Classical guitar lesson - 3 finger tremolo Pami

[MrRfyl]

Very bad tremolo!!

[PussyOnFireee]

Is this good? I dont know what tremolo is XD.

But i learn that you must play with PIMA not pami

[hersoveela]

@PussyOnFireee Pami is standard classical guitar tremolo. PIMA would be very difficult tremolo to play and I don't know of anybody who plays tremolo in this way.

[NolitaDenise]

First off I like the angle. It's hard to learn anything when you just have a view from the front.

There's footage on youtube and Segovia's hand is like hersoveela's. Just saying.

He made this on his dime(camera and internet costs money ya know?) and time. Dunno why anybody would complain.

[julzgibson13]

Fuck, the sound quality isn't that bad. If it's good enough to make out what he is trying to show us, well it's more then good enough. You can't really complain with free guitar lessons.

[guitartyro]

I cannot agree with mig3sk8, the sound quality is spot on if the objective is tremelo practice. The key feature of tremelo is articulation, the accurate preparation and execution of notes. In slow practice it requires heavy stacato. When you can do this you can lighten your touch and go legato. Thanks for the lesson Sal, I will get there !!

[mig3sk8]

your sound quality it's terrible, you should play with your right fingers in a more vertical position.

sorry for my english :s

[hersoveela]

@mig3sk8

I assume your sound quality is much better, so can please you demonstrate this for me in a video? Sorry for my Italian.

[mig3sk8]

@hersoveela

just watch david russell playing ''el ultimo tremolo'' and take a closer look to the right hand position, he has a full sound while your sound is too metal due to the right hand position. 

[gamergeek3000]

@mig3sk8 you can help someone better by telling them how to improve.

[gamergeek3000]

@hersoveela I don't think you have to be a good player to recognize if someone is playing bad. I have to agree, the tone is sharp, harsh, too much treble. It is not pleasing to hear. mig was trying to give some advice, although he could have done it in a nicer way, i.e. telling him only the things to do that may improve playing and the sound/tone that would result in.

[Alandpope]

so the order of the fingers is Anular, Middle, Index?

i was using another order which was Index, Middle, Anular, can someone tell me which is the correct order for the 3 fingers, please?

[hersoveela]

@Alandpope

Pami (Thumb - Anular - Middle - Index)

This is standard classical guitar tremolo and has been around for at least 100 years.

Reversing the fingers to make it Index - Middle - Anular is not good. Although it is possible, it's just not that easy to maintain a good sound. Self taught guessing is not a great idea. TIP - Research for advice before committing guesswork to practice. There are enough lesson videos on YouTube (for example) to teach you the common guitar technique.

[xDAHVEEDx]

what kinds of classical guitars are good?

because my guitar is real quiet and I dont know if they sell electro acoutics with nylon strings.

[MohamedTheWise]

i think yamaha is quite powerfull esp c70 and above

[Hammett0022]

i have an ibanez aef20csne classical thts acoustic/electric...plays fantastic, for about $500

[urmomandad]

@xDAHVEEDx what kind do you have? Usually classical guitars are played using the nails, gives it a more rich sound. N they do sell electro nylon acoustics, think Ibanez has a nice nylon electro one, with a cut out so you can hit the higher frets 13 and up.

[metalshreder127]

@xDAHVEEDx cordoba is what i have and my teacher has too its a very great guitar

[666blackrose999]

thx i practise it for can play recuerdos de la alhambra xD

[acouztixz]

what chord should I use to practice it?

[hersoveela]

Any chord will do for pratice

[tipsjr]

i think e and a minor chords sound good

[tewest99]

Thank you for the post, now I have something to practice .. on my bass to :-)

[Bellmont]

you are a great teacher i have been watching your videos and playing guitar for about a year now and i finally have my first video

[Cr4ZyFr00g]

Nice Video

[gttabor]

Alright thanks but what exactly are you doing with your thumb. I have heard some people say they rest it on the next string after it strikes but it doesn't look like you are doing that.

[hersoveela]

Correct. I do not rest the thumb as some flamenco people do. I studied classical guitar before flamenco and find it more comfortable to play the thumb free stroke. It's just my preference. Just as some fingerpickers find stability in planting the pinky on the guitar as they play, some people rest the thumb with tremolo for similar reasons. Try both methods. Ultimately it's the end result that matters, not so much how you do it. I personally find resting the thumb too limiting and awkward.

[gttabor]

For the ami fingers are you blocking the string with a finger after the finger before it strikes?

For instance

If you are picking with the a would the m block out the string the instant after the a strikes?

[hersoveela]

That's exactly what I'm doing. I am deliberately playing stacatto. It's not everybody's cup of tea but it's how I play because I want every note defined clearly when the tremolo is played at normal speed.

Sal

[ls1phsyco]

Damn!

[bigsby48]

good video, i learned this after a week and practicing each day by watching this video. Thansk. 30 minutes a day, 6 days a week and you can have a real bowflex body.

i gave all my fat clothes to my fat friends.

[luuurock]

how long it takes to play tremolo well?? how long have you been practiced for this??

sorry if you don't understand,i'm from Argentina.

