Killer Tremolo Bar Tricks! - How to play guitar solos

Glenn Birdby Glenn Bird
Filed in Technique


If you've ever want to learn how to play guitar solos with a level of intensity that makes others stop and take notice, then mastering the tremolo or whammy bar is a must. Because the variation that you can achieve with this is so great, it can go either way between creating or playing a killer solo, or just sounding sloppy.

Here are my top 5 tips on how to tame that tremolo and make it work the way you need it to!


  1. Practice it slowly with all the control you would use for practicing anything else. It can very easily turn into a mess when you don't know what you're doing, so fluid movements and control over the bar are a must.

  2. Practice to a metronome. It needs to be said that if you want to improve any notes you need to play to a backing of some kind, and the easiest and cheapest is a metronome.

  3. Aim for a Specific note. Things like dives and the more intense moves sound so random that they're often mistaken as being a 'hope for the best' technique, but as with all other techniques if you have a sound or note in mind before going for it then you will give yourself a greater level of control. After all, you can't hit a target you can't see.

  4. Mix it with other Techniques. When learning how to play guitar solos it helps to combine a few different sounds and apply a range of techniques to the overall section. Try combining slides, hammer ons, scale runs with some tremolo technique and see the difference it makes.

  5. Experiment. These are all general guidelines and with everything that is considered an 'art', there are no real rules, only ways of doing things that get a result. Play around with different effects while learning these, and get different moods and tones, all of which can add to the fun of practicing and make you a better overall player.


Here's a video of Dimebag Darrel showing you how to pull off those trademark screams and other tremolo tricks, have fun with it and I'll speak to you soon!

Glenn.



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