Flamenco Guitar Lessons: May 2012

5/31/2012

"Picado" 2 (Picking) Tecnique. Lesson 5

Remember...

Instructions for "Picado" Techique

1 Place the right hand in the proper position with the fingers perpendicular to the guitar's sounding board. Extend the fingers and use the thumb to balance the hand.

2 Begin by alternating between the middle and index fingers with smooth, silky movements. Imagine the two fingers are in a dance and each step is a note.

3 Slide the flesh of the fingertip along the strings on the rest stroke. The resulting sound is one of the distinguishing characteristics of the picado technique.

4 Pluck with the nail. The flamenco guitar player's fingernails are used as finger picks.

5 Rest the finger on the next string to be played. Positioning the fingers in the blink of an eye is a prerequisite for any guitar playing style, but it is especially important in the energetic flamenco picado playing style.

Rasgueos or Rasgueados and "Picado". Characteristical flamenco strum. Lesson 4

Instructions

Remember...slowly, patience. Try to find the sound rather than speed. Tttack the bass strings and play them with differents chords as A, F etc

Play 4 finger "rasgueo" at the end and really sofly, not percussive as 3 finger rasgueado.

Tangos: 2 bars of 4/4 with 8/4 phrases.

Instructions for "Picado" Techique

1 Place the right hand in the proper position with the fingers perpendicular to the guitar's sounding board. Extend the fingers and use the thumb to balance the hand.

2 Begin by alternating between the middle and index fingers with smooth, silky movements. Imagine the two fingers are in a dance and each step is a note.

3 Slide the flesh of the fingertip along the strings on the rest stroke. The resulting sound is one of the distinguishing characteristics of the picado technique.

4 Pluck with the nail. The flamenco guitar player's fingernails are used as finger picks.

Warm your right hand...this is really hard. Lesson 3

Instructions: take few months to control this caracteristic flamenco technique and begin with simple percussions. Practice every where, every time.

The sound should be dry and percussive strumming and is always in a direction oblique to the strings and never perpendicular. Pay attention to errors.

Attack on the bass and turn your wrist in thumb technique. Practice with all fingers separated to get independency

Are you alive??? Let´s begin again from 0...this is one secret. Lesson 2

Instructions:

See the right hand wrist movement and again: slowly, always landing your thumb, and later... press your accelerator when your sound is rithmical and clear. If you don´t speak spanish, you don´t will have problems...send us a comment in the posts.

Thanks for follow us and sorry for our abnormal Tarzán english

5/29/2012

A good day to begin. Be patient and let´s go. Lesson 1.

1 Try to open your mind to a new Technique. Try to begin from 0.
2 Relax your right hand and begin very slowly, feeling the notes and duration. Your progress will be effective in a few hours...for sure, your wood will be a "powerful cannon" just right now.

Instructions

Listen the great spanish magic ancient music "por bulerías" and try to count till 12 in different ways and accents

*1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
*1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 1 2 1 2
*1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
*1 2 3 4 5 - 1 2 3 4 5 -

The Bulería is perhaps the most complicated "palo" (stick), but at the same time the most interesting for its rhythm and energy. It is common to interpret the rhythm of the Bulería as a compass of 12 times, which applies in many cases.

A variant for two clappers is:

As is typical for all the rates of 12 times, cuts end at 10 and silence in 11 and 12

In many cases it is more appropriate to interpret the Bulería as a rate of 6 times instead of 12 times, especially in flourishes of guitar or sing. In Bulería of 6 times there are basically two rhythmic variations, one corresponding to the first half of the bar 12 and one corresponding to the second half of the compass 12:

Choose you situation on the seat.
Try to do it very slowly and relaxed. If you try it so fast you will never wiill get. Pay attention to errors
Try to land often your thumb and 2 first fingers in "picado" technique.
If you think tha is easy try to do them more complicated with this new thumb technique.