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So I am new. I've been learning and playing for a bit. I'd like to get a little more serious and systematic, and one thing that troubles me is that if I try to practice amiiamii.... where I am setting up for each next round as I play the ii, it feels very stressful. Besides just trying to relaxing, are there any tips anyone can offer so that I can practice without developing injuries?
This feels like a very different technique than just trying to clearly articulate amii for one pass (for which it feels easier to relax since the ami finishes with a relaxed open hand and the up i brings all fingers up together).
Posts: 1025
Joined: Oct. 14 2009
From: New York City
RE: practicing amiiamii... without d... (in reply to ptmikulski)
First - stay relaxed. Then - when you do the downstroke with i, in the same motion bring a and m back up into playing position. That way, after you do the upstroke with i, a and m are already ready to start the next sequence.
Practice it very slowly with a metronome at first.
RE: practicing amiiamii... without d... (in reply to ptmikulski)
When focusing on exercises for improving technique, I think a good strategy for avoiding injury is frequently alternating among different kinds of exercises.
Suppose you're focusing on picado. Play picado for 3-5 minutes and then switch to, say, pulgar for a few minutes. Then picado again for another 3-5, and then, say, tremolo for a few minutes.
Alternating like that has at least two benefits. First, alternating among different kinds of technique more closely approximates the songs you probably want to play (which is the point, after all!). Second, the frequent breaks provide more clearly defined opportunities for recognizing unhealthy fatigue. (For whatever reason, I think it's more difficult to recognize that one is at greater risk of injury if one practices only one kind of technique for a sustained period of time).
In addition to the above, I'd recommend some light finger yoga. I do some of the finger exercises, typically hours after I've practiced guitar. It's a healthy way to relieve the stress that accumulates from playing, and it's better than cracking your knuckles: http://fingeryoga.com/
RE: practicing amiiamii... without d... (in reply to ptmikulski)
Thanks for the advice and encouragement. I had been practicing mainly the free floating paipaip... rasgueado because it feels more natural and relaxed (and no strained feelings in the elbow).
Posts: 15318
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
RE: practicing amiiamii... without d... (in reply to ptmikulski)
You should first examin how you are doing the technique. Are you flicking fingers off a bent thumb or shooting them from the palm, or are they more free?
THis is one of the first techniques I teach and I use Solea Escobilla type compas to work on it. First just short burst, then adding it up so the amii amii adds up to accent the third beat of each chord, while keeping basic compas with index for the rest. As you develop control you can add a new group of amii so your phrases of rasgueado can get longer and longer untill you can pretty much do entire compases with the technique.
Hard to explain without a video demo, but basically you must keep a groove and do short bursts of it in rhythm then gradually build up to longer and longer continuous phrases of amii...
RE: practicing amiiamii... without d... (in reply to Ricardo)
Thanks Ricardo, it was your flamenco-teacher videos that are helping me out and encouraged me to post for freedback. I'm in annapolis, so I might be interested in some lessons if you are available for in person lessons at some point. I just get so darn nervous whenever I play even the most basic things to anyone, that I've just been going it alone with books and videos and lots of listening to guitar and cante.
I think I'd like the technique to be more from the palm / a bit free if possible, I guess more like what I see in your video clips. The shooting out from the bent thumb, like shooting a cocked spring gun, I don't think that is the kind of connection I want to feel when playing, though I can see hear how it can be very effective.
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Pretty soon you will be doing it on everything, tabletops, beer bottles etc. I'm sure it looks strange.
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