I've been away. But not from my guitar. Now I'm on to Siguiriyas. I love it. I'd sum it up as: strong, driven, beautiful, bittersweet.
The count is like soleares but starts in a different place. You begin with the 2 beats then go to 3s.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 rest.
But I actually count it to 5, which for some bizarre and unfathomable reasons I can do easily with this but not with soleares or bularias.
1 and 2 and 3 and-a four-and-a five. Pause. One...
Equally strangely: counting this way to 5 rather than 12 makes me feel uber flamenco.
Here is someone doing it better than me. (Although I'm not bad at it, so feeling good about my playing. Watch our compadres.)
Showing posts with label flamenco technique. Show all posts
Showing posts with label flamenco technique. Show all posts
Friday, 5 March 2010
Monday, 12 October 2009
Little Tip
Man, I'm busy. Not time for playing hardly. Back down to 20 minutes a day. That's not going to get me to Duende. So I'm going to start a series of Little Tips. Or it might not be a series, it might be the only one. We'll see. It's dependent on a) global economy & how busy it keeps me 2) me knowing enough about flamenco guitar to create a series.
Like your body and the way you sit or walk, think of your hand having posture. Keep standing your hand upright when you're playing a picado. Don't slouch. But not so much you look like an stuck up type. Your trying to balance strength and speed. It needs to have some roundness to create force.
Well that's what I've learnt so far. But hey I'm no Paco.
Like your body and the way you sit or walk, think of your hand having posture. Keep standing your hand upright when you're playing a picado. Don't slouch. But not so much you look like an stuck up type. Your trying to balance strength and speed. It needs to have some roundness to create force.
Well that's what I've learnt so far. But hey I'm no Paco.
Friday, 14 August 2009
Fundamentals: rasgueado
From day one, there were two things I desperately wanted to get good at quickly. Unfortunately nothing happens quickly in learning flamenco. At least, not for me. Those two things were: the tremolo and the rasgueado.
To my mind they are uniquely flamenco. But that just shows how ignorant I am. I’ve since learnt that they are techniques that are commonly used in classical guitar. Does that mean flamenco took it and adopted it? Or t’other way round? No idea.
But what’s clear is that they sound wonderful in both styles. The most obvious difference is that in flamenco it, well, kind of ruder. Especially the rasgueado. Which is just about the most abusive, aggressive tool in any guitarists armoury. I’m surprised it hasn’t become standard in the rock guitar world. Maybe that’s because rock guitar is obsessed about left hand technique and pays (relatively) less time on the right hand.
It takes time to perfect. And my rolling rasgueado is at best stumbling. But whether 3 or 4 or 5 it rocks. And my wrist rasgueado is beginning to get some speed (occasionally erratic, like an old fiat.)
The best tip I heard was to practise in normal life. By that I mean, to flick out your fingers as you do other stuff. You know, normal life. The bit that usually gets in the way of perfecting technique. In this instance, it can help. On trains, planes, in the office, in meetings, at dinner, even (to the enormous annoyance of my beautiful other) as I’m nodding off.
This is something I found online that explains rasgueado in more detail. If you’re learning stick with it. One day you’ll find that it just clicks and you have the three things that perfect it: 1. speed 2. consistency in that speed 3. power - aggressive, energetic, life affirming power. I hope Paul doesn't mind. You can find it here:
http://www.wannalearn.com/Fine_Arts/Music/Instruments/Guitar/Flamenco_Guitar/rasgueado.html
The Art of Rasgueado
====================
(c) Paul Magnussen, 1995
All rights reserved
Rasgueado means "strummed" in Spanish, but in English the word is usually
used only to denote the rhythmically complex kind of strumming that is
characteristic of flamenco guitar.
There are two completely distinct kinds of rasgueado, each with its own
subtle variations: one produced by the fingers alone, and one produced by
a motion of the wrist. Classical guitarists are typically taught (and are
sometimes aware of, even) only the first.
The profound influence of Flamenco on the classical guitar repertory, both
directly and indirectly (through transcriptions of pieces by Albeniz,
etc.), means that a knowledge of these techniques is of great benefit
(indeed, is indispensable) to the guitarist who wishes to have a complete
vocabulary.
The following is the result of observation of, and interviews with, most
of the leading flamenco guitarists, with the notable exceptions of Ramon
Montoya, Nino Ricardo and Paco de Lucia. In particular, I had long
discussions at various times with my teachers, Paco Pena and Mario
Escudero. Nevertheless, the responsibility for any errors remains my own.
