Rasgueado Technique
Rasgueado Technique These days it isn’t just for flamenco By Neil Smith
Although traditionally associated with flamenco music, rasgueado technique has been a feature of classical playing for many years now and is often employed in modern compositions. It seems useful to review these techniques here and see how they are applied, because I have frequently found that a traditional classical training sometimes avoids this feature, and consequently many classical players do not practice this action and have no exercises to back the theory and demonstration of rasgueado. In the most basic forms of rasgueado, we will only consider using strokes in a downward direction, i.e. towards the floor and with the back of the nails; later, the
Rasgueado Technique
thumb and fingers will become involved playing in both directions. Consequently, you should observe the hand working away from the guitar. Close the fingers into the palm (not so much as to make a fist) and open the fingers. Most people find that it is natural to open the fingers from the smallest along to the index and often the lettering given in the fingering is confusing: xami ( x for the little finger) 5ami ( 5 for the little finger), pami ( p for pequeño in this case), etc. I will use x for convenience here. (The others are p for thumb, i for index finger, m for middle finger, and a for ring finger.) And the most basic strokes would include i alone, the mi , then ami , and finally xami producing single, double, triple, and quadruple stroke.
To make sure you can hear each sound clearly, try this exercise: Rest your thumb on the second string and play only on the first string; this will silence the other strings. Later, rest on the third and the fourth, and so on, to build up clarity on all six strings. Do not leave a string grouping until you can activate all strings in the correct way. Be extra careful to make the three and four stroke very clear, (before going on to include any backstroke playing) slowly for many minutes. As the rasgueado covers more and more strings, I often find that the whole hand moves in a downward direction and that the arm rotates too. This is perhaps natural to cover the wider string span; the curve of the finger arc would normally carry the nail tips away from the treble strings, and this flexing action allows the hand to reach the trebles and to compensate. The strokes described so far all work in basic situations where a chord is marked “Rasg.” It is important to notice whether a chord so marked is an “on-beat” or “anticipatory” rasgueado. Often the actual roll will begin before the beat ( ami , with i taking the accent, or a triplet xam with i again taking the accent). A modification of this occurs when the thumb follows through downwards ( ami , then p taking the accent). Since here the thumb is not playing with the back of the nail, it now opens up the discussion to include playing in either direction. The thumb, having moved through downwards, can also make a quick reverse action here ( amip down, p up) and this is a good introduction to continuous rasgueado playing. Be patient now; some of this will take weeks, even months to perfect, and you should not be surprised if at the outset you frequently stumble as you try to incorporate this action into your natural technique. Although a number of players find no problem playing in either direction, if you are starting from scratch you might find it difficult to strike across several strings using what is really a multiple-apoyando (rest stroke) action. As before, begin on a single string, then two, and so on, using down or up strokes. Don’t hook the fingers on the inward strokes; this will cause a stalling effect, so collapse the distal joint until it leaves the string area. Remember, too, that if the curve is too great, each finger will have a more limited stroke area and might only catch one or two strings on the return. (This is not all bad—often only a light, brushing stroke is needed on the upward.)
HERNÁN PIÑERA PHOTO
Rapid reverse strokes are used for continuous roll-playing, and I find the index finger most useful here. I have often seen classical players using the index only back and forth for this type of work, but really, alone, this finger cannot cope with rhythmic flexibility. Using fingers in both directions has a similar effect to a plectrum, where the down/up combination is used to develop flexibility. First you should try mi (down) i (up). This produces a good triplet feel with the accent on m. Another alternative is shown in the John Williams version of “Córdoba” by Isaac Albéniz, beginning with the index ( i down, mi up). You should try to hear which direction gives you the most secure attack. There are four points to think about here: First, if the chord has a melodic idea in the upper parts, it might be best to begin with upstrokes, so the trebles are heard first and are prominent; the reverse applies if the bass has a melodic idea. Second, the thumb can often anchor on a string or a group of strings to support and block sounds, even though that string might actually be struck in the roll. Examples include “Ráfaga,” by Joaquín Turina, where the bass E can be used for this dual purpose, and also in “Garotín” by Turina, where it can stabilize. Third, notice that it is usually easier to force louder sounds from the downward strokes, acting with gravity, and this action is a deciding factor when you have a choice in multiple rolls. Four, some fingers are stronger; therefore use these for accentuation. More complex and continuous rolls can use either all fingers or can include the thumb in some way. Try ami (down), i up for a triplet anticipation or four-stroke roll. Notice that the return of the index is so rapid in order to maintain the rhythm, and the other fingers return into the palm at this time to anticipate the continuing roll. Using the little finger can add on one more sound ( xami down, i up) or the thumb can follow through as it did earlier. Extended techniques include beginning with the thumb upwards and fingers down ( p up, xami down)—this produces a very acceptable continuous roll if you find it is too difficult to make the fingers alone do the work. And you can add on this yet another thumb stroke, as the thumb goes down to prepare the upstroke; this produces a six beat roll: p up, xami down, p down. Still using the thumb upwards, I often find it good to use just the finger with the thumb
Rasgueado Technique
There is a general spin-off effect when you play rasgueado regularly—your right hand becomes more secure, stronger in every way. A few minutes of continuous roll-playing can warm up your hand and make it ready for action like few other normal exercises.
in a triplet roll ( p up, mp down); this again returns the thumb to the start position. For a much louder attack I use im or am bonded as one finger in oppostion to the thumb. It is most important here to realize the versatility of the thumb—it can even do most of the work, as in this example: p down, p up, m down. And of course any finger (or group) can replace m in this unit. To work out what type of fingering you need for a given situation, you have to play the mathematics game a little. Looking at a triplet, you may feel inclined to use three fingers, or two fingers and thumb, yet many professionals would use two fingers only, or a finger and thumb. If reverse directions are used, this works out very well. Just remember to get the order correct and have your rolling action set so that when the roll begins again the correct digit is in place above or below the strings. A four-note roll might seem obvious with four fingers, yet three will work, or two fingers and a thumb ( mip down, p up). Tremolando effects often work best this way since they fall mostly in to three- and four-note groups. In John W. Duarte’s “Catalan Variations,” I play the closing section as follows: ai down, i up. I feel this gives a better spacing of the rhythm. (Other players use a variety of ideas here, each best suited to the player.) For the most advanced effects, the math and the digital possibilities must combine in a way to produce the exact effect required. If a situation demands, say, nine continuous strokes, although 3 x 3 = 9, it might not be wise to automatically go for
three units of three fingers. Three down, three up, three down certainly make nine in all; however the frequency of the chord changes plus the accentuation must be taken into account, since the final result of 3 x 3 can seem a little labored. The thumb is usually the strongest overall and I find this can (in either direction) be the most valuable controller in such situations. To sum up briefly, if you are interested in the art of rasgueado playing, you should study the flamenco methods generally available and, in the classical sense, the works of Nikita Koshkin, Štepán Rak, and the arrangements of Kazuhito Yamashita. There is also a general spin-off effect when you play rasgueado regularly—your right hand becomes more secure, stronger in every way. Certainly a few minutes of continuous roll-playing can warm up your hand and make it ready for action like few other exercises. In normal work, we only play towards the palm of the hand, and the outward action is ignored, perhaps at our detriment. If you have soft nails, try to begin playing over the fingerboard around fret 17 to avoid wear on the nails, and don’t play too loud at first. Even though we use rasgueado sparingly in classical work, I feel that a player cannot ignore the technique these days. An increasing number of pieces demand it, and I’m certain that over time it will become quite common on all levels.
(This article originally appeared in the September 1989 issue of Classical Guitar )
