Pointers for Fast Picado - Part 1 Flamenco Lessons with Juanito Pascual

[@owar47]

You definitely showed us all that PATIENCE is the key ... We all have been stressed by those videos that try to sell a 24 HOURS fast enough to meet light particles... We didn't realise that even those people who are not honest, have a 20 or more years of playing background. But you sir, and some few other people are honest to say that it won't come even after 5 or 10 years of daily practice wich is my experience, but it takes a life of achievement. PATIENCE N BREATHING are the ways to heaven

[@juanitopascual1]

Hi! Thanks for your question...and the answer is yes! Believe it or not. Everyone is different, but for me the development of technique has been a very slow process, and somewhere along the line I realized you just cannot cut corners if you want the real thing, I found that slow and comfortable gradually becomes fast and comfortable (including breathing), but you have to give it time.

[@TomStrahle]

Thanks for the lesson, trying to get this flamenco thing down. Pretty frustrating at times but every time I turn a corner it's very rewarding. Thanks for helping me turn a corner.

[@4keatley222]

Very well done!I've been a flat picker for many years,and i'm finding it a difficult transition.This is the kind of advice I need.Cheers!

[@foxydonna]

Thank you for being so giving, simplicity and subtlety the way to genius.

[@57vahid]

Great tutorial. thanks. I'm looking forward for your new lessons.

[@baymagic]

Hello Juan, thank you for the video. There are very rare tutorial explain clear and informative. I checked you channel to find more tutorial, but I don't see more wish you can continue to make it. Thanks anyway. Cheers.

[@juanitopascual1]

@omarmiguel3 Hi... Glad you found this helpful! Well, I have been playing flamenco for about 23 years, and continue to improve. I don't know of any shortcuts, other than thoughtful (and patient) daily practice. It also depends greatly on your starting point. Some people are faster than others at first. I believe with proper practice anyone can learn though, so the ultimate answer of "how long" is extremely individual. Relaxed daily practice is one of the big keys to gaining speed (& patience!)

[@Bojanmarsetic]

in 7 minutes you told me more than many others in hours. thank you very much. good luck.

[@jbell94521]

This is a really good lesson. Thank you! I have a number of Flamenco techniques that are adequite, but so far, my picado sucks. So I think this will help.

[@eugenetarr4593]

This is great and can be applied to all styles, including plectrum.

[@juanitopascual1]

Hi Eugene...glad you find it helpful. Super true about plectrum, and same does definitely apply for other right hand techniques in flamenco for sure.

[@flamenco1967]

Hello nice way to explain picado and you point nice in staccato way like "minimum touch but power like a hammer" Thanks Juanito... best regards Rickard.S from South Sweden

[@koenie17]

Great lesson! People don´t realize how important this is! Thank´s a Lot!!

[@rumsbums3113]

Thanks for sharing. Amazing stuff

[@RennyJackson]

Very good, love the fact there is so much coool shit on youtube, thanks for sharing Juanito!

[@Wheatr-CBW]

Fantastic lesson. It has certainly helped my picado out. Thanks! And that's a brilliant sound you create as well!

[@paquillo67]

No sé si hablas español pero muchas gracias por explicar esto y enseñar esto. LLevo bastantes años tocando y sé positivamente cuánta razón tienes en todo lo que comentas (aunque mi inglés es malo y seguro que hay cosas que desgraciadamente me he perdido). Lo que comentas es realmente el camino hacia coger velocidad en el picado, con la tenacidad y la paciencia diaria que ello requiere. Enhorabuena por el picado extraordinario que tienes.

[@edcam1227]

Amigo en el minuto 5: 15 qué escala es y qué dedos son?

[@jbell94521]

The tuning pegs that his guitar has are actually the traditional means for tuning Flamenco guitars. The "machine heads" that you are refering to are more for classical guitars. That said, nowadys, because some feel they are easier to use and more convenient, machine heads are often used on Flamenco guitars. But the pegs are the more traditional for the Flamenco guitars. I have 3 Flamenco guitars. 2 of them have pegs and 1 has the geared machine heads. I am used to the pegs and prefer them.

[@kathleenhaupt174]

outstanding!! Thank you so much for all the detail and explanation!! Well done!!

[@juanitopascual1]

Good question...Absolutely.. I find it is a great thing to practice even if you mostly or always do picado with2 fingers, but also is particulary useful for passages where the left hand is also playing groups of 3 notes, found of course in a lot of different scales for example.

