tremolo

This is the harmonica player's standard way of performing a tremolo and is the basis for the vibrato that we'll cover later. This technique is produced at the vocal folds, where you open and close your airway. Performing a slight cough (without engaging your diaphragm) will give you the feeling of this technique. Your goal is to isolate your vocal folds so that the listener never hears a coughing sound (you are exhaling, but it's a smooth and even stream of air, not a burst of air from the diaphragm for each tremolo piece). continue reading...

The Exaggerated Hand Tremolo takes your same hand tremolo and exaggerates it by taking your right hand completely off of the harmonica (as far as timing allows). The farther your hand travels away from the harmonica the cooler the visual effect. This technique is great when you're really wailing on a 4/5 combo. This technique works just as well amplified as it does acoustically (of which the standard hand tremolo is generally rare). continue reading...

Cup your harmonica so that it's not squeezed airtight, but closed nonetheless. Most players hold the harmonica with their left hand and open/close their cupped hands using the wrist of their right hand at a speed slightly faster than a triplet (this depends on the tempo of a song, slower relative to fast tempos and faster relative to slow tempos). When your hands are closed, both the volume is soft and the tone is muted and bassy. When your hand open, the volume is loud and mid and high frequencies are back with a less tubby tone. Both volume and tone are changed in a hand tremolo. continue reading...

Using a tremolo or vibrato is one of the most important techniques for players of wind and string instruments to utilize to add soul to their playing (which is mimicking the human voice by the way, if you didn’t already figure that out). To start our series let’s first define that there are three components that make up this sound we call tremolo or vibrato. First, a definition... Tremolo is change in amplitude (volume) and vibrato is change in pitch. continue reading...