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I didn't always play flamenco - THE PANADEROS STORY

5/6/2015

4 Comments

 
A CLASSICAL PLAYER DISCOVERING FLAMENCO

It was in 2003 when I seriously decided to try and play flamenco guitar.
I had not touched the instrument for about 5 years. I was terribly rusty.

I thought obtaining a flamenco guitar would be a good place to start. So, I purchased a beginner grade Manuel Rodriguez for $400. Later on I realized that this was unnecessary, but that's another story.

Panaderos is such a lovely piece and it contains very essential aspects of flamenco guitar: clockwork rhythm, two fundamental rasgueado patterns, picado, pulgar etc. I found acceptably accurate tabs on the web and started practising. As a trained classical guitarist, I started playing very slowly with the metronome, incrementally raising the speed. It sounded good.

However, after working on it for about a month (1-2 hours a day), I was unable to play the piece at full tempo. I was completely stuck at around 80 bpm. Beyond that my playing was unpleasant, the tempo would fluctuate and I would frequently miss notes.

I kept thinking "Where did I go wrong? I did everything my professor (one of Segovia's students by the way) told me to do!"

I kept watching Paco de Lucia to figure out what he was doing to achieve that speed and accuracy. I was about to conclude my quest by declaring lack of talent on my part. Then I thought: "Could flamenco guitar require a DIFFERENT technique than classical guitar?"

Here's me as a young classical player (don't laugh :-):

Danza Negra by Antonio Lauro 


Learning classical guitar I was frequently told by conservatory teachers that flamenco players did not pay attention to technique or tone or articulation blah blah blah… So, as a rule classical training gave you the best possible technique.

Well, as it turns out that was completely wrong. Despite many overlapping aspects, flamenco guitar DOES have a a technique of it's own and one needs to understand that and make the necessary adjustments to be able to play flamenco pieces. Besides, tone and articulation are as important in flamenco as they are in classical guitar.

Watching Paco de Lucia, Paco Pena, and Manolo Sanlucar on old VHS tapes and DVD's I made my first discovery that changed everything for me:


1-FREE STROKE

I always thought flamenco players played melodic lines using rest stroke picado (apoyando). So, I was trying to play everything with rest stroke picado. 

Wrong!

The fact of the matter is that flamenco guitar is played MAINLY with free stroke and they use rest stroke picado only when doing longer runs or if they want to emphasize certain notes.

So, the opening melody of Panaderos needs to be played with free stroke.

But, that is not all. Here is the second significant discovery:


2- THUMB REST STROKE

In flamenco the thumb is used MAINLY as rest stroke.

Why?

1- Thumb rest stroke provides an ANCHOR while your fingers move freely "tickling" the trebles. This way, your hand doesn't shake while playing fast passages.

2- By virtue of their special build, flamenco guitars respond better in terms of sound to thumb rest stroke. Simply put, thumb rest stroke will give you the proper buzzy flamenco sound.

Alright. Now, here is the kicker:

YOU NEED TO PLAY THUMB REST STROKE IN COMBINATION WITH FINGER FREE STROKE

Yes! Once I started implementing this new technique, Panaderos started to take off. It was awesome not having to play every single damn note with rest stroke picado and this way, especially with the thumb rest stroke, the piece sounded more flamenco.

Then I also realized that flamenco guitar incorporated 2 different hand-wrist positions. The first one used for all of the above and the second for FLAMENCO PULGAR sequences…
Let me talk about that some other time…


Here's me playing panaderos

Start here to build your flamenco technique:
Beginners
4 Comments
Eduardo Heredia
5/6/2015 07:20:55 am

It's good to know about it !

Actually i'm practicing the picado exercises and it's curious me trying to play anything with picado style. LOL!

I keep in mind your suggestions write down here.

Thanks for sharing your experiences

Reply
mohamad
4/27/2018 12:26:10 am

hi - can i connect with you in telegram mesenger or ... for ask my questions?