[@ItamarErezMusic]

Great video and very good suggestions for right practice. Thank you!

[@taruchumccullough9045]

Thank you 🙏🏽 I needed this lesson

[@raquelchicajazz121]

great video! i was wondering if you have any or could make a demonstration video of how you incorporate breating into your practice. i want to become one with the music, and technique and sometimes it gets easy to over think it. thank you in advance juanito. -raquel

[@juanitopascual1]

Hi Raquel, thanks for your question. I so appreciate your statement about wanting to be one with the music. For me, that is indeed the journey! First, I can’t recommend too highly a book called “Effortless Mastery” by pianist Kenny Werner. I followed his method to the letter and it totally transformed me. It is all about becoming one with music. In terms of making a video, I don’t have any material posted currently on that topic, but do have a whole method I’ve developed which I will be launching sometime in the near future. My simple suggestion to get started though is: 1) sit without playing and pay attention to your breathing, making sure you have relaxed consistent breathing . The idea is to not lose the ease of breath once you start playing. 2) So, in order to do that, I start with only one single movement, like downstroke with the thumb, or plucking an open string repeatedly with just one finger (alternating can be a distraction at first), and then add one thing at a time, each time making sure you’re still breathing effortlessly. It sounds painstaking 🤪 but with daily practice it adds up much quicker than you might think, and, importantly, is the only way I know of, to be actually sure you’re staying free and connected to the breath. Again, definitely check out the book “Effortless Mastery”, he also has a lot of videos on KZbin, but don’t skip the book. I hope this gets you started, and stay tuned for more! Thanks again for the great question.

[@exhesham]

thank you for sharing your useful knowledge

[@thebassofmontecristo]

Juanito, saludos! Watching this and using it for bass guitar soloing technique. Un abrazo!

[@MVQ91]

Awesome video! Really good tips. Looking forward to the next one.

[@CHITARRAFLAMENCOROMA]

i am absolutely agree with you! great Juanito!

[@juanitopascual1]

Thank for the comment....You are lucky to have gotten off to a good start! After teaching now for 20 years I find that most people who come for lessons do not have this important bit of info, and even if they do, they often neglect it while obsessing over right hand speed. I put this topic first because it is so easily overlooked, and since no matter how fast your right hand is, if the left hand placement and breathing are not there, the playing can never sound optimal. quality first then speed.

[@margot9230]

The best logicsl lesson on finger speed.......

[@davidferrara1105]

You have some amazing scales bro

[@davidferrara1105]

Good lesson!!!!

[@Aalii6]

great tips, thank you!

[@schbrachbolidsei]

Nice and smooth picado! The only thing that disturbs me ist the angle of your right hand, which should be more perpendicular to the frets to allow the fingers to be nearer to the place where they should touch the strings!

[@mofoshrimp]

Hey man, great tips, thanks for the upload!!

[@payambehtash7124]

thnx for the lesson that's being said your left hand position needs to change. I assume you are comfortable with it but unlike your comment the fourth finger would have problem reaching to the fourth bar if they were not parallel. your right hand lessons are awesome

[@juanitopascual1]

Hi Payam, I understand your point. I may not have explained the pinky thing optimally, but let me put it another way. Essentially the four fingers of the left hand should remain essentially parallel to each other for optimal smoothness. I bring my plam closer to the the fingerboard when playing with the pinky but other that that do remain mostly in that slanted position. This is something I learrned from Grisha Goryachev's father, Dimitry Goryachev, one of my greatest mentors. If you look at videos of some of the truly fast players like Paco, Al di Meola, John Mclaughlin, Juan Manuel Canizares, etc..you will see how they are doing this same thing. THanks for your comment and hope this helps! Here is nice video of Paco and the Trio you can check each of their L Hands to compare? kzbin.info/www/bejne/rYTIc6Ouo75qacU

[@payambehtash7124]

thanks Juanito for your response. like I said your lessons about speed burst are awesome can you give me a tip for fast burst across strings? I'd be in your debt.

[@nel_dubbio_mena]

I understood that each player has his own tecnique

[@KMMI77]

Nice video! It always helps to hear how other guitarists think about picado. Thanks for sharing :-)

[@GUMBY1942]

Great stuff hermano wish I could take lessons with you.

[@atrafana]

Very helpful tutorial. Thank you.

