One of the practice techniques I write about in Mastering Tremolo is practicing your preferred four-note tremolo pattern (or a variety of them) with the following two cross-rhythmic manipulations as another great method for developing evenness because the finger performing the main beat is always rotating.
When practicing the following four exercises try the following practice approaches:
- Use the metronome and start very slowly. Set the metronome to one click per note but try to retain the feel of the overall beat as you play.
- When playing slowly focus on the quality of the space between the notes. Is it even or erratic? Are you consciously planting to prepare and thus silencing the note? If so, make sure that the plant is timed evenly for each space.
- Try spending an intense 2 minutes on one exercise and then deliberately resting your mind (take some deep breaths, look out a window for a change in scenery, stand up, etc…) for 30 seconds before moving on to the next exercise. Focus for 2 minutes, rest for 30 seconds. Move on in this fashion until you’ve completed all 4 exercises. Then push the metronome beat up a few clicks, and go for another set. Complete 3 more sets for a total of 4, each with a slightly higher click rate on the metronome.
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
Six String Journal 
Dear Leonardo (or anyone), A historical question – can you tell me when tremolo first appears? Pre-flamenco guitarist El Murciano was evidently playing it in the 1830-s40s. Was it extant in classical guitar playing–e.g., of Aguado–before that?
P.M.
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I’m thinking of one of John Dowland’s Fantasias (early 1600s)….
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