Welcome to one of the most active flamenco sites on the Internet. Guests can read most posts but if you want to participate click here to register.
This site is dedicated to the memory of Paco de Lucía, Ron Mitchell, Guy Williams, Linda Elvira, Philip John Lee, Craig Eros, Ben Woods, David Serva and Tom Blackshear who went ahead of us.
We receive 12,200 visitors a month from 200 countries and 1.7 million page impressions a year. To advertise on this site please contact us.
Is there any material (youtube videos..) with focus in the strenght one applies when playing? Something that would show "here's the amount of strenght Iam applying on this Tangos rasgueo, here's the same thing if I was doing it with all my strenght, etc"
Ive been paying more attention to dynamics (yay!) and it seems to me that all those powerful rasgueos sound more powerful and defined if one doesnt go full blast.
So... any "how much force" videos instead of "which finger goes where" videos?
Rui, The best advice I have received from any teacher is to play with minimal effort/low volume especially when you are practicing at home. It is more important to play the mechanism (i.e., rasgueo, arpeggio, picado, etc) correctly. Playing with a lot of force/effort and too much volume where your muscles are very tight will cause injury and will impede your ability to play at rapid tempos. Whenever you feel insecure about a technique or falseta, etc., you should approach it with low volume and a light touch to avoid a build-up of tension in your hands, arms, and body. I would try to increase tempo without increasing volume as well. It is important not to associate fast tempos with loud/forceful playing.
My perception on this changed a lot when I saw one of those La Sonanta videos where Dominguez stops and does the same i(up) a(down) i(down) but with more force to show how it shouldnt be done.
I think this must be one of the major downsides of not having anyone to play with (flamenco), its hard to measure strenght and attack angles from videos.
Another video that made me approach things differently was a short solea one where the camera is on the bridge end of the guitar. I wonder why arent all instruction videos done like this when showing the right hand... seen from the inside (palm), its much easier to grasp whats happening and the "balance" of the hand throughout the compas.
@Don Dionisio, I'll practice playing so whimpy that on the next challenge (tangos) I'll be spoted by my paintbrush right hand
Another video that made me approach things differently was a short solea one where the camera is on the bridge end of the guitar. I wonder why arent all instruction videos done like this when showing the right hand... seen from the inside (palm), its much easier to grasp whats happening and the "balance" of the hand throughout the compas.
The reason is when looking at your own hand while playing or in the mirror, things look different than that angle.
About "strength", yes, many players do certain things too hard, and other things too lightly.
Don't tell my death metal friends I got that black metal joke
We're talking about one of the most deathmetally black metal bands so... I think you're safe
@Ricardo, I wasnt saying that entire videos should be shot at this angle, I just think that some techniques would benefit from a picture-in-picture with this palm of the hand position. I feel that this camera position gives a more 3D perspective of what the hand is doing and when.
@Ricardo, I wasnt saying that entire videos should be shot at this angle, I just think that some techniques would benefit from a picture-in-picture with this palm of the hand position. I feel that this camera position gives a more 3D perspective of what the hand is doing and when.
I agree, more angles and close ups CAN help. I was just giving a possible reason why it is not done as much. There is a PDL concert from 2004 in Germany and the majority of close ups are this angle, and it is quite interesting.