Hey Paul,
Is it mainly your thumb that gets tripped up when the strings aren't muted? For a lot of people the thumb getting snagged is a bit of a problem. What I recommend is just going up and down with your thumb (forget about the fingers for a minute) and get a feel for the distance and pressure that works for you on open, unmuted strings when you're just playing with your thumb strumming up and down. This seems to make it a little easier to concentrate on just this aspect so you can learn to regulate it.

In general, learning to really isolate the actual technical problem - in this case the thumb getting caught in the strings in the middle of - is a great way to fix issues. When we leave the issue in its normal context there can be too much 'noise' to really concentrate on the problem and so it takes longer to figure out. The better we get at identifying the particular issue and then isolating it the easier it becomes to resolve stuff as it comes up.

Cheers,
Kai

My apologies if this has been asked before, but I am spending a lot of time thinking about tone. I realize that there are many factors that go into tone, but I'm particularly interested in the interaction between fingernails and tone. A few weeks ago, after our initial discussion on the forum about nails I went to a salon and had my nails acrylic-ed. I understood going in that this is not most people's preferred thing to do, but I live in a small town and there are few options and I'm not (yet) ready to try to work on my nails myself. So, I thought I'd see. Somewhat to my surprise, there have been some positives to this: my nails are definitely harder and I can practice rasgueados more easily. But, they are very thick and getting the interior edge shaped correctly has been a significant challenge. I should mention that I only have left my thumbnail on the long side. The rest of the nails are just barely longer than my fingertips. All of this is a longwinded preamble to saying that, to me, my tone sounds very thin and brash. I realize that a flamenco blanca guitar is not a rosewood classical, but I've had moments in which I can hear what the guitar is capable of sounding like and what I'm typically doing (especially when trying to learn picado) doesn't sound like that. Given all of this, do you have any advice on working on tone production?

Thanks!
Paul

Kai,
Could I ask about nails again? In the last couple of weeks I've had a pretty frustrating, and to some extent painful experience with mine. I had acrylic nails put on at a salon. They were very hard, which was good for a time, but also very thick, which I didn't like: it was hard for me to control my tone in any meaningful way. However, I wasn't anxious to dive into a jar of acetone so I waited for them to gradually grow off and then used remover as they got to the point where there was very little artificial nail left. This worked fine except for my ring finger. The acrylic must have done something in the time I had it on, because when it was finally completely gone the nail was split all the way through to the skin and all the way back to the cuticle. This hurt a lot. Also my natural nail ends got even more thin than they were before so I had to trim them back as far as I could: not very Flamenco! I should mention that the exception to this is my thumb. Here the acrylic seems to have worked rather well, not perfectly, but strong and has allowed my to practice various thumb techniques that I had trouble practicing beforehand. On my ring finger I put one thin layer of Swiss nails with a coat of glue, just to cover the split.

So, I really could use some. advice! Besides general advice, I have a very naive question about whether you use fiberglass nails (if I remember correctly) as extensions themselves, or whether you grow your nails about a bit and then reinforce them with the fiberglass. With the Swiss nails (I bought some fiberglass in a tape dispenser form, but I don't have the first idea what to do with that!) I don't really understand how I build up extensions.

Any help would be really appreciated by me, and my developing rasgueados in particular!

Thanks!
Paul

As regards acrylic, I have a bit of advice. I also have a split "m" finger nail, thanks to a roller-blading accident some 13 years ago. It never healed completely, and without acrylic or minimally silk wraps, guitar playing would be out of the question. As to the advice: if one goes to a professional operator to have acrylic nails done, one more or less needs to train said operator. They are taught to cover the entire nail, and lay the acrylic on thick. And they need to be un-taught that, to serve guitar players. Firstly, only the tip of the fingernail back to maybe a centimeter, needs to be covered. The whitish "lunula" area need not be covered. This allows the nail to breathe. Secondly, you do not need a thick acrylic layer to play effectively. About half the thickness that a typical operator applies, is sufficient. Thirdly, do not be afraid to use sandpaper or emery boards to adjust the thickness to what you want; just file carefully. Fourthly, the pinky on the right hand probably does not need acrylic at all. Lastly, after watching an operator do your nails a few times, you will know enough to do it yourself, in a pinch. Polymer and powder and brushes can be found via Amazon or eBay, and are sold by vendors in China at very affordable prices, and lasts for years. You will not do as good a job yourself as a capable operator does, but in emergencies (such as long trips), it works fine. I have also successfully used silk wraps (silk and super glue) but they tend to be short-lived (about a week). Acrylic lasts about three to six weeks before needing to be sanded down and replaced (or added to). Some operators will put a final coat of gel on the acrylic, that requires UV light for curing. Whether one likes the gloss of the gel is a matter of taste.

Douglas and Kai,

Thanks so much! It's not that I haven't enjoyed getting to know my flatpack again and practicing some jazz, but now I'm much more optimistic that come tonight I can begin playing flamenco again! This is incredibly helpful. Thanks again!

Paul

I always say nice things. I'm still learning my way around here. I know how to sign in, but I don't know how to sign out. I'm not of a generation who cut their teeth on computers. I think the navigation is great and the system is very friendly. I just don't know how to sign myself out when I leave. Thanx.

Hi Lorenzo...

I just happened to be working on an exercise when I saw your post pop-up regarding how to sign out. If you look at the very top right of your page you'll the word "help" and to the right a circle - I believe yours is lavender with an "L" in the middle. Click on the circle and you'll see the "sign-out" tab. Hope this helps! Fred

Hi guys! Fred is right about logging out, and I just wanted to say thanks for helping each other out. This makes me very happy to see!
Happy holidays to all!
Kai

I'm not sure where to post this, but the TABS link appears not to be working (01/03). -Paul

Tarafina,
Thanks! They work now.

It would be nice to have a comparison between more modern and “old school” techiques... I’m interested on how to interpret old books like Juan Martin’s ones etc....

Hey Stefano,
For the most part you won't need to change anything about your technique at all to play the more traditional stuff. I can't think of anything in the Juan Martin book you'd need different technique for. Picado, alzapua, arpeggios, tremolo and thumb should all be exactly the same. You may find some different rasgueados here and there, but that's always a really personal thing anyway.
The only thing I can really think of is that it used to be common to use a lot more golpe in connection with alzapua (that's actually how I learned it at first). You can really hear this in a lot of the old Morón recordings, where they also use a thumb/index technique combined with alzapua that's not heard very much anymore.
So the good news is that you don't have to change much of anything! If you have a specific example of something that seems to contradict what I'm saying (and there is always something!) let me know and I'll see if I can explain.
Cheers,
Kai

Yes, actually I was thinking to those long rasgueo (only down strokes) runs....

https://photos.app.goo.gl/N8hSq3YRtd9xHXd17

Hey Stefano - I've never really used those (like I said, rasgueados can be a bit personal), but here's my take on stuff like that:

Cheers,
Kai

I have had the same question... since 1982, when I bought the Juan Martin books. This thread has been a real gift, and I am delighted to (at long last) learn that I have not been alone in being daunted by the "down only" rasguedo.