[zanahorio]

I'm no expert but I'll contribute..

I don't think you should just pick one and go with it like you said. You should do them all until you understand the difference between them. Why is the one with the thumb more modern? You should practice them both until you know why.

As a general rule of thumb for the guitar - the more you can do the better. Knowing how to play a falseta in different positions/octaves will only be beneficial. Same goes for chords - learn them in different voicings.

Not sure how serious you are about playing, if you just want to play for yourself I guess anything you do is fine, but if you're aspiring to be good then there's a lot of hard work ahead of you.

So to summarize what I just said - practice everything you can, and try to find different ways of doing the same thing. Flexibility is key!

Good luck..

[veet]

Originally Posted by Black Sheep

...
Although I heard of one the other day that I hadn't struck before. amii and then you follow through with a down stroke of the thumb... anyone else struck this?...

That's used at the end of a lot of solea por buleria phrases for emphasis.
re. flicking, it's off the thumb, never the palm, and non-flicked rasgueos are much more commonly seen in Jerez style. Softer, less percussive, less harsh.
You should know both styles and use where they fit best.

[57paf]

Deteresa:
Could you please explain how to flick the pinky without using your palm? I can't figure out how to do that.

[federico]

Here are some teachers in CA

Adam Del Monte (Real Name Adam Kofler) Los Angeles
Paco Arroyo, on chevy Chase Drive, lOs angeles
Federico, Valdez Guitar Shop, Los Angeles
Ted Mckown, City of Orange
John Simpson, Long Beach
George Margot, Laguna Nigel
Ben Stubbs, Fullerton

Your going to have to release a few dollars to learn this technique properly.
Regards and good luck

[at_leo_87]

one rasgueado i do not understand at all is the hooked thumb one. i see a lot of people doing it. but it's really uncomfortable for me. and not really effective at all. i just dont get it....

[MauiFlamenco]

Just trying to understand your issue. Try this exercise extremely slow as the mechanics are the same for all types except thrown rasqueados.
(4 stroke ami) =
1-down stroke a,
2-down stroke m,
3-and at the same time that you are going to downstroke the i, recover the a&m fingers back to the spring loaded curled position.
4- the a & m shouldve been recovered by this point, upstroke the i.

the most important emphasis should be on recovering the nam at the exact same time that you i is going down.
To do this properly, practice each move per second for 10 minutes, then break, but make sure each movement is equal. Then every 10 minutes increase your metronome 10 beats, then break, and repeat, once you start to lose your position, stop, and go back and train at the level that you're consistent and no mistakes and practice at that level for 2-3 weeks. You're machine gun rasqueados should be ripping it up by then.

[dillonpape]

Originally Posted by Black Sheep

Adam del Monte has a good 'how to' package on rasqueados at newlearningvision.com It's very good albeit another opinion on what is a loose 'passed-from-generation-to-generation' art... There is really no single rasqueados to learn. There are many combinations of fingers and then each combination, combines with others to form new passages of rasqueados...

Adam has a great word for the non-flicked version... he calls it 'The Smooshed Rasqueados' - sort of pushed instead of flicked and a kind of mash rather than crisp. It a good word for it

I just started using Adam del Monte's New Learning Vision lessons as well, and what I know about rasqueados I learned from his as well. What Black Sheep mentions about the description of the sound of the rasgueado is true, but there is a little bit more information in order to answer your question. The from-the-palm rasqueago is more traditional and the flicked rasgueado more modern. Now, whether something is traditional or modern should not affect whether you use it or not, nor does it affect whether it is "correct" or not. But one could say that both are correct, so ideally you should learn both, as many people have mentioned. The main difference between them is just the sound: with the from-the-palm, all of the notes kind of meld together into a flurried fountain of sound, while the flicked one is more defined, having each note accented so that you can hear each individual note clearly even at lightning speed. The difference is quite obvious if you play them one right after the other. As Adam del Monte says, the from-the-palm is not bad, it's just a certain sound, and he prefers the flicked since it has more power. I agree, but I plan to learn both. You can use both in one piece, even within a single measure of compas, if the music calls for it. It is up to your wish and interpretation as to which should be used in any given situation.