Marcelo teaches the eight basic right hand moves for the Rumba Flamenca strum pattern. He then shows you how to apply it to a single chord as well as one of the most important chord progressions in Spanish music.
Taught by Marcelo Berestovoy in Flamenco & Spanish Guitar seriesLength: 17:46Difficulty: 2.0 of 5

Internationally known Latino artist, composer and guitarist explores key Flamenco and Spanish rhythms and progressions. Marcelo breaks down these styles in a proven, easy to understand method.
Lesson 1
Marcelo artfully demonstrates the playing style he teaches in this Flamenco & Spanish Guitar series. He also plays through four basic rhythm techniques and sets the course for the lessons ahead.
Length: 2:07 Difficulty: 1.0 Members OnlyLesson 2
Marcelo teaches the eight basic right hand moves for the Rumba Flamenca strum pattern. He then shows you how to apply it to a single chord as well as one of the most important chord progressions in Spanish...
Length: 17:46 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 3
Marcelo blends familiar sounds with new ones as he looks at how to combine the rumba rhythm with a standard blues progression and the Phrygian mode.
Length: 5:49 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 4
Take the rumba and the Andalusian Cadence to the next level by adding tasty extensions and chord substitutions.
Length: 15:24 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 5
Marcelo teaches the rhythm portion of his popular song "La cita" as a way of applying the techniques and progressions covered in the series thus far.
Length: 15:33 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 6
Learn how to insert fast and tasteful triplets into your strumming. Marcelo demonstrates two different ways of performing the technique and combines triplet fills with the rumba strum.
Length: 12:28 Difficulty: 3.0 Members OnlyLesson 7
Using the song "La cita", Marcelo explains how to add accents and hits to the basic rumba strum.
Length: 7:06 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 8
Marcelo mixes it up by teaching several popular variations to the rumba strum. He reviews the basic rumba and demonstrates how to incorporate different rhythms without skipping a beat.
Length: 8:41 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 9
Moving on to the second of four Spanish guitar rhythms in this series, Marcelo introduces the bolero. He teaches the right hand moves and demonstrates the technique over a variety of common chords.
Length: 14:29 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 10
Marcelo explores four popular chord progressions commonly applied to the bolero rhythm and reviews the techniques needed to play the bolero strum.
Length: 22:23 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 11
Using the chord progressions covered in previous lessons, Marcelo explains how to add tasty variations to the basic bolero rhythm. Have fun!
Length: 12:03 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 12
Chill with Marcelo and the soothing vibe of the Brazilian Bossa. This is a comprehensive lesson that covers a variety of chord progressions, jazz voicings, right hand techniques and various patterns that...
Length: 33:19 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 13
Blending time signatures and applying the strumming techniques you've learned so far, Marcelo brings you the upbeat and challenging South American 6/8. Try it with a variety of chord progressions...Try...
Length: 22:56 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 14
Marcelo dives deep in to the world of finger picking in this monster lesson. He explains how to effectively play scales while keeping certain pedal tones going on the upper strings. Marcelo then applies...
Length: 43:30 Difficulty: 3.0 Members OnlyLesson 15
This lesson continues where the last one left off. Marcelo explores the finger picking techniques covered in the previous lesson over barre chords. He also teaches several new scale positions corresponding...
Length: 8:01 Difficulty: 0.0 Members OnlyLesson 16
Get your dancin' shoes... grab some percussion instruments... or just sit down with your guitar and explore some salsa playing with Marcelo! In this lesson, you'll learn some great chord progressions and...
Length: 12:52 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 17
Using the famous Andalusian Cadence chord progression that was covered in earlier lessons, Marcelo offers up different scales and phrasing ideas that players can use over each chord. Then, he talks about...
Length: 10:28 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 18
Marcelo teaches the popular cha cha rhythm that has been made famous by performing greats such as Carlos Santana.
Length: 6:41 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 19
Marcelo takes you in to the style of Django Reinhardt with this fun lesson on gypsy jazz. You'll learn a few chord progressions and the right hand "la pompe" strumming pattern with and without a pick....
Length: 14:29 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 20
Be your own band!...sort of. Marcelo shows you how to use moving bass notes while playing chords at the same time. He applies this over a number of chord progressions, including the 12 bar blues.
Length: 30:45 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 21
After harping on the importance of the 12 bar blues for his entire series, Marcelo finally explains the blues in detail. He covers chord changes, explains different "forms," and even talks about chart...
Length: 7:27 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 22
Marcelo shares a tool that is indispensable when jamming with other guitarists. He shows us how shell chords leave room for improvisation and provide a great way to play a steady, simple rhythm through...
Length: 11:44 Difficulty: 1.5 Members OnlyLesson 23
Marcelo teaches yet another popular rhythm technique for Spanish guitar and applies it to a number of familiar sounding chord progressions.
Length: 22:33 Difficulty: 0.0 Members OnlyLesson 24
We spend a great deal of time learning scale positions, but most of the players we know and love use a lot of the horizontal approach. Marcelo explains horizontal playing using four familiar scales and...
Length: 29:22 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 25
Marcelo takes the scales learned in the previous lessons and applies them to 3rd and 6th intervals. He offers some improvisational ideas that will enhance your creativity!
