.

P.S. - Written music notation, like any other language, can not be learned in a few days. It will take months of practice to be comfortable with it and a few years to become fluent. It can seem hard, but it is worth the effort. In short, you have a few years (at minimum) of basic training on your instrument before you can consider a music conservatory, or before one will consider you.

Best Wishes, Tom

[Payul]

Hi Evans,

here you can read what you have to know before entering the concervatory.
Also you need a surtain level of pre school.

codarts - rotterdam world music academy
The concervatory of Cordoba I do not know.

Also I must say, it is not a garanty for a profession, you get teacher papers there, but at one point or the other you are on your own. a lot of guys/girls finish the concervatory, study afterwards in Spain, but do not make it....
It is not only a matter of playing, but you are your own boss as a musician, and must also know how to sell yourself.