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Classical Guitar Technique: Free vs. Rest Stroke
Free stroke is the most natural means of plucking a guitar string. After the stroke, the finger moves over the adjacent string.
During a rest stroke, the finger gently touches the adjacent string without sounding it.
It should be noted, before continuing, that although I use both strokes in my playing, some notable concert artists have abandoned rest stroke entirely.
Rest stroke is supposedly superior in terms of volume production. This is misleading in that I have students whose rest strokes are initially softer than their free strokes. In other words, merely touching an adjacent string after a finger stroke does not increase volume.
In some cases, doing so may eliminate the sympathetic vibrations of the adjacent string, slightly affecting the tone and volume of the rest stroke note.
Rest stroke has an advantage because it makes pressing the string downward towards the sound hole during a finger stroke easier. The greater ease is due to the fact that the finger does not have to suddenly avoid the adjacent string at the end of the stroke. It is only the downward string movement involved that enhances volume.
Rest stroke must be avoided when using it mutes an adjacent string that was plucked earlier and needs to continue vibrating. Muting must be avoided when playing arpeggios, where each successively plucked string should continue to vibrate to form a complete harmony (chord). Furthermore, when playing block chords and double-note intervals on adjacent strings, rest stroke is impossible.
The loudest rest strokes require tilting the finger towards the right wrist, so the fingertip is closer to the floor. Comparatively, a straighter finger is more natural for free stroke.
Interestingly, I once had a student who used rest stroke extensively when playing fast single-note passages. As a result, you could hear a distinct, rhythmic thumping sound as his right-hand fingertips hit the adjacent strings.
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