Thanks!

[hersoveela]

How long it takes you to learn something is entirely up to you. I cannot give you a specific answer like how many days or whatever. Knowing how long I have been practicing tremolo will not really help you either. You are not me and I am not you. Getting a good tremolo sound is about practicing EVERYTHING you learn in a disciplined way with the guidance from a good teacher. It's probably not what you wanted to hear but it's the truth. In the end it is all about practice, practice, practice.

Sal

[paulandlesson]

someone asked about the breaks between notes. it is important that you practice returning to the string. So at a slow tempo it may sound choppy but when you nail it, it feels and sounds like magic. Good video

[deathlycharms666]

how do I know if I'm doing it right? If reached a pretty fast speed but I don't know if it sounds right :(.. is it supposed to have this minor brake between the tree finger pickings? or does it has to sound exacly like a tremolo using a pick :(?

[tassadar28]

???¿¿¿

[breamilcattivo]

c'est veraiment genial. merci

[anandmufc]

pretty cool cud u please give me tips on my song....thanx

[aparicon27]

thanks for the instruction. will keep practicing.

[paulandlesson]

Great vid! for those learning the magic of the trem, look at how he is touching the string before stroking. You DON'T want to swipe at the string. Also notice the strong sound, no whimpy trem.

[esquivaesto]

wow, wow, woooow

[botnix85]

Can anybody help? Im trying to learn 'Recuerdos de la Alhambra' but am having problems getting the tremolo down. Is Pami the right technique to play that. i can pull it off using just index and middle, but would that be a bad habit to get into?

[tselegala]

look at sal's website. (hersoveela's website), I started with that and my tremolo is no so bad now..months later..follow his advice and find the link there for a pretty cool site on recuerdos de la alhambra. Let me just say though, you picked one hell of a difficult piece to learn with..not so good maybe. good luck!

[Lutemann]

Do a search for: classical guitar lessons murdick and look at all my videos. Leave a comment if you like.

[bandgeekl6]

aight, woah, i love alhambra. so fun to play. that's wat i used to learn the tremolo and i found it very easy after a lot of practice. i think the worst thing to do would be to try and cheat the song of its full potential. this video is the right technique for playing it so just keep practicing.

[hersoveela]

Actually, the classical guitar 3 finger tremolo has always been used in flamenco. It's not used much these days but it was very common in the 1950's and 60's. Foer example, flamenco guitarists like Carlos Montoya, Manitas de Plata and Mario Escodero used it a lot.

[sdot82]

Actually.. skilesca is correct. 3 finger tremolo but 4 notes, with the index playing first and last

[hersoveela]

Good gentle folk. Are reading from a book or what? This whole thing about who is correct and what is correct sounds a bit too academic to be of much use in the real world. The flamenco tremolo Piami can also be executed Pmami. Just because Piami is printed in many (but not all) books, does not mean it is necessarily the best, or most efficient way to play tremolo. I play both but prefer Pmami.

[fightforfreedom222]

One question sir...Do you really need to have a guitar that has nylon strings insteed of metals strings?thanks for uploading videos such as this sir...it helped me have a hobby, I'm one of those who doesn't have a sport and usually just stay in the house and find some time to get out and have some fresh air...Thanks you gave me reason why should I have an art?THANKS SIR.

[hersoveela]

I can only speak for myself. I know some people play figerstyle with steel strings, but I do not and never have. I can tell you one thing for sure. If you try to play traditional flamenco music will steel strings all your nails would soon wear down and break. Nylon strings is the only way to fly for me. For strumming chords with a plectrum a steel string is perfect. But I never play with a plectrum so I have no use for a steel string guitar or any sort. I strum with the fingers.

[boyingcapulong]

Steel strings can damage your nails which you "need" to play classical guitar with. However, if you play just "finger style" you can either use finger plectrums (picks that are attached to the fingers) and play with steel stringed guitars. Incidentally, Pujol and Tarrega (later in his life) did not feel the need for long nails to play classical guitar and they are recognized masters of the guitar.

[beanabus77]

I can do it with metal strings, so it's possible.

To strengthen nails, many folk players use nail varnish or even glued nail strengtheners!

Eat plenty of iron in you diet, is a good hint too...

[philomelodia]

There's a youtube vid out there of a masterclass run by Ricardo Cobo, a classical guitar virtuoso. In it, he recommends some stuff called "hoof hardener" which, he says, can be bought at beauty supply stores. Get this, he says it's the stuff you put on a horse's hoof to harden it up. Supposed to do the same for fingernails. I've never used it so, don't ask if it really does, I can't personally say one way or the other. Ny nails are hard enough for my purposes.

[philomelodia]

I have heard trmolo on steel strings. There are new age guitarists out there who use it all the time. It sounds marvelous, in my opinion. The classical guitar is a thing of warm nights and romantic feelings. The steel string remnds me of cool mountain breezes or flowing streams. It's a different beauty altogether. I'm happy to say I play both and with fingers. Nails do fine. I don't play flamenco though. Some day, I will learn, I hope.

[Ztoraen]

How poetic!

[GregM88]

thanks for the vid!!!

[fremsite]

wow!