[@arninyenketsamy9410]

Great video

[@juanitopascual1]

Thanks, glad you find it helpful!

[@juanitopascual1]

Wow...I'm so glad this helped! Definitely keep it up...it takes time and patience for sure. All the Best!

[@yogevcohen]

This is great, thanks! juanitopascual1

[@douglaslastname2022]

"Picado", Index finger alternating with the middle finger has always been hard for me. Practice has to be the only way there. I'm comfortable with fingers equally with plectrum pick. I can even circle-pick with the tip of my index finger. Way before that, in the 70s, I imagined a circle imposed on three strings. Like a sine wave arpeggio written on staff, constant breath in sax terms. These days it is referred to as "sweeping", quite different from "alternate" picking like John McLoughlin and others. Paganini used the bow to achieve essentially the very same circular note pattern. At first I thought; strumming a chord was just playing 6 note really fast, but how to keep playing that fast? The only way was to reverse direction, and slow it down enough to appreciate the singular notes. I still call it circular picking, though it is much more like an ellipse. Equal time between the crossing of the strings is key. You could practice it like a drum roll by muting all strings. Your fretting hand will have a lot to learn, how to catch up with it. No reason to limit it to three strings.

[@juanitopascual1]

@MrWheatr Thanks for the feedback...glad this was helpful!

[@ubershredder1989]

What are some rules for the *arm* posture in Picado? I see that it is substantially different from the tirando/arpeggio posture where the right arm hugs the bout of the guitar, for instance. I notice the elbow is elevated in order to allow for a more straightened wrist. What muscles are involved in this? Delts/lats? what are the roles of the joints? This approach makes me stiff, making it especially hard to do finer things like picado string -crossing. any suggestions?

[@petey604]

Great tips! Cheers!

[@sinayousefian6304]

nice job... too much helpful...

[@fascers]

Great lesson! I am slowly trying to learn Flamenco - such amazing music - and have a couple of questions for you (forgive me if I missed it within the lesson). For picado, do you always play rest strokes? Also, should I practice both rest strokes and shorter strokes (I guess more of a classical picking technique) as well when doing picado? Secondly, are you picking straight fingernail or kind of pinching the string between the fingernail and flesh of the fingertip? Thanks much! Corey

[@joelbrown9086]

Very helpful lesson. What strings do use? Do you find string tension affects your picado? Yours sound like very short sustain unless that is just technique.

[@juanitopascual1]

Hi Joel, finally getting back to you! I currently use D'Addario Pro Arte medium tension strings. What you are hearing is more a result of technique and the guitar than the strings, although string tension is of course relevant and personal to each persons hand (and as it relates to the specific guitar since some guitars are more playable, you might need to experiment with string tension) to find what is comfortable for you. In general in my playing I actually like to have some sustain, so this shortness is very particular to the technique, and again, that particular guitar is very light and responsive. Thanks for your question!

[@grafen3teiner]

Thanks for this video, great playing !! One question: The fingers have to rest on the next string?

[@juanitopascual1]

Hi! Yes, after each note, the finger does rest on the next string before replacing it on the first string in preparation for the its next note. Does that make sense? Sometime hard to describe these things in writing..but, the answer is yes, though in real time obviously it is only for a split second.

[@shiroumxm2052]

Juan, ¿cual es su opinión de aprender picado sin poner el dedo alterno sobre la cuerda que se pulsó? ¿Hay algún inconveniente que usted observe?

[@bergweg]

very nice sounding guitar. What model is it?

[@holyevil]

thanks for sharing this mate.

[@bach2117]

thanks for the good advice

[@ubershredder1989]

*If you watch Paco* , I noticed he (hyper)extends his ring and pinky away from the the guitar body, when playing I-M picado. I presume this is to avoid excess movement in the ring and pinky which arises from i) natural sympathetic tension in the hand/fingers ii) shared tendons any thoughts?

