Technique: Alzapua
Alzapua is a flamenco technique involving the thumb, the term comes from the word alzar which means to raise.
It is usually played as a fast flourish of notes in quick sequence. The thumb plays all notes using down and upstrokes. Played accurately and fast it can sound fantastic as a high point of a falseta or phrase.
The thumb plays down and up across one or more strings. It is often a ¾ movement
Sometimes we use a Golpe to accentuate a downstroke by the thumb.
The golpe is a percussive gesture played with either a, m, or the thumb. You play the Golpe at the same time as the thumb by squeezing the fingers together.
1. Golpe with a and thumb downstroke
2. Golpe with a by itself
3, Golpe with a and i downstroke
4. Golpe with i and continuing as rasguedo
Exercise