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There are 3 basic strums in the Cuatro
There is one strum with the first finger
going down.
Another one going up made with the thumb
And the last one with all four fingers
I'm going to explain each of these strums
When we make the first strum down we do it with our first finger nail
A lot of beginners just learning the cuatro
see someone playing and they tend to believe that he's playing with all the fingers
that's a lie... that's just...
a visual appreciation
For example...
As the fingers are unnoticeable,
then, it seems that we're playing with all fingers, but no
Normally is just one finger, going up or going down
... going down
Let's mute the cuatro strings
to avoid a strong sound
gently put your left hand over the strings without pushing them hard
and do this...
just the first finger
That's the most basic and usual strum
Many times, when you want to gently play a tune
you just play with your first finger, like this
...when you just want to play "piano"
just use your finger.. So this is the most important strum
Second one, with your thumb. It's important that
when you use your thumb, you are required to use your wrist
you cannot avoid the thumb to hit the wood
but it's not important, it's just produce an impercetible sound. So move your wrist
your thumb will be facing up
ok, let's practice an excercise: down, up, down, up
let's do it faster and faster
let's start slow
down, up, index, thumb
the other 3 fingers are hidden up
you have to move your wrist, try to stabilize your arm
just a little
I see some people playing with tense fingers
relax your hand
naturally your index fnger should stay out
even with childrens, i teach them and they naturally put their index finger in the correct position
when i play... listen
there's no change. That's the secret of well playing.. because there is people
that when they play they produce a tense sound, like this
if you listen well, you get it because they're playing with all their fingers
and a tense hand, instead, listen to this
huge sound, relaxed, rounded
playing with a relaxed hand can result in miracles
let's do it again taking care of adequating relaxing the hand
you can move your wrist to make the muscles relax even more
slow... down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up
listen, the sound is different
the sound is beautiful this way
you enjoy listening to it
taking care of this simple detail changes everything
we will see now the 3rd strum, down with all four fingers
.. I particularly call it a "block"
a precise strum with the pinky making a kind of an arc
and the rest of the fingers curved
this could do a little harm if you practice it a lot.. but try it muting the strings
with the wrist
there is an important thing with this strum
it has to be made like a whip
movement is exactly the same as whipping but with all four fingers
it's like a whip
faster
when you repeat this, at first your pink will suffer but with time you will be curated