[@juanitopascual1]

Hi, thanks for your comment and questions. My thoughts on that, having played around with Paco's picado position is that for his hand, the extended pinky COMBINED with the bend in the tip joint of his thumb created kind of a spring-like tension for his i and m fingers. When doing those two things it sort of creates a certain stability across the whole palm that doesn't happen if you only stretch the pinky or if you only bend the thumb joint. That being said, I personally find that the most important thing for me is keeping my hand relaxed and not trying to artificially make my hand look like his or anyone else's hand. With that in mind someone else worth checking out is Enrique Melchor. He and Paco were friends and played a lot together in the early days. He actually does exactly the opposite, pulling his pinky (and to a lesser extent his ring) INTO the palm when doing picado and also had really great picado. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fGfYY2d6dqiLbs0 That leaves me with the idea that while it is good to try things out, staying comfortable is king. In my experience, as long as you stay comfortable, experimenting with different approaches/hand or finger positions, in the end will help you find YOUR ideal technique. The key really is to FEEL how someone you admire felt (Paco said picado was always easy for him!!) not to try and look like them per se. Sometimes experimenting with the way they look can indeed help you achieve the feeling/result but sometimes it can just be artificial and hold you back. So, again, my approach is always about staying comfortable (largely by making sure I am breathing effortlessly at all times), and then sure, try it out and see if it helps you! Also, I have discovered over time that if you allow yourself to say relaxed and don't force the position, your hand may actually gravitate towards a certain position naturally. That to me is the ideal situation, as opposed to forcing a hand position. But again, experimenting with some of these people's positions can indeed help you and maybe set your hand on a path of gravitating towards something that resembles that person's technique. Hope this is helpful!!

[@ubershredder1989]

@@juanitopascual1 thank you very much for your informative response! I'll definitely have a look into the things mentioned above.

[@dimebad]

Why does your guitar not have traditional tuning knobs? Very well spoken by the way.

[@antoniobrandao1]

hello, could you please show us (slowly) the scale you are using for you super mega example picado you do in the beginning and in the end ?

[@2012brianew01]

Thank you very helpful

[@RumbaMother]

What's about the pinky? I noticed that a lot of guitarplayers stretch their right pinky whenever they speeding up. I saw Paco Cepero holding is right pinky almost perpendicular to the guitar board when doing picados? Un abrazo

[@CHITARRAFLAMENCOROMA]

I perfectly agree with you

[@rubenkoster1015]

I struggle with alternate stings. My m finger is not as fast as I finger. Can you help?

[@pablocreacionesinstrumenta4233]

gracias genio.

[@betweenevenings]

cool thanks for tips

[@mytryelife]

great tips! thank you very much ! :D

[@MisterTorgueHighFiveFlexington]

u said to find a speed where i can breathe, but i just want to know: where you breathing during the insanely fast intro?

[@amirayoussef89]

thanks thanks thanks its gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood

[@jair333]

Do you start the picado always with M and then alternate with I as you change strings, back and forth?

[@juanitopascual1]

+Jc333 Hi, it is best to practice starting with i and then m. Definitely in general switching strings is one of the things that requires practice because going to a higher string with the m finger is easier and going to a lower string with i is easier for most people because of the difference in length between the two fingers. So, string crossings that are the opposite of that do require extra practice so you don't get derailed or be tempted to repeat the same finger. Practicing all scales and exercises half of the time starting with i and the other half of the time starting with m is super important. Thanks for the question and happy practicing!

[@jair333]

juanitopascual1 Thank you for your response i appreciate it Juan.

[@PienaarGuitar]

Around what tempo is the run at the end? Asking because it does sound nice :)

[@krsnaswonderland4326]

Thanks sir

[@juanitopascual1]

@subbotniki Hi Richard, Glad you found it so helpful..thanks for the message!

[@korberd]

Is it necessary to rest the thumb on the 6. string?

[@oscarceballos1261]

Long live and pudrete

[@vilayvoneford7422]

It is a matter of preference. some do some dont.

[@edcam1227]

5: 15 cómo es esa escala y qué dedos usar?

[@jair333]

Also whats the scale you played in the intro?

[@RobbySchechter]

thanks!

[@AkirosGuy]

pause @ 4:23 and check the look in his face. ahahah joking,gr8 video my friend,helped me a lot:-)

[@KevinToine]

Is there a difference between picado and apayando? And i'm guessing fast players studied alot with a metronome?

[@SinAsTheTic]

interesting question. i've mostly heard "apoyando" used in a classical context whereas "picado" is always used in reference to flamenco. in english it's always simply "rest stroke," meaning "apoyando" a metronome is used for all technical studies, not only scales (slurs/hammer-on, arpeggios etc)

[@davekeays]

But be careful, in my classical guitar study (1st 20/30 years of playing) I started to sound like a metronome (bum ... bum ... bum ... bum) with no variations and nothing to give it the little extra "spice" that fits in music. After a while I focused on street music (blues, rag-time, hip-hop, flamenco, ...) to help me get away from the monotonous sound of the concert hall of over-practised musicians and clocks.

