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I'm new to this forum so hope I'm asking this question in the right place!
I'm currently learning the tune "El Cancion del Mariachi" from the film Desperado. The tutorial video below is very helpful:
My question is concerning the stumming technique he begins to use around 0:25 - does anyone have any idea how he creates the percussive, tapping sound every couple of strokes?
I can't figure it out, it doesn't look like he is tapping or muting any strings! If anyone knows what this technique is called and can point me in the direction of how to do it, it would be much appreciated. Cheers,
RE: Strumming technique - El Cancion... (in reply to SimonM86)
He is using apagado with the right hand, or a technique similar to the "palm mute" I show below. I suggest you use my strumming techniques as per the video below (the second pattern, where I do muting) however because I humbly must say that they are closer to what is being used in Cancion del Mariachi (the theme from the Desperado movie, on which the fellow's tutorial is about).
Not a bad tutorial by the fellow - it's amazing how he's gotten so many views. I had a better tutorial than him (more accurate, humbly), but it was taken down due to copyright issues. YouTube is just too uptight these days.
PS: Simon - what Fred was trying to say was that this is a flamenco forum, and Mariachi music is very different from flamenco. However, there are some strumming techniques that might be common to rumba (which is one of the lighter forms of flamenco) and Mariachi music.
RE: Strumming technique - El Cancion... (in reply to SimonM86)
Thanks for the quick response Ramzi! I like your videos, they break the technique down very clearly, I'll check out your channel.
Please excuse my ignorance, I usually automatically assume any cool, Spanish-sounding guitar music must be flamenco! I'll have to investigate the Mariachi and Rumba styles.
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Joined: Jul. 12 2009
From: Washington, DC
RE: Strumming technique - El Cancion... (in reply to SimonM86)
This technique is a "palm mute," and it is found in a lot of Mexican songs, particularly "Rancheros" of Northern Mexico in the state of Sonora. If you really want to hear this technique brought to perfection, I recommend obtaining a CD (or an old vinyl album) by Bud and Travis, a folk duo that was popular in the 1960s and 70s. Bud and Travis performed many Mexican songs, in Spanish, and they were just exquisite.
There are two songs, in particular, that incorporate the "palm mute," along with strategically placed "rasqueados," not across the strings, but on the sound board, that add to the effect. I say "rasqueado" on the sound board because it is not really a "golpe." The songs are entitled "Malaguena Salerosa" and "Cielito Lindo son Juasteco." This is a totally different "Cielito Lindo" than the standard issue song one hears at every watering hole in Guadalaja or Mazatlan. It is heartbreakingly beautiful the way Bud and Travis sing it and accompany it on their guitars.
In my opinion, Bud and Travis, although both Americans, sing these songs better than any Mexican singers and musicians I have heard. They were really first-rate.
Cheers,
Bill
_____________________________
And the end of the fight is a tombstone white, With the name of the late deceased, And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here, Who tried to hustle the East."
RE: Strumming technique - El Cancion... (in reply to FredSanford)
quote:
ORIGINAL: FredSanford
quote:
it's amazing how he's gotten so many views. I had a better tutorial than him (more accurate, humbly),
just use pics of chicks with big hooters for the thumbnail in the vid settings and you will get more views.....
I have clicked on too many hooter thumbnails on youtube when there was NONE in the video, to find your remark funny. It makes me so angry that people abuse my naivety, lol.
RE: Strumming technique - El Cancion... (in reply to SimonM86)
quote:
Thanks for the quick response Ramzi! I like your videos, they break the technique down very clearly, I'll check out your channel.
Please excuse my ignorance, I usually automatically assume any cool, Spanish-sounding guitar music must be flamenco! I'll have to investigate the Mariachi and Rumba styles.
Don't worry mate - many people get confused. That is partly why we have this forum - to try to spread awareness, and maybe summon aficionados of other styles over to the dark side of flamenco.
Posts: 3497
Joined: Jul. 12 2009
From: Washington, DC
RE: Strumming technique - El Cancion... (in reply to FredSanford)
quote:
Pendejo...
Quien, Tu?
Cheers,
Bill
_____________________________
And the end of the fight is a tombstone white, With the name of the late deceased, And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here, Who tried to hustle the East."
Posts: 3497
Joined: Jul. 12 2009
From: Washington, DC
RE: Strumming technique - El Cancion... (in reply to Escribano)
quote:
Off-topic and insulting. Public apology please.
Thank you, Simon.
Cheers,
Bill
_____________________________
And the end of the fight is a tombstone white, With the name of the late deceased, And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here, Who tried to hustle the East."
Posts: 3487
Joined: Jan. 20 2004
From: Austin, Texas USA
RE: Strumming technique - El Cancion... (in reply to BarkellWH)
quote:
ORIGINAL: BarkellWH
In my opinion, Bud and Travis, although both Americans, sing these songs better than any Mexican singers and musicians I have heard. They were really first-rate.
Cheers,
Bill
Malagueña Salerosa, Bud & Travis
Los Tres Reyes (Mexicans)
BTW the leads on both versions are on requintos by the great Mexico City luthier Juan Pimentel Ramirez. Gilberto Puente is the requinto for Los Tres Reyes. Puente worked with Pimentel to develop a newer version of the requinto.
It sounds, and looks to me like the player in the original post does the palm mute with the fingers curled over, striking the soundboard at the same time as he mutes the strings.
Posts: 3497
Joined: Jul. 12 2009
From: Washington, DC
RE: Strumming technique - El Cancion... (in reply to Richard Jernigan)
quote:
Where else but a flamenco forum would someone mistake trio romantico music for mariachi?
Or Bud and Travis performing "Malaguena Salerosa" or "Cielito Lindo son Juasteco," neither of which comes close to mariachi music the way they do it. We all have our preconceived opinions of what constitutes a particular genre of music, that is until we actually learn something about it. When I look back on how ignorant I was about flamenco when I first started learning to play it (even though I thought I knew something about it at the time), I am amazed.
Cheers,
Bill
_____________________________
And the end of the fight is a tombstone white, With the name of the late deceased, And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here, Who tried to hustle the East."
Posts: 3487
Joined: Jan. 20 2004
From: Austin, Texas USA
RE: Strumming technique - El Cancion... (in reply to Ricardo)
quote:
ORIGINAL: Ricardo
quote:
Malagueña Salerosa, Bud & Travis
not bad....but can they do Malagueña del Mellizo?????
Hmmm, I doubt it. Enrique El Mellizo says that if the girl doesn't love him, he wants to die. The Mexican says she won't flirt with him, but he still wants to kiss her...
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Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
RE: Strumming technique - El Cancion... (in reply to Richard Jernigan)
quote:
Enrique El Mellizo says that if the girl doesn't love him, he wants to die. The Mexican says she won't flirt with him, but he still wants to kiss her...
And THAT sums up the difference between Manzanilla and Tequila.