Rasgueado Secrets

Rasgueado Secrets
By Sal Bonavita

This free Ebook is a product of

Sal's flamenco Soapbox

Copyright © 2006 by Sal Bonavita

herso.freeservers.com

You are allowed to distribute this Ebook to others.

But the actual content may NOT be re-published in electronic, print, website text or any
other form without the express written permission of the author.
Contact me if you have any questions
sal565@hotmail.com

More free ebooks can be downloaded from herso.freeservers.com/ebooks.html

1 of 11 Copyright © 2006 by Sal Bonavita sal565@hotmail.com

 Rasgueado Secrets

Rasgueado Secrets
Contents
What is a rasgueado?

How many different rasgueado patterns are there?

Finger symbols

4 stroke rasgueado - e a m i

4 stroke rasgueado - i e a m

Triplet rasgueado using P m P

6 secrets for playing good rasgueados

3 exercises to improve continous rasgueados

Some common rasgueado patterns

Conclusion

What is a rasgueado?
A rasgueado is a continuous series of rapid finger strokes of the right hand which blend together to produce a variety of

rhythmic strumming effects on the guitar. A succession of down strokes such as 'e a m i' is a rasgueado. If we were to play
this pattern 3 times in an unbroken series of strokes, the entire sequence of 12 strokes would be thought of as a rasgueado,

rather than 3 short ones strung together.

How many different rasgueado patterns are there?

There is no definitive collection that every player uses all of the time. For any given effect you may hear on a recording, it is

usually possible to produce the same sound in several different ways. There are literally hundreds of possibilities if we take
into account the various elements such as fingers used, direction, timing, accents and tapping techniques. The rasgueados

shown in the chart are some of the more common types. They can be used as building blocks for further experiment. The

choice of which rasgueado to use, and where, is ultimately a matter of personal preference.

2 of 11 Copyright © 2006 by Sal Bonavita sal565@hotmail.com

 Rasgueado Secrets

Finger symbols

Right hand symbols

P = Pulgar (Thumb)

I = Indice (Index)

M = Medio (Middle)

A = Anular (Ring)

E = Extremo (Last)

3 of 11 Copyright © 2006 by Sal Bonavita sal565@hotmail.com

 Rasgueado Secrets

Rasgueado example one

4 stroke rasgueado - e a m i

Download demonstration videos

herso.freeservers.com/av-4stroke-eami.html

The video shows:

A single e a m i 4 stroke rasgueado.

A single e a m i 4 stroke rasgueado followed by i strokes.

Multiple e a m i 4 stroke rasgueados played in a continuous sequence.

I should point out here that although playing e a m i continuously is obviously possible and sometimes useful, I rarely use

this type continuous sequence. But that's just me. I find that putting the accented downbeat on the pinky finger (e) is not so
easy to maintain as this is the weakest finger. If you want a more gutsy continuous 4 stroke sequence I recommend you use

4 stroke-i e a m

4 of 11 Copyright © 2006 by Sal Bonavita sal565@hotmail.com

 Rasgueado Secrets

Rasgueado example two

4 stroke rasgueado - i e a m

Download demonstration videos

herso.freeservers.com/av-4stroke-ieam.html

The video shows:

A single i e a m 4 stroke rasgueado.

Multiple i e a m 4 stroke rasgueados played in a continuous sequence.

Single

The "start" position shown above applies only to a single rasgueado. This is actually the same picture as the "m" position.

This is where you end up after a single sequence, basically ready for the next "i" downstroke if you going to continue playing

another 4 stroke sequence. As the "i" finger strikes downwards, the other three fingers (e a m) are brought up at the same
time to get the "e" finger (pinky) ready to play the next stroke.

Continuous

In a continuous sequence, once the "i" finger has played it's stroke you can forget about the "start" position and just play "i

e a m i e a m" continuously.

Index finger golpe

Apart from being the strongest finger and giving good accents on the first stroke of this type of rasgueado, the index finger

downbeat can be combined with a golpe if necessary. The Soleá demos show how this is used to accent beats 3 and 6 of the

12 beat compás.

