Spanish Guitar Strumming for Beginners: How to Strum, Count and Understand Notation

Strumming for Spanish Guitar

If you're just starting with Spanish guitar, understanding the symbols and notations can be confusing. From chord grids to tablature, it's essential to interpret these symbols correctly and learn how to count properly. In this guide, we will delve into the fundamentals of strumming the right way for nylon string guitar playing. We'll explore the meaning of various symbols, decipher tablature and standard notation, and discover the importance of timing and finger placement. Whether you're a beginner or need a refresher, this guide will equip you with the knowledge to kickstart your Spanish guitar journey.

Understanding Symbols and Notations

Chord Diagrams

Before we dive into playing chords, let's familiarize ourselves with the symbols and notations commonly used in Spanish guitar. Chord grids represent strings vertically, while horizontal lines indicate frets. The dots on chord grids signify finger placement:

Tablature (or TAB for short)

Tablature, a guitar-specific notation, uses horizontal lines to represent strings. The numbers on the lines indicate what fret to play on that string:

For example, to indicate a note played on the 7th fret of the 4th string, the tablature would look like this:

PIMA Notation

Additionally, the right-hand finger symbols include P, I, M, A, and E (or alternatives like X or S) for thumb, index, middle, ring, and pinky fingers, respectively.

Getting Started with Open Strings

To understand the basics of strumming, we'll begin with open strings and focus on the right hand. Placing your thumb on the 6th string acts as an anchor, and the index finger (symbolized as "i") strums downward. The number of strings you hit isn't crucial at this stage. Standard notation and tablature work together to provide guidance on strum direction and finger usage. Remember that in tablature, the notation may appear inverted, but it aligns with the standard notation. (What appears to be an up arrow on the page is actually a downstroke toward the floor.)

*The line in the middle of the above image is called a barline and separates measures, which are the consistent units we use to groups beats into.

Counting and Time Signatures

Counting is essential in music, and understanding time signatures helps us maintain the rhythm. The most common time signature is 4/4, denoting four quarter notes per measure. In 4/4 time, quarter notes receive one beat, and we generally strum down on these beats. The lower number of a time signature represents the note value used for counting, but it's the upper number that guides our counting and tells us what number to count to in each measure:

Mastering Note Durations

To enhance your strumming skills, it's crucial to grasp note durations. A whole note is round without a stem (which you find in the other note values below) and receives four full beats which in 4/4 time takes up the entire measure. This is what two measures of whole notes would look like in standard notation with the tablature "translation" below it (the zeros are telling us to play open strings):

Whole Notes

Half Notes

Half notes are two beats, so we can fit two of them into the measure:

Quarter Notes

A quarter note has a black note head and receives one beat:

8th Notes

Eighth notes, denoted by flags on the stems, are half the duration of quarter notes and receive half a beat (play upstrokes in between each beat):

Using only your index finger, try strumming these four rhythmic values one after the other. Our goal is to get comfortable counting while playing (once you're good at this, you don't need to do it anymore unless you're working on a challenging rhythm) but also to get familiar with the symbols on the page that signify those rhythms: 

Putting It All Together

By combining these different rhythmic values you can create more intricate strumming patterns. Let's begin by playing quarter notes on one beat and two 8th notes on the next beat:

Now try strumming the same exact rhythm with your thumb only:
 

Let's try a pattern involving a quarter note followed by a series of eighth notes, where the thumb produces upstrokes rather than the index:

The Thumb as Anchor

In Spanish guitar you very often see players resting their thumb on the 6th string when it's not in use. This provides a valuable stabilizer and anchor for our arm and hand, as we typically want to minimize movement in the arm – and keeping our thumb on the six train definitely helps us achieve this. In the above example, we are using our thumb quite a bit, and therefore can't keep it on the 6th string except for the beginning of the pattern on the first beat. Try sitting your thumb on the 6th string at the beginning of each repetition of this pattern, and get into the habit of having your it gravitate towards that string. This queen, your hand to always be in the right position. 

Ring and Middle Together

A finger combination you see all the time in flamenco and Spanish guitar is the ring the use of the ring (a) and middle (m) fingers simultaneously for down strokes. This gives us more "punch" and volume:

The Tie

Once we're used to combining and manipulating these four types of rhythms, then we can start to get more sophisticated. Let's take the above rhythmic example but go back to using our thumb for the first half of the measure and our index for the second half while we skip the first half of the third beat:

When we see a curved line connecting to notes together that is called a tie, which tells us we need to let the note ring out after the tie for whatever the value of that note is. In this example, we are playing an E major chord, playing the thumb down on the first beat then playing another thumb down stroke on the second beat, coming back up with the thumb on the "and" of two and then waiting on the third beat. (At this moment, you can set your thumb on the 6th string as we talked about, and this is also a great time keeper for us). The rest of the measure has us playing up down and up with the index finger on the "and" of three, the fourth beat, and the "and" of four. Congratulations, you just played a rumba!

Percussive Effects 

Some of the coolest techniques in Spanish guitar are the percussive effects we can get by slapping the guitar in various ways and tapping the face of the guitar with our fingernail. 

Slap

The slapping of the palm against the strings can be notated with a giant "X" - in this example we would be slapping on every 2 beats:

The Golpe

The golpe is specifically a flamenco guitar technique and is typically done by tapping the guitar with the nail of the ring finger. You'll see the golpe notated with an asterisk symbol or sometimes with a small square icon. You'll play golpes by themselves and also in conjunction with other fingers (for example a downstroke with the thumb with a simultaneous tap). In this example we are tapping on each beat without other fingers:

A Classic Rumba Pattern with Golpe and Slap

With just what we've learned so far we can put several of these elements together for a legitimate Spanish guitar staple: the rumba rhythm. The rumba can come in many forms, but in this example we'll take the pattern we've been playing and add a golpe and slap:

Here we strum downward with the thumb while simultaneously tapping the guitar with the ring fingernail (see the asterisk symbol above the note?). On the 3rd beat where we previously had a tie, we slap the strings and immediately continue the pattern with an index upstroke. When you slap, try to keep the thumb on the 6th string through the rest of the measure. Notice how playing an upstroke with your thumb before the slap and and index upstroke just after the slap makes physiological sense. If you use other fingers before and after the slap you may find it unusually difficult - that's why you almost always see this finger combination before and after a palm slap.

A Rhythm Quiz

Now that you're more familiar with some basic rhythms and how the look and are counted, see if you can play this combination of rhythms on your own:

Time To Go More In-Depth

Mastering the basics of strumming Spanish guitar sets a solid foundation for your musical journey. By comprehending symbols, counting correctly, and understanding note durations, you gain control over your playing and unlock a whole world of fun and exciting music. In the tutorial below I take you step by step through learning how to strum and count for Spanish guitar including strumming in 3/4 time with more detailed examples:

You've now got some great Spanish guitar fundamentals down and you're ready to start playing some really fun music. The Gipsy Kings are the "kings" of the Rumba Flamenca and if you understood and played through this blog post, I can teach you how to play their characteristc rumba style here.