Reply
Peter Kolta link
3/25/2020 08:24:49 am

Your lessons and pieces of advice are way the best on the internet. I really appreciate your work and many of us respect you a lot, we constantly learn from you!
Though I wouldn't advice to start flamenco with PacoDe Lucia. It is the top. Eg. Juan Martín has a graded collection of pieces starting from level 0 (very easy solea and some traditional staff) to level 8 (eg. bulerias by Sabicas, Paco etc) - Grisha went through them too at an early age.
Anyway, thanks a lot for sharing your knowledge and experience!

Reply
Peter Kolta
5/3/2021 12:04:00 pm

Now I understand what you mean in the Panaderos story. The advice of thumb rest stroke with free stroke alternate picking changed my hand position and unlocked many issues I've been struggling with. I've had only one lesson with Orhan so far but since then things are different!

Reply



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Blog
  • Home
  • Join
  • Total Training
  • Beginners
  • STORE
  • Flamenco Practice Loops Library
  • Skype Lessons
  • Flamenco Guitar Articles
    • The Alien Technique - Tremolo
    • What Guitar is Made for - Arpeggio
    • Do You Really Want to Become a Good Flamenco Player?
    • One Thumb is Worth 4 Fingers
    • What to Practise and for How Long
    • Classical VS Flamenco
    • hammer-on and pull-off
    • The Thumb: Flesh or Nail or Both?
    • Flamenco Knowledge or How to Learn Palos
    • The Metronome
    • ​Are you Talented?
    • Listen to yourself in the 3rd person
    • Learning Flamenco Forms/Palos: Where to Start
    • How to Compose your Own Flamenco Music
    • Do You Need a Flamenco Guitar to Play Flamenco?
    • Deepen Your Flamenco Knowledge or How to Learn Palos 2
    • How much time do you need to become a good player?
    • Picado Speed Studies
    • Fingering: Makes of Breaks a Player! (tabs)
    • I suck - flamenco guitar
    • Flamenco Guitar Nails
    • Is i - a Picado a Viable Alternative to i - m Picado?
    • Why Do People Take Flamenco Guitar Lessons?
    • Playing with the Right Hand
    • atrafanaSchool Studio Set Up or How to Record Yourself
    • atrafanaSchool Studio Set Up - PART 2
    • Same Falseta on a Negra and a Blanca (tabs)
    • Picado Thumb Placement
    • Nails: How to Shape Them
    • Using the Brain in Relieving Tension in the Hands - Routines
    • Reflexive Picado Speed (tabs)
    • What is Technique?
  • Techniques
    • Flamenco Guitar Techniques: Picado
    • Flamenco Guitar Techniques : Tremolo
    • Flamenco Guitar Techniques : Alzapua
    • Flamenco Guitar Techniques : Arpeggio
    • Flamenco Guitar Techniques : Three - Finger Picado
    • Flamenco Guitar Techniques: Pulgar
  • Repertoire
  • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Punta del Faro (Buleria)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Reflejo de Luna (Granaina)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - GitanosTrianeros (Solea)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - El Tempul (Buleria)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Barrio La Viña (Alegria)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Mi Inspiracion (Alegria)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Punta Umbria (Fandango)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Llanto a Cadiz (Tientos)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Gloria al Nino Ricardo (Solea)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Cepa Andaluza (Buleria)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Aires Choqueros (Fandango)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Plaza de San Juan (Alegria)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Recuerdo a Patino (Alegria)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Celosa (Solea por Buleria)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Callejon del Muro (Minera)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Aires de Linares (Taranta)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Generalife Bajo la Luna (Granaina)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Buleria by Paco Pena
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Rumbeando la Milonga by Paco Pena
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Riomar (Fandango)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Granada En Flor
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Doblan Campanas
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Plaza Alta (Solea)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - De Madrugada (Seguiriya)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Fuente y Caudal
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - La Tumbona
  • Flamenco Guitar Strings
  • Teaching
  • Contact
  • FAQ
  • Blog