How to play rasgueado. 7 tips. Flamenco guitar lesson

7 power tips you MUST know to produce strong and reliable rasgueados. This is what I was taught when I was learning to accompany dancers back in 1985. This tutorial will show you the same traditional principles that were taught to me by “old school” teachers and players. This video covers continuous rasgueado patterns like the flamenco triplet PmP (abanicao) as well as 4 and 5 stroke patterns.
STRAIGHT THUMB vs BENT THUMB
I also comment on the bent thumb approach that seems to be a common way to play and teach rasgueados on the Internet today.
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Download the tab for the Soleares intro
nylonguitarist.com/rasgueado_7...
Don't forget to leave something in the tip jar.
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Time stamps
00:00 Soleares - Rasgueado demonstration
00:38 Tip 1 - Don't bend the RH thumb
05:43 Tip 2 - Power exercises for the pinky
10:25 Tip 3 - Flick quickly across the strings
10:57 Tip 4 - Clear the strings after every stroke
11:15 Tip 5 - Don't drag the fingers
12:40 Tip 6 - Program the fingers with bio-feedback
16:08 Tip 7 - How many strings to strike
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TECHNIQUE VIDEOS:
Rasgueados - 4 basic finger strokes - • flamenco guitar lesson...
Triplet rasgueado - • Triplet rasgueado - Fl...
Rasgueados daily workout - • Rasgueados daily worko...
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Read more about rasgeudos at my website
nylonguitarist.com/rasgueado_m...
Don't forget to leave something in the tip jar.
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[@MisterNiles]

Holy smokes man! I have a brain condition called Post Concussion Syndrome and I have a difficult time grasping concepts that used to be easy for me. I get to the point where I just give up. I get to the point where I don't even try. For some reason, I really feel like you are someone I can learn from. Exciting. So thorough. A thoughtful teacher.

[@hersoveela]

I'm very glad to hear that.

[@chindianajones3742]

A note on the "bent thumb" rasgueado: if you watch a lot of players do this (i think paco de lucia even does it sometimes. Check out his performance of impetu for example), you can see that sometimes they bend the thumb, and sometimes its straight. If you are learning the technique, you might find that with a straight thumb, the rasgueo will sound "thin" because you aren't hitting all the strings that you'd like. Conversely, like Sal says in the video, you might build up tension in your hand if you use the bent thumb. I have come to a point where, like other players I've seen, sometimes my thumb is bent and sometimes it is straight, and usually my thumb starts out slightly bent and becomes straight by the end of the rasgueo. I would say that its possible to develop your rasgueado using either method, and that you'll probably find that your own thumb will sometimes be bent and sometimes straight. By far the most important thing is to keep your hand relaxed for the whole rasgueado sequence.

[@Guardiola075]

Merci. Ce que j'apprécie c'est que vous prenez le temps dans vos leçons, cela rend tout plus précis, plus humain, plus généreux, sans oublier l'importance de l'humour. Bravo à vous.

[@guspapadopoulos]

Thank you, great advice. I like the fact that you don't rush, and you stress the importance of the beginning style with the fingers.

[@prashikkamble48]

glad that i am not bending my thumb. Saw graf martinez bending thumb, tried it but got more inclined toward juan martin method. currently I am completely following juan martin methods. well i am practicing and its good so far and my pinky is getting stronger. this video was most useful as made clear do's and dont's and has killed all the confusions, which is the biggest hurdle in learning guitar i believe. thanks a lot sir.

[@hersoveela]

I'm glad you found this video helpful. I am still going to explore the bent thumb method when I can get someone to explain to me exactly how to execute the strokes without tension. I can hear the benefit - strong flamenco sound - but I need to feel comfortable doing it first. Graf Martinez has a great rasgueado sound so his method will be my first port of call to re-examine this technique. So I am not discarding the bent thumb rasgueado idea altogether. It’s on my bucket list. When I get good at it and understand it I will teach it.

[@prashikkamble48]

@@hersoveela I am glad because somewhere this video gave me a sense that I am heading properly for rasgueado by not bending thumb ( as it was confusion as what if bending thumb is the best way) .Yes I personally like thumb bending way of rasgueado I observed the guitar virtuoso Graf Martinez doing so.well then I too tried it inspired by him. But as I am a biginner I am exploring and trying different techniques of flamenco.when I tried it without bending thumb it was easy for me and I was very comfortable with it. And talking of strength I thought it will come with practice. I too would definitely think of bent thumb rasgueado. I understand that you don't categorise techniques into right and wrong. I believe any technique that produces good sound is acceptable and can be mastered with practice provided the right way to do is known. but as a biginner I do lack patience so I got inclined towards what felt easy for me. correct me if I am wrong I hardly know things as a biginner. Also will try the suggestion of wrist position by @schbrachbolidsei. This is turning out to be a good learning process for me. Thanks a lot once again.

[@detrage5483]

Very helpful, thanks for sharing your experience!

[@tonisalic6300]

Thank you. Very helpful training!

[@taneryelkovan2963]

Thanks for sharing these very nice and valuable tips

[@yoshimitsu8922]

Thank you very much, this lesson is exactly what I need to help figure out Flamenco

[@BrunoVernay]

Quite complete explanation !

[@hamad1979]

I really would like to thank you for this very helpful video.

