We Have a Passion for Flamenco! Do You?

Do you share our passion for Flamenco music–but find it difficult to include guitar lessons in your budget? Try Los Angeles Guitar Academy’s online Flamenco program. We feature conservatory-quality Flamenco instruction without the stress of paying for private lessons.

 

Meet Our Teachers

Dr. Emre Sabuncuoglu holds a doctorate (D.M.A., Doctor of Musical Arts) from the University of Southern California's prestigious Thornton School of Music. He has studied with some of the most legendary guitarists in the world, including the renowned Pepe Romero. Emre has a true passion for Flamenco music, and teaches each lesson in a manner that appeals to students with diverse learning styles. Emre has a welcoming, down-to-earth manner that makes most students feel immediately at ease.

Thomas Foster is completing his doctorate as a student of James Smith at the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music. In 2004, the city of Merida, Mexico, chose Thomas to perform for the guitarist, John Williams, at their prestigious Guitar Festival. Thomas is also a gifted communicator, especially with young people. He developed a guitar curriculum for the state of California's public school children which meets the stringent standards established by the state. Thomas' experience with teaching youth has given him an ability to teach even complicated material with clarity and ease.

Our teachers started the LAGA Online Flamenco program to help people around the world discover the joy of playing the guitar. They can help you, too, achieve your dream of playing Flamenco music.

Experience Our Method

Is your heart’s desire to play Flamenco music, but tension in your fingers and hands make it a painful endeavor? Our world-renowned team has developed a unique method that rids your hands of tension, which frees your fingers to express the music in your heart.

Our Flamenco lessons demonstrate good technique from the beginning by emphasizing the basics: good posture, relaxed arms, hands, and fingers. We decipher the mystifying terminology by explaining in plain English what each word means. Step-by-step, our lessons take you from learning basic finger positions and strokes to a level you only dreamed about--composing your own variations on the compas (rhythm cycle) of each Flamenco form. Discover how our Flamenco curriculum can help you achieve your goals.

 

Experience Our Mission

Los Angeles Guitar Academy instructors have a mission: to help others to experience the same joy that they experience when they perform Flamenco music. They simplify complicated techniques by a step-by-step teaching process that explains confusing terms in a way anyone could understand.

At LAGA Online, our mission includes working with your schedule to make your guitar lessons something you can look forward to, not a hassle. We provide lessons through our on-demand format, in which we have designed our video lessons, supplemented by exercises, illustrations and articles, to maximize your progress by helping you to master the skills, one step at a time. When you sign up, you will be able to access our easy-to-use video platform containing the video lesson menu, as well as written-out instructions and tips.

We are one of the few online guitar studios who offers a real-time, live format in which you can take private lessons with our world-class faculty online.

Come See For Yourself

In the Greater Los Angeles Area? Come visit us in person! Our studios are located in residential areas, which helps us have more scheduling options. We respect your busy life, so we make a concerted effort to work with your schedule at our guitar studios.

 

Our Course Outline

We thought you might want to get a brief glimpse of some of the material that we cover in each level, just to whet your appetite for learning the Flamenco guitar. Each level has a link to a brief video that will give you an idea of what you will accomplish at each level. In no way are these the only pieces that you will learn--they are just a sampling of what we have to offer!

 

Level One: 

We begin Level One of our Flamenco program by demonstrating the proper sitting position. Posture and relaxation are the keys to forming a good foundation. You will build on that foundation by learning the fingering notation for both hands, as well as basic terminology. As you progress, you will learn the free stroke, the rest stroke, rasgueados and golpe. We will introduce you to the compas (rhythm cycle--a very important concept in Flamenco music) as you begin your first Flamenco piece, a Solea--which is one of the oldest and most traditional forms (In Flamenco music "forms" are musical styles, also known in Spanish as "palos").

