Progress report on Recuerdos and the tremolo technique for classical guitar

I am a student of Karl Wohlwend and helped out in the publication of “Secrets to Mastering Recuerdos and the Tremolo Technique.” I thought it would be a great idea to relearn Recuerdos de la Alhambra. I first worked on Recuerdos de la Alhambra three years ago and performed the piece. Since that time, I have not reviewed the piece and wanted to spend some time relearning it. Now that I have Karl’s ideas on paper, I’m using them as well as other ideas concerning learning the tremolo technique from other classical guitar resources and taking my own journey to Recuerdos.

I started my original blog at this address and continued it here. My journey began on December 29, 2006 and it was originally intended to be a 60 day trip. Since then, I’ve realized that my journey may be 2 to 3 times longer. That’s fine because I’m really in no hurry. I figured keeping a blog would motivate me on my journey and see it through completion and that it would help others who are attempting to learn the tremolo technique, the piece - Recuerdos de la Alhambra, or both. By the end of this, I hope to have evaluated the numerous tremolo drills and suggestions offered by my instructor as well as suggestions that I have found elsewhere.

In my first 40 or so days with the piece and the technique, I have the following to offer:

1 - An even, steady, rhythmically straight tremolo is what you should strive for. See my February 6 post for a great drill to determine if your tremolo is even and, if not, what part needs work.

2 - Don’t get caught up in constantly increasing your speed. Make sure your tremolo is even at a particular tempo before clocking up the metronome.

3 - Your metronome is your best friend when it comes to learning the tremolo technique. Use it religiously.

4 - Begin by working on the right hand technique separately from the left hand technique.

5 - Learn to listen to yourself objectively. If you can’t do that then record yourself and listen to your playing.

6 - The majority of your tremolo practice should not be done on the first string. Move it to the second or third string.

My progress - I feel much more comfortable on the second, third and fourth strings with my tremolo technique. I also am hearing a steady, even tremolo and am vigilant as to maintaining that. As I said before, I feel my journey is going to be closer to 180 days than 60.