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Developing dynamics - Loud Vs Quiet
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flybynight
Posts: 121
Joined: Aug. 14 2009
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Developing dynamics - Loud Vs Quiet
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Something that has always struck me as important in appreciating flamenco, almost *as* important as compas, is the dynamics of the guitar playing. By this I mean the deliberate use of sound Vs emptyness within a compas phrase, and between phrases, to really bring out the aire of a piece. I've tried below to set out as much as I can think of around it - as a non-expert, to provoke discussion, but it's open-season really. First physical and technical,which are perhaps pre-requisites to the second - emotional and musical aspects. Physical Aspects Physically speaking, I would guess this means - strong fingers, hands, and all muscles that guide them, and having all these very relaxed when playing. - lots of practice playing exercises and real pieces. - 'square' cut nails - not rounded, to really give bit (arguably..). And also a thumbnail well filed to do both hard (click off the string), and more fleshy - softer contact. Technical Aspects I would guess this means actively (consciously) practicing the use of dynamics alongside other technical exercises: - Rasguedo - using the more powerful 'flicking out from the thumb' Vs the less aggressive 'fingers from the palm' technique. Practise going from Quiet > Loud > Quiet - Tresillo - PAI (seems quiter) Vs P (A or M) P (seems to be used to punctuate phrases). Practice going from Quiet > Loud > Quiet on both. - Tremolo - a) introducing a gap: P(gap here)IAMI, while still staying in compas with the P as the anchor. Eg. Practice playing the thumb loud, and the fingers quiet, then vice versa. b) Thumb playing rest stroke to increase the dynamics Vs free stroke, which is quieter. Practise going from Quiet > Loud > Quiet - Picado - really 'pushing in' the string to build up the tension before releasing it Vs just making enough contact. Or should Picado always be loud ? - Use of dampening techniques (pinkie on left hand, fleshy part on right hand to REALLY make the transition between Loud-> Quiet. Moraito is a master at this. For practicing dynamics generally, - Should we develop dynamics as crazily as we do compas, or leave dynamics until compas has been nailed ? - What specific techniques to practice, like I have suggested above ? - Should we practice 'over the top' dynamics - really quiet and loud, just to force our fingers and brains to make the necessary stretch ? Emotional and Musical aspects I would guess this means a profound and long period of listening and witnessing toque, baile and cante, to understand how to interleave the physical/technical dynamics above, into what would otherwise be a very 'flat' piece of music, with little emotional connection. But it seems (shoot me down..) that old school - sabicas, montoya, pena use very few dynamics in comparison to newer school - always trying to project the music at the cost of subtlety. Is this just because to accompany baile / cante , it needed to be loud, it wasn't a solo instrument really, and so the aesthetics of dynamics weren't really important, or were, the recording tools available, or even the guitars not up to it, and nobody would have appreciated it if they did more dynamic playing ? Within different Palos, is there the idea of dynamics of playing - ie 'call' and 'answer' eg, Again, I love the way Moraito, on Morao Morao, on the last Siguirillas seems to do this.. really separating out the 3/4 from the 6/8 part sof the phrase, sometimes one part quiet, sometimes the other. When accompanying Cante, presumably dynamics are very important to embody that individual performance, the mood of the singer etc. Presumably more important than accompanying Baile?. The first time I saw my guitar teacher accompany baile, I couldn't believe how little dynamics he used, how much he thrashed the guitar, and how knackered he was at the end. But he really did have the gentle touch for solo work. For solo playing, aside from compas, dynamics seem (to me) to separate out the good from poor players, from an appreciation perspective. Summary I'd like everybody's thoughts on: a) how to achieve dynamics as a flamenco guitar player, how to effectively practice them, and when to start introducing this element as a learner. b) how important dynamics are, and how they vary between solo playing, accompanying baile, and accompanying cante. When should we use them to best effect, and when to avoid them. c) when to apply dynamics to their best effect, between phrases within a palo, and across different palos
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Date Jan. 5 2010 6:48:27
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