Tremolo

Jim Kaznosky

As chord and single note tremolos are the thing that I'm really terrible at ( among other things) and I seem to ask this question every few years: what would those of you who can do these well recommend a player works on or thinks about when doing these?

Thanks in advance.

Jim

richter4208

His teaching style may or may not resonate with you, but this clip pretty much tells you exactly how to work on it. It's at leas a good starter to remind you what it will take to get the technique down. Try to play with exact rhythmic subdivision using a metronome, then you can insert on backing tracks instead of metronome once you get the feel.

billyshakes

Funny you asked as I just finished watching this clip by Joscho not more than 5 mins before I logged in to this forum. It is nice because the camera angle shows you his wrist angle and the slow-mo shows you some of the action. Lollo Meier always stressed to me the importance of playing the tremolo and of continual practice. I still don't get it that smoothly but I continue to try.

Jim Kaznosky

Those are great videos. I have no problem with Yaakov's teaching style as I've learned a few things from his videos. I fully understand that it's not a just shake and go for it type of technique. It seems like it is something that will require constant practice to master and keep.

@billyshakes - is there anything specific that Lollo shared with you that helped it resonate?

Buco

I think for things like this, it's good to learn them in the musical context vs drills and exercises.
For example, for single string tremolo try to learn and master Dick Dale's Misirlou.

Jim Kaznosky

I remember your video response when I asked the same question some time ago @Buco and I totally agree with the sentiment.

billyshakes

Jim Kaznosky wrote: »

@billyshakes - is there anything specific that Lollo shared with you that helped it resonate?

Sorry Jim. No magic bullet. Just regular, daily practice and keep at it.

I'm sure we all remember as beginners trying to play that major barre chord with the root on the 6th string. Fingers don't want to work. Barre doesn't work and the sound is crap. Then, one day, after sticking with it....it starts to click, starts to work, and I think this is a little like that.

Jim Kaznosky

I was sort of hoping that someone would just send me an email and I'd just suddenly be great at it. Thanks for the tips. I'll work harder.

billyshakes

If someone does send you that e-mail, can you forward it to me too, please?

Buco

Aha you remember that . So than you know where to find a video, I take it. Which I should replace with a one that moves a little faster. Me talking so darn slow and taking forever to get to my conclusion, I myself had a hard time rewatching, saying to myself "dude get to the point for crying out loud". What're gonna do, nerves and talking to empty room in a raised voice just feels so damn weird. Not everyone can be like Robin Nolan. Although he takes just as long or longer to reach the point.

Anyway to get to the point of the thread, I'll repeat here what I said in the video and add something I don't think I mentioned there.
One, as you crank up on the picking frequency to get the tremolo going, lot less of the pick tip is hitting the strings. The pick is just brushing the string.
Secondly, the wrist is more bent, more angled towards the guitar top. You can see it on the screenshot of Joscho's hand. He doesn't play with this broken wrist normally.
And the motion of the hand/wrist is like rapid locking/unlocking the door with a key. Take that same motion, bend the wrist, make as little pick to strings contact as you can and hit it.
As the wrist is bent more than usual and you grab the pick the way you normally do, as you reach the strings the side of the pick will be the playing side more than a tip and that also helps brushing across the strings more smoothly.

Jim Kaznosky

Thank you sir.