new picado exercises (Full Version)

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NormanKliman -> new picado exercises (Nov. 7 2009 10:35:21)

I've just added some new picado exercises to my site and would appreciate feedback if anyone has anything to say.

The audio and graphics for the oldest stuff are still kind of crude. What I'd like to hear about are the picado exercises in the last link of this page:
http://www.ctv.es/USERS/norman/pmiexc.htm (last link, all the way to the right).

They focus on the use of index and middle to change strings, especially in the descent.

In the picado section, the first two exercises are muted eighths and sixteenths, which is something that I thought I'd "discovered," but I noticed an amateur instructional video the other day with the exact same idea. Is that in one of Juan Martin's books or something? Also, I'd be interested in hearing of other studies on using rest strokes in descending picado. It's tremendously awkward for me (much better now[:)]) and I'm sure there are exercises with a similar focus.



Andy Culpepper -> RE: new picado exercises (Nov. 7 2009 11:45:53)

quote:

Is that in one of Juan Martin's books or something?


You guessed it. [:D]

Love the exercises, thanks! I'm gonna try em all today.
Another thing I like to do for picado is just play a scale like E phryggian all the way up but do triplets on every note. Really works the right hand.

Your site is becoming a veritable treasure trove of information my friend. Keep up the good work!



mrMagenta -> RE: new picado exercises (Nov. 8 2009 15:23:40)

I'm going to check them out when my index finger works like it should. I think I injured it opening a carton of milk! How pathetic is that! It had a small plastic screw cork that was welded together way too hard, making the whole carton twist instead of uncorking it.. eventually, after a forceful wrestle, I got it open and all was well, enjoying milk and a movie. few hours later bit worried about the sudden aching at the big knuckle.. and this morning.. feels like I've punched a wall! [:@][:@][:@]

I guess I'm facing an all thumb period.



at_leo_87 -> RE: new picado exercises (Nov. 8 2009 15:46:07)

great stuff norman! i have a blister on my middle finger so i have to lay off the picado exercises for a couple days. but i'll try these when i heal.

magenta, i had a contusion on two of my knuckles last week (or maybe the one before, anyways...). use a bare ice cube to massage it until the whole cube melts. and then wrap your hand up to compress it. heals it MUCH quicker this way.



NormanKliman -> RE: new picado exercises (Nov. 8 2009 22:49:15)

Thanks for the feedback, guys. Please let me know how the exercises work out for you and if you come across any others that pursue the same goal (rest strokes in descending picado).

I've been doing picado with bent fingers for a number of years, and I've known about the importance of rest strokes for a long time, but I seem to have overlooked how the two ideas work together in descending picado. For quite some time, I was focusing on using perfectly equal i-m fingerstokes (like the hammers of a piano), with one finger coming up when the other comes down. This works when picado is on the same string or is moving to a higher-pitched string, but not when moving to a lower-pitched string, because if the striking finger is raised, it will have further to travel to get to that next string. It's kind of like trying to run while goose-stepping! So instead of kicking up my fingers automatically like that (like a line of chorus girls!), I'm focusing on hugging the contour of the pattern across the strings. It looks to me like that's what Grisha is doing in that excellent picado video of his, as well as all the other greats, especially Paco and Sabicas.

"Hugging the contour" is especially awkward when using the middle finger to move to a lower-pitched string. When I first noticed this, I thought it wouldn't make sense to develop it, but I've since realized that the situation comes up all the time in picado falsetas. Sometimes starting with one finger or the other will avoid the issue, but in plenty of other falsetas it's going to happen at some point regardless of the fingering.

So it was a big revelation for me that i-m movements can not be homogeneous in the descent, but I think it's probably one of those elementary bits of knowledge that I should have learned when I started. I'm interested in any comments that anyone might have.

Thanks in advance!



mark indigo -> RE: new picado exercises (Nov. 9 2009 12:15:26)

quote:

I'm focusing on hugging the contour of the pattern across the strings


please explain!

will have a look at the exercises and post some feedback. Also, i have been working on that left hand/barre exercise a bit if you'd like my thoughts on that too.



NormanKliman -> RE: new picado exercises (Nov. 9 2009 15:21:58)

quote:

please explain!

In descending picado, index and middle lay differently on the strings, depending on which finger is used to move down to the next string. For example, Exercise 4 of my upload or any of the measures in Exercise 6, played in a loop. If you make full use of rest strokes, you should notice a big difference between starting the pattern with index and starting with middle. The finger used to move to the new string is bent at a sharper angle, and the other finger "trails behind it" and is more extended.

quote:

...if you'd like my thoughts on that too

Sure, that's why we're here! I'm especially interested in where it might come from.



mark indigo -> RE: new picado exercises (Nov. 12 2009 6:29:37)

Hi Norman, have posted a few thoughts on your exercise on the left hand exercise thread, will get back to this thread in next day or two (and just bumping up this thread while i'm at it so i can find it again easily!)



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