The sizzling Andalusian climate of 19th century Spain famously gave birth to the flamenco guitar and with it the popular style known as flamenco.
The chief technique employed in flamenco guitar playing that gives the style its signature rhythmic energy and flare is rasgueado (‘strummed’) technique.
In modern music, the word ‘strummed’ evokes the image of someone strumming away at a guitar with a plectrum in hand, but rasgueado technique takes this further with the player employing all four fingers and thumb as separate plectrums.
As such, Rasgueado technique allows guitarists to explore intricate rhythmic patterns that wouldn’t otherwise be possible with a single plectrum.
This lesson consists of five fundamental exercises followed by a short piece that brings all the examples together. At its core, Flamenco technique is all about speed and being able to execute each individual strum or pluck rapidly.
This mantra also needs to be adhered to when starting out at slow tempos – when initially approaching the outward ‘flicks’ within the strumming patterns, tuck each fingertip either behind the thumb or into the pit of your palm in a way that allows for each finger to be released in an explosive flicking motion.
When moving the fingers with such power it is very easy to allow tension to creep in. Tension is the arch-enemy of speed so be sure to practice emptying the tension out of the hand after each strum before increasing to higher tempos.
Flamenco has many luminaries but none are as famous as Francisco Sanchez Gomez, known the world over as Paco de Lucía. His modern style of Flamenco became a staple on '70s and '80s TV as well as the Saturday Night In San Francisco trio with John McLaughlin and Al Di Meola.
Paco often favoured the Bulerías dance style of Flamenco so for anyone looking to explore his music, this is the place to start.
Use the video above in conjunction with the audio and tab/notation below.
Tab examples
Example 1. Basic flicking with the first (i) and second (m) fingers
Perch your thumb on the fifth string to keep your plucking hand stable and to allow for your flicks to focus in on the just the top four strings.
Do downstrokes with the second (m) and first (i) fingers with the upstrokes played by the first finger using a loose closing motion of the finger so that the hand stays relaxed.
Example 2. Adding the third (a) finger
When flicking ‘a-m-i’ on the opening beat of each bar be sure to focus on hitting this beat with the first finger (i) to maintain a clean rhythmic flow.
Keep your fretting hand thumb loose behind the frets when you shift up and down between first and second position.
Example 3. Introducing the fourth (c) finger
The fourth finger (c) does not have a great deal of strength so be sure to practice slowly with rapid flicks to build up confidence in its motion.
All chords in the fretting hand can be achieved by simply sliding the first and second fingers up and down the third and fourth strings.
Example 4. Adding a second bass voicing using the thumb
As the title suggests, we are no longer perching the thumb on a string but instead holding the plucking hand elevated in a static position, swiping the thumb to sound a bass chord in between rasgueado strums.
The more stable you keep your hand, the more consistent your rasgueado will become.
Example 5. Increasing rhythmic interplay between bass voicing and rasgueado chords
As we advance the rhythms between the upper and lower voice you may find using ‘a-m-i-i’ (where the second ‘i’ is an upstroke) easier than ‘c-a-m-i’. I certainly do so explore this pattern as shown in the video.
If it feels easier then have another go at Exercises 3 & 4 with this updated strumming pattern, otherwise keep going with ‘c-a-m-i’.
Example 6. Short piece
To bring this tutorial on Rasgueado to a close, enjoy this short study. In the opening section slide the fretting hand's third and fourth fingers up and down between the 3rd and 4th fret to easily shift between chords.
Several bars consist of strummed chords followed by bass notes plucked with the thumb – aim to sustain each chord over the adjacent bass notes to keep a sense of continuous flow. Keep that rhythmic flare alive by ensuring those rasgueado flicks stay rapid and loose.
Examples of rasgueado
Paco de Lucía - Concierto de Aranjuez
There are few examples better known for the rasgueado technique than the opening chords of Joaquin Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez, one of the most famous classical guitar compositions of all time.
Watch how chords like D major on the upper strings have an added rhythmic beauty thanks to this unique strumming technique. While many versions have been recorded of this piece – from John Williams to Miloš Karadaglić – Paco De Lucia's has a particular dynamic sparkle due to his flamenco roots.
Paco Peña demonstrating rasgueado
Paco Peña was a titan of flamenco music and like Paco de Lucía, a master of rasgueado rhythms. Here he is describing and performing the technique.
Marcin Patrzałek - Carmen Habanera
The outro to Marcin Patrzałek's virtuosic arrangement of this famous classical piece features precise rasgueado. Watch below for his stunning strumming.
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