Picado Speed Studies
You are probably aware of my Picado Speed Package. Read below for background information.
Though having overlapping aspects, picado and fast-picado practice are separate things. The former doesn't naturally lead to the latter.
Through my observations and tests (me being the main lab rat) I have determined a number of misconceptions I had. Some of these have overlapping features but I want to itemize each one separately as it usually presented itself in my mind as a single statement.
MISCONCEPTIONS:
1- Fast players are born with this ability
2- You need to start playing guitar at a very early age to develop speed
3- Find the right hand position/shape and speed will come
4- You need to move your fingers as little as possible to achieve speed
5- Slowly raise the tempo on the metronome to speed up your fingers
6- Speed can be achieved maybe with 12 hours of practice per day - like Paco did
Let me address each:
1- Fast players are born with this ability
Seeing that I was unable to go beyond 138 BPM after practising all manners of rest stroke scale for many years as a classical guitarist, I was quite ready to assume that I simply didn't have it in me. Some still believe that fast picado is an innate ability. Now I disagree. Like any other playing skill, picado speed can be achieved via proper practice. As a classical player I had slow fingers because I wasn't practising for speed.
You should still do your scales, which is very important. But you need a separate path for picado speed to tap into the physiological (and psychological) mechanisms that will trigger the 'twitch response'. Long story short, fast picado is an acquired skill.
2- You need to start playing guitar at a very early age to develop speed
I think the whole idea of having to start playing an instrument as a kid is overrated (at least flamenco guitar). My friend Tariq started playing classical guitar when he was 21 and he won international competitions before he reached 30. Check this out:
Another Way of Playing Fast Scales - Tariq Harb, Guitar
To master anything, you need to put in a certain number of practice hours whether you are 7 or 70 years old. Besides, the ability to play fast picado hardly qualifies as flamenco guitar mastery! There is so much more to learn i.e. compas, interpretation, rasgueado, tremolo, you name it. Fast picado is only one of the techniques you need to become a well-rounded player.
So, stop regretting that you started too late and start practising picado speed bursts!
Picado Speed Exercise - Staccato and Speed Bursts
3- Find the right hand position/shape and speed will come
I beg to differ! I have tried various right hand positions and advised many students through picado practice. At this point I can safely say that the way your right hand looks has got nothing to do with picado speed. I do help my students find the most comfortable and tension-free right hand position for playing picado but when they finally discover what works best for them, each develop their own unique hand shape for agility. Do not mimic other players' right hand postures with the hopes of achieving the same speed! It is not going to work. I tried playing picado with very curved fingers like Paco de Lucia and almost injured myself. Paco's technique works only for Paco.
The secret of fast picado lies in the way you move your fingers and attack the strings. Therefore, the needed adjustment will take place mainly in your brain and your fingers will follow.
4- You need to move your fingers as little as possible to achieve speed
Don't even try this. Yes, fast players do move their fingers very economically, but the economy of movement is an outcome of the correct muscular behaviour and not the cause. The key to speed lies in programming your fingers to make as many meaningful strokes as possible within a single beat, and as you work through this drill you don't have to worry about how big a distance your fingers cover for each stroke. Once the speed burst starts to occur your finger movements will start to take place in smaller and smaller spaces.
5- Slowly raise the tempo on the metronome to speed up your fingers.
This one requires a good explanation.
"Do not try to play fast, you can't!" I keep telling my students. Trying to play a scale faster is usually a frustrating and eventually fruitless effort. To be clear, the metronome is a very important part of developing picado speed but if you use the method of raising the tempo while practising the scales you already know (and if you don't already have fast picado), it is unavoidable that you will hit a wall. Trust me, I did that for at least 10 years with no success. I remember practising some of the scales in Rodrigo's Aranjuez back when I played classical concerts. I would hit a wall at around 130-140 BPM.
Primarily, to train for speed, you need scales that are designed for speed. This is something you don't see in classical guitar as the pieces are usually composed on paper. But flamenco is composed on the guitar and no flamenco player will compose a picado falseta they cannot play fast. Such falsetas don't have many position changes, use open strings and involve as many notes as possible on a single string.
Two examples:
Picado Exercise - Cueva del Gato
Picado Exercise - La Barrosa by Paco de Lucia
Also, scales that allow you to play more notes per beat are better for speed practice. I designed the picado sequences in the Picado Speed Package specifically to cater to that need. Most of the exercises are based on sextuplets - that is, you play 6 notes per beat.
6- Speed can be achieved maybe with 12 hours of practice per day - like Paco did
How much time did you spend on developing a good tremolo? Picado speed requires the same amount of practise, no less no more. Again, the key is to know what and how to practise. Sure, if you set aside, say, 2 hours a day for picado speed, you will get faster and better results. The point is fast picado is a technique you can develop like any other.
The Picado Speed Packages
The exercises are designed to be more demanding on the right hand than the left hand. For each exercise, the mental and physical effort distribution is roughly 30% left and 70% right hand.
The goal is to get your index and middle fingers to play 6 notes in one beat at speeds higher than 100 BPM. Picado speed is commonly measured in terms of quarter (4) notes per beat, therefore, if you manage to reach 100 with sextuplets you will have achieved 150BPM picado speed.
