Vibtrato Articles...

[ONEbpm]

Hey,

There's an article called "Mastering Vibrato". I agree with some of what I've read, but not everything. If the section under "here's some advice" is aimed toward the novice, that's one thing, but I can't agree with a couple of them:

"2. Use your middle finger only to do vibrato, because it is the strongest finger, and gets the other fingers out of your way."

Unless this is aimed at beginner's, I find this extremely short sited. Why wouldn't you used ALL fingers to do vibrato? I do agree that vibrato adds "flavor to your playing", by using more than one finger,you'll get a variety of strengths and weaknesses by using different fingers at different times.

"3. On all of the guitar strings, minus the High E string, bend the note towards the ground, instead of pushing it up to you. This makes good use of gravity in conjunction with the strength of the middle finger."

Like the article in the link provided at the end of this article, I agree with Jeff Treadwell in that I usually use up vibrato on the high E, B and D strings, and down on the rest. If you used down vibrato on the B string and wanted to do a pentatonic bend, let's say 5th fret to 8th fret, you stand a pretty good chance of fretting out on that bend.

I am not sure what Jeff meant by saying "The most common error players make when performing vibrato is that they do it way to narrow, and way to fast. When people do vibrato that way it sounds incredibly annoying." I'd like to know what this sounds like. I clicked on the link to have samples of vibtrato mailed to me, but there was nowhere on that page to click to have them sent. Fast finger vibrato is hard to do, it takes a lot of control.

Lastly, what I find sad is guitar players that grab the whammy bar every time they want to do vibrato! If they'd uust some time in and get the finger vibrato down...they might stay in tune!


respectfully, J.P.

[blank]

Hey man, welcome to the forum.

I'm sure everyone has their own way of teaching, especially when it comes to guitar, but I honestly think the person learning should judge what works for them and use what they can for referece. I do believe a great guitarist should have the ability to use vibrato with all fingers, but I believe the writer was correct in the middle finger being the strongest for most people.

That's all a lesson or an article really does for me, gives me something to reflect on and examine the way I go about it (aside from learning something I didn't know previously).

[ONEbpm]

Hey man, welcome to the forum.

I'm sure everyone has their own way of teaching, especially when it comes to guitar, but I honestly think the person learning should judge what works for them and use what they can for referece. I do believe a great guitarist should have the ability to use vibrato with all fingers, but I believe the writer was correct in the middle finger being the strongest for most people.

That's all a lesson or an article really does for me, gives me something to reflect on and examine the way I go about it (aside from learning something I didn't know previously).

Thanks for the welcome Blank,

I'm not a vibrato Nazi or anything, I just figure the most posts, the more content, the more traffic...etc. I agree 100% that the middle finger is probably the strongest for vibrato...Django never had a problem

[shredaholic]

I just figure the more posts, the more content, the more traffic...etc.

Brilliant! You're absolutely right, and since you joined the forum has picked up! Keep up the good work guys, hopefully soon we should have a really buzzing forum

[ONEbpm]

I am not sure what Jeff meant by saying "The most common error players make when performing vibrato is that they do it way to narrow, and way to fast. When people do vibrato that way it sounds incredibly annoying." I'd like to know what this sounds like. I clicked on the link to have samples of vibtrato mailed to me, but there was nowhere on that page to click to have them sent. Fast finger vibrato is hard to do, it takes a lot of control.

Lastly, what I find sad is guitar players that grab the whammy bar every time they want to do vibrato! If they'd uust some time in and get the finger vibrato down...they might stay in tune!


respectfully, J.P.

Below is an example of what he means by that statement. I don't think his examples sould all that annoying, I just think it's a faster vibrato. I think slow vibrato sould exagerrated to my ears, but to each their own.

*admin edit* http://www.shredaholic.com/treadwell1.html

J.P.

[blank]

*coughshredacademyblowscough*

Lol, I have my reasons. Of course "to each his own" but we argue the points to further explore the concepts of technique, don't we? Haha.

Although, and I quote:

Well, most people I think would assume that he sounds better because of all his expensive equipment, but the truth is, the reason why he sounds better is probably because of his superior vibrato technique.

Total bullshit, good equipment makes a HUGE difference. I disagree with his statement on the grounds that a guitar with a poor neck, and uneven tension can make an awesome guitarist (with good vibrato) sound like poop. Dunno, I just don't think vibrato is a need to perfect thing.

[shredaholic]

^ edited, we already have that lesson on here

[ONEbpm]

^ edited, we already have that lesson on here

Oops! My bad, sorry Richard, I was responding to my own post about wondering what he meant by "fast vibrato" the link I provided had sound samples at the end of the article. I was just linking for the sake of the sound bytes. When all is said and done, I think vibrato is a personal thing...unless you're waaaaay off to the point where you're not even in tune anymore, I think any type will do. Peace!

J.P.

[shredaholic]

Nah its my bad J.P., sorry I assumed the article was exactly the same. Obviously Jeff didn't include the sound examples in our lesson and added a different ending, and hosted the sound examples on a separate page on his site. I'll copy the sound samples in here:

First lets look at an example of good vibrato vs. bad vibrato with an 'A' note on the G string

Example 1 (.wma)

To begin with this sounds terrible, and if you walk into a guitar center, I guarantee you'll hear someone doing this. This is far from musical because the vibrato is too fast, narrow, and is out of tune. The second half is much better, listen to how this note "sings" compared to the other example.

To further clarify this, I will play an entire melody line. First it will performed poorly, then it will be performed well.

Example 2 (.wma)

Now I will demonstrate a bend-vibrato with a D note (bent up a whole step to an E) on the B string.

Example 3 (.wma)

The most important thing to keep in mind while applying vibrato to bent notes is that you return to the original pitch of the bent note after every bend in the vibrato. Also, notice how the vibrato was gradually sped up to add intensity.

Now lets try a "Zakk Wylde" style pich harmonic on the 5th fret of the low E string

Example 4 (.wma)

and that'll keep blank happy too since it avoids reinstating your link

[blank]

**shakes an iron fist**