Well I just started playing guitar again after a couple of years and I'm currently learning the tremolo picking part in the song Little Dreamer by Ensiferum. Since I'm pretty new to guitar, I picked up tremolo picking relatively fast ,however after a couple of weeks without playing the song, Ive sort of lost my technique and now I'm struggling to get the sound I used to get. It 's not just with this song, it applies to any song with tremolo picking involved, and although I've been practicing like crazy, I still cant get it. Also when I pick I slightly rest my palm on the guitar body and I use my wrist rather than my arm to pick. Any suggestions as to how I can improve my technique or what I am doing wrong.

well, the first thing i would have suggested is to keep your strumming hand on the bridge of the guitar. but seems you are already doing it.

humm, what i usually do is grab some sort of VERY sharp pick between my thum, index and middle. kind of like holding a pen. and then instead of having the pick going parallel to the strings, i put it at a slight angle. its either at a right angle(90 degrees) to the strings, or at a 45 degree angle(this technique usually helps with sweep picking too. less resistance, and the pick just glides over the string). instead of moving your fingers to play, lock them, and the only movment you make is with your elbow. i mean, keep your hand on the bridge, so your entire hand doesnt move back and forth. then start moving your elbow kind of like what you do with an eraser. it should help. atleast, thats what i do when i tremolo pick.

I dont know, but everywhere I hear that you should pick from your WRIST, not elbow. And I believe it, because your hand gets tired lot faster when you do it from elbow... And I also tend to rest my palm on the bridge or somewhere on the guitar, even when Im not palm muting.. I dont knwo if its good or bad, or anything... but I dont see many guitarists do that, and I think it would make sweeping lot harder (I dont know sweeps anyway)

About the alternate picking it self, well, I think its one of the easiest things in guitar technique, so you dont hav to worry, just start out slowly, as slow as you need it to play flawless, and every day it will be easier and you will play faster and faster.

Well I had no problem tremolo picking weeks ago, I just completely forgot what I did to make it sound good and although I never used to rest my pinky on the pick guard I find it somewhat helps as opposed to resting my palm on the body. Is this a good habit to develop or is it just personal preference?

You never, ever, under any circumstances pick strings from your elbow. Everything is in the wrist.

I have learned this technique, but I have some problems with this kind of tabs
------------------------------------------
-----------------8tr----7tr---------------
------------9tr-------------8tr-----------
-------9tr----------------------8tr-------
--7tr--------------------------------6tr--
------------------------------------------

Written by Hylia on 04.03.2008 at 19:52

Well I had no problem tremolo picking weeks ago, I just completely forgot what I did to make it sound good and although I never used to rest my pinky on the pick guard I find it somewhat helps as opposed to resting my palm on the body. Is this a good habit to develop or is it just personal preference?

i believe thats called anchoring your pinky. to some extent its personal preference. is it a bad habbit. i would say so, coz it really limits your mobilty. however, if you're familiar with michael angelo batio, then he does something similar, except he anchors his middle, and at times ring finger:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=qG74eVb6V10

Written by Soliloquy on 05.03.2008 at 08:14

Written by Hylia on 04.03.2008 at 19:52

Well I had no problem tremolo picking weeks ago, I just completely forgot what I did to make it sound good and although I never used to rest my pinky on the pick guard I find it somewhat helps as opposed to resting my palm on the body. Is this a good habit to develop or is it just personal preference?

i believe thats called anchoring your pinky. to some extent its personal preference. is it a bad habbit. i would say so, coz it really limits your mobilty. however, if you're familiar with michael angelo batio, then he does something similar, except he anchors his middle, and at times ring finger:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=qG74eVb6V10

Yeah Ive tried many methods of tremolo picking, anchoring my pinky ( which at the moment seems to work the best), just letting my hand float above the strings and resting my palm on the body/ bridge. Im pretty sure I used to just let my hand float but now whenever I play tremolo picking, I feel restricted if my palm is resting and I cant keep a steady rhythm. Should I continue playing this way as all other methods dotn seem to be effective.

Written by Hylia on 05.03.2008 at 19:19

Written by Soliloquy on 05.03.2008 at 08:14

Written by Hylia on 04.03.2008 at 19:52

Well I had no problem tremolo picking weeks ago, I just completely forgot what I did to make it sound good and although I never used to rest my pinky on the pick guard I find it somewhat helps as opposed to resting my palm on the body. Is this a good habit to develop or is it just personal preference?

i believe thats called anchoring your pinky. to some extent its personal preference. is it a bad habbit. i would say so, coz it really limits your mobilty. however, if you're familiar with michael angelo batio, then he does something similar, except he anchors his middle, and at times ring finger:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=qG74eVb6V10

Yeah Ive tried many methods of tremolo picking, anchoring my pinky ( which at the moment seems to work the best), just letting my hand float above the strings and resting my palm on the body/ bridge. Im pretty sure I used to just let my hand float but now whenever I play tremolo picking, I feel restricted if my palm is resting and I cant keep a steady rhythm. Should I continue playing this way as all other methods dotn seem to be effective.

imo all there is to tremolo picking is to block your elbow and move only your hand, with the area under the thick finger anchored on the guitar. also if you don't use thick(1.2 mm work best for me) picks, it's quite hard to tremolo pick like crazy.

My guitar buddy tells me it's all in the wrist!

