flybynight -> RE: composing duende feeling flamenco ideas (Apr. 19 2010 5:13:15)
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Part of the answer must lie the really nitty-gritty detail of technique, and it still amazes me how a single bar of Manolo Sanlucar's playing will move me more than a whole Otmar hoojamawhatsisface album. When he plays, it's as if every damn note counts like it's the last note he will ever play. And there is the key I think. One evening, instead of doing your usual practice routing, spend two hours focussing on a single note. Really. Hold a bar chord, and with your ring finger, focus on the distinct stages: - the initial movement, and speed of your finger as it hammers on the string. Look exactly where on your finger tip you are hitting the string. And how reliably you can hit the same, sweetest spot. - the holding down of the note before you release it.. is your finger comfortable ? - how long can you hold down the note for - does it get unconfortable.. are all muscles in your left hand completely relaxed, and if not, why not ? - the hammer-off - does the pull-off angle feel comfortable, how much tension do you need to use, really ? Will more tension give you a buzz, and so the angle isn't correct ? Try faster, slower, play with the dynamics like it's a granaina. How softly can you play, how loudly, can you switch effortlessly between the two without any jerkiness or tension. And now do that for every different technique, both right and left hand. So yep.. I'm sure much of this duende can only be 'soaked in' over time, but the ability to concentrate and deconstruct, then reconstruct, in slow motion, every facet of playing must be useful, and gives us the sublety and awareness to project any emotion that we want to put into the music, as inspiration allows ?
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