You will learn about falsettas, and be introduced to the Phrygian mode. Music theory will come naturally as you learn that it is but one component of the music you will be learning. You will begin to think like a musician in our PIT (put it together) pieces--even at this level--by creating your own pieces based on the material that you have learned so far.

 

Level Two:

Level Two begins on a familiar note, with the well-known Spanish folk song called  "Malaguena." More difficult variations of the techniques that you learned in Level One make your music come to life, as we add syncopation, to add interest to the music's rhythm. You will also learn two powerful techniques: the hammer-on and pull-off as well as learning scales to increase your technical proficiency. Learning the scales will have an added benefit: it will boost your knowledge of music theory without the boredom. You will learn more varied and sophisticated arpeggios, and add hinge bars and grace notes to your musical skills. Level Two ends with the study of the second Flamenco form, the Seguiriyas, which will help you to learn new forms in the future. Level Two will also prepare you for higher levels by teaching you arpeggio-based falsettas, since those falsettas use a common texture and harmonic structure seen in forms that you will be learning in the future, such as Tangos, Tientos, and Bulerias.

Level Two ends with the study of the second Flamenco form, the Seguiriyas.

 

Level Three:

In Level Three, you begin with learning how to play variations which are based on inversions and re-voicings of the harmonic structures of remates. The variations are also a fun way to learn about music theory. You will clarify your instrument's tones by refining techniques that you have already learned. More rhythmic and golpe variations vary the pace in Level Three. Tremolo drills will prepare you to learn the quatromolo, a commonly-used Flamenco technique. We introduce you to bar snaps, and learn more advanced falsettas in the profound Flamenco form, Seguiriyas. You will end Level Three by starting to learn the joyful Alegrias.

Level Four:

You begin Level Four by learning a technique called "guide fingers," which helps you emphasize the melody in a falsetta. Rubato is a widely-used interpretive element in Flamenco music. You will learn this useful technique, which "stretches" a musical selection's rhythm. Thumb drills prepare you for advanced Flamenco techniques such as the alzapua. Following the thumb drills, we introduce the alzapua itself. We refine and perfect your hinge bar technique, as well as many others. We introduce you to the form called Tientos, which is the foundation upon which more recent styles, such as Tangos, were invented.

This level comes to an end by unleashing your creativity as you create your own melodic transitions to connect chords.

Level Five:

In Level Five, you will build speed and dexterity as you meet the challenge of intricate fingering passages. Your confidence level will rise as you build your power and interpretive skills. Bass-line melodies are also featured in this level. You will encounter your first non-rhythmic Flamenco form--the Granaina, which differs from most Flamenco forms, which are played in compas. Based on the B Phrygian mode, this form will develop your skills at playing variations. The Granainas will also be your first introduction to melismatic music, which characterizes non-rhythmic Flamenco music.

You end Level Five with the challenge of your first Bulerias, one of the most virtuosic forms in Flamenco music. Mastery of this form is a milestone in your development as a Flamenco artist.

Level Six:

At the beginning of Level Six, you get to show your creative side as we teach you to build your own Granainas falsettas. Level Six will begin to transform you from a skilled technician to a true artist, as you fine-tune the skills that you have already learned. You will learn the Tangos, a Flamenco form which is unrelated to the Argentine tango. At this level, you will be well-prepared for the challenge of the Fandangos, a form that requires the player to have great technical ability.

You will end Level Six as you began--with an exercise in creativity, a PIT (Put It Together) piece.

Level Seven:

We begin Level Seven with rhythmic variations on the Tangos compas that we learned in the previous level. You will fine-tune your speed, dexterity, theoretical knowledge, memorization skills, and artistry. Your knowledge of fingerboard theory will be tested as you use it to recognize sophisticated chordal structures.

You will study cases in which some Flamenco musicians alter harmonies in order to transform traditional Flamenco music into a form which has a more modern sound, if desired. Level Seven will end with a Bulerias PIT piece in which you can create variations on this challenging form.