The trick to getting the tremolo for Requerdos down fast and smooth is to practice it    v   e   r   y       s   l   o   w   l   y    while using a metronome.   Most people try doing the tremolo up to speed right from the start, which is a good way to either braid your fingers or to wind up with a tremolo that "gallops." {tuh duh DUM, tuh duh DUM, etc.}

A metronome is a brutal tyrant and I hate the bloody thing, but when learning something difficult, especially something that moves along pretty briskly, I submit to the tyrant and practice the piece with the metronome set so I'm playing it at about quarter speed or even slower. When I can get through it without goofing at that speed, I raise the metronome a notch and do it again. Then again. Finally, when I can play it up to speed, I keep raising the metronome speed until I can play it a fair chunk faster that it should be played. Once I've got that, I back off and play it at the correct speed. The knowledge that I can play it faster gives me a comfortable feeling of security.

It takes a couple of weeks to get a piece down, but it seems to pay off.

But let's face it. Segovia, I ain't!!

Don Firth

P. S. Of course, things like Leyenda and Requerdos are getting up there. But there is a lot of really nice stuff that's fairly easy. Some of the lute transcriptions that Frederick Noad includes in his "Solo Guitar Playing," starting on page 114: Pezzo Tedesco, Orlando Sleepeth, Se Io M'Accorgo, and a few others scattered throughout the manual are pretty nice and not particularly difficult to play after a bit of practice.

But this isn't helping Norman much in picking the kind of guitar he'll feel at home with.