The rhythm of Joropos Central is played in the following way:
Joropo Central
Each measure consists of 6 strums with the right hand on the Venezuelan Cuatro where the first strum is a “frenado” which is executed by muting the strings using your knuckles on your playing hand. This is a very important part of using the Cuatro so make sure that you follow the lessons on how to do so.
Joropo Central is typically played at a high tempo and it consists of the following pattern:
Rhythm Joropo Central
As you practice and gain more confidence in maintaining the rhythm, you can then begin to skip certain parts of the measure, for example, you can skip a strum and have it silent. This is all possible providing that you maintain the rhythm whilst playing.
First, try and gain some more experience with playing the Joropo Central, it is very fast and great for jamming with some awesome energy! For those of you who have experience with other string instruments, the advice is to loosen up your playing hand. This will provide you with the agility needed to successfully execute this traditional Venezuelan rhythm.
What more is there to say? Try to execute the Joropo central alternating between the I – IV – V progression of F Major and D Minor. Be sure to repeat the V 2 times and try to repeat the exercise at least 3 times to capture how you execute it.
