Tremolo picking: wrist or forearm??

I was just wondering what everybody's approach to tremolo picking was. I do a lot of tremolo picking with delay for ambience, a la "Airbag" by Radiohead, and i go back and forth with my technique.

I know some people use their forearm as the power behind their tremolo, and others use their wrist. Ive found that my picking is more consistent and fluid when i use my wrist, but i dont have as much endurance or speed, and with my forearm i have more power, speed, and endurance, but much less control.

any opinions/ideas/philosophies?

Wrist/forearm but not elbow. Your forearm should rotate from the elbow but the elbow joint should not open and close. The main element of a good tremolo is the pick. Too thin a pick will flex too much and recovery time will impede your tremolo.

Wrist/forearm but not elbow. Your forearm should rotate from the elbow but the elbow joint should not open and close. The main element of a good tremolo is the pick. Too thin a pick will flex too much and recovery time will impede your tremolo.

+1 pure wrist is really ridiculously hard. Adding a little bit of forarm will add speed and stamina, but I would say don't really solely on ur forarm because u can't get as much control. I personally think using mostly ur wrist with a little forarm will give u the best result. Hopefully u understood that lol

Wrist/forearm but not elbow. Your forearm should rotate from the elbow but the elbow joint should not open and close. The main element of a good tremolo is the pick. Too thin a pick will flex too much and recovery time will impede your tremolo.
Another +1

The technique is actually called "rotary forearm." :idea: And it will indeed give you the best combination of power and speed. The fluidity and control come from practice, practice, practice. (Sorry.) ;-) You need to focus on keeping the muscles as relaxed as possible; it's a delicate balance, but you'll quickly find the point where it "flows."

You can also build up a lot of speed by going just slightly slower than maximum and concentrating on keeping the tremolo absolutely even -- then start increasing the speed gradually. Best of luck, CS

"The technique is actually called "rotary forearm." And it will indeed give you the best combination of power and speed. The fluidity and control come from practice, practice, practice. (Sorry.) ;-) You need to focus on keeping the muscles as relaxed as possible; it's a delicate balance, but you'll quickly find the point where it "flows."


Abdo-lutey! Having cut my musical teeth on Roaring Twenties Tenor banjo, I can trem like crazy, and this is the technique that banjo players employ. You ain't heard nothin' until you've a 50 member banjo band play the 4th chorus of
"Bye, Bye Blues" tremolo style! Awesome noise!

You can practice this motion anytime, anywhere, without your instrument,,but,, People observing you will think you're inflicted with some sort of palsy!

Do any of you know anyone who uses purely wrist movement?
Ive been doing that more and more often and its getting easier and easier. Is it considered "wrong" or "bad" technique? obviously, if it gets the job done, who cares, but just kinda wondering.

I am not great at this, but it is something that needs to be part of your technique. To me, the key is to pick a bit more shallow than normal, or at least be careful to keep the pick depth even. Try picking over the fretboard. This physically prevents you from digging in too much.