Tremelo on the G string

[phizban]

I am having extreme amounts of trouble playing tremelo on the G string. In fact, I am having trouble just in general playing on the G string, especially in comparison to my speed/clarity/sound on all my other strings. The source of my problem I assume comes from my hand position or how I'm holding my pick. During tremelo, my pick moves all over if I hold the pick loosely, or I catch the strings if I hold tighter. My playing hand position is similar to bush, thile or marshall. Has anyone else ever had this problem? Or perhaps advice?
ANY help to this truly annoying problem would be greatly appreciated.

[David Horovitz]

I'm no expert on tremolo and I also fight to keep the pick from sliding around in my hand at times. But what I try to do is keep the wrist as loose as possible but grip the pick a little more tightly when playing tremolo on the lower strings. It takes practice because the natural thing to do when gripping the pick more firmly is to tighten up the wrist as well, but try to only change your pick grip.

Here's a little video clip of myself playing a few tunes that I posted a while ago. The three tunes are strung together in the same clip, but if you move the play bar to about the middle of the clip you can see and hear me playing tremolo on the lower strings, including G, on the tune Banks of The Ohio.

Tremolo example in Banks Of The Ohio

[musical mama]

I had trouble with my pick sliding around during tremolo until I found these neat picks called "Ice Pix". #There is a micro-suction pad on the back of it, and it keeps the pick from moving around, plus sticks onto your mando when you're done playing without harming the mando! #They are very inexpensive, too. #I paid $3.99 plus tax for a pack of 6. #Their website is www.ice-pix.com if you're interested. #I personally love these picks!!

[ira]

had the same prob. practice as you would anything else- slowly, then build speed. everytime you slip. go back to slow and start over. it will come. because of the thickness of strings, it is definitely harder, but doable. stick with it. when its right- it sounds beautiful in the somewhat deeper register.

[markishandsome]

On the lower strings I have to pick closer to the bridge for tremelo. The strings move less down there and so my pick doesn't flop around as much and it sounds a little cleaner.

[JGWoods]

I think string spacing may have a little to do with it.
This is just an observation of my own, based on my two favorite mandos of the month- one of which is a tremelo dream and the other which is a hard go.
The Rigel Jethro has wider string spacing on the G pair than does my Epiphone Strand, and the Rigel is very easy to play tremelo on. The Strand has as tight a pair of strings as any I've seen and it's hard to keep a smooth tremelo going on it. Both have the same strings.
All across the board I can play smooth tremelo on the Rigel, can't on the Epiphone, and the only real difference I can see is the string spacing of the pairs.
my 2 cents.

[Alex Fields]

Using lighter gauge strings would help. It's also easier to play tremolo on flatwound strings (or even just D'Addario Flattops). Different picks will behave differently as well. And of course your technique is the most important thing. Personally I've never had a noticeable problem with tremolo on low strings.

[Ken Sager]

Another tip:
Angle the pick slightly down so you're brushing the strings more than plucking when you tremelo.

[kudzugypsy]

you might ask the question in the classical section - even if you arent a classical player - those cats always have good technique advice.

when playing on the g string - to me, it is the easiest to get a powerful tremelo - now, i do alter my technique slightly by arching my wrist a little more and getting a really snappy stroke that comes NOT from the wrist, but from the rotation of the hand using the wrist as a *pivot - this is the method similarly outlined in many of the classic methods from the first half of the last century...easy to show, very hard to put in words! - just think of the way you would naturally shake water off #your hands if they were wet - you wouldnt shake just your wrist, but you would rotate the hand in a quick snappy rotation....of course to play tremelo, you have to smooth this snappy movement out!

there are ALL kinds of folks with good tremelo - so many variations will work - i use to be a sam bush tremelo player, (you can get a fast/controlable tremelo that way) but i felt the locked wrist and forearm movement began to develope to much tension in my right hand/arm - i will add this little tidbit - sam bush has a techique very hard to duplicate by others - years ago when he was a teenager, he had a beautiful classic right hand, which was unfortunately slammed in a car door (by tony rice, i think) and had to wear a cast for quite a while. he developed his present technique from having his hand, wrist and arm locked in that cast, this is why some of sams style is so hard to duplicate, with all the power coming from the wild forearm swing at the elbow joint.

i think the mistake some beginners make is to think the power comes from the wrist - when you watch someone with a good tremelo - it LOOKS like it comes from the wrist, but often, its coming from a pivot of the wrist, using the natural rotation of the hand - and NOT just using the wrist as if you were hammering a nail.

[IndyArtist]

Tremolo comes as much from the elbow as the wrist. To keep from catching, try rotating the pick angle against the strings. This will change your timbre and can also be used to control your volume. The closer the pick is to perpendicular to the strings, the easier the tremolo is to control.

Everyone has their own pick gripping technique - I chew on my picks to roughen the gripping surface and bend the pick so that it stores comfortably between the knuckles on my middle finger for finger picking. I store it and retrieve it with my thumb for lightning-quick shifts from finger-picking to flat picking. It's a technique I developed as a guitarist before I started playing mandolin - I have never seen anyone else finger-pick a mandolin, but I'm sure it's done.

[Elliot Luber]

I find I hold the pick more loosely on the lower strings. Does anyone else do this? I seem to have more trouble with tremolo on the E string.

[Chip Booth]

kudzugypsy, I think the method you are describing is tremolo from rotation of the forearm. Think of opening a door handle. I use this for my fastest smoothest tremolo sections, though I get more power from elbow tremolo.

I too suffer a bit on the G string, from the stiffer strings as far as I can tell. I hold the pic a little looser, and sometimes go to the elbow method to get more power.

Chip

[Jan Ellefsen]

I have (like most of you I guess) tried different methods for getting a good, even tremolo. In the beginning I planted my pinky on the pick guard, because that gave the best result. After a while I decided I didn’t want to get into the habit of planting my pinky, so I removed the pick guard. After that I had trouble, but now I plant my wrist loosely behind the bridge and just “shake” the forearm like normal single note playing (except then I don’t plant the wrist, only touches it now and then). I feel that this gives me the control to keep the pick depth even, and that the loose planting of the wrist does not hinder the movement in and out of tremolo as much as planting the pinky does.
By the way, I have also always found that tremolo on the E string is the hardest, with the A as a close second.

[SternART]

kudzugypsy writes <<i do alter my technique slightly by arching my wrist a little more>>

I've found this has worked for me....more arch up & away from the fingerboard....I figured it out trying to tremelo D AND G string doublestops,
which I find a notch tougher than just the G string tremelo.