Poll: Which is faster? i-m or m-i or neither
Mircea asked me to post this question in the general forum, so here goes.
In the last workshop with Rene Izquierdo mentioned that reflexive speed of i-m is faster than m-i. For my hand, it is definitely true, but I'm curious to know if it is the same for other guitarists. Here is the specific experiment and question:
If you play two repeated notes on one string as fast as you can, first with i-m (pause) and them m-i, which one can you naturally do faster? (Note: it has to be only two notes since more than two notes would be asking a different question)
5 replies
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Wonderful question - and observation, Dean!
In my own case, I would say that my reflexive speed for i-m is faster than m-i. But they are very close, and I'm not sure if it has always been this way! I feel like back in the day when I was just learning how to play tremolo, and practicing that particular technique a lot, it might have been the other way around. However, I can't really recall for sure, since it's been so many years, and I've learned so much since then.
Curious to see what our fellow community members have to say about it!
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It's difficult to judge the actual difference in speed, but like Marek I find m followed by i feels more 'natural'. It seems to me that when we close our hands to form a fist, the motion begins at the pinky and is directed towards the index. I imagine this is why most of us articulate a four note tremolo with p-a-m-i and not with the equally logical p-i-m-a. (I also find inward directed arpeggios (i.e. p-m-i) much easier than their outward equivalents.)