Top 5 Picado Mistakes and How to Fix Them | Spanish Guitar Lesson

These are the five mistakes you're likely to make when playing Picado, a flamenco guitar technique we use when playing single note melodies. In this tutorial I show you how to fix these mistakes so you can play with more accuracy, speed, volume and control.
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[@TheVersatileGuitarist]

Get the tabs and practice play-along tracks from all my picado KZbin videos here: bit.ly/3u2Hhfi

[@SalsaBailaProductions]

After more than 35 years of guitar playing i cant believe i never thought of which knuckle i was moving… wow bye bye speed bottle neck i was feeling!!! This is a black belt tip thanks a million

[@artiekushner6849]

Im so appreciate of your content and teaching style, editing, pace, etc. etc. You are a natural educator

[@TheVersatileGuitarist]

Wow I appreciate that

[@edwardweeks5047]

Great lesson! Thank you

[@TheVersatileGuitarist]

Thanks for watching!

[@samrs265]

your videos are wonderful 👏, total mastery of the guitar, truly magnificent. Maestro 💫Sam.👋

[@TheVersatileGuitarist]

Thanks so much!

[@MyGuitarDoctor]

Love your enthusiasm and teaching style!

[@TheBinaryWolf]

I think you are a gifted teacher, able to communicate in detail. All that you share is accurate. In some instances, three finger picado works nicely, but the nail on the annular finger must not be too long. Balance in tone can be achieved by applying a thicker layer of glue to the annular: I use UV cured glue. After decades of trying a myriad of products, the gel is by far superior and hardens in less than 10 seconds. Polishing the skin on the fingertips with a foam sanding block also helps.

[@gerardlacey9384]

Very helpful thank you so much. Best wishes. Gérard.

[@rudystarosta2358]

Good teacher,keep it up. Thank you.

[@sidneyyouker941]

Filing your nails at the 4 minute 36 sec point. I happened to see a interview with Paco De Lucia and he discussed how he filed his nails. He used the same sand paper technique you showed, however he moved his finger nails across the string as if he were plucking the string because that is the direction that the finger is moving. As he explained in the interview,that by filing the nail, as you have showmen, means the nail is smooth but not in the direction the finger will be moving. If the finer nail was sliding up or down the string then fling the nail as you have demonstrated, would be OK. He prefers to use sand paper as it can be molded to go around the inside and outside of the nail which a solid file can not. He starts with 1,500 grit sandpaper and then finishes with 12,000 grit. Most hardware store do not stock this fine a sandpaper. I get this from a automotive store that stocks this fine paper that is used by autobody paint shops. A 8"x 11" sheet costs pennies and a single sheet will last me 3-4 months if I use it daily.

[@TheVersatileGuitarist]

Nice! I like those cloth/fabric sandpaper squares you can get on stringsbymail but it can get expensive

[@anthonymoody4601]

awesome video, thank you scot!

[@TheVersatileGuitarist]

Thanks for watching!

[@jason8string]

Great vids and great content overall on your channel. Your lesson pacing is fantastic! Quick, insightful, and to the point. Much appreciated. Almost every other vid I watch on the tube needs the playback speed adjusted to 2x. Yours are perfect.....Flamenco players don't waste time 🙂

[@TheVersatileGuitarist]

Thanks, some will say I talk way too fast 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@kevycanavan]

Could you do a video on nail health etc and what you do if you break one?

[@TheVersatileGuitarist]

It’s on my list!

[@kevycanavan]

@@TheVersatileGuitarist cool!

[@BenGilani]

Yup Scott. No, 4 is me. The long damn finger. I have a very difficult time laying (practicing) tremolo. Also, thanks for the sand paper filing method. Great video my friend. Thank you.

[@TheVersatileGuitarist]

Thanks!

[@yoheff988]

Alternating is a great technique and should be mastered, no questions, however swiping is an amazing technique as well, and needs to be mastered as well, the speed is defiantly greater than alternating, I used to thing that alternating is the only way to go not so, swiping is like the fifth gear when it comes to speed.

[@TheVersatileGuitarist]

Swiping? You mean slip finger picado?

[@yoheff988]

When you play two strings with one movement (one direction), you can play 2,3 or even 6 strings with one stroke, Paco did it as well, not as much but he did.@@TheVersatileGuitarist

[@BorisBidjanSaberi11]

That sandpaper trick is gamechanging… now

[@josephroscioli9468]

Another great video. You broke the Picado down to manageable elements, each of which can be difficult to master. May I ask a related question regarding the wrist and forearm as you travel from high E to low E: Do you suggest sliding the forearm across the top edge of the guitar so as to keep the wrist at the same angle. Alternatively, you could bend at the elbow and adjust the wrist. I'm not sure which is preferred. Thanks in advance.

[@TheVersatileGuitarist]

Ideally you would move your whole arm upward to keep your wrist position the same, but if there’s something *immediately* following the phrase (like a thumb stroke for example), you would adjust your wrist and bend your elbow as you said.

[@TheVersatileGuitarist]

And thanks for the comment!

[@moderngaucho1427]

Thanks for Sharing Scot Great videos I'm already subscribed from no on to your Channel 🎵🎶💕Greetings From Argentina! Can you later Explained Gipsy King 's Rumba Pattern Strumming ? Like Djobi Djoba and Bem Bem Maria and also slow Rumba like Moorea or un amor also from Gipsy king Greetings !🥰

[@TheVersatileGuitarist]

I have a 2-part tutorial on Moorea, have you seen that?

[@moderngaucho1427]

@@TheVersatileGuitarist ohh no I haven't seen it I'll check it now thanks 🙏 a lot ! Hearts

[@massimosantantonio4594]

I understand the technique of planting/preparing/muting as a means to get better control on the mechanics of what you're doing. But, is it me or in practice, with fast picado runs, this technique cannot be applied? I cannot hear the muting- understandably so I guess, since this would mean doubling the right hand speed of already lighting fast passages? Btw, amazing lessons

[@TheVersatileGuitarist]

At a certain speed the staccato sound of planting will disappear, but it’s the planting habit that helps you get to those speeds because you’ve trained your fingers to get to the string ahead of time. You can however hear the staccato-ness in some of Paco de Lucia’s picado passages.

[@massimosantantonio4594]

Thank you, much appreciated

[@gemmaster9369]

👍👌👏🙏

[@michaelk1589]

Is lifting i finger a bit really a mistake? I see guy like Lucas Gitano striking those strings from far away and his picado is quite great imho.

[@TheVersatileGuitarist]

It’s just a matter of efficiency. Some of the greatest players will do that, and sometimes it’s for show - if you practice the less efficient way of doing things enough, you can still play super fast but it saves a lot of practice time and hours of repetition to do the efficient thing

[@guitarista666]

From what I've seen, it's his i finger that does this the most. At one point i wondered if he made some notes with the i finger alone. I asked him about it. He said it was i&m alone. Ben Woods had a technique he called "alternail" where he made notes with the i finger alone. You're right Lucas' picado is very good.