Tremolo wrist vs forearm

[John Flynn]

It's well known that there are different styles of learning. Sometimes different terms are used, but I've heard it as Visual, Aural, Verbal/Written and Physical. There are some great visual and written explanations here, but if those don't work for you, you are not alone. I've come to realize I learn mandolin in an aural/physical style. What the heck does that mean?

I learned tremolo by taking a recording that I really like that absolutely depends on tremolo to sound good and really absorbing that sound in my mind. I can't remember which track I used, but I'm sure it was something by Curtis Buckhannon. But there are plenty to choose from.

Then I learned the tune. When I got to the tremolo part, I just kept trying to make that sound. My body figured out what I wanted and did it. Yes, it took a little time, but it seemed to go quicker and easier for me than the more common pedagogical methods. Once I learned it on that one tune, then I could do it on any of them. OBTW, I learned crosspicking this way also.

One visualization technique that did help me, which I got from a workshop, is to pretend that a course of strings is two pencil lines on a thin piece of paper. The pick is an eraser. You want to erase a small break in the lines quickly, but without damaging the paper. You can try that motion with a piece of paper and an eraser and then transfer it to the mandolin. I wind up with a "mostly wrist" tremolo and I am pretty happy with it.

[JonZ]

“Unless you’ve been under a rock, avoiding the most infamous jargon of education, you’ve heard the term ‘learning styles’. It has become quite the buzzword in the last decade or so and is almost said with a cringe today. In what can be described as a neuromyth, learning styles have taken a beating by recent research and should be laid to rest with other famous falsehoods of psychology and education. Shockingly enough, though, its proliferation still exists.”
Learning Styles Myth

[SincereCorgi]

For me, the locked-wrist forearm tremolo is the way to get that classic Bill Monroe "buzzsaw" tremolo. I'm not that great at it, but when I want a really aggressive and and tense loud sound it's the best way of transferring power from my big shoulder muscles to the strings. The wrist tremolo is much easier for me to control in terms of dynamics and speed. I suggest working up to it by playing steady up-and-down eighth notes to a metronome click and gradually speeding up the metronome- at a certain point, you've crossed over into tremolo-ing.

It's like learning a snare drum roll, it just takes time.

[John Flynn]

“Unless you’ve been under a rock, avoiding the most infamous jargon of education, you’ve heard the term ‘learning styles’. It has become quite the buzzword in the last decade or so and is almost said with a cringe today. In what can be described as a neuromyth, learning styles have taken a beating by recent research and should be laid to rest with other famous falsehoods of psychology and education. Shockingly enough, though, its proliferation still exists.”
Learning Styles Myth

That's interesting. Having been involved in training development for many years, I think the author raises some very good points, but like a lot of academic pundits, he oversells his opinion as being some absolute truth. I do agree with him, though, that the concept of learning styles has been used for a lot of policies and approaches that exceed what it ever should have been intended for.

But in any case, what I related in my post only uses learning styles as a way to put a framework around my personal experience learning tremolo. I probably should have left that part out. Take away what I said about learning styles and the rest accurately describes my experience in learning tremolo (and later crosspicking) on the mandolin. I tend not to learn as well based on someone's explanation of how to do a thing or even watching them do it. I have to do it for myself and the way I do that is to endeavor to recreate musical sounds I hear. It worked for me and my hope is that it works for some other people.

[JonZ]

I just wanted to share some info, but the quote from the article comes off harsher than your helpful post deserves.

Sorry about that.