[@mrbigbosskojak]

Great lesson Sal, thanks so much.

[@luxquarta]

This was super useful, thank you. Your video answered lots of my interrogations !

[@khoile8415]

you are wonderful sir, thank you

[@christozi99]

Very explanatory lesson, thank you very much, all these details are mandatory for the begginer!

[@hersoveela]

Glad it was helpful!

[@brenostimpel8189]

You´re awesome, thank you!

[@chrispalmer4317]

A huge help, thanks for posting!

[@hersoveela]

Glad it was helpful

[@danialconte9187]

Well done, and thank you for sharing

[@hersoveela]

No problem. Thanks for watching!

[@hervecastre7359]

Great lesson 👍

[@gautiera.2947]

Thank you for the great lesson !

[@hersoveela]

Glad you liked it!

[@Moon-nf5fr]

Great lesson, this.

[@user-cu5gy9vw5x]

❤❤❤ thanks it's very help for me

[@phillipjordan1010]

I plant my thumb right on the edge of the sound hole so I can strike the low E along with the other strings to get a fuller base sound. Sometimes your thumb slips into the sound hole is something you got to watch for

[@user-eo7wn5cj3m]

個性が有って熱い解説が最高ありがとうございます。

[@hersoveela]

Thank you for watching

[@Ross58]

Hi Sal, thanks again and very insightful.

[@hersoveela]

Glad it was helpful!

[@georgewarnell2063]

Well done sir! My obsessions with a playing style are bouncing between Flamenco and Tommy Emmanuel. Can't wait to combine the 2! These finger movements have always been hard for me but you break it down quite well.

[@mehdibelmahi]

Amazing lesson thank you sir

[@hersoveela]

Glad you liked it!

[@renshimarek]

Super ! :) Great lesson, interesting, logical and clear. Thank you very much :)

[@hersoveela]

Thank you. I try to make it understandable to myself before I speak in front of a camera. I still get confused sometimes but it's a lot of fun making these videos

[@eumochileiro5593]

dicas valiosas!

[@uhoh007]

I especially appreciate the references to your influences early on. As a beginner, I can tell you my ring finger is a problem child, it desperately wants to follow the pinky right away!

[@hersoveela]

You're not the only one.

[@DanBanan69]

Great video! Thank you!

[@hersoveela]

My pleasure. Thanks for watching.

[@socalsalas2983]

Great lesson, thank you! Not many people recommend NOT bending the thumb, but I have an injury that will flare up if my hand is tense at all. I learned from Juan martin books, then my teacher had me bend the thumb, the after a couple months could not play st all without pain and had to take a break

[@hersoveela]

It doesn't make sense to chase a particular way of playing if it's not comfortable or, in your case, if it causes pain. I am always willing to try a different way of doing something. That extra piece of knowledge or technical skill will untimately contribute to you having a unique and more personal style. But if your skill set toolbox contains a chisel which is dull or little used, the best thing IMO is to sharpen it up with practice or remove it altogether. I'm sure your playing sound and style will not suffer because you choose not to use this or that technique.

[@tomquirke1688]

Great tutorial 👌

[@hersoveela]

Thank you very much.

[@tomquirke1688]

@@hersoveela most welcome.. I'd wish more people see your tutorials as it would be a great stepping stone to getting into playing flamenco.. your easy to follow vids make it easy to understand and learn for beginners..👌

[@paulgallagher246]

Bonza lesson thanks

[@emilawad7074]

Paco Peña en Paco de Lucía also use pinched rasgados. It is a very common very old technique, just like the flamenco tremolo p i a m i.

[@blender1188]

Lots of players use both methods. Like Adam del Monte or José Tanaka. The call it a flicked rasqueado and a free stroke rasqueado. The flicked one sounds more stronger and the free stroke one lighter. But every player is different. My teacher used to say all that matters is that it sounds good.

[@gabrielbalazs9310]

love

[@nanla2851]

Hi, thank you for these amazing tips! I have been practicing the rasgueado now for a few weeks, and when I try to play a chord, I still hear the sound of my nails ‘scraping’ over the strings. It’s the same sound you get when you are playing with dampened strings, but then together with a chord. Do you perhaps have any tips on how to avoid that sound? Will it disappear with practice?

[@amirhosein8873]

👍🏻👍🏻❤️

[@hersoveela]

Thank you for watching

[@ConservativeVoicesUniversity]

Ole jajaja 🥰🥰🥰🥰

[@hersoveela]

Thanks for watching

[@MrKikalo]

Is there a specific reason why starting with the pinky finger first?

[@dirkjanklijn9949]

So many ways by so many people, I never used my e becuase I was taught a, m, i, i.

[@hersoveela]

There are more ways. I just use and teach what I find practical and easy to learn. I will leave the more exotic varieties for those who care to dream them up.

[@eikun1024]

I cannot move my pinky and ring finger seperately.... :(

[@emilawad7074]

Those rasgados are called pinched. They are a different kind. It's not a Way of doing rasgados it's a kind of rasgado and all flamenco guitarists use it when they are in need of a percussive sounding rasgado. You could learn it if you start using it with the i finger first, a one finger rasgado. Saludos

[@hersoveela]

That all makes perfect sense. Never heard the term pinched before. 😂

[@emilawad7074]

@@hersoveela the actual most usual name in Spanish is Rasgado de Pinza.