Author Topic: Tremelo picking (Read 6405 times)

Woogie · « **on:** April 25, 2007, 05:57:35 PM »

Anyone got any tips on tremelo picking?

I`m trying to nail the outro solo to this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Pm3G4Ig0GQ

Cheers

MDV · « **Reply #1 on:** April 25, 2007, 06:16:20 PM »

Use the very tip of the pick, prefferably a sharp one, and kind of girate your arm from the elbow, keeping your wrist and fingers firm, but not tensed.

Many people find holding the pick with a curled index finger and thumb, so youre half way to a fist, helpfull too. I prefer to use the tip of my index finger and the flat of my thumb. Some use their index and middle finger. Whatevers comfortable for you.

Practice.

Tarzan · « **Reply #2 on:** April 25, 2007, 06:24:35 PM »

I always have the problem that i tense everything too much.

something i found quite helpful for getting used to picking with the very tip of the pick was the stylus pick. At least i think it sped up the process.

chrisola · « **Reply #3 on:** April 25, 2007, 07:21:08 PM »

practice the tremelo picked melody from Eruption!

keep your hand\wrist relaxed...ultra thin plectrum can work, or the tip of hard one. I find the more relaxed my hand is the better i can pick

playing black metal helped me, its pretty hard to constantly trem pick power chords for 5mins :P

Woogie · « **Reply #4 on:** April 25, 2007, 08:02:05 PM »

Does this sound right for the first part of the solo btw?

High E:

E -14-17-17-17-14-19-19-19-14 x 3/4

dave_mc · « **Reply #5 on:** April 25, 2007, 08:26:56 PM »

great, now i have a pic of ozzy wearing flesh-coloured trousers and no shirt in my head.

anyway, i'd pick from the wrist... you want to minimise any excess movement (your arm etc.) as that only makes things harder... and relax.

the_bleeding · « **Reply #6 on:** April 28, 2007, 01:36:05 AM »

clearly, you need to see my awesome youtube lesson on trem picking. *cough*

basic tips:
hold the pick lightly (not so light that you drop it) --> but light enough that it can move freely. If you squeeze it too hard, it will slow you down.
try to keep most of the work coming from your wrist and fingers (see video) if you use your elbow too much, you'll end up like Demonaz from Immortal --> his tendonitis is so bad that he cant lift his arms above his head.
relax!!!!!!!!!!! if you get tense, you'll slow down. You need to keep it nice soft and fluid.
thin picks are not reccommended --> you have to wait for them to flex back to resting point which slows you down unless you want to compensate with wider movements. Either way, it slows you down
i use .75 and 1mm polished nylon picks, theyre really shiny and smooth and basically just glide over the strings, VERY fast to play with. When practisign though, i use a tortex pick to challenge myself --> more resistance when training = easier when performing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvtNIRMPEl8

Muzzzz · « **Reply #7 on:** April 29, 2007, 05:31:14 AM »

Yep, wrist all the way, that way you have better control for when you want to play runs which involve more than one string.

OD-Black_Fire · « **Reply #8 on:** April 29, 2007, 05:38:16 AM »

Your wrist is gonna blow you before your elbow. Use your whole arm.

Muzzzz · « **Reply #9 on:** April 29, 2007, 06:27:45 AM »

In my experience, your elbow has to make smaller movements, because at your hand, these movements will be magnified by the length of your arm (does that make sense? :? ). This means you will want to tense up to gain more control, which leads to injury.

But if it works for you, then fine.

808 · « **Reply #10 on:** April 29, 2007, 03:24:47 PM »

I know I've seen a lesson where Yngwie explains how he trem picks but I couldn't find it on youtube. I think it was from a cdrom from Guitar One or Guitar World.

I use my wrist when I trem pick.

808 · « **Reply #11 on:** April 29, 2007, 03:36:58 PM »

This may help!

JP uses his wrist. When ya pick this fast, try to keep the movement of the pick the width of the string you're playing on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7vNDA99EBk

Crazy_Joe · « **Reply #12 on:** April 29, 2007, 03:52:57 PM »

Use the wrist, elbow picking just sucks for most things. And good luck with that solo because that sounds pretty intense :lol:

Manji · « **Reply #13 on:** April 30, 2007, 10:07:22 AM »

Bloody good practice for tremolo picking is black metal- try playing along to "I Am The Black Wizards" by Emperor or "Inno A Satana" by the same band and just keep playing them until you can keep up and it feels nice and natural.

Not only is the first three minutes or so of "I Am The Black Wizards" tremolo picked constantly at 170bpm, it'll make your right arm burn. But, if you keep doing it, eventually you'll be able to nail it without any burn. And then a whole vista of speedy picking opens up in front of you.

The outro of "Inno A Satana" is particularly satanic :twisted:

dave_mc · « **Reply #14 on:** April 30, 2007, 04:39:34 PM »

^ ^ holy cr@p, does petrucci have a bionic arm or something?