Best Flamenco Guitar Lessons Amsterdam Near Me

4worldlovers: A guitar player, composer and educator from the Caribbean island of Curaçao, currently based in Amsterdam. I studied jazz guitar at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague where I finished cum laude in 2003. Since, I have played at venues like the prestigious Concert Gebouw in Amsterdam, and in New York at the Carnegie Hall (with Grammy award winner Paquito D’rivera) and at the Lincoln Center (with the Jazz@Lincoln Center big band led by Wynton Marsalis). My latest album was recorded in was produced by Brian Bacchus ( Blue note, Impulse) and was released in 2021 on Sunnyside records. It features Grammy award winner Jeff “Tain”Watts on drums and the great Warren Wolf on vibraphones.

Next to my musical career I also dedicate myself to tutoring the wonders and mysteries of the guitar to students at all levels, most styles and all ages. Although I’m specialised in jazz and world music on the electric guitar (plectrum technique) and the Spanish guitar (finger style), I’m also well-versed in rock and blues (teenage years) and I have studied classical guitar and piano extensively.

I’ve taught music for the past 20 years and absolutely love it. From complete beginners to advanced students, my objective is to make sure the student has fun with music while also inspiring him or her to improve at playing or composing. I let the student set the pace for the lessons as well as decide on what material to work on.

Lessons will be given at home on the Nassaukade in Amsterdam, at yours or online via Skype.

My main guitars are a Gibson 165, a Gibson Les Paul and an Asturias Classical guitar. For Amplification I use a Mesa Boogie Lone Star Special and a Henriksen JazzAmp.

4worldlovers: Have you always wanted to learn guitar but never had the time to? Have you been playing bass for years but feel your style is not evolving? Have you tried studying music theory on your own, but you're not fully grasping the key concepts? Do you need to look for tabs every time you want to learn a new song and don't know how to improve your ear?

Whatever the case may be, I am here to help you! Let me introduce myself: my name is Nik, I am an enthusiastic guitar and bass teacher looking forward to sharing my knowledge with you. I teach in the heart of Amsterdam and always make sure my guitar and bass lessons are both challenging and fun for my students.

If you want to know more about my style of teaching and the 4 core subjects we will be focusing on during our lessons, check the My Philosophy section. If you have questions, you can either check the F.A.Q. or write me a message from this page. If your questions are related to my rates, make sure to visit the Rates & Terms page.

4worldlovers: Otto Vowinkel is a household name in the classical guitar world; a renowned luthier with customers all over the world. A guitar maker with great attention to detail and a strong preference for traditionally built guitars.

His instruments are physically light, incredibly easy to play, ultra-responsive and very powerful. His guitars have outstanding tonal qualities, evenness in sound colour and a perfect intonation.

His concert guitars are completely French polished with shellac finish. The unique rosette design features herringbone in the purfling surrounding the mosaic, which is the motif found in the flag for the city of Amsterdam. The headstock is carved after the facade of his workshop.

In addition to the traditional, classical model, Otto Vowinkel builds baritone guitars (fifth bass), cutaway’s, seven-string and flamenco guitars. His study models are hand-built under his supervision in Spain.

Otto Vowinkel uses Canadian cedar or European spruce for the top and different types of rosewood for the back and sides. He also uses, with very good results, coco bolo, maple and Spanish cypress (flamenco guitars).

These are Rovshan Mamedkuliev, Esther Steenbergen, Danijel Cerović, Goran Krivokapić, Montenegrin Guitar Duo, Berta Rojas, Françoise-Emmanuelle Denis, Fa, Cecilia Siqueira and Fernando Lima, Duo Siqueira Lima, Judicael Perroy, Margarita Escarpa, Marion Schaap, Alexis Muzurakis, Susana Prieto, Gabriel Bianco, Meng Su, Paco Peña and students, Rafael Aguirre, Sanel Redzic, Asgerdur Sigardurdottir, Manuel Barrueco, Costas Cotsiolis with Susana Opanski and her class, Tariq Harb, Zoran Dukic, Pavel Steidl, Thomas Fellow, Reentko, European Guitar Quartet, Hans Boom, Raphaella Smits, Marcin Dylla, Irina Kulikova with her daughter, Laura Young, Meng Su, Yameng Wang, Beijing Guitar Duo, Roberto Aussel, Ana Vidovic, Matteo Mela, Lorenzo Micheli, Solo Duo, Odair Assad, Pedro Ribeiro Rodrigues and Otto Tolonen.

These are just a few names of all the guitarists who performed in our series Meesters op de Gitaar. We would have loved to invite many more guitarists, but after 25 years of organizing we thought it was time to move on. The series won’t stop. Het Concertgebouw will continue, something we are very happy with.

More information about ‘the transfer’ can be found in this interview with Esther. (It’s in Dutch, but I’m sure Google translate can be of help).

We took many more pictures but a lot of them got lost because of an external hard drive crash. What’s left can be found at Flickr.

Otto Vowinkel is a household name in the classical guitar world; a renowned luthier with customers all over the world.