5 of 11 Copyright © 2006 by Sal Bonavita sal565@hotmail.com

 Rasgueado Secrets

Rasgueado example three

Triplet rasgueado using P m P

Download demonstration videos

herso.freeservers.com/av-triplet-ras.html

Start P upstroke m downstroke P downstroke

The video shows:

Triplet rasgueado at various speeds - very slow (practice speed) to very fast (playing speed).

Continuous rasgueado gradually building up speed and then slowing down to very slow again.

The three actions:

The starting position is where you end up after the P downstoke. If you had a smiley face painted on the back of the hand
you should see it looking up at you. This applies to slow practice only and you should try to turn the wrist almost to it's limit.

This follows the principle "if you want to reach the moon, aim for the stars". Naturally, when you play faster your wrist will

not be turning as much and you will not see the back of the hand.

P upstroke. This is a quick flick of the wrist. When this is finished, stop and let your hand completely relax. If you allow
any tension to remain in the hand, Santa will know you have been a naughty boy (or girl) and you will not get that Barbie doll

you asked for. Be sensible and don't skip this bit. It's very important that you come to a dead stop. Notice how the middle

finger has been brought up during this stroke to prepare for the next stroke.

M downstroke. The middle finger strikes down. Notice how the thumb comes down closer to the strings preparing itself for
the next downstroke. Once again, this is a quick flick of the wrist. As before, you come to a dead stop and completely relax
your hand.

P downstroke. The thumb strikes down and ends up in the starting position. Once again, this is a quick flick of the wrist.
As before, you come to a dead stop and completely relax your hand.

6 of 11 Copyright © 2006 by Sal Bonavita sal565@hotmail.com

 Rasgueado Secrets

6 secrets for playing good rasgueados

1) Flick quickly
Flick each finger across the strings quickly and strongly, regardless of the timing between the strokes.

2) Don't drag
Each finger should complete it's stroke and clear the strings before the next finger begins it's stroke. Practice very slowly at

first. Get used to relaxing the muscles in the hand after every stroke. The action is not a casual drag across the strings. As a
general rule the e, a and m fingers strike downwards only (from bass to treble). The upstrokes are normally produced by the

index finger (i) and the thumb (P).

3) One finger at a time

Allow each finger to clear the strings before the next finger begins it's stroke. Have you seen people play pretend rasgueados

with 3 or 4 fingers on the strings at once, all huddled together and digging down into the strings. I remember a scene from a

Bruce Lee movie when he slapped a student on the back of the head after the student made a mess of some move. He said,

"what was that?" My feeling exactly.

4) Strike quick and stop

Push each stroke across the strings as quickly as possible, regardless of the timing between strokes. The action is not a
casual drag across the strings where all the muscles are tense. This totally tense way is how some people play. I think it

sucks because there is no subtlety or any discernable measure of control. Only a stressed out and uncontrolled noise.

Play a stroke - stop and relax - then play the next stroke. If you are looking for the secret to good rasgueados then this is it.

Once you have this technique under control at a very slow practice speed, you will not have to think about it at faster playing
speeds. Leave that job to the subconscious. What you are actually doing is training the subconscious to do all the muscular

coordination work for you. Your aim is get a clean sound like rapid machine gun fire, rather than the continuous rumbling of

thunder. This training will give you that clean sound. One dance teacher compared my own early attempts at rasgueados to

shaking a tin can full of rusty nails. Constant practice is the ONLY way to get clean sounding rasgueados and it will test your
patience. Don't write to me after a month and tell me your rasgueados sound like shit and do I have any tips on how to speed

up the process. I don't. All the advice I have to give is on this page. If there was a faster way I would have used it myself.

5) Let the finger muscles relax

Practice very slowly at first. I know I'm repeating myself, but please read on. Get used to relaxing the muscles in the hand

after every stroke. Otherwise you are wasting your time and creating an environment for bad habits that will be very difficult

to correct later. Don't worry about trying to play fast when you are practicing. Practicing is a time to train the muscles and

nerves in the hand to send a clear message to the brain that the hands need to relax at every possible opportunity. Unlike

the snail speed of conscious thinking, the brain will send these electrical signals to the hand at lightning speeds when you are
playing at faster speeds. But it must be trained first, and the way to do that is to PRACTICE SLOWLY and deliberately, paying

close attention to the relaxation between strokes.

