Best pick for nylon strings?

[Rex]

I play my classical guitar fingerstyle 90% of the time. However, I also like to jam with some friends on "sing along" type songs and we generally are strumming chords. My guitar sounds best if I strum it with my index finger, but this is hard on my fingernail. The standard guitar picks my friends use on their steel strung instruments sound horrible on my guitar. They sound better if I turn them around and strum with the fat side of the pick. Any ideas? I do not want to buy a steel strung guitar and learn to play on such a skinny neck as that would probably hurt my playing on the classical.

[chaz]

Might try a felt pick. Like bassists use. You can just pick on up at local shop, take it to a nylon stringed guitar and try her out.

-Chaz

[keith]

the best pick for a nylon classical? you have 5 of them--fingernails. i would recommend that you learn flamenco strumming techniques--rasqueo (or some say rasqueado). the advantages are:

1. it will help your classical playing
2. it will give you the tone you want
3. it will protect your instrument (ever wonder why steel string guitars have them big ugly protectors?)
4. it will not kill your strings--somehow i do not think nylon strings will hold up as well as steel with a plastic instrument of torture being applied to them.
5. it will save you some dollars--if you want to strum and such you might have to buy a "beach guitar" (a cheapo that you can toss into the trunk and take to the beach)

now get ready for the biggest and best reason to learn rasqueo techniques--you will enter the world of flamenco in thought and action and, if you do your technique well you will look cool doing it. just ask your self, who looks cooler: a rock guitarist with a pick or paco de lucia doing rasqueos and picados? i would vote for paco any day 8)

[Jon Carter]

Yeah Paco rocks!

I agree with Keith - why carry a pick when you have five already attached!
Flamenco rasgueados will feel more natural and sound more natural (am I starting to sound like a purist? Maybe someone should engineer guitar strings out of spiders silk - a new set of strings once a year! I'd go for the 'Black Widows'. And with traditional tuning pegs, guitar playing would be a totally organic experience) anyway, back to the point. Rasgeados are also far more efficient, and you can produce an amazing complexity of rhythmic patterns & tone colours. You could really make those "sing along" type songs come to life if you throw in a few rasgeados.

[Jon Carter]

:D

[keith]

good points jon. just think what smoke on the water would sound like with an intro using tremelando; or whole lotta love with rasqueos. just to drive the point home--led zeppelin's first album, the song: babe i'm gonna leave you. the melody? refrain? bridge? -- the part that ends the singing and bridges to the next stanza of singing-- is a typical flamenco progression:
Am-G-F-E
just think how that progression would sound with flamenco techniques.

maybe for a real twist, paco will grab a violin bow and bow entre dos aquas a'la jimmy page's dazed and confused. that would be totally: 8) 8)

rex--give it a try. your steel string buds will envy you big time.

[Rex]

You talked me into it. However, I have no idea what you are talking about. I know free strokes and rest strokes but do not know anything about flaminco. Is there a web site that could explain it to me or would I need an instructor to learn?

[edwardcav]

A good flamenco teacher would do the trick - a rasgeado is like each finger becoming a fierce punch. A teacher will tell you to use C-A-M-I-P-I, with the last I coming up - as the others get ready for the next round of steady punches.

I will no doubtly get corrected, as I don't know much about them, as I play mostly classical. But, the good thing that I've found is, if you practice - they sound good after a while. You can mix it up a little, and tailor your rasgeado to the song, or rhythm. I reckon guitar Salon would have a flamenco book that addresses them indepth, Pumping Nylon addresses them only a little. But Scott Tennant says that the rasgeado is sadly neglected by many classical players 8)

Say no more, ay

[keith]

rex: glad you are thinking on joining us here on the flamenco side of the force. :mrgreen: this is what color your steel string buds will be (green with envy) when you unlease the power of the flamenco side of the force.

rasqueos involve the "flicking" of fingers across the strings in an orderly sequence (more advance techniques involve the thumb). i say flicking in that is what the fingers do. here is an idea of what i mean. hold your arm straight out in front of you. flick "c" (chaquito--the pinkie) keep "c" out. then flick out "a" keep both fingers out. then flick out "m" and keep all 3 fingers out. lastly flick out "i". you should have all 4 fingers out now. that is the basic rasqueo.

the juan martin video series, in my opinion, is great. i believe the first video introduces rasqueos. you will also learn a lot about rhythm and will be introduced to some palos (flamenco forms) that may grab you.

the above assumes you do not have access to someone who plays flamenco. if you can get a live body, the better.

good luck. one thing, you can actually practice rasqueos throughout the day. you can do them against your thigh, the palm of your left hand, etc. over time you will get it.

[Jon Carter]

Keith - you mentioned "tremolando" in your post. Is this a term for a flamenco technique? If so could you enlighten me.

I'll take a guess at it being a portmanteau word combining 'tremolo & apoyando'. Which literally translated onto the guitar would be i-a-m-i tremolo on the first string followed in quick succession by an apoyando downstroke with the thumb across 6 5 4 3 2 1. Or vice versa - which I guess you could call 'apoyolo' :? :?:

[keith]

tremolando (spelling may not be quite precise) as i learned the word means to do a four stroke rasqueo on the 6th string (the 5th can be included). in essence, one does a 4 note tremelo but rather than pluck the string one strikes downward on the string. remember, flamenco tremelos tend to have 5 notes--1 thumb note and 4 finger notes.

the movement is continous until one needs to move on--the thumb then doing a downstroke or one could do a thunderous rasqueo or a "i" downstroke. so many options i guess.

i looked up the word tremelo and its definition is: a flutter of notes (i guess other instruments can do a tremelo). the lando part could derive from apoyando in that one is striking downwards.

this is a good question that could be thrown out to others. hey dimitri--you may know this. your input would be helpful if you are reading this.

not really sure of the origin of the word but the effect....whoa!

this is me if i really screwed up this one :oops:

[keith]

just a point of clarification: the 4 rapid notes on the bass E string and maybe the A string are done with the fingers--the thumb is used as a anchor point. the sequence is c-a-m-i and then you repeat as often as needed (sounds like shampoo here). "c" is chaquito --one word for the pinkie--used in flamenco for rasqueos. how one leaves this sequence in up to the performer--thumb, thunderous roll, etc. etc. however, the thumb's principle role is to anchor the hand to allow the fingers to fly.