Free stroke
A stroke in which the finger plucks the string and then continues into the palm without touching the next string.
Free stroke, or tirando, is the everyday classical and fingerstyle pluck: the finger curls into the hand and the adjacent strings keep ringing, which allows chords, arpeggios and contrapuntal lines. It is quieter and lighter than a rest stroke and gives a brighter, more open sound because nothing is damped. Most fingerstyle accompaniment is entirely free stroke, and players switch to the rest stroke only when a melody note needs to stand out from the texture.
Example: A fingerpicked arpeggio pattern in which all six strings keep ringing is played with free strokes.
See also
Related
- PageRest stroke
- PageFingerstyle
- PageArpeggio
- PageAccent
- PageAction height
- PageAlternate picking
- PageAaron Dessner
- PageAce Frehley