This type of bio feedback is all about developing instinct in the fingers so you never have to consciously think about it later.

At normal playing speeds, this translates into periods of automatic "micro sleeps". I know it sounds boring, but the strength,

speed and accuracy bits will develop naturally from practicing slowly and relaxing the hand between strokes. Trust me. It's
not magic. It just requires a little discipline at your end.

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 Rasgueado Secrets

6) How many strings to hit

Don't get fanatical about how many strings you hit with each stroke. Obviously you would aim to hit 5 strings on a 5 string

chord. But if you occasionally get only 4, that's OK. I've had a quiet word to the Pope and he assures me you will not go to

hell.

8 of 11 Copyright © 2006 by Sal Bonavita sal565@hotmail.com

 Rasgueado Secrets

3 exercises to improve continous rasgueados

Exercise 1

Here is a little tip to help break away from accenting the same finger every time during rasgueados. It's a good mental

discipline to help make them sound smoother and truly continuous. When you practice a continuous rasgueado the fingers

naturally will want to play the some accent each time in the cycle. For example, if you play e a m i continuously, the accent

tends to always fall on the "e" finger. This is ok if that's the effect you want, but it gets annoying if you just want a

continuous flow of strokes without accents.

When you play a continuous rasgueado you should be aiming to get a clean, continuous series of strokes with no accents

breaking up the flow of sound. For example, the last thing you want to hear when you play a 4 stroke pattern is

ONE two three four ONE two three four.

It sounds choppy and defeats the purpose of trying to get a smooth, continuous sound.

When you practice 4 stoke rasgueados, count in threes so you accent in cycles of three instead of four. With e m a i, The

accents would be E a m - I e a - M i e - A m i - E a m - I e a etc. As you proceed through this exercise, the starting finger
accent will not be the focus and therefore will not be the dominant feature. The idea is to make all the finger strokes sound

equally loud (of soft). This is another training exercise to break up old habits and develop a muscle memory in the fingers. So

you would be counting like this. 1 23- 4 1 2 - 3 4 1 - 2 3 4 - 1 2 3 etc

Exercise 2

Do the same thing with 5 stroke rasgueados. Count in accent cycles of four.

Exercise 3

Do the same thing with 3 stroke rasgueados. Count in cycles of four or five. It doesn't matter which as long as it's different.

Practice slowly:

ALWAYS practice at the slow speed shown at the start of the video. You can speed it up when you use this rasgueado in your

playing pieces. Practice time is sacred and should not be messed around with. Think of it like going to going to university. If
you mess about in class you will not get that degree you keep dreaming about and you will have wasted several years of your

life being average. There are enough mediocre guitar players out there. The world doesn't need another one. Focus on what

you do and think of practice time as mastering the principles of a complicated science. Because that's what it is. A couple of

years down the track, you will look back and laugh. You will see that's it's not rocket science at all but simple common sense.

9 of 11 Copyright © 2006 by Sal Bonavita sal565@hotmail.com

 Rasgueado Secrets

Some common rasgueado patterns

Conclusion
I hope this lesson goes some way in clearing any confusion you may have had regarding rasgueados.

Happy guitar playing.

Sal Bonavita

10 of 11 Copyright © 2006 by Sal Bonavita sal565@hotmail.com

 Rasgueado Secrets

This free Ebook is a product of

Sal's flamenco Soapbox

Copyright © 2006 by Sal Bonavita

http://herso.freeservers.com

You are allowed to distribute this Ebook to others.

But the actual content may NOT be re-published in electronic, print, website text or any
other form without the express written permission of the author.
Contact me if you have any questions
sal565@hotmail.com

More free ebooks can be downloaded from herso.freeservers.com/ebooks.html

11 of 11 Copyright © 2006 by Sal Bonavita sal565@hotmail.com