Length: 14:58 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
About Marcelo Berestovoy
View Full Biography
This Latino artist, composer and guitarist, has inspired a new musical trend that he has called “Southern World Music”. This innovative mix of sounds is a blend of the tango from Argentina, flamenco from the south of Spain, and several musical styles from Southern California. Marcelo has done live presentations and recorded with artists like Ricky Martin, Selena, Leon Gieco, Daniela Romo, Sergio Arau and Bebu Silvetti to name a few. In television, he accompanied stars such as Jorge Moreno, Grammy Award winner in 2002 in the “Best New Artist” category. He also composed the song “Gitano Corazon”, recorded by Natalia Oreiro in her album “Tu Veneno”. This album was nominated in the Latino Grammy Award 2001 in the category of “Best Female Pop Album”. He is co-author of the song “One Heart” with Steven Segal, Larry King and Tommy Coster. His musical talent has been shown in movies including “Dirt”, “The Mexican”, “Un Pedazo de Tierra” and “Paulie”. He has participated in television shows, concerts and kick-off parties for movies like “Mission Impossible II” and “The Disapearance of Garcia Lorca”.
Marcelo was born and raised in Argentina. He says he felt a passion for the music since he was about 11 years old when he started to take guitar lessons. His father had a lot of influence in his love for music. Together they used to play the songs that Marcelo wrote. His father always took him to listen to jazz. At this time, listening to jazz gave Marcelo another perspective since he was a rock fanatic. His motivation was first the Beatles and then Charly and Spinetta “the skinny”. Marcelo recalls that by the age of 18, he was playing in different places throughout Buenos Aires, Argentina. He would play four to five nights a week with different groups or to accompany solo singers.
His decision to come to Los Angeles was motivated by his interest in jazz. In 1985, he came to study to GIT and he never returned to Argentina. Marcelo currently lives in Los Angeles, California with his lovely wife and son. He performs live at several local places. In addition to playing the guitar and composing, Marcelo teaches in the “Musicians Institute”, one of the most prestigious in the music world.
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Member Comments about this Lesson
Discussions with our instructors are just one of the many benefits of becoming a member of JamPlay.I love this. Gracias Marcelo. Your teaching skills son fantasticos.
Been teaching myself flamenco past few years by playing along with songs on CD's. My strumming just never sounded right. Now I know why!!! Can't wait to progress through these lessons. Love your teaching style, Marcelo.
HI, enjoy your way of teaching the flamenco guitar,in the past I bought dvds to try to learn to play this style of guitar but was disappointed because the teacher presumed the intended student already played to some level of compency,so I gave it away through frustration.Question:..do you suggest familiarising and learning to play the cords properly before preceding with learning the flamenco style.
You are a fantastic teacher. Thank you.
Thank you for the great lesson series! It is truly inspiring and taught well, it is an honor to learn from you.
Great lessons,
OK got my new D addario strings on my cheap 80 dollar classical guitar and boy what a diffrence. now it sounds like a 500 dollar classical guitar.
This is so awesome I've taken Flamenco lessons for 3 weeks then quit. I learned more in this 1 video then what the guy taught me in three weeks for 25$ per half hour! Thanks Marcelo Berestovoy your a talented amazing teacher and player and thank you jamplay!
For many years I've loved flamenco, and sometimes wanted to learn to play, but it always seemed out of reach. Thank you so much for demonstrating these flamenco rhythms so well! Very excited about this lesson set - I hope you become a fixture here at Jample, Marcello.
Marcelo, man I love your teaching style!. I am hooked, reel me in!
Relatively new at this, side of thumb very sore from practice, todays manicure ruined but I feel happy. Hope that means I'm doing good! Gracias Maestro!
The nanosecond between 4&5 moves is a challenge because 4 thumb up move seems to take hand up & away from face slap 5. It feels like you must execute a tiny circular roll to naturally return open palm to face?
There seems to be a technical problem with the sound. All the other lessons in this set seem to be working fine.
on the low and medium settings for scene 1, there is no audio. We should have this fixed by tomorrow. For now, switch to a higher setting for that scene to hear the sound. Sorry about the inconvenience!
Great job teaching this!
incredible thank you
Thanks for this new lessons! hope to learn a lot from you Marcelo, excellent lesson.
absolutely delicious!
Is it ok to use an acoustic steel string guitar for this or do I have to have a classical guitar ?
Of course, you can even do it on electric w distorted power chords! Learn the technique then use it for whatever you like!
thank you . got my valencia but have to put on better strings. these chinese strings just don't cut it.
You can do this on a steel string guitar but you might bleed after a while.
ouch. I have a valencia vg 160 classical flamenco guitar on the way.
This lesson is incredible as expressure says! Great explaining. Loved Mario DaSilva's flamenco series here on Jamplay and surely going to enjoy this too. Still the theory in scene 3 is a bit confusing for me but I have a lot to learn on that department.
I'm doing a Q&A tomorrow and will be happy to answer your questions Re the theory on scene 3
Thank you Marcelo for coming to Jamplay. This lesson is incredible. I would say more but I am going to practice.