Tommo's fastest tremolo happened on a bass (And he can't play bass). AKA the importance of trying very different things

Technique Critique
#1

On this forum we often advocate trying different things when you get stuck. Different pick grips, different hand/arm postures and so on.

Here’s an example in this spirit from me: I randomly stumbled on this variation of my USX motion while fiddling with a bass (I can’t play bass beyond playing chord tonics!).

The very different posture and placement of my right hand made something click, and I recorded what I think is my fast tremolo ever. The fastest stretches are approximately 16th notes @225bpm, which I didn’t think I could do:

Take1 (probably faster but less controlled):

Take 2 (probably slower but more controlled):

Disclaimer 1: I don’t feel in control of this movement and it feels tiring and tense. But Maybe it can get better as I get familiar with it and eliminate the little random variations in muscle activation etc.

Disclaimer 2: I can only access this specific motion on the A string of a bass. Haven’t figured out yet how to transfer this to a guitar.

Comments / advice welcome :slight_smile:

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Perception of speed/tempo
#2

What is this down to?

Maybe you get extra bounce off the strings? Or the thicker strings allow you to have a wider motion?

#3

Not 100% sure! My perception was that the main factor was the significant change in posture / contact points due to the different shape/size of the instrument.

I’ll try to find a way to do this on guitar, we’ll see :slight_smile:

This I’m not sure is a factor: if you watch the video again you’ll notice that the motions become very small when I reach the higher speeds.

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#4

I sometimes notice this when I play bass! I never actually checked to see how fast I can go, but sometimes it feels faster. Also friends that play bass with a pick seem to pick inherently faster in a shorter amount of time. I always guessed it was a combination of tighter strings that would be “more responsive”, the larger size means there’s less wasted time / space in the “overpicked” area (I’m not sure if CTC has a name for this) as well as enabling you to use more arm movement without feeling like overkill.

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#5

Update: tried to do the same on a guitar and when doing single-note tremolo I think I got close speed-wise to the bass performance.

When I introduce some extremely original fretting hand patterns however I think my speed goes down. Also, as before Take 2 seems smoother but perhaps slower:

Guitar take 1:

Guitar Take 2:

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Perception of speed/tempo
#6

Could it be that the smaller body on the bass and the subsequent relocation of the contact point of your arm with the edge of the instrument is causing your forearm to lean away from the instrument face slightly more than usual, resulting in a slightly more flexed wrist position? That could pave the way for a subtle wrist component that doesn’t arise in your other setups.

In connection with that, maybe there’s something about the body size/shape that affects how much you “squeeze” the body with your forearm? Seems to me Andy Wood has talked about that “squeeze” against the face of the guitar being something he notices in some of his fast stuff.

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#7

Yep, it definitely feels more flexed than usual! And the forearm is more supinated as well. However, after looking at the guitar clips the difference (and indeed the difference in speed) is not as big as I expected