The Spanish Rhythm - Basic Form

This Rhythm is widely used in playing Arabic music. We are calling it Spanish because it resembles (in its complete form) some Spanish flamenco rhythms.

The basic technique is an introduction for the fundamental movement, once you get the hang of it, you will move to more advanced rhythms. We will basically be filling in between the strokes of the basic rhythm to create a richer and fuller sound.

The technique for basic rhythm is illustrated in the figure below and the accompanying video:

A variation of the basic technique is to use the thumb for the third stroke (the first upward one). This technique might be better to use as it is easier to add a palm mute step (covered later) and/or a Rasgueado (four sequential strokes instead of the index finger’s single stroke, also covered in later lessons). The steps for this alternative form are:

Another variation of the basic technique is to use the thumb for both the third and fourth strokes (the two upward ones), as below This wraps it up for the basic Spanish rhythm technique. Next we will make the Rhythm sound richer by adding what we call a Rasgueado to the strokes of the basic form.