flamenco exercises
TRANSCRIPT
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Warm-up
This exercise combines a few techniques to warm up both hands.It starts with the chords D, A, G and F sharp in arpeggios and
picado and ends with a variation of this idea using the chords Bminor, A, G and F sharp. In the last four measures, a transposedsoleá falseta of Niño Ricardo. Notice that all the slurs are on thefirst two notes of the triplet.
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Fret
This exercise will quickly tire your fretting hand. The suggestedfingering keeps the index, middle and ring fingers on the same
strings as much as possible. Try to use rest strokes, and movethe barre up one fret to repeat the exercise in a loop.
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Pluck
This exercise strengthens thumb, index and middle. Playeverything in rest strokes, letting thumb and fingers rest on the
following string and alternating index and middle at all times.Keep your fingertips very close to the strings. This includes thethumb, because it is the base for all the other fingerstrokes andshould not be subordinate to them. In this sense, the exercisecan be simplified by playing a single bass note for each measure.
(click here to listen to the audio file)
The same pattern in sixteenths (2/4).
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Alzapúa
This exercise also works for arpeggios. Alzapúa basically consistsof a rest stroke followed by a downstroke and an upstroke that
brush several strings, although many falsetas start with thedownstroke. To get started, use a twisting motion by rotating thetwo bones in your forearm (it's like turning a key in a lock).Click here for a study of this technique. Your hand has to berelaxed enough to feel the centrifugal force from the twistingmovement. When you've got the idea, do as much of the work asyou can with your thumb, keeing your index finger on the firststring (I use my ring finger).
When alzapúa is used for sixteenth notes, the ternary mechanism(plant-brush-brush) contrasts with the binary structure, creatingthe offset pattern seen below. Notice that in each measure, theplanted thumbstroke happens at a different rhythmic moment:beat one, first and fourth notes; beat two, third note; beat three,second note. The exercise can be simplified by playing in tripletsso that each planted thumbstroke falls on the beat.
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Scales
The following scales and arpeggios are based on patterns of 48
and the division of this number by its common denominators 2, 3,4 and 6, which allows us to play each pattern in eighths, triplets,sixteenths and sextuplets, as seen below. Logically, the patternscan be reduced to just 12 notes, six ascending and sixdescending. Notice the symbol indicating that the last beat ineach measure is accented.
Eighth notes = 2 notes per beat x 3 beats x 8 measures = 48 notes
Triplets = 3 notes per beat x 4 beats x 4 measures = 48 notes
Sixteenths = 4 notes per beat x 3 beats x 4 measures = 48 notes
Sextuplets = 6 notes per beat x 4 beats x 2 measures = 48 notes
Using this arrangement, we can play the following patterns intriplets and sixteenths. In order to make the two rhythms clearer,you can accent the last beat in each measure. Strike the note alittle harder and follow with a very slight pause, for a rubatoeffect. The patterns are completely systematic, so you canconcentrate fully on the rhythm, as the descent starts in the thirdmeasure in both triplets and sixteenths. You can reverse all of the
patterns, playing them descending and then ascending.
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Diatonic (E minor)
Changing notes creates different diatonic scales. For example,
changing the C to C sharp will give you D major, using no sharpsor flats yields C major, etc.
Diatonic with slurs
As above, you can alter the notes of the scale.
Blues/pentatonic
You can apply this to the other "blues boxes" up the fretboard:
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Chromatic
You can start at almost any fret on the sixth string:
Diminished 7th
You can add slurs (pull-offs) when there are three notes on onestring (the first three, for example). Also, the descent can befingered higher up on the fretboard.
Tritone octave
At the first, fifth and seventh beats, you can see the three left-hand fingerings that correspond to the different string sets used.This exercise can be played p-p-i. As with the preceding pattern,you can finger the descent higher up on the fretboard.
You have probably gathered by now that it is not too hard toapply the idea to many other patterns. Just play any interestingpattern in sixteenths or triplets over a three- or four-beat
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rhythm, respectively, changing direction when you reach the thirdmeasure. You might have to start the descent one note higher inthe pattern in order to create a loop.
Picado
These exercices are designed to strengthen your picadotechnique, especially the movement of the fingers to a newstring.
I recommend starting with Exercises 1 and 2 when you want to
work on picado because the muted strings focus your attention onprecise striking-hand technique. For Exercise 1, play eighth noteson each muted string, alternating your index and middle fingersand repeating the pattern in a loop. Make sure that you alwaysalternate index and middle, use rest strokes and keep yourthumb on one of the bass strings. Notice the difference betweenstarting the pattern i-m and m-i and that it's awkward to move toa lower-pitched string with the middle finger (use rest strokes).When you can play the pattern quickly and starting with either
finger, do the same with triplets, as seen in Exercise 2. If Exercise 3 is too difficult, you need to go back to Exercises 1 and2 and look at the rest strokes.
Exercises 1 and 2
For Exercise 3, start the looped pattern with your index fingerand notice that the new string always falls on the middle finger inthe ascent and on the index in the descent. Now play the samepattern but starting with your middle finger. It's probably goingto feel very awkward, particularly in the descent, where it's veryimportant to make use of rest strokes. Although we normally
avoid the awkward fingering, there are parts of certain falsetas inwhich there is no other alternative. The rest of these exercises
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are meant to be played with the two fingerings (i-m, m-i) in orderto concentrate on the way that the fingers "lay" on different setsof strings. Remember to keep your thumb on one of the bassstrings.
Exercise 3
The descent is particularly difficult when using the awkwardfingering. Exercise 4 loops the pattern in a way that repeats thesame fingering for each new cycle, and Exercise 5 alternates thetwo fingerings.
Exercise 4 Exercise 5
Exercise 6 places the above pattern on different sets of strings.Each measure can be looped for practice on a particular set of strings.
Exercise 6
Exercise 7 distributes the same 12-note pattern in sixteenths
(4x3=12, 3x4=12).
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Exercise 7
Exercise 8 is a variation that is offset in such a way that everyother beat is one note lower in the scale (beats 1, 3, 5, etc.)
Exercise 8
You don't have to limit these patterns to the C major scale: with Fsharp, it would be G major (granaínas); with B flat, it would be Fmajor (por medio), etc.