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.
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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.
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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:
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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.
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Tothumpthestringswiththethumb,theplayerstillmovesthehandbyrotatingtheforearm.Butnow,
thebackofthethumbnailstrikesandbouncesoffthetreblestringwhichresultsinaccentuatingthe
melody.Atthesametime,therearofthethumbhitsthestringsclosetothebridgeorthebridgeitself
toproducethetamborandtoresonatethestringsoftheheldchord.
Thisisfun.Watch.
Herearesomenotationalexamplesofitsuse:
FromGranJotadeConciertobyFranciscoTarrega:
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Thetamborisaverycolorfultechnique.Asyoucansee,itcanbeexecutedinavarietyofways
dependingonthedemandsofthemusicandthesounddesiredbytheperformer.
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BESURETOVISITDOUG'S"SECRETVAULT"
Doug'sDirtyLittleSecrets.
It contains ALL of Doug's Previous
Guitar Technique Tips of the Month