[@mofoshrimp]

Apoyando probably means rest stroke, which is what picado is. Another way the Spanish, particularly the flamencos say this is ´pulsando´. This is differentiated from ´tirando´ which is what we would call free stroke. Tirando is a really important technique, it is done totally lightly with no muscular force, but other than that, it is the same as picado, alternating I and M. In tirando the fingers are more curved and they only touch the string being played, not any of the adjacent strings. Apparently, all the players like Sabicas and Paco who had a really good picado also practiced a lot tirando. Tirando is kind of the secret to taking your picado up to a really high level - whatever exercises you are playing, alternate between picado/pulsando/apoyando and tirando/free stroke. I don´t even know why exactly it works so well, but if you start mixing tirando in with your picado it really makes a big difference.

[@SinAsTheTic]

thx for this. now i understand why some guitarists (esp. flamenco) have very staccato-sounding scales. i like that punchy percussive sound, 'tho not appropriate for all music styles

[@guitardreamuntorealities4227]

It's hard to see what you're doing with the strumming hand due to low video quality.

[@chex569]

We can do picado with 3 fingers?

[@juanitopascual1]

Thank you all for the great comments...more videos coming very soon!

[@kevinjacobsson9869]

What is that scale you use in the beginning? I wanna learn fast picados. I just need a scale to practise on

[@mysterybotts]

shroomplants start with the major scale. Basis of everything...

[@kevinjacobsson9869]

mysterybotts is that what he is using?

[@mysterybotts]

shroomplants either a diatonic major/minor scale (basically the same scale) or harmonic minor (which is one note different) I don’t remember exactly but I’m pretty sure. That would be the most common that you wound use in almost any type of music. Including flamenco. If you want to play like that that it’s what your gonna use in 95% of all cases. I suggest a simple major/minor scale first because you can get the most mileage out of it, and also if you don’t know how to use the major/minor scale, you almost definitely will have trouble using more exotic stuff. if your not sure what scale to practice on I’d say all of them, but the major/minor scale is gonna be the easiest to finger for both your left and right hand, and it’ll be the most easily applicable to any style you come across. Getting that flamenco sound (or sound of any genre) will be more of a product of the rhythms you use rather than the scale/melodic choices you make. Of course they’re both important but rhythm is king most of the time because bad notes are generally more forgivable than bad rhythms. Wish I would’ve taken that approach at the beginning, it will literally save you years of time haha. Hope this helps!

[@kevinjacobsson9869]

mysterybotts i fucking love you. I play flamenco but dont know any music theory since im self taught. thank u so much

[@mysterybotts]

shroomplants no problem man, I love being able pass information that’ll help someone out. check out these videos too then, these accounts are goldmines of info on theory and guitar technique. kzbin.info/www/bejne/j2fQd5KffN2Xmac kzbin.info/www/bejne/i4Gnnoiqmt-WrZo Fret jam and Steve Gilson. Follow both of them and search through their back catalogues. Promise you won’t regret it.

[@jake_the_lawyer]

Flamenco guitarists are probably so good at fingerbanging

[@juanitopascual1]

@bergweg Thanks for your note..I am playing a 2005 spruce/cypress blanca, by Aaron Green, an exceptional luthier based near Boston, Massachusetts, (USA).

[@CurtisSpiers]

hmm, alot of the info at the start about left hand position seems to only apply to this technique of one note at a time runs, developing muscle memory like this seems like it may hamper other techniques from the past or in the future. (ie. being able to reach chords economically) good video otherwise

[@JimboDean9]

i just feel like my fingers will never be able to pick that fast..it feels inhuman to me lol..we shall see over years of practice though

[@Ricky-ci4jx]

Dan Lopez It's been five years. Are you able to play quickly yet?

[@luxkarma4258]

Its now been 8 years how has the training gone

[@kyfisher3662]

could you go more in depth with how to improve breathing?

[@juanitopascual1]

Thanks for your comment! I think you've inspired me to do a video on the topic. I'll let you know when I post. Cool that you picked up on that point, it is actually a totally central element in my own practice, and I believe, extremely basic to body health (obviously in general, but also) as it relates to playing, learning, and optimizing your potential as a player.

[@kyfisher3662]

@@juanitopascual1 thank you, it's much appreciated! :)