More on William Foden

A friend of mine, Eugene Braig, agreed to share his thoughts/observations on the Foden method (mentioned below) -

“Another older name for “wagging” finger tremolo (usually i), a term that was used by baroque-era guitarists and is still used by flamenco players, is dedillo. Yamashita did some treble dedillo with c and played full chords below with his other fingers in his Pictures at a Exhibition transcription: that’s nuts! In vol. 2 of his method, Foden doesn’t use the term but he describes using multiple fingers to play individual strings in harmonized dedillo passages: that’s nuts too! The Foden tremolo technique that I can’t even imagine bringing to tremolo speed because of the back-and-forth opposed motion of the fingers is that to sound the bass and tremolo on the beat in multi-finger punteado: p/i-m-a-m-p/i-m-a-m-etc. Man! Good luck.”

Thanks Eugene

Percussion to develop tremolo technique

One way to really hear the evenness of your tremolo in terms of rhythm and volume is to make your guitar into a drum. I know it sounds odd but it’s really simple. Take your fretting hand and mute the strings somewhere over the fretboard. I like to do it near the twelfth fret. Now practice your tremolo with a metronome and notice how much easier it is to hear the volume of each note as well as the rhythmic evenness between notes without the ringing caused by playing fretted notes. Learn to listen for the space between each note as a way of gauging the evenness of your playing.

Left (fretting) hand pressure and its effect on the right hand tremolo

Learning the tremolo technique for classical guitar through Recuerdos de la Alhambra

One thing I try to do on a consistent basis is moniter the force I’m exerting to fret notes on the guitar. One reason is that you can injure your fingers if you use too much force to fret notes. Another reason is that over-exertion of the left hand can detrimentally affect your right hand technique, especially with a technique like the tremolo. I’ve noticed my tremolo get choppy as a result of too much force being applied with the left hand.

A good way to back off is to play a scale and fret the notes without the left thumb pressing against the back of the fingerboard. Your left thumb just hangs in the air as you fret each note of the scale. This will give you a better idea of how much force you need to use to actually fret a note, where that force should come from (not the thumb but the weight of the left arm) as well as make you realize how the left thumb can destroy left hand technique. When working on a right hand technique such as the tremolo, don’t lose sight of how both hands work together.

Obtain our complete guide to mastering the tremolo technique and Recuerdos

Tremolo exercise to break up the monotony

Learning classical guitar tremolo technique through Recuerdos

Here’s one that will throw you for a loop. I like to practice my p-a-m-i tremolo with the metronome sounding on every other stroke, and I do this on the first and second strings with the thumb moving from string to string from 1st string to 6th or from 2nd to 6th if I tremolo on the 2nd string. Using the metronome this way results in a regular beat on the thumb and middle finger. To mix it up, I chose to try a p-i-a-m-i tremolo with the metronome sounding every other stroke. The trick is that the beat switches fingers each time you cycle through piami. This will grab your attention fast and make you really concentrate. Try it the next time things get stale.

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