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RE: Practicing tremolo on second string (in reply to jg7238)
jg7238; very nice and difficult tremolo. When I first started with the guitar in l960 for me there was no book, no video, no instructor, only TV glimpses of Montoya or Sabicas. I looked at my hand; both the i and a fingers were the same length; the m was much longer, so without any knowledge or instruction I developed a two finger "tremolo" with i and a fingers. It is not authentic or totally satisfying but the two finger technique allowed me to easily play on inside strings. Wish I had had benefits of better instruction or any instruction; it was just an uniformed kid's attempt to improvise. Anyone else try this?
Posts: 3532
Joined: Oct. 20 2003
From: Phoenix, AZ
RE: Practicing tremolo on second string (in reply to etta)
I developed chronic tendonitis/osis in my m finger years back while trying to get good at picado. For about a year, I stopped playing with that finger and re-fingered my repertoire with just p,i, and a. I could play 4-note tremolos without practicing, and my ia picado was about as good as my im without ever having worked on that motion, either. Unfortunately, even avoiding m like this did not totally take out the strain, so the finger took a long time to heal.
Posts: 2697
Joined: Jun. 7 2010
From: The South Ireland
RE: Practicing tremolo on second string (in reply to jg7238)
thats great ,,, Juan ,, and its the one thing I just cant seem to do
(apart from all the other things)
I seem to have a problem getting the right hand position in place .. and getting some kind of power going too ... Im still working on it ,,but i dont think its improving .. any advice on right hand/arm position that may help ?
RE: Practicing tremolo on second string (in reply to jg7238)
Olé Juan again. Your technic is really great but the thing I like the best is Your tone. It's really like You're tellings a story the whole time...it has depth, and that's unique
RE: Practicing tremolo on second string (in reply to jg7238)
I thought this would be a good moment to start practicing tremolo so I looked up the Granados book but ended up mistaking the pieces and playing the one that comes before this one that Juan plays
RE: Practicing tremolo on second string (in reply to ToddK)
quote:
Wow, nice man! You make it seem easy. I tried it, and man, that is TOUGH!
Thanks for giving me something to work on. The E string will seem like a breeze after a week of this craziness!! :)
Hey Todd.. You make it seem you just picked up a guitar man. You are a pretty amazing guitarist in every known style including Flamenco. Not really geared towards you but I appreciate the support. Thank you beno. I appreciate your comments. I'm trying to be more consistent in that one area though and not just play notes. @Sr. Martins:I'll listen to it and take a look at it. Thanks.
RE: Practicing tremolo on second string (in reply to jg7238)
Thanks man!
I was just working on that because from my audio file I noticed that the position-shift focus should be on the "tremolo note" of the chord, otherwise I end up with some open B string in there... it sounded nice but only because the exercise is in B
The rhythm on the last chord is that? I was about to put it into Guitar Pro to take a listen..
RE: Practicing tremolo on second string (in reply to Sr. Martins)
Not sure if it's off help and my flamenco tremelo is a focus of my daily practice at present ( my classical pami seems ok ) One thing I noticed, which is similiar to how I first approached it is the position of your arm/shoulder and hand In the below video ( which you've probably seen but has been of great help ) and also noticeable with Juan's clean and controlled technique Is the lowered elbow ( hug that guitar ) and wrist The problem I experiened when using a similiar position to yours is my tremelo became very uneven an lumpy from 90bpm on - also hand started looking a bit dystonic - shaking - uncontrolled - m finger jutted out so created a disproportionate sound - kind of noticeable in your audio and video ( I only say these things because it reminds me of myself ) So I'm back to slower tempos with a lowered elbow and different hand position - seems a lot better in terms of sound and control - also a metronome that can sub divide into quintuplets is helping my evenness Just an observation - not sure it's of use but there you go .. http://youtu.be/w00RhdzMaE4
Awesome video Juan - thanks for the post and showing how it's done
RE: Practicing tremolo on second string (in reply to Sr. Martins)
quote:
Any pointers/comments/help regarding my tremolo technique?
There's a pause after I, then you're squeezing AMI together.
So instead of "bass da da da da" it sounds like "bass da dadada"
People often suggest practicing tremolo slowly using staccato. I think thats okay, but you should also practice legato, in which you're following through more. So not always dot dot dot dot, but daahh daahh daahh daahh Its a balance, you want it to sound articulate, but you also want fluidity. You dont want it to sound to "sticky", but you dont want it to sound muddled either.
RE: Practicing tremolo on second string (in reply to jg7238)
Thank you all.
I wasn't sitting in my normal playing position for the video but my arm does get tense and starts to choke my hand when doing tremolo. I played back the video at half speed and it begins with 5 strokes and ends with maybe 3
I'll do the same I did regarding the other techniques, it even cured my tendonitis that I've had for 7 years... which is to know what sound and motion I want to get and let the ear meditate on that while my mind just focus on how relaxed my arm is (from shoulder blade to the fingers).
Right now I feel the tension from last practice even though I mix it with other stuff not to burn the muscles that much.
RE: Practicing tremolo on second string (in reply to Sr. Martins)
In addition to Todd's pointers , I suggest playing tremolo both free stroke and rest stroke using IMA. Also practice rest stroke with Pulgar and free stroke with IMA (in group of six). This improves thumb articulation and RH dexterity and flexibility. @Kiko: This would be helpful to you as well. Here is a video I just made showing what what I mean.
RE: Practicing tremolo on second string (in reply to jg7238)
I've also been practicing with all fingers on just one string. I thought tremolo was about all divisions even but now Ive noticed it's not. Usually the bass note is longer.