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guitarristamadrid -> picado - my views (Feb. 4 2010 15:10:33)
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Hey guys, I saw an interesting debate going on about flat versus "flexed" picado or something like that. I think the main difference you are getting at is that you can either hold the fingers straight, or bent. Sabicas played with the fingers straight, whereas Paco has them extremely bent.
I have been obsessed with picado, practicing it 6 hours a day with each adjacent pair of fingers (I and M, M and A, A and pinky) for a while now. God, I have so many picado exercises it's ridiculous, I have an incredible one that takes 3 hours to do start to finish
Anyway, believe or not, but I understand the flat vs. flexed debate, and I'll tell you my answer:
They are the same.
They work in the exact same way.
The apparent difference is actually superficial; it just had to do with the angle you hold the hand. The finger tips are contacting the strings in the exact same way.
I alternate between the two all the time, sometimes playing one or the other, and I can go about equally fast with both.
In Entri's class, there are two students who have an exceptionally good picado. Jony, who plays extremely similarly to Paco, and Aquilino, who uses completely straight fingers. If you watch them play picado, they look completely different. But both can play extremely fast and nail things in perfect compas. Jony tends to have a bit better tone and almost never makes a mistake in a picado run, whereas Aquilino is more likely to make a mistake and sometimes gets weaker notes, but has a max velocity faster than anyone I have ever seen, or even heard a recording of.
All of my millions of hours practicing picado have taught me:
1. If you want a solid, thick tone (Paco is the best example of this) you have to dig your fingers into the string so it hits deep on your fingertip. The more naily you catch the string, the weaker and thinner the tone is
2. You have to keep your hand relaxed to play well. Tension appears = speed disappears
3. You have to move your hand in a way that the fingers contact each string at the same angle. Watch your hand as you move up or down the strings (I mean from the 1st to the 2nd to the 3rd). Most people do not keep the same angle. This tendency will destroy you and it must be overcome. Both the flat and flexed approaches overcome this tendency
Picado is actually many techniques in one. Can you repeat notes super fast on one string? That's one piece. Can you play vertically up or down the strings (E string to A string to D string etc) with the same speed? Can you change your left hand fast enough to match the notes with your right? Can you play scales equally well starting with either of the fingers you are using? Can you jump up a string as easily as you can jump down a string, jumping both with I on a lower string and M on a higher string (easier of the two, for most) and with I on a higher string and M on a lower string? To see what I mean with the last one, try this: put I on the 1st string (E) and M on the 2nd (B). Now alternate the two in a trill, playing the notes EBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEB as fast as you can. The fingers are not changing strings, I is just playing the 1st string and M is playing the second, alternating the two notes as fast as possible. Hard no? But if you can't do that with the exact same speed as you can if you reverse the fingers, then your picado is going to be limited.
I have never seen a player who can do all of this equally. Entri teaches us about 10 specific scales just to practice picado, and each one tends to emphasize a certain aspect of motion. They are quite different from each other. I have never seen anybody who could play them all equally fast.
One day I'll make a video demonstrating some of this and showing how the two approaches are actually the same on a deeper level.
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