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Odd, or maybe not. I started taking "glucosamine chondroitin" for some knee aching from cycling, about 2 month ago and poof picado, and tremolo have increased significantly in the same period. Not just a minor amount, but a big amount. It's like the kinks that kept the speed down have gone away. Knees are better as well, and I ride about 20 miles a day on my bike.
Enough so that tremelo, something I always practiced and could never get happy with is now something I can play pleasingly musical things with.
Might not work for anybody else, but for me at 50+ it definetly makes a difference.
Might be just placebo effect, but I don't care it made a difference. :)
Posts: 3497
Joined: Jul. 12 2009
From: Washington, DC
RE: My Breakthrough in Tremelo and P... (in reply to n85ae)
How long had you been working on tremolo before the breakthrough two months ago? Something similar happened to me, but without medication or placebo effect. I had been working on tremolo for a couple of years, trying to maintain a dead-on steady tremolo, but it was "galloping," not fast, and not right. Then it seemed like in one day, my tremolo began to sound steady and I was able to increase speed, almost without thinking about it. I don't think it was due to "talent" (of which I possess little enough!), but it was just a breakthrough that sometimes occurs. I don't know if the muscle-memory finally catches up with the brain or what. Your breakthrough may be due to medication (or placebo effect) as you say. But it may have just been a breakthrough that would have occurred anyway. I have always been interested in "breakthroughs," whether in playing guitar, studying languages, or even in discoveries in physics. It is an interesting phenomenon.
Cheers,
Bill
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RE: My Breakthrough in Tremelo and P... (in reply to n85ae)
quote:
I started taking "glucosamine chondroitin" for some knee aching from cycling, about 2 month ago and poof picado, and tremolo have increased significantly in the same period
Interesting.
I've been taking that stuff for years (for old age, joint pains, etc. ). And my tremolos still sound like s**t. . .
Actually, a couple of glasses of wine seem to help a lot more. . .
RE: My Breakthrough in Tremelo and P... (in reply to n85ae)
quote:
Actually, a couple of glasses of wine seem to help a lot more. . .
It's all about relaxation, I've always thought after 2-3 beers I'm way more fluid....then after 12 beers I'm pretty sure I'm PDL..........at least that's how it feels at the time
Posts: 3487
Joined: Jan. 20 2004
From: Austin, Texas USA
RE: My Breakthrough in Tremelo and P... (in reply to britguy)
quote:
ORIGINAL: britguy Actually, a couple of glasses of wine seem to help a lot more. . .
Ed Freeman used to pour out a glass of booze for the student at the beginning of a lesson, to foster relaxation. But then, Ed was a pretty intense guy...
RE: My Breakthrough in Tremelo and P... (in reply to n85ae)
Well, all I can say is my fingers move more fluidly, and I've been working on Picado, and Tremelo for 6-7 years at least as just part of practicing guitar. Yeah, there are those moments of course when, things get better so ... Maybe that's it, but this seemed pretty coincidental.
Anyway it did seems to help, and like I said if it's total Placebo effect ... I'm good with that too! :)
RE: My Breakthrough in Tremelo and P... (in reply to n85ae)
quote:
I started taking "glucosamine chondroitin" for some knee aching from cycling, about 2 month ago and poof picado, and tremolo have increased significantly in the same period.
It's great that you're making progress with your picado and tremolo, but I'm skeptical that it's on account of the glucosamine/chondroitin. I've been taking that stuff regularly for a while now, and it is very helpful for joint issues. (My mom swears by it, too).
But I haven't experienced any correlation between taking that stuff and progress on my picado/tremolo. Rather, I've made progress on picado because I'm learning how to perform picado movements in a relaxed manner. That seems to be the trick. And once you can do that, then I think a faster tremolo is a natural by-product.
RE: My Breakthrough in Tremelo and P... (in reply to n85ae)
quote:
I started taking "glucosamine chondroitin"
i started taking it too some years ago after a knee operation. It was actually suggested by one of the consultants, and the physio i saw afterwards told me that there was some study that suggested it helped reduce joint pain but only if you took 1500 mg a day, and it took a month to build up in the system and take effect.
I took it for a couple of years, but it's impossible to tell if it helped recovery or not, and if so how much. It didn't seem to help the joint pain in my right hand index finger that is still with me.
I have also read that it is a bit controversial and not entirely proven....
then there is the issue of whether to take just glucosamine (the supposed positive study only refers to glucosamine, not to chondroitin) on it's own or with chondroitin. Glucosamine is relatively cheap, but Chondroitin is much more expensive - so who says Chondroitin is good? Apparently only the people that make and sell it.
Then i have also read about there being two different forms of Glucosamine, with the claim being that Glucosamine HCl provides 40% more pure glucosamine per gram than standard glucosamine sulphate 2KCl..... so they sell you less of it for more money.
i hope this doesn't come across as cynical, that's not my intention. Sceptical, yes, and a bit confused by all the contradictory information.
RE: My Breakthrough in Tremelo and P... (in reply to bursche)
Haha, well it's not a drug it's a dietary supplement, and it's mostly for us old folks with developing arthritis ... People feed it to dogs as well, keeps their hips going for a couple years so they don't have to be put down quite so young.
Anyway I've been learning to play Flamenco for 8-10 years now, and I have always practiced tremelo and picado all along. So perhaps it was just a coincidence that things started coming together more for me. Or as I feel it just loosened up the joint's a bit.
Likely if you're in your 20's your right hand gets so much exercise anyway ... you don't need the assist ... :)
quote:
Taking stuff to improve playing? Yeah, you might wanna try coke next - it's said to work wonders...
RE: My Breakthrough in Tremelo and P... (in reply to n85ae)
Wow! That is crazy! Wether that will work for everyone, i dont know, but i'm happy to hear you're improving so quickly. That is a great feeling.
i started taking that same stuff after my right hand injury.
I dont know how much of what i'm feeling is due to the supplement, but at this point, my hand feels like it was never injured, and actually feels stronger than my left hand. My picado speed is pretty much what i feel is proportionate to what i've put into it. I have'nt been doing quite that long yet.
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