Brush alza pua

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Brush alza pua

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estebanana

Posts: 9372
Joined: Oct. 16 2009

Brush alza pua

This may appear to be a shameless way of playing one of my guitars in public, I assure you that is most certainly is.

However I have a serious question about right hand technique and alza pua that I would like to start a conversation about

There are different kinds of alza pua, some have more nail involved and some use more flesh. There are disagreements among guitarists about alza pua. I have studied with one guitarist and learned how make an alzapua sound and then gone later to another guitarist who wants the alzapua to sound a be technically very different. What's up with that?

I like the brush method because allows you shade the alza pua and you don't have to have the technical ability to sound like an air wrench or machine gun.

BABBABABABABABABABABABBA

You know the kind of thumb work that you hear and go 'oh wow! Well there's more to alza pua than sheer power ripping, and mortals like me without bionic technical abilities can use the brush alzapua to shade, color and fill in with little pinches between lines of cante when doing accompaniment.

I would like to hear from guitar players of all levels; Grisha - Ricardo Marlow pros to beginners can participate. Maybe we can share ideas about alza pua- different riffs from easy to difficult. Where to fit it in the compas, the differences between hard nail digging ripping and subtle inflection with nail and flesh.

I made a video of me trying to show the brushy way, make some examples of how you do it and lets share ideas.

_____________________________

https://www.stephenfaulkguitars.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 13 2014 6:26:07

rombsix

Posts: 7816
Joined: Jan. 11 2006
From: Beirut, Lebanon

RE: Brush alza pua (in reply to estebanana)

My personal take is that you are showing two angles of doing basically the same thing, one with more nail & one with less nail... The other ways of doing alzapua include thumb noodling (down with thumb, up with thumb on a single string, simulating the sound of a Oud with a rishi), alzapua antigua which involves using the index finger in combination with the pulgar, and the last way is doing double alzapua which means doing two initial down strokes on a string & then the rest is like the usual situation.

But what do I know...

Dōmo arigatō!

_____________________________

Ramzi

http://www.youtube.com/rombsix

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 13 2014 12:11:57

estebanana

Posts: 9372
Joined: Oct. 16 2009

RE: Brush alza pua (in reply to estebanana)

Maybe I was not clear enough because I don't play very much. Perhaps I'll just take it down because its confusing. I think there are two different kinds of thumb however. One way is with the thumb more perpendicular to the string using primarily nail, and the other brushes thew strings more parallel and uses the fleshy part of the thumb plus nail. Which is different. One commenter on you tube suggested it woud lead to blistered thumbs, and hels correct, until you play enough to get callous where the nail grows out of your thumb.

Could you demonstrate those last two? The Antiguo and the double thumb method?

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 13 2014 23:05:14

rombsix

Posts: 7816
Joined: Jan. 11 2006
From: Beirut, Lebanon

RE: Brush alza pua (in reply to estebanana)

I think you indeed were clear in your explanation, but it seems we are not agreeing on what you mean by "different". In my mind, both things you are describing are nuances of the same technique: one of them includes more nail, the other includes more flesh. Effectively though both include a pulgar rest stroke, then a downstroke from bass to treble, followed by an upstroke from trebles to bass. So in my eyes, the two techniques are mostly the same & the main difference is just the angle of attack which either includes more nail & less flesh or the other way around (where perpendicular = 100% nail & parallel = 100% flesh).

The other two I will hopefully demonstrate once I have access to my guitar & recording equipment, but I am sure you can find videos of them being demonstrated in the meantime before I actually make a demo clip for you...

_____________________________

Ramzi

http://www.youtube.com/rombsix

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 14 2014 8:57:54

rombsix

Posts: 7816
Joined: Jan. 11 2006
From: Beirut, Lebanon

RE: Brush alza pua (in reply to rombsix)

Look at this starting from 4:23 & onwards...

I'll search for an alzapua antigua one & see what I can find.

_____________________________

Ramzi

http://www.youtube.com/rombsix

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 14 2014 10:40:37

rombsix

Posts: 7816
Joined: Jan. 11 2006
From: Beirut, Lebanon

RE: Brush alza pua (in reply to rombsix)

2:48 through 2:51 is alzapua antigua.

Man, the flamenco police is going to kill me for the two references I just made...

