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The
word "rasgueo" is used in flamenco and embraces all strumming
techniques using one or more fingers. What you have just done was
the index finger rasgueo
Next step is to do the 4-stroke rasgueo. You rest your thumb on
the E-base-string. Then you flex all your fingers so they nearly
touch the palm. You start with the little finger (e) so that it
hits the strings downwards across the strings. Then follows the ring finger
(a) and then the middle (m) and then the index (i). You
can start doing this at a slow speed. Try to get equal force with
each finger. Now this can be hard to do with the little finger (e)
and the ring (a), so you need to practice this. Notice that these
are all down strokes. Here it looks like written in notes
5-STROKE
RASGUEO
Next
step is the 5-stroke rasgueo. There are two differences from the
4-stroke rasgues. The first is that the accent of the rasgueo
falls on the the first stroke made by the little finger ( in the
4-stroke rasgueo, it falls on the final stroke with the index ).
The second is that the rasgueo ends with an indexfinger upstroke after
the e a m i sequence of down strokes.
Here's how it looks like in notes and this time I will add some index
finger down- and upstrokes.
This
is written in 3/4 time and you count this like 1 2 3 - 123...etc ( this
is marked above ). Notice that the 5-stroke rasgueo is written as
a "quintuplet" which means 5 notes to one beat. Now this
might seem difficult since you you can't hear how it sound like, but
the nearest thing I could show you is with words like this:
1
2
3
Da Da Da Da Da Dam Dam Dam Dam
Do this first at a slow speed and when you start to feel the rhythm you
increase the speed. Don't forget to count 1 2 3. You can do
this with your foot.
CONTINUOUS
STROKE RASGUEO
You
need to practice a lot for this type of rasgueo. Itīs a
continuous 4-stroke rasgueo. This means that you start with a
4-stroke rasgeo but this time you continue by flexing your little finger
up to your starting point ( the rest of the fingers follows shortly
after ) when you have completed the first 4-stroke rasgueo. Then
you continue doing this in a continuous way. It should sound like
the sound of running water drops like this rrrrrrrrrrrrrr...etc.
It shouldn't sound like this: Drrram Drrram Drrram etc.
THE
TRIPLET RASGUEO
The
3-stroke triplet rasgueo has a pwerful rhythmic effect and is very
popular among flamenco guitarists today. Almost every Gipsy Kingsī
songs ends with the triplet rasgueo technique. This technique is
very difficult for beginners. It takes a lot of practice to
master.
You
only use two fingers in this technique, the thumb (p) and the middle
finger (m). You start with your hand below the treble strings.
Then you swing your thumb so it hits the strings on your way up
(upstroke). When your thumb and hand is above the base string, you
flex your middle finger up to the palm and then flick it out so it hits
the strings on your way down (down stroke). When you have completed
the down stroke with your middle finger, you continue by doing a down stroke
with the thumb. So, you first have upstroke with the
thumb, then down stroke with the middle and down stroke with the thumb.
This one triplet rasgueo. Now, in order to have a rhythmic effect,
you often continue by doing several triplet rasgueos. When your
first triplet rasgueo is done, you start over again by doing the
upstroke with the thumb etc etc. The triplet rasgueo is often
executed in a fast speed, but you start practicing in a slow speed and
then build up it up.
The
accent of the triplet rasgueo always fall on the upstrokes with the
thumb. Here is the notation:
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