One thing that emerges very clearly is that each major flamenco guitarist
has his own preferred way of doing rasgueado, so that there is no single
"right" way" (although there may be "wrong" in the sense of untraditional,
or dysfunctional, ways).
1. The Basic Rasgueado
======================
1.1 Mechanics
-------------
The simplest rasgueado is performed from the basic (normal) hand position.
1) The fingers are curled (but NOT held tightly) into the palm of the
hand.
2) The little (x, sometimes written e) finger is allowed to fall downwards
across the string, followed in turn by the a, m and i fingers, thus
producing in principle four strummed chords, thus:
x a m i
-----------
|-----------|
| | | |
A A A A
| | | |
(The "A" is meant to denote an upward-pointing arrow (bass to treble), and
a "V" will be used for treble to bass.)
Note the following points, which are often the subject of misconceptions:
- It is NOT necessary for one finger to finish its travel before the next
one
begins.
- The fingers are NOT held tightly in the palm and "fired" across the
strings.
It is indeed possible, and legitimate, to play a rasgueado in this way;
but this it is not the basic rasgueado, it is used when a particular
percussive effect is desired.
1.2 Timing
----------
There are two distinct ways to use the basic rasgueado, and these are
often confused:
1) The chords may be played evenly, with each taking up (in principle),
the
time of a semiquaver (16th note), as shown above. All rasgueados
occurring
in BASIC flamenco forms may be represented this way, e.g. Bulerias:
i i i i x a m i i i
--- --- ----------- | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |-----------| | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | V | | V A V A V A A A A V | V
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
x x | x x | x | x | | | | | | x |
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Here the x's are taps (golpes) on the body of the guitar. This shows the
modern way of playing bulerias. e.g. that of Paco Pena. Note that beat 10
is an upstroke of the index finger (following a rasgueado); we shall come
back to this in a minute.
2) However, the rasgueado may also be used as an ORNAMENT. In this case,
the
first three strokes will precede the beat slightly, and the final
stroke
will be ON the beat and take the emphasis: the first three strokes
occupying, (again in principle), theoretically no time, as in an
acciacatura.
(It defeats my ingenuity to notate this in ASCII. However, an example
from
the classical repertory would be the 7th-fret barre B7 chord in
Leyenda.)
Now let us return to the first case. We said that the rasgueado occupied
beat 9, with an upstroke of the index for beat 10.
In older times -- up to and including that of Sabicas -- the upstroke was
generally not played. The timing of the rasgueado was extended, so that
the final downstroke (with the index) fell on beat 10. We might then
represent the first part of the rasgueado as a triplet, thus:
|
v
3
i i i i x a m i i
--- --- ------- | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |-------| | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | V | | V A V A V A A A A | V
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
x x | x x | x | x | | | | | x |
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Here, though, the link between notation and reality is starting to blur.
the important thing is that beat 10 should arrive on time; one could delay
the rasgueado by as much or little as one liked; could in fact, play it as
an ornament to beat 10, as described in 2) above.
Here, I think, is the source of the confusion between the two forms of
rasgueado. Nevertheless -- even though in this particular case one could
use either -- they are distinct.
1.3 Variations
--------------
When a very fast rasgueado is wanted, the stroke of the little finger can
be omitted. One hears this not infrequently (for example) in the playing
of Paco de Lucia.
Conversely, the rasgueado may be expanded by following it with a downward
stroke of the thumb. Or, the thumb may be allowed to travel downwards
with the final (index) finger, but not touching the strings, and then
brought UP across the strings (treble to bass) to complete the rasgueado.
2. Continuous rasgueado
=======================
Things really start to get complex when a continuous rasgueado is desired.
The first thing that occurs to one's thought is naturally to repeat a
single rasgueado multiple times. Here, though, we begin to hit a problem:
at the end of a single rasgueado the fingers are spread out, and it's
necessary to curl them into the palm again. However, the delay in doing
this nullifies the whole effect.
The solution is:
1) not to straighten the fingers entirely, but only as much as is
necessary to
complete a downward strum.