Also here:

And here:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/123061472/Alzapua-Antigua-Gerardo-Nunez

And here:

http://www.soloexitos.es/descargar-falsetas-alzapua-antigua-solea-paco_4f0f75d.html

And here:

http://www.goear.com/listen/4f0f75d/alzapua-antigua-solea-paco-falsetas

_____________________________

Ramzi

http://www.youtube.com/rombsix

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 14 2014 10:46:15

estebanana

Posts: 9372
Joined: Oct. 16 2009

RE: Brush alza pua (in reply to estebanana)

I can't stay on topic,

woe is me.

_____________________________

https://www.stephenfaulkguitars.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 14 2014 12:48:52

Ricardo

Posts: 14845
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC

RE: Brush alza pua (in reply to estebanana)

quote:

ORIGINAL: estebanana

This may appear to be a shameless way of playing one of my guitars in public, I assure you that is most certainly is.

However I have a serious question about right hand technique and alza pua that I would like to start a conversation about

There are different kinds of alza pua, some have more nail involved and some use more flesh. There are disagreements among guitarists about alza pua. I have studied with one guitarist and learned how make an alzapua sound and then gone later to another guitarist who wants the alzapua to sound a be technically very different. What's up with that?

I like the brush method because allows you shade the alza pua and you don't have to have the technical ability to sound like an air wrench or machine gun.

BABBABABABABABABABABABBA

You know the kind of thumb work that you hear and go 'oh wow! Well there's more to alza pua than sheer power ripping, and mortals like me without bionic technical abilities can use the brush alzapua to shade, color and fill in with little pinches between lines of cante when doing accompaniment.

I would like to hear from guitar players of all levels; Grisha - Ricardo Marlow pros to beginners can participate. Maybe we can share ideas about alza pua- different riffs from easy to difficult. Where to fit it in the compas, the differences between hard nail digging ripping and subtle inflection with nail and flesh.

I made a video of me trying to show the brushy way, make some examples of how you do it and lets share ideas.

type 1. real alzapua
type 2. people who think they know how to do alzapua attempting but getting wrong attack and sound.

_____________________________

CD's and transcriptions available here:
www.ricardomarlow.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 15 2014 3:11:32

estebanana

Posts: 9372
Joined: Oct. 16 2009

RE: Brush alza pua (in reply to Ricardo)

quote:

ype 2. people who think they know how to do alzapua attempting but getting wrong attack and sound.

Well at least I'm 50% correct.

But there is a thing David showed me that was brushy and it is effective. I also disagree there is a such thing as "wrong sound". It's like saying those plants are weeds and these plants are plants. Weeds are just plants you don't want, but they are still plants. Are you sure you've never seen anything brushy with the thumb? Because I'm pretty sure he specifically separated it from the alzapua of type#1.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 15 2014 3:49:47

Ricardo

Posts: 14845
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC

RE: Brush alza pua (in reply to estebanana)

quote:

Weeds are just plants you don't want, but they are still plants.

I am gonna call the gardner and tell him to yank up all the plants, then spread some plant seeds and while at it mow the plants and finally water and trim the plants. If he screws it up I am calling the flamenco police.

_____________________________

CD's and transcriptions available here:
www.ricardomarlow.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 15 2014 4:19:53

rombsix

Posts: 7816
Joined: Jan. 11 2006
From: Beirut, Lebanon

RE: Brush alza pua (in reply to Ricardo)

quote:

If he screws it up I am calling the flamenco police.

Now THAT's entertainment.

Olé!

_____________________________

Ramzi

http://www.youtube.com/rombsix

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 15 2014 7:15:07

turnermoran

Posts: 391
Joined: Feb. 6 2010

RE: Brush alza pua (in reply to rombsix)

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 19 2014 17:27:38

El Burro Flamencuro

Posts: 118
Joined: Nov. 28 2012

RE: Brush alza pua (in reply to estebanana)

I think both are great, and both should be used. Just be aware of what sound you want. I believe paco does it both ways too.
In this video, paco's thumb work is very light in the beginning, later on in the video he does some alzapua that is slightly harder but it's not nearly as agressive as he does in other songs like the beginning of almoraima. there are probably better examples than almoraima but i can't think of them right now.