Rasgueado
Encyclopedia
Rasgueado is a guitar
finger strum
ming technique commonly associated with flamenco
guitar
music. It is also used in classical
and other fingerstyle guitar
picking techniques. The rasgueado is executed using the fingers of the strum
ming hand in rhythmically precise, and often rapid, strum
ming patterns.
. Andrés Segovia
tried to remove the use of rasgueado from the classical school, considering it to have been developed "in the noisy hands of the gypsies".
Its use in classical music is limited today, but examples of pieces employing rasgueado are Manuel de Falla's "The Miller's Dance" and "Asturias Preludio (Leyenda)" by Isaac Albéniz
. It is also heard in the Rodrigo Concierto de Aranjuez
. Modern applications of the rasgueado technique can be seen in Tristan Murail
's solo guitar piece Tellur
and Lachenmann's Salut fur Caudwell.
Flamenco guitarists often build up their fingernails using layers of silk and superglue to prevent the nail from breaking. There is some sacrifice of tonal quality in this process, but without it, rasgueado is likely to break most fingernails after a time.
The wooden table of the guitar is protected from the reinforced nails by a plastic plate called a "golpeador
" which is stuck to the front beneath the soundhole.
There are several types of rasgueado, but the two main divisions are those that employ the forearm
and thumb
in conjunction and those that incorporate only the finger
s. Of course, both approaches can be combined to allow for the use of all digits on the hand
.
Once learned, the techniques are generally applicable to strumming, and can alter the player's entire approach to strumming and rhythm guitar.
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
finger strum
Strum
In music, a strum or stroke is an action where a single surface touches several strings of a string instrument, such as a guitar, in order to set them all into motion and thereby play a chord...
ming technique commonly associated with flamenco
Flamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
music. It is also used in classical
Classical guitar
The classical guitar is a 6-stringed plucked string instrument from the family of instruments called chordophones...
and other fingerstyle guitar
Fingerstyle guitar
Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of playing the guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking ....
picking techniques. The rasgueado is executed using the fingers of the strum
Strum
In music, a strum or stroke is an action where a single surface touches several strings of a string instrument, such as a guitar, in order to set them all into motion and thereby play a chord...
ming hand in rhythmically precise, and often rapid, strum
Strum
In music, a strum or stroke is an action where a single surface touches several strings of a string instrument, such as a guitar, in order to set them all into motion and thereby play a chord...
ming patterns.
History
Before the 19th century, the terms battuto and golpeado were commonly used to describe the same technique. Although originating in the classical tradition, the technique is most often associated with Flamenco guitarFlamenco guitar
A flamenco guitar is a guitar similar to a classical guitar. Flamenco guitar also refers to toque, the guitar-playing part of the art of Flamenco.-Brief history:...
. Andrés Segovia
Andrés Segovia
Andrés Torres Segovia, 1st Marquis of Salobreña , known as Andrés Segovia, was a virtuoso Spanish classical guitarist from Linares, Jaén, Andalucia, Spain...
tried to remove the use of rasgueado from the classical school, considering it to have been developed "in the noisy hands of the gypsies".
Its use in classical music is limited today, but examples of pieces employing rasgueado are Manuel de Falla's "The Miller's Dance" and "Asturias Preludio (Leyenda)" by Isaac Albéniz
Isaac Albéniz
Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz y Pascual was a Spanish Catalan pianist and composer best known for his piano works based on folk music idioms .-Life:Born in Camprodon, province of Girona, to Ángel Albéniz and his wife Dolors Pascual, Albéniz...
. It is also heard in the Rodrigo Concierto de Aranjuez
Concierto de Aranjuez
The Concierto de Aranjuez is a composition for classical guitar and orchestra by the Spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo. Written in 1939, it is probably Rodrigo's best-known work, and its success established his reputation as one of the most significant Spanish composers of the twentieth century. ...
. Modern applications of the rasgueado technique can be seen in Tristan Murail
Tristan Murail
Tristan Murail is a French composer. His father, Gérard Murail, is a poet and his mother, Marie-Thérèse Barrois, a journalist. One of his brothers, Lorris Murail, and his younger sister Elvire Murail, aka Moka, also write, and his younger sister Marie-Aude Murail is a French children's writer...
's solo guitar piece Tellur
Tellur
Tellur is a classical guitar composition by Tristan Murail dedicated to Rafael Andia. It is an example of spectral music.-Bibliography:* Tellur: an analysis, by Rafael Andia, 1984. -Recordings:...
and Lachenmann's Salut fur Caudwell.
Technique
In distinction with ordinary strumming, which is usually done either with a plectrum, or with one clump of fingers at a time, rasgueado generally uses only one digit (finger, thumb, etc) for each strum; this means that multiple strums can be done more quickly than usual by using multiple digits in quick succession.Flamenco guitarists often build up their fingernails using layers of silk and superglue to prevent the nail from breaking. There is some sacrifice of tonal quality in this process, but without it, rasgueado is likely to break most fingernails after a time.
The wooden table of the guitar is protected from the reinforced nails by a plastic plate called a "golpeador
Pickguard
A pickguard is a piece of plastic or other laminated material that is placed under the strings on the body of a guitar, mandolin or similar plucked string instrument...
" which is stuck to the front beneath the soundhole.
There are several types of rasgueado, but the two main divisions are those that employ the forearm
Forearm
-See also:*Forearm flexors*Forearm muscles...
and thumb
Thumb
The thumb is the first digit of the hand. When a person is standing in the medical anatomical position , the thumb is the lateral-most digit...
in conjunction and those that incorporate only the finger
Finger
A finger is a limb of the human body and a type of digit, an organ of manipulation and sensation found in the hands of humans and other primates....
s. Of course, both approaches can be combined to allow for the use of all digits on the hand
Hand
A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered extremity located at the end of an arm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs...
.
Application
Application of the technique is generally required to achieve the extremely rapid strumming used in flamenco, as well as to play the complex rhythms used in flamenco music.Once learned, the techniques are generally applicable to strumming, and can alter the player's entire approach to strumming and rhythm guitar.
External links
- Ioannis Anastassakis The Art of Rasgueado
- Miguel Bengoa Rasgueado exercises
- Rasgueados Are for Everyone: free rasgueado method