I guess that's why guys are just generally better at tremolo picking than girls, cause of other "it's all in the wrist techniques" he he! Yeah, but then chicks also know what i'm talking about

Seriously speaking though, if i do it with just my wrist i can't get a constant rhythm i.e. i go faster and slower. If i use my elbow i get a pretty constant sound out, 'can also reach higher speeds, but then everyone's playing is different (and to all you sick people, i'm actually talking about tremolo picking now)

Written by Hylia on 05.03.2008 at 19:19

Written by Soliloquy on 05.03.2008 at 08:14

Written by Hylia on 04.03.2008 at 19:52

Well I had no problem tremolo picking weeks ago, I just completely forgot what I did to make it sound good and although I never used to rest my pinky on the pick guard I find it somewhat helps as opposed to resting my palm on the body. Is this a good habit to develop or is it just personal preference?

i believe thats called anchoring your pinky. to some extent its personal preference. is it a bad habbit. i would say so, coz it really limits your mobilty. however, if you're familiar with michael angelo batio, then he does something similar, except he anchors his middle, and at times ring finger:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=qG74eVb6V10

Yeah Ive tried many methods of tremolo picking, anchoring my pinky ( which at the moment seems to work the best), just letting my hand float above the strings and resting my palm on the body/ bridge. Im pretty sure I used to just let my hand float but now whenever I play tremolo picking, I feel restricted if my palm is resting and I cant keep a steady rhythm. Should I continue playing this way as all other methods dotn seem to be effective.

Steady, strong tremolo picking is tricky for both new comers and intermediate players. Furthermore, certain styles of tremolo picking require different techniques; for instance, if I am trying to play a steady, quick passage (such as a black metal riff) I will anchor my pinky to the bottom of the bridge pick-up and my wrist to the bridge, where as if I was playing more of an alternating/speed-chug riff (such as grind or death metal) I will usually keep my palm right on top of the strings for the mutes and not anchor my pinky at all. If it is a particularly rough sounding passage that needs to sound more violent, I will actually attack the strings with a mixture of wrist movements in conjunction with elbow movements. That way when the wrist slams the strings it gives more of a percussive feedback, great for tremolo-chugged death parts!

Another thing to consider is at what angle you are hitting the strings with your pick. If you hit at a 45 degree angle, your guitar will pick-up that extra scratching noise and it will be amplified through your amp. With mega-gain and high treble frequency, this type of attack is great for black metal riffs, where as a more flat and clean delivery to the strings will create a much cleaner, tighter sound. Perfect for tight doom passages or heavy metal licks. And don't forget, when trying to use tremolo picking, always use a HEAVY pick. Heavy picks don't bend or resist as much as a medium or light pick will when striking a string, so you will actually be able to play cleaner and faster passages with a heavier pick. I know that tremolo picking with a lighter pick is easier, but practicing with the heavier pick in the end will be much more satisfying.

Trying to learn to tremolo can be frustrating at first, but if you just keep at it you'll nail it. The best thing to do is to just run through scales and tremolo pick the whole sequence. Start slow and keep your amp on a clean setting, then slowly keep working your way up in speed. Don't move on in speed until you can play the passage with no errors about a click slower. Way to many guitarists try to blast out passages at warp speed way to early, you have to acquire the speed before you can use it. Once you've nailed the scales down, move on to a song like "I am the Black Wizards." Thats a great song to practice your tremolo technique to.

Good luck, and keep practicing!

Yeah it's all about the work of the wrist. When I tremolopicking it all seams to be automatic, I kinda like magic. Black magic of course

Written by Smurfophagist on 04.03.2008 at 20:49

You never, ever, under any circumstances pick strings from your elbow. Everything is in the wrist.

yeah i agree,and the final point of picking is playing only with your fingers only

Gonna complete the echo in here and say WRIST!! Seen a lot of metal bands lately that trem straight from the elbow, but continuous playing like that increases the risk of RSI and other such horrors. Its also a good idea to have your wrist hover slightly over the bridge and relax the wrist so it hangs. Bit of a bitch to get used to at first, but apparantly once mastering it its the most relaxed/healthy way of doing it.

I have a kinda odd picking technique in general, not exactly sure how to describe it, but I suppose I kinda bend my thumb back and rotate the plane of the pick 90 degrees or so, think its kinda similar to what George Benson does, and so i've learned to trem that way, have got used to the more orthodox way of picking too, but when it comes to tremming like that I fail quite epically.

I use my wrist, but there are some good guitarists out there who still use the elbow. Different strokes for.....nevermind.

I remember when I was learning this technique, it all seemed difficult. Nowadays, it's probably the easiest thing to do.

I use mostly the wrist, yes. It's a matter of training your wrist I suppose.

As usual, you need to start slowly and build up the pressure on the wrist, pratice some songs that have tremolo. There's some faster tremolos I still struggle with, but say Rotting Christ stuff are a good pratice. Not too difficult and plenty of changes.

I think I've got it since then and now it seems like the easiest technique for me. I don't know if I am allowed to post videos of videos but I have a tremolo video, I think its improved A LOT since two years, since I can play most black metal songs.

I will post a vid later if I get around to it.

I will probably post one at higher speeds since I don't think many here are just getting started with it.

Written by Hylia on 21.05.2011 at 08:25

I don't know if I am allowed to post videos of videos

of course you can't.. that would mean we would be watching videos while watching videos.



this guy doesn't appreciate competition.

I totally can't get sound with my video, it's kaput.