Accidentally Hitting Extra String(s) during Tremolo

[jarednye]

I find when I get up to a certain speed for tremolos I can’t help but accidentally brush the string above or below the one I’m aiming for. Is this something inevitable with Tremolo or something I’ll have to work harder to stop doing? Thanks guys.

[MikeEdgerton]

You have to work to not do it. It takes more practice and control.

[dadsaster]

This should improve over time. With tremolo, I try not to let the pick lose contact with the string. Keeping the grip relaxed is essential to getting a clean, tight tremolo. Also, realize that tremolo is something you never stop working on. I've heard a few pros express unhappiness with the sound of their own tremolo.

[Mark Gunter]

I find when I get up to a certain speed for tremolos I can’t help but accidentally brush the string above or below the one I’m aiming for. Is this something inevitable with Tremolo or something I’ll have to work harder to stop doing? Thanks guys.

IMO - and only stating my own opinion here: No, no, no ... don't work harder. Just keep playing, and pay close attention to dadsaster's advice. "Keeping the grip relaxed is essential"

Yes, you should "work" on your technique, but don't think of working hard. Just work on getting better, and your accuracy and control will get better with time. There is usually no magic, overnight cure for technical issues that can be had by working harder. Think about improving your technique. Experiment with left hand position and practice good technique in that. Think about economy of left hand fingering and practice good technique in that.

Think about overall right hand technique, including your tremolo, experiment and practice getting better. Over time your control will continue to develop in a very fine manner. Anyway, that's what I believe.

[Bertram Henze]

You could use that as a shortcut to the ever-marvelled-at doublestop tremolo. You just have to stop the correct frets on the adjacent courses

[wildpikr]

I find when I get up to a certain speed for tremolos I can’t help but accidentally brush the string above or below the one I’m aiming for. Is this something inevitable with Tremolo or something I’ll have to work harder to stop doing? Thanks guys.

Here's Mike Marshall's ideas about tremolo...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7vqNh5k96o

[Phil Goodson]

I find when I get up to a certain speed for tremolos I can’t help but accidentally brush the string above or below the one I’m aiming for....

Actually you CAN help it.
My story is going to a workshop with Alan Bibey many years ago where we had a little one-on-one time to ask questions. I told him that when I played 'Blackberry Blossom' I always went too far and hit the next string with my pick which make the music sound messy.
He said, "Don't move your pick that far."
Well,..... I thought he was just joking with me, but after going home, thinking about it, and trying his suggestions, I found that he had given me some of the best advice I had ever gotten.

If we stop and figure out exactly what it is that is messing us up, we can change that one little thing, and it makes a surprising difference. The hard part is actually stopping and THINKING about what the basic problem is!!
Sometimes a fresh eye helps.

[AlanN]

Phil,

That sounds like something Alan would say - haha. He and Butch B. have/had the same advice - clean technique is king!

Why don't you plan on coming down to Myrtle Beach for the 3rd Annual Alan Bibey Mandolin Camp next August. He is having Emory Lester as instructor and another mando cat (TBA) who we all know and love. There, you can pick up other choice pearls of wisdom in person from one of cleanest and most musical cats to ever pack a pick.

[UsuallyPickin]

Technique ..... your angle of attack , angle of the pick when it plucks the string, angle you are holding the instrument, control of how much your wrist is moving, avoiding tensing up and putting and all of the above together at the same time....... practice and patience .... go at it slow to become fast ...... Cross picking and tremolo are each difficult but require much of the same skill set ... R/