Enjoy the exercises
Though having overlapping aspects, picado and fast-picado practice are separate things. The former doesn't naturally lead to the latter.
Through my observations and tests (me being the main lab rat) I have determined a number of misconceptions I had. Some of these have overlapping features but I want to itemize each one separately as it usually presented itself in my mind as a single statement.
MISCONCEPTIONS:
1- Fast players are born with this ability
2- You need to start playing guitar at a very early age to develop speed
3- Find the right hand position/shape and speed will come
4- You need to move your fingers as little as possible to achieve speed
5- Slowly raise the tempo on the metronome to speed up your fingers
6- Speed can be achieved maybe with 12 hours of practice per day - like Paco did
Let me address each:
1- Fast players are born with this ability
Seeing that I was unable to go beyond 138 BPM after practising all manners of rest stroke scale for many years as a classical guitarist, I was quite ready to assume that I simply didn't have it in me. Some still believe that fast picado is an innate ability. Now I disagree. Like any other playing skill, picado speed can be achieved via proper practice. As a classical player I had slow fingers because I wasn't practising for speed.
You should still do your scales, which is very important. But you need a separate path for picado speed to tap into the physiological (and psychological) mechanisms that will trigger the 'twitch response'. Long story short, fast picado is an acquired skill.
2- You need to start playing guitar at a very early age to develop speed
I think the whole idea of having to start playing an instrument as a kid is overrated (at least flamenco guitar). My friend Tariq started playing classical guitar when he was 21 and he won international competitions before he reached 30. Check this out:
Another Way of Playing Fast Scales - Tariq Harb, Guitar
To master anything, you need to put in a certain number of practice hours whether you are 7 or 70 years old. Besides, the ability to play fast picado hardly qualifies as flamenco guitar mastery! There is so much more to learn i.e. compas, interpretation, rasgueado, tremolo, you name it. Fast picado is only one of the techniques you need to become a well-rounded player.
So, stop regretting that you started too late and start practising picado speed bursts!
Picado Speed Exercise - Staccato and Speed Bursts
3- Find the right hand position/shape and speed will come
I beg to differ! I have tried various right hand positions and advised many students through picado practice. At this point I can safely say that the way your right hand looks has got nothing to do with picado speed. I do help my students find the most comfortable and tension-free right hand position for playing picado but when they finally discover what works best for them, each develop their own unique hand shape for agility. Do not mimic other players' right hand postures with the hopes of achieving the same speed! It is not going to work. I tried playing picado with very curved fingers like Paco de Lucia and almost injured myself. Paco's technique works only for Paco.
The secret of fast picado lies in the way you move your fingers and attack the strings. Therefore, the needed adjustment will take place mainly in your brain and your fingers will follow.
4- You need to move your fingers as little as possible to achieve speed
Don't even try this. Yes, fast players do move their fingers very economically, but the economy of movement is an outcome of the correct muscular behaviour and not the cause. The key to speed lies in programming your fingers to make as many meaningful strokes as possible within a single beat, and as you work through this drill you don't have to worry about how big a distance your fingers cover for each stroke. Once the speed burst starts to occur your finger movements will start to take place in smaller and smaller spaces.
5- Slowly raise the tempo on the metronome to speed up your fingers.
This one requires a good explanation.
"Do not try to play fast, you can't!" I keep telling my students. Trying to play a scale faster is usually a frustrating and eventually fruitless effort. To be clear, the metronome is a very important part of developing picado speed but if you use the method of raising the tempo while practising the scales you already know (and if you don't already have fast picado), it is unavoidable that you will hit a wall. Trust me, I did that for at least 10 years with no success. I remember practising some of the scales in Rodrigo's Aranjuez back when I played classical concerts. I would hit a wall at around 130-140 BPM.
Primarily, to train for speed, you need scales that are designed for speed. This is something you don't see in classical guitar as the pieces are usually composed on paper. But flamenco is composed on the guitar and no flamenco player will compose a picado falseta they cannot play fast. Such falsetas don't have many position changes, use open strings and involve as many notes as possible on a single string.
Two examples:
Picado Exercise - Cueva del Gato
Picado Exercise - La Barrosa by Paco de Lucia
Also, scales that allow you to play more notes per beat are better for speed practice. I designed the picado sequences in the Picado Speed Package specifically to cater to that need. Most of the exercises are based on sextuplets - that is, you play 6 notes per beat.
6- Speed can be achieved maybe with 12 hours of practice per day - like Paco did
How much time did you spend on developing a good tremolo? Picado speed requires the same amount of practise, no less no more. Again, the key is to know what and how to practise. Sure, if you set aside, say, 2 hours a day for picado speed, you will get faster and better results. The point is fast picado is a technique you can develop like any other.
The Picado Speed Packages
The exercises are designed to be more demanding on the right hand than the left hand. For each exercise, the mental and physical effort distribution is roughly 30% left and 70% right hand.
The goal is to get your index and middle fingers to play 6 notes in one beat at speeds higher than 100 BPM. Picado speed is commonly measured in terms of quarter (4) notes per beat, therefore, if you manage to reach 100 with sextuplets you will have achieved 150BPM picado speed.
Enjoy the exercises
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