For What It's Worth

I could not say I have started on this one yet, but cant wait.

You got me curious on one thing. When you strum with your fingers, what finger(s) would that be, and what part for up and down strokes?

I myselt use my thumb. I stick it out and uses the outer edge of it, right next to the nail, both down and up. The upstroke gets a bit sharper, as it hits closer to the nail, but I think that goes well with the characteristics of the upstroke (high note first). And when I strum, I tend to wiggle it around a bit, cause that something I can do. I keep it stiff, and rotates it a bit around the inner joint (I tend to bee a bit bony:))

I find I finger-strum in a lot of ways. Most often I'll go down with the thumb, pretty much as zc describes, but I usually do the upstroke with my index finger.

For a cool downstroke (no surprise to Alan and the other classical players - and a little help with the "technical" name for this?  ;) ) flick your fingers downward one at a time starting with the pinky and finishing with the index. You can do the reverse for an upstroke.

Peace

Isn't that the "Segovia Scratch"  :) :) :)

Well, technically it's known as a "rasquedo".

Not to be pedantic, but "rasgueado".

"let's call the whole thing off..."  ;)

(I hope everyone realizes that's a lame punch line!)

Peace

It's spelled many different ways.  Not being a native Spanish speaker, I am unable to decide between the different spellings on rational grounds.  I just picked one that looked right.

Rasguedo, rasquedo, rasgueado and rasqueado all seem to be used, even on Spanish sites.

Sorry for the pedantry.  Since I speak Spanish (being married to a Colombian and all), I often tilt at windmills.  Just ignore me and I'll go away soon.

Sorry for the pedantry.  Since I speak Spanish (being married to a Colombian and all), I often tilt at windmills.  Just ignore me and I'll go away soon.

Don't you dare!   ;)

Anyway, back to the discussion at hand (another pun!  ;) )...

Forgot to mention that one thing I see a bit is that people who strum with their fingers seem to (at least in my observations) put a lot more arm motion into the strum than people using picks. I tend to use the same motion (wrist/forearm) either way. What about you?

Peace

I gave up using my fingernails for strumming when I moved from classical to steel-strung guitar because the steel strings seemed to ruin my finger nails.  

Is this a common problem?  Maybe I have something wrong with my fingernail biochemistry ???

I think I have the rhythm down and all (if I can get the muting right -- sometimes the high e keeps squealing, so I have to work on my technique some more), but it would be nice to have the comforting sound of the MP3s.  Any idea when the page will be updated?

Buenos noches everyone ! (oops if that's mispelt)

Looking forward to the MP3s also, practising the two different strum patterns,doing OK

David, thanks for the laugh on the Guitar Noise suggestions Forum, couldn't stop laughing over " at the risk of sounding like a tired old windbag"

Shalom

btw Mark, should that have been 'buenos tardes', should have stuck with ' Guten Abend' from my highschool German.

Here's a nice link for some downloads of classical guitar music:

http://www.guitarramagazine.com/magazine/index.asp

Back to this lesson, I'm getting the strumming down better, and understanding on the theory side about the circle of fifths mentioned in the musical genome project article  :)

astokes, don't make me get all pedantic again!!!!!

"noche" and "tarde" are both feminine.  So, in either case, the correct would be "Buenas noches" or "Buenas tardes".  Generally, "Buenas Noches" has the connotation of separation (like you are leaving or going to bed), but that is not necessarily the case, as in some very formal or archaic settings it may be used in the form of a greeting.  "Buenas tardes" is almost exclusively an afternoon or early evening thing, but again, lines are fuzzy.  I am trying to remember how we greeted people at parties (which start pretty late in Colombia), but those were never formal so we probably just said stuff like "Hola" or "Que hubo" or whatnot.

Please, don't call up the pedantry.  In that regard I really am like Bruce Banner and turn into an ugly green monster.  

Mark :)

PS.  Let me know if you want links to classical and/or flamenco music you could play.