2) To bring the little finger back into the palm AS THE FIRST FINGER IS
MOVING FORWARD, and vice versa. This is not easy, and takes
considerable
practice. When mastered, however, it produces a beautiful drumroll
rasgueado of amazing evenness. This is the method preferred (for
example)
by Juanito Serrano, who was one if the "fenomenos" of the 50's and
60's.
(Juan is currently professor of guitar at UC Fresno.)
Another solution is to follow the final downstroke with an upstroke of the
index finger, which also brings the other fingers with it, preparing for
the next repetition. This makes five strokes per rasgueado, and a single
beat is thus a quintuplet. This is the method favoured by Paco Pena. e.g
in soleares -- here are the first three beats:
5 5
x a m i i x a m i i i i
--------------- --------------- ---
|---------------| |---------------| | |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
A A A A V A A A A V A V
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | x |
1 2 3
More complex variations are also possible (Nino Ricardo apparently used to
START his rasgueado with an upstroke), but that would take me beyond the
scope of this basic explanation.
3. Triplets
============
There is another completely distinct form of rasgueado which is produced
by the wrist. It is extremely fast and powerful, and consists of one
upward motion and two downward motions. However, there is possibly even
more variation in execution between guitarists than with finger rasgueado.
In all cases, the hand departs from it basic position. I'll start with
what seems to me to be the simplest method, and then describe some
variations.
1) Curl your fingers loosely, and rest the ball of your thumb on the
index, as
if you were holding a plectrum (flatpick).
2) Make an upstroke with your thumb BACKWARDS (from treble to bass) across
the
strings of the guitar.
3) Now open your hand, strumming down with ALL the fingers at once across
the
strings, but leave your thumb where it is.
4) Now bring your thumb down across the strings to join the fingers. This
completes one iteration.
The up and down motions of the thumb should be made with a relaxed
rotation of the wrist, the opening of the hand being the third stroke.
Now you can try playing three of these triplets in a row, followed by a
final upstroke of the thumb, thus:
p h p p h p p h p p
--- --- --- --- --- ---
| | | | | | | | | |
V A A V A A V A A V
| | | | | | | | | |
This is a very common sequence (for example in bulerias, being substituted
for beats 7-8-9-10 show above.
A more subtle variation, capable of more light and shade, is used by Paco
Pena:
1) Up with the thumb
2) Down with the little (x) finger
3) Down with the first finger
p x i p x i p x i p
--- --- --- --- --- ---
| | | | | | | | | |
V A A V A A V A A V
| | | | | | | | | |
Paco also sometimes does a further permutation, substituting an upstroke
of the index for the first beat -- so that thumb is not used at all.
I seem to remember that Serranito uses thumb, index, middle:
p m i p m i p m i p
--- --- --- --- --- ---
| | | | | | | | | |
V A A V A A V A A V
| | | | | | | | | |
Conclusion
==========
Of course, much more could be said. And I am not especially an authority.
What all this goes to say is that you should experiment with all of these
methods; not just for a day or two, but until you can produce them ALL
fairly comfortably. Then pick the way that suits YOU best.
For printed music with rasguedos well notated, try:
Joseph Trotter's transcription of Sabicas and Escudero.
The Gendai Guitar (Japanese) series of Flamenco books.
Paco Pena's "Toques Flamencos" (this is out of print, but there are still
copies floating around).
Good luck!
Paul Magnussen
To my mind they are uniquely flamenco. But that just shows how ignorant I am. I’ve since learnt that they are techniques that are commonly used in classical guitar. Does that mean flamenco took it and adopted it? Or t’other way round? No idea.
But what’s clear is that they sound wonderful in both styles. The most obvious difference is that in flamenco it, well, kind of ruder. Especially the rasgueado. Which is just about the most abusive, aggressive tool in any guitarists armoury. I’m surprised it hasn’t become standard in the rock guitar world. Maybe that’s because rock guitar is obsessed about left hand technique and pays (relatively) less time on the right hand.
It takes time to perfect. And my rolling rasgueado is at best stumbling. But whether 3 or 4 or 5 it rocks. And my wrist rasgueado is beginning to get some speed (occasionally erratic, like an old fiat.)
The best tip I heard was to practise in normal life. By that I mean, to flick out your fingers as you do other stuff. You know, normal life. The bit that usually gets in the way of perfecting technique. In this instance, it can help. On trains, planes, in the office, in meetings, at dinner, even (to the enormous annoyance of my beautiful other) as I’m nodding off.
