Vibrato.

CMunch

CMunch

Well-known member
Been playing for just over two and a half years, vibrato is the one thing I still suck at. :o

It's kinda passible I spos when I'm not bending, really struggling with adding vibrato when bending though.

Anybody know any good exercises to improve this?

First guy to suggest jogging is dead. :D
 
Imagine the neck on your guitar belongs to an ex-girlfriend (or boyfriend, if that's your thing) with whom you've had a particularly nasty break up. Shake the guitar as you wish you could her (or him).




In all seriousness, as always when learning something new, it comes down to the same three things: practice, practice, and practice.

The more you do it, the better you will get. Start working on it at slower tempos, and build up your speed gradually.

As the old joke goes;


How do you get to Carnegie Hall?

Practice, practice, practice.






Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
I dunno about the practice thing. When I first started, I just had a pretty decent natural vibrato. I couldn't play shit and I wasn't fast, but I could really milk one note playing blues. But I listened to a lot of old records before i ever started playing guitar.

I don't know if shaking for hours on end will do you much good. I know a component of it is hand strength. That's why girl guitar players don't have good vibrato ;)

Just make sure you know what it's supposed to sound like. When i was starting out, I though Leslie West had THE best vibrato. But i like Angus' fast shake, too. There's no formula. Just listen to a guy who's got good vibrato. I don't think Clapton's vibrato has been very good for a long time. Old Santana is good. Alvin Lee. Slash has good vibrato. For a while I thought SRV had a really good wide shake, but I hate that sound now. It was a bad habit I had to break.

Who else? I think you have to learn what it's supposed to sound like more than muscle memory starting out. Don't you think? Most new guys use too much treatment on their tone and never develop that good, wide, slower to faster, natural-sounding vibrato.
 
Light said:
As the old joke goes;


How do you get to Carnegie Hall?

Practice, practice, practice.
Click to expand...

I liked Dimitri Martin's take on that. He said "I always wanted to buy a place to live near Carnegie Hall. That way, when anybody asks me how to get to my house I can tell them 'Practice, practice, practice...then take a left'" :D

I've always had a respectable vibrato and wide vibrato. I'm trying to think of tips on how to do it. I tend to use a lot of muscle tension in my fretting hand, so I think that translates into easier vibrato. But overall, muscle tension isn't a good thing for guitarists. It's a good way to develop repetitive stress injuries if you play a lot.

For me, a vibrato is in the wrist. A wide vibrato is in the elbow.
 
Watch Jerry Garcia. He was the master. His fretting hand looks like he has Parkinson's. Dig that pinky.
 
cephus said:
...I don't think Clapton's vibrato has been very good for a long time...
Click to expand...



Now see, the only thing I like a lot about Clapton's playing is his vibrato.

As for practice, it's the only way to learn to do anything you don't already know how to do. It might come naturally to some people, but if it doesn't come naturally you CAN learn how to do it.

Practice, practice, practice.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Are your frets medium height or better? Good fret height is very helpful for bending and vibrato. Really low action can also make things more difficult at first. You may find it helpful to go to a lighter gauge set of strings to make the mechanics easier. You can go back to your preferred setup once you get the mechanics dialed in.

Dial in your rig to maximize sustain.

Now, start trying things. If something works repeat it right away until you're comfortable with it. Now dial your rig to a clean lower sustain setting and work it until it sounds good. Finally, go back to your favorite tone and insert it into your favorite licks.
 
I suppose clapner's tone has put me off so I don't really pay much attention to him anymore.

I guess I am just a good mimic, so listening to it and studying it got me most of the way there.

BB King vibrato is great for doing a BB King impression. I never got it to translate that well into my playing.

When I think about it, I should be pretty thankful that I have decent vibrato, because I evidently don't understand it well enough to explain it. I just saw it or heard it and wanted to do that. First I had it pretty good in my ring finger, but man, when I developed that index finger vibrato, I thought I was the shit. You know, where you kind of pull down and pivot off the edge of the fretboard.

Makes me want to go home and play right now.
 
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