Extended Techniques for the Classical Guitar - Robert Lunn Composer

CHAPTER 5
BORROWED FROM OTHER TRADITIONS
5.1 The Rasgueado
The Harvard Dictionary of Music defines the rasgueado as “a style of guitar
playing in which the strings are strummed, as distinct from punteado, in which individual
strings are plucked.” 1 The rasgueado is a strumming technique commonly found in
flamenco and latin style guitar playing. Rasgueados are good for increasing the volume of
the guitar. There are a variety of ways to perform a rasgueado. One way is to fan the
right hand fingers across the six strings creating quick, successive attacks. Generally it
begins with the pinky (labeled c), followed by the ring finger (labeled a), followed by the
middle finger (labeled m) and concluding with the index finger (labeled i). This can also
be incorporated with the thumb (labeled p) in various permutations. Another way to
perform a rasgueado is to strum quickly with one right hand finger. The finger moves up
and down across the strings.
There are a couple different ways to notate the rasgueado. One thing they all have
in common is that the word rasgueado, or an abbreviation, will be included in the score.
1 Don Michael Randel, ed., The Harvard Dictionary of Music (Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard
University Press, 2003), 705.
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