This is something I found online that explains rasgueado in more detail. If you’re learning stick with it. One day you’ll find that it just clicks and you have the three things that perfect it: 1. speed 2. consistency in that speed 3. power - aggressive, energetic, life affirming power. I hope Paul doesn't mind. You can find it here:
http://www.wannalearn.com/Fine_Arts/Music/Instruments/Guitar/Flamenco_Guitar/rasgueado.html
The Art of Rasgueado
====================
(c) Paul Magnussen, 1995
All rights reserved
Rasgueado means "strummed" in Spanish, but in English the word is usually
used only to denote the rhythmically complex kind of strumming that is
characteristic of flamenco guitar.
There are two completely distinct kinds of rasgueado, each with its own
subtle variations: one produced by the fingers alone, and one produced by
a motion of the wrist. Classical guitarists are typically taught (and are
sometimes aware of, even) only the first.
The profound influence of Flamenco on the classical guitar repertory, both
directly and indirectly (through transcriptions of pieces by Albeniz,
etc.), means that a knowledge of these techniques is of great benefit
(indeed, is indispensable) to the guitarist who wishes to have a complete
vocabulary.
The following is the result of observation of, and interviews with, most
of the leading flamenco guitarists, with the notable exceptions of Ramon
Montoya, Nino Ricardo and Paco de Lucia. In particular, I had long
discussions at various times with my teachers, Paco Pena and Mario
Escudero. Nevertheless, the responsibility for any errors remains my own.
One thing that emerges very clearly is that each major flamenco guitarist
has his own preferred way of doing rasgueado, so that there is no single
"right" way" (although there may be "wrong" in the sense of untraditional,
or dysfunctional, ways).
1. The Basic Rasgueado
======================
1.1 Mechanics
-------------
The simplest rasgueado is performed from the basic (normal) hand position.
1) The fingers are curled (but NOT held tightly) into the palm of the
hand.
2) The little (x, sometimes written e) finger is allowed to fall downwards
across the string, followed in turn by the a, m and i fingers, thus
producing in principle four strummed chords, thus:
x a m i
-----------
|-----------|
| | | |
A A A A
| | | |
(The "A" is meant to denote an upward-pointing arrow (bass to treble), and
a "V" will be used for treble to bass.)
Note the following points, which are often the subject of misconceptions:
- It is NOT necessary for one finger to finish its travel before the next
one
begins.
- The fingers are NOT held tightly in the palm and "fired" across the
strings.
It is indeed possible, and legitimate, to play a rasgueado in this way;
but this it is not the basic rasgueado, it is used when a particular
percussive effect is desired.
1.2 Timing
----------
There are two distinct ways to use the basic rasgueado, and these are
often confused:
1) The chords may be played evenly, with each taking up (in principle),
the
time of a semiquaver (16th note), as shown above. All rasgueados
occurring
in BASIC flamenco forms may be represented this way, e.g. Bulerias:
i i i i x a m i i i
--- --- ----------- | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |-----------| | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | V | | V A V A V A A A A V | V
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
x x | x x | x | x | | | | | | x |
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Here the x's are taps (golpes) on the body of the guitar. This shows the
modern way of playing bulerias. e.g. that of Paco Pena. Note that beat 10
is an upstroke of the index finger (following a rasgueado); we shall come
back to this in a minute.
2) However, the rasgueado may also be used as an ORNAMENT. In this case,
the
first three strokes will precede the beat slightly, and the final
stroke
will be ON the beat and take the emphasis: the first three strokes
occupying, (again in principle), theoretically no time, as in an
acciacatura.
(It defeats my ingenuity to notate this in ASCII. However, an example
from
the classical repertory would be the 7th-fret barre B7 chord in
Leyenda.)
Now let us return to the first case. We said that the rasgueado occupied
beat 9, with an upstroke of the index for beat 10.
In older times -- up to and including that of Sabicas -- the upstroke was
generally not played. The timing of the rasgueado was extended, so that
the final downstroke (with the index) fell on beat 10. We might then
represent the first part of the rasgueado as a triplet, thus:
|
v
3
i i i i x a m i i
--- --- ------- | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |-------| | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | V | | V A V A V A A A A | V
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
x x | x x | x | x | | | | | x |
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Here, though, the link between notation and reality is starting to blur.
the important thing is that beat 10 should arrive on time; one could delay
the rasgueado by as much or little as one liked; could in fact, play it as
an ornament to beat 10, as described in 2) above.
