My Farruca 100-day Program’s Learning Journey - Helen Chau

Part I – My Learning Process of Farruca

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There is so much to share from my Farruca learning. Instead of narrating every detail, I would like to briefly share how I got into the Farruca program, my happy experience in each major section of A minor, E minor and D minor, and what I learnt from the program.

I shared with Au Sir of one of my aspirations of 2024. My aspiration of learning another Flamenco Palo was supported by Au Sir. He suggested me to dedicate my time in Farruca because it is an important Palo of Flamenco Puro.

In January, I am in Farruca. Apart from the history and song structure of Farruca, I learnt many techniques and gained more insight about the mood music embedded in Flamenco. I submitted my last assignment in the first week of September.

Although I completed the 100-day program, I feel like the program has just begun because there are many areas need to be shaped and polished. My next step is to review my practices and further digest the materials for refinement.

Throughout the program, I practised songs that were written by various artists including Au Sir’s pieces. In between, I practised Palmas - one of the important learning regardless of the types of Palos. In addition, I practiced song that were written by the legendary Carlos Montoya, Sabicas, and Paco Peńa. Frankly, each famous song is still a challenge to me.

Shortly after a few short pieces in A minor, a much more sophisticated song (Farruca Para Baile was by Carlos Montoya) filled with gypsy pulse was assigned. I started getting worry about if I could manage the song because the song involved many techniques.

Albeit the intense rolling rasgueado and immediately followed by a stream of tremolo, I got this through after one month. What a big relieve!

Soon, another song El Las Cuevas with many falseta was assigned. This 6-page long song had a different high level of difficulty. Knowing the song was difficult, Au Sir instructed me to submit my work two falseta at a time. After one month, I made it. I eventually completed A minor. Big thanks to Au Sir!

Moving onto E minor section, when the song El Albaicin was assigned, I was stoned and uncertain if I could play the song at all. This piece has a long sequence of triplet, tremolo, and new chord position that require very skilful manoeuvre.

Although, the song was way beyond my limit, I persisted and stayed stubbornly by playing the same phase multiple times a day until I could manipulate each phase and link all together. By doing so, I finished the whole song in one month and a half. Hurray! I made another step!

The challenge continued with another song Los Caireles in D minor. Los Caireles frightened and excited me the same time. It frightened me because the song was at a different level of difficulty. This was the first time l seriously play harmonic on guitar. This was also the first time I played a piece in DADGBE tuning.

The song excited me because it had elements of the Arab. The mood was much more implicit and mysterious when compare with the songs that I played before. I put into hours of practice every day and finished the piece on Sept 5th, a little over one month. Although I marginally completed the song, this marked an unforgettable achievement for myself. Thanks again to Au Sir for trusting my aptitude!

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Part I I – My Learning Reflection & Summary Report of Farruca

I fulfilled my aspiration based on three pillars. One is Au Sir’s patience, guidance, honest feedback and encouragement. Another is a set of learning golden rule - hard work, perseverance, and attention. The third one is about the songs; they are beautifully composed that I cannot allow myself to not being able to play the songs, although I need to continue to perfect each piece.

From this in-depth program, I learnt more about the characteristics of Flamenco Puro.Through practices, I understand more about the use of Attack, rasgueado in different treatment and most importantly how to control rolling rasgueado sounds continuous without any hiccup and natural.

Also how to use arpeggio to achieve various effect, for instance, a raindrop effect, when to get ready to align with the dancer, how to make an expression sounds more 3D, and how to make better Flamenco tone quality.

From understanding about the song structure, I find it helpful in terms of playing and memorizing a song. It in turns help to engross me in playing the song.

To summarize, the curriculum of Farruca is a big step for me. I was trained to use more advance skill to expand my ability to play guitar more beautifully. I learnt a lot from this Farruca program. I received feedback and guidance from Au Sir; all are invaluable.

While there are areas I need to shape and polish, I realize that I have made significant progress in my thousand-mile Flamenco journey. I moved several miles slowly in the past few years. This year, I had a long-haul excursion; every stop in this trip is memorable. Olé!

The progress I made is not only on playing guitar but also connecting with my guitar. It is perhaps I finally create a bonding with my guitar. The more I play with my guitar the better the sound it produces. Also, the more I trust the golden rule of study, the bigger the boundary I can draw to extend my limit.

I am uncertain if I explain well about my progress. I hesitate but decide to share some of my practices. Please allow me to share with you a short piece in A minor and a longer song in D minor.

The first song is Farruca de Juan Maya; the sheet music is transcribed and arranged by Au Sir. The song was played in the beginning of this year.

∮ Video：【百日傳承】Helen Chau played Farruca by Juan Maya

▓ https://www.facebook.com/share/p/RVW36yLzg5aTUTg8/ ▓

Besides, with the same song, I share my Palmas practice & guitar music was recorded by Au sir.

∮ Video：【百日傳承】Farruca Palmas by Helen Chau & Guitar by Raymond Au

▓ https://www.facebook.com/share/p/YZEQqq98yrXxDD3A/ ▓

The last one Los Caireles of Paco Peńa is a longer piece that I would like to share. This song is interesting to me because it involves the Arab culture. If you have seen my performance before, I hope you can see the additional skills I picked up this year. Thank you very much!

∮ Video：【百日傳承】Helen Chau played Paco Peña’s Las Caireles（Farruca in Dm）

▓ https://www.facebook.com/share/p/m5yhB2f9xSsN7qw9/ ▓

Sincerely,

Helen

September 17, 2024