In this guitar tutorial, I’ll show you how to play this Alzapua passage in Entre Dos Aguas by Paco De Lucia.

This is a descending pattern in E minor also known as the Andalusian Cadence starting with Em – D – C – B7. The melody is in the bass part and seeing as it’s alzapua, we play it all with the thumb. Alzapua is a flamenco technique that utilizes the thumb to create a rapid succession of chords and notes runs. The term literally means ‘raise thumb’ and requires control of the thumb and wrist. We’re going to take it 2 bars at a time.

Sheet Music/TAB