Tremolo trainer
Tremolo trainer helps you build a clean and even tremolo. You choose the note value, the string and how the string changes. The tool shows the exercise as tab, keeps time with a click or drums and measures your highest clean tempo.
How to use it
- Pick an exercise: one string, two strings or more. Pick a note value: eighth notes, triplets or sixteenth notes.
- Pick the string and fret. The tab shows every note with downstrokes and upstrokes.
- Pick a training mode. Free gives one fixed tempo, timed raises the tempo in steps and repetitions raises it only after you have played cleanly.
- Press Start. Play along with the tab and judge yourself with Clean and Not clean.
- The tool saves the session in the practice log and sets a new personal best when you play cleanly at a higher tempo.
What is tremolo picking?
Tremolo picking is hitting the same note over and over with alternating downstrokes and upstrokes at an even tempo. The technique gives metal its dense, flowing sound and relies on a relaxed hand, not on force.
- Let the wrist make the movement, not the arm.
- Start at a tempo where you can keep even strokes for a minute.
- Tension in the hand is the first sign that the tempo is too high.
Eighth notes, triplets or sixteenth notes?
The note value decides how many strokes you make per beat. Eighth notes give two, triplets three and sixteenth notes four. The same tempo in BPM is therefore up to twice as hard with sixteenth notes as with eighth notes.
Tempo in BPM and strokes per second
Strokes per second is BPM divided by 60, times the number of strokes per beat. The number makes it easy to compare eighth notes, triplets and sixteenth notes.
- Sixteenth notes at 120 BPM: 8 strokes per second.
- Sixteenth notes at 160 BPM: about 10.7 strokes per second.
- Sixteenth notes at 200 BPM: about 13.3 strokes per second.
- Eighth notes give half as many strokes at the same BPM, triplets give three per beat.
Frequently asked questions
What tempo should I start at?
Start at a tempo where you can keep even strokes for a minute without tension in your hand. The tool allows 30 to 300 BPM and raises the tempo in steps of 5 BPM by default. Choose a tempo that feels too easy rather than one where the motion becomes jerky, and then raise it in small steps.
How many strokes per second is 180 BPM in sixteenth notes?
Twelve. At 180 BPM there are three beats per second, and sixteenth notes give four strokes per beat. The same tempo in eighth notes gives six strokes per second. The figure shows why sixteenth notes demand more of the hand than eighth notes at the same BPM.
What is the difference between Free, Timed and Repetitions?
Free gives one fixed tempo until you stop. Timed raises the tempo step by step with a set time per level and then a rest. Repetitions raises the tempo only after you have confirmed clean repetitions in a row. Choose Repetitions if you want the tempo to go up only when you have played cleanly.
Is my session saved?
Yes, if the session is at least ten seconds long. It is logged in the practice log. If you played cleanly at a higher tempo than before, a new personal best is set for the exercise.
How do I get faster at tremolo picking?
Practise at a tempo where your hand stays relaxed and raise it in small steps instead of forcing speed. Choose Repetitions, so the tempo only rises after you have played cleanly. Stay at one tempo until the tension has gone. Short sessions often give more than one long session now and then.
Can I practise tremolo picking on just one string?
Yes. Choose the one-string exercise, pick the string and fret, and start there. Move on to two or more strings when the strokes are even, because string changes make the movement harder.
Related tools
- Speed trainer: Raise the tempo step by step, with timed rounds or clean repetitions.
- Alternate picking trainer: Alternate picking exercises: one string, several strings, scales, sequences and position shifts.
- Metronome: Click or drums with a bouncing ball, step sequencer, spectrum, fullscreen and tap tempo.
- Gallop trainer: Practice typical metal rhythms: gallop, reverse gallop, triplets and syncopation, at your own tempo.
- String skipping trainer: Practice jumps between strings with fixed patterns and interval jumps on a scale.
- Timing analyzer: Measure how close to the click your notes land, using a microphone or audio interface. The audio never leaves your device.