Here, I think, is the source of the confusion between the two forms of
rasgueado. Nevertheless -- even though in this particular case one could
use either -- they are distinct.
1.3 Variations
--------------
When a very fast rasgueado is wanted, the stroke of the little finger can
be omitted. One hears this not infrequently (for example) in the playing
of Paco de Lucia.
Conversely, the rasgueado may be expanded by following it with a downward
stroke of the thumb. Or, the thumb may be allowed to travel downwards
with the final (index) finger, but not touching the strings, and then
brought UP across the strings (treble to bass) to complete the rasgueado.
2. Continuous rasgueado
=======================
Things really start to get complex when a continuous rasgueado is desired.
The first thing that occurs to one's thought is naturally to repeat a
single rasgueado multiple times. Here, though, we begin to hit a problem:
at the end of a single rasgueado the fingers are spread out, and it's
necessary to curl them into the palm again. However, the delay in doing
this nullifies the whole effect.
The solution is:
1) not to straighten the fingers entirely, but only as much as is
necessary to
complete a downward strum.
2) To bring the little finger back into the palm AS THE FIRST FINGER IS
MOVING FORWARD, and vice versa. This is not easy, and takes
considerable
practice. When mastered, however, it produces a beautiful drumroll
rasgueado of amazing evenness. This is the method preferred (for
example)
by Juanito Serrano, who was one if the "fenomenos" of the 50's and
60's.
(Juan is currently professor of guitar at UC Fresno.)
Another solution is to follow the final downstroke with an upstroke of the
index finger, which also brings the other fingers with it, preparing for
the next repetition. This makes five strokes per rasgueado, and a single
beat is thus a quintuplet. This is the method favoured by Paco Pena. e.g
in soleares -- here are the first three beats:
5 5
x a m i i x a m i i i i
--------------- --------------- ---
|---------------| |---------------| | |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
A A A A V A A A A V A V
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | x |
1 2 3
More complex variations are also possible (Nino Ricardo apparently used to
START his rasgueado with an upstroke), but that would take me beyond the
scope of this basic explanation.
3. Triplets
============
There is another completely distinct form of rasgueado which is produced
by the wrist. It is extremely fast and powerful, and consists of one
upward motion and two downward motions. However, there is possibly even
more variation in execution between guitarists than with finger rasgueado.
In all cases, the hand departs from it basic position. I'll start with
what seems to me to be the simplest method, and then describe some
variations.
1) Curl your fingers loosely, and rest the ball of your thumb on the
index, as
if you were holding a plectrum (flatpick).
2) Make an upstroke with your thumb BACKWARDS (from treble to bass) across
the
strings of the guitar.
3) Now open your hand, strumming down with ALL the fingers at once across
the
strings, but leave your thumb where it is.
4) Now bring your thumb down across the strings to join the fingers. This
completes one iteration.
The up and down motions of the thumb should be made with a relaxed
rotation of the wrist, the opening of the hand being the third stroke.
Now you can try playing three of these triplets in a row, followed by a
final upstroke of the thumb, thus:
p h p p h p p h p p
--- --- --- --- --- ---
| | | | | | | | | |
V A A V A A V A A V
| | | | | | | | | |
This is a very common sequence (for example in bulerias, being substituted
for beats 7-8-9-10 show above.
A more subtle variation, capable of more light and shade, is used by Paco
Pena:
1) Up with the thumb
2) Down with the little (x) finger
3) Down with the first finger
p x i p x i p x i p
--- --- --- --- --- ---
| | | | | | | | | |
V A A V A A V A A V
| | | | | | | | | |
Paco also sometimes does a further permutation, substituting an upstroke
of the index for the first beat -- so that thumb is not used at all.
I seem to remember that Serranito uses thumb, index, middle:
p m i p m i p m i p
--- --- --- --- --- ---
| | | | | | | | | |
V A A V A A V A A V
| | | | | | | | | |
Conclusion
==========
Of course, much more could be said. And I am not especially an authority.
What all this goes to say is that you should experiment with all of these
methods; not just for a day or two, but until you can produce them ALL
fairly comfortably. Then pick the way that suits YOU best.
For printed music with rasguedos well notated, try:
Joseph Trotter's transcription of Sabicas and Escudero.
The Gendai Guitar (Japanese) series of Flamenco books.
