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I am currently attempting to learn flamenco on my own. I had a question on rasgueo. Most instructions I found , suggest to build the tension, by resting the fingers curled up against the lower portion of the palm. My query being, I cannot get the pinky to build up any tension at all, primarily because there is no space for me to rest it.
So are there any other ways to build tension? I am avoiding any bad pratices i pick up early on ;P
RE: Rasgueo fo for starters.. (in reply to hgedia)
Try flamenco-teacher.com. The rasgueado exercises are very helpful. I would also recommend looking for a teacher in your area or inquire about teachers here who do video lessons. Or look for flamenco festivals and take classes to get you started. Good luck.
RE: Rasgueo fo for starters.. (in reply to hgedia)
In the four-stroke rasgueado demonstrated by Gerardo at 1:46, the fingers are being flicked off of the bent thumb.
Adam del Monte shows how to prepare the fingers in this lesson. At 1:02 he briefly shows the starting position for the five-stroke rasgueado with the pinky tucked behind the thumb.
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RE: Rasgueo fo for starters.. (in reply to hgedia)
Not all rasgueado needs to be loaded and flicked either from thumb or palm. The flicking from a loaded position is mainly to snap into the strings, and most normally to snap into the bass strings. For pinky, if you can't load the thumb, it can be partly tucked in tight to the ring finger so it flicks off the side. I also might flick the ring off the side of m finger as I only "load" i and m on the thumb.
But again, it depends on the type of sound you are doing. This topic comes up all the time, the general idea is that flicking off thumb is "modern" and free-brushing against the treble strings is old school. I disagree with that as both types of rasgueado have use in both modern and very old flamenco playing. In the end it is a matter of personal choice and taste, but several approaches should be considered early on if possible.
Here is a good example with Sabicas, an "old school" player. Right off the first thing you see is him flicking ami off the thumb. I feel it is like I said above, only m and i are actually flicking off thumb, but point is it is important for the sound with old school playing, as well as modern styles. Later the same for llamadas at 2:31, and the end 3:04 same exact technique. Next he plays solea and you see at 5:21 the fingers are free floating to do rasgueado to make a shimmering bright sound on the treble strings. A modern example would be PDL's la barrossa intro rasgueados...any vid of that would be good to see the modern approach with no flicking or loading. Finally, the end buleria of sabicas here, you see at times he flicks off thumb, other times free to end up for a brighter sound. Hope it helps a little.
RE: Rasgueo fo for starters.. (in reply to hgedia)
I like the punchiness of flicked rasgueados but do find that the bass strings dominate. Also, when I anchor the thumb on the 6th string, the 1st string only sounds on the upstroke.
I've heard rasgueados categorised as 'old school' and 'modern' before. It's interesting seeing both styles used by Sabicas and the effects achieved.
Also interesting is the technique of flicking off the sides of the fingers. I wasn't aware of this.
RE: Rasgueo fo for starters.. (in reply to DavidW)
I also get a bassy sound when flicking but I found out that it has something to do with the guitar and the kind of strings. I stoped using heavy strings on the basses and the sound cleared up.
My free reasgueados sounds like "clink clunk clonk" as the nails brush the strings, I guess thats due to lack of technique/strenght. There are no shortcuts to practice, you'll have to be patient and someday you'll get your s#&t togheter.
RE: Rasgueo fo for starters.. (in reply to Ricardo)
Thank you all for your kind input. I was just about to type that how difficult I am finding to get into an angle where I can load the fingers and have a decent attack. I have been at this for about a 10 days... And Viola , today , I finally seem to be getting a decent tension and load.
Another question is on the angle of attack , currently I am flicking at an angle across the strings , this makes it sound a little muddy , but then , I am playing a classical ( & saving to get a flamenco) , so does the angle of attack matter ?
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