Tambora - TechTipTamborPrintableVersion

8/10/2019 Tambora - TechTipTamborPrintableVersion

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Douglas Niedt's

GUITAR TECHNIQUE

TIP OF THE MONTH

Yes,it's"Doug'sDirtyLittleSecrets"

(DougsubtitledhisTechTipas"Doug'sDirtyLittleSecrets"afterreading

someone'spostedmessageonaguitarwebforum.Thewriterassertedthat

professionalvirtuosoguitaristsallhadsecretstheykepttothemselvesand

wouldn'ttellanyoneelse,sonoonewouldplayaswellasthem!)

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Tambor

By

Douglas

Niedt

CopyrightDouglasNiedt,AllRightsReserved.Thisarticlemaybereprinted,butpleasebe

considerateandgivecredittoDouglasNiedt.

You are on DouglasNiedt.com

The

tambor

(Spanish)

or

tambour

(French)

or

tambora

(Afro

Caribbean?)

is

an

effect

used

in

classical

andflamencoguitarplayingtoimitatethesoundofatuneddrum.(Thetamboraisactuallyapercussion

instrumentwithalowrangethatmakesalowdeepsoundyoucouldthinkofitasabassdrum.)Some

writerslikentheusageofthetamboreffectinsomepiecestothesoundofthetimpani. Itcanbe

notatedinseveralways.

NotethatthewordsTambor,Tambora,TambourortheabbreviationsT,Tam,andTamb(andprobably

others)maybeused.Thewordorabbreviationcanbefollowedbyeitherasolidordashedbracket:


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Initsmostbasicfunctionsolelyasadrumeffect,itisusuallyproducedbyrapidlyrotatingtheforearm,

wrist,andhandasoneunit,thumpingthestringswiththesideoftherighthandthumb,parallelwith

andclosetothebridge.Itisimportanttorotatetheforearmtoexecutethemovement.Donotliftthe

armofftheguitar.Donotusetheupperarmtomakedownwardverticalhitsorkaratechopsofthe

handonto

the

strings.

That

produces

extreme

tension

in

the

arm

and

hand,

wreaking

havoc

with

whateverfollowsthetamborpassage.Suchexcessivetensionalsomakestheexecutionofthetambor

itselfmuchmoredifficultthanitshouldbe.

Youhavetowatchthis.

Thetonequalityofthetamborcanbealteredquitedramaticallywithtwobasicadjustments.Thethumb

position

can

be

changed

from

parallel

with

the

bridge

to

an

angled

position.

We

can

also

choose

to

use

eithermoreofthehardbonypartsofthethumborthefleshiersofterpartstohitthebridgeandstrings.

Theseadjustmentsenabletheplayertoproducemoreorless"wood"andvaryingdegreesofpercussive

attackinthesound.


Also,keepingthethumbclosetothebridgeproducesthemostdrumlikesound.Asthehandismoved

awayfromthebridgeandclosertothesoundhole,thesoundofthedeepdrumdecreasesandthesound

ofthestringsbecomesmoredominant.

WatchasIdemonstratethesevariations.


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Keepingthethumbclosetothebridgealsopresentstheopportunitytomixthetamboreffectwith

percussivehitsonvariouspartsofthesoundboardusingtheotherfingers.Theeffectcanbegreatly

variedbywhatthelefthandholds(ormutes)astherighthandexecutesthepercussion.

Checkthisout.

Hereishowtheseeffectscouldbenotated:(Composersandarrangers/copyistspleasenoteitisan

excellentideatoprovideadiagramindicatingwhereontheguitarpercussivehitsaretobemade.Such

effectscanbeverydifficulttodescribeinwords.)

Thisphotoshowswhereeachfingeristohittheguitar:



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Notationforsametypeofeffectbutholdingchordsonlefthand:


Insteadofusingthethumb,thetamborcanalsobeexecutedbyhittingthestringswithanyoftheother

fingersoreventheedge(side)ofthepalmbelowthelittlefinger.Forthatmatteryoucouldalsousethe


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faceofsomeorallthefingerstogetherasoneunit.Youcanproduceveryfasttamborhitsordrumroll

effectsbyalternatingtwoindividualfingers(usually"im").

WatchasIdemonstratesomecommontechniques.

Playing

a

Melody

with

a

Simultaneous

Tambor

Acommonlycalledforeffectinguitarmusicistoplayamelody,chordalaccompaniment,andtamborall

atthesametime.Thisisdonebyfingeringthemelody(usuallyonthefirstandsecondstrings)and

chordalaccompanimentwiththelefthandandsimultaneouslyexecutingthetamborwiththeright

handthumb.

But

there

is

a

key

difference

in

execution

that

sets

this

effect

apart

from

other

tambor

effects.

The

melodyhastobebroughtouttosoundmarkedlylouderthantheaccompanimentanddrumeffect.To

dothis,thethumbandarmarekeptrotatedmuchmoretotheleftsothethumbisalmostupsidedown

inrelationtothetopofthesoundboard.


Tothumpthestringswiththethumb,theplayerstillmovesthehandbyrotatingtheforearm.Butnow,

thebackofthethumbnailstrikesandbouncesoffthetreblestringwhichresultsinaccentuatingthe

melody.Atthesametime,therearofthethumbhitsthestringsclosetothebridgeorthebridgeitself

toproducethetamborandtoresonatethestringsoftheheldchord.

Thisisfun.Watch.

Herearesomenotationalexamplesofitsuse:

FromGranJotadeConciertobyFranciscoTarrega:


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Thetamborisaverycolorfultechnique.Asyoucansee,itcanbeexecutedinavarietyofways

dependingonthedemandsofthemusicandthesounddesiredbytheperformer.


SIGNUPFORTHEGUITARTECHNIQUETIPOFTHEMONTH

The "Guitar Technique Tip of the Month" is available in newsletter form, which can be

emailed to you every month. FREE, no muss no fuss. No more checking to see if the new tipis out each month. It is VERY convenient. Sign Up For Douglas Niedt's Guitar Technique Tip of the

Month.We promise you will NOT be sent anything else. This is just the Tech Tip.


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BESURETOVISITDOUG'S"SECRETVAULT"

Doug'sDirtyLittleSecrets.

It contains ALL of Doug's Previous

Guitar Technique Tips of the Month

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Tambora - TechTipTamborPrintableVersion