Paco Pena's "Toques Flamencos" (this is out of print, but there are still
copies floating around).
Good luck!
Paul Magnussen
Friday, 19 June 2009
Meditation & Rasgueado
I have a Chinese friend, a modern Chinese dude who runs his own business & works like his life depends on it. Long, long hours. Lots of stress. He wasn’t sleeping so he started meditating. And in a way that no one other then the most driven would, he started really meditating. He gets out of bed at 5 and for two hours he meditates. He stars by breathing to a count. He concentrates very precisely on the movement of the breath. His thought is focused on the breath going in through his nose, but more precisely through each nostril. He doesn’t think about it as such, he just makes sure he is aware of it as the air goes through his nostrils then out again. All to a count. After a while he stops being aware of his awareness, even though he still counts and still has perfect technique. He just is. He is at one with his meditation and therefore himself.
Last night I realised that is what I seek with the various Rasgueado techniques I’m working on. I had time. There were no distractions so I spend a couple of hours of quality time. There are two particular techniques I’m working on at the moment.
First, is the 5 finger rolling rasgueado. I’ve been doing the standard 5 finger rasgueado since the beginning. I can do it. The technique is good and the Bulerias has pushed it so that it’s is very even, very fast and each strike is clear and percussive. But I’ve found that to do that in the rolling form is very different. I always lose a tiny fragment of a second between the first finger upstroke and the subsequent down stroke on the pinkie. I’ve been working on pinkie strength, exercising the finger as I’m doing other things, like real life. After an hour or so I nearly got there. For spells of four or five rolls it was good. Then it could slip and I couldn’t get it back, until it just happened. Then I would lose it again. I need to keep doing that until it’s consistent.
Second is the 3 finger roll, the one using upstroke from the thumb (p), down on pinkie (e), down on first (i). I need to get it faster so I can build a crescendo into the roll, which I regard as one of the classic flamenco techniques. You role it from your wrist, so it needs to be relaxed. But I was finding that as I got faster I would sometimes miss the pinkie stroke, or sometimes the first finger stroke. Last night, after a couple of hours it was getting there: good technique, good rhythm, fast. And then, poof, it would go.
But the morale of the story is simple. I know it’s not good enough to play for 15 minutes a day. That helps at the start. But to get good, to play flamenco, I need to sit down and push myself: my fingers, my concentration, my internal rhythm counter. I need these two/three hour sessions if I’m going to get there. Sure, if I can only do 15 minutes because that bastard Life is in the way, I’ll do it. But I have to find the time. I have to cancel stuff, stop doing things. Otherwise I’ll never be like the fella above.
Last night I realised that is what I seek with the various Rasgueado techniques I’m working on. I had time. There were no distractions so I spend a couple of hours of quality time. There are two particular techniques I’m working on at the moment.
First, is the 5 finger rolling rasgueado. I’ve been doing the standard 5 finger rasgueado since the beginning. I can do it. The technique is good and the Bulerias has pushed it so that it’s is very even, very fast and each strike is clear and percussive. But I’ve found that to do that in the rolling form is very different. I always lose a tiny fragment of a second between the first finger upstroke and the subsequent down stroke on the pinkie. I’ve been working on pinkie strength, exercising the finger as I’m doing other things, like real life. After an hour or so I nearly got there. For spells of four or five rolls it was good. Then it could slip and I couldn’t get it back, until it just happened. Then I would lose it again. I need to keep doing that until it’s consistent.
Second is the 3 finger roll, the one using upstroke from the thumb (p), down on pinkie (e), down on first (i). I need to get it faster so I can build a crescendo into the roll, which I regard as one of the classic flamenco techniques. You role it from your wrist, so it needs to be relaxed. But I was finding that as I got faster I would sometimes miss the pinkie stroke, or sometimes the first finger stroke. Last night, after a couple of hours it was getting there: good technique, good rhythm, fast. And then, poof, it would go.
But the morale of the story is simple. I know it’s not good enough to play for 15 minutes a day. That helps at the start. But to get good, to play flamenco, I need to sit down and push myself: my fingers, my concentration, my internal rhythm counter. I need these two/three hour sessions if I’m going to get there. Sure, if I can only do 15 minutes because that bastard Life is in the way, I’ll do it. But I have to find the time. I have to cancel stuff, stop doing things. Otherwise I’ll never be like the fella above.
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