How would you rate your vibrato

[jeffrey]

The slide back-and-forth thing sounds pretty neat. I picked that up from George Lynch in the early 80's sometime.

Cool effect, but not useable in some scenarios.

 

[SteveB]

I can often identify guitarists by their vibrato. Take Tony MacAlpine, for example.. very wide vibrato. Steve Rothery has a very rapid vibrato that is unique to my ears. Steve Morse also has a very rapid vibrato which is hard to mistake.

I'm happy with my vibrato. I don't notice it much, but I know I use it often.

 

[lock-ny]

lock-ny: I hate to say it, but you just have to do it a lot. Experiment with how you "grip" the string and the neck and with what fingers (some fingers are obviously better at controlling vibrato than others). Try to make it lyrical, hum or sing the note (even in your head is fine) then try and play it. It's a great exercise.

Dont get me wrong my vibrato is OK, its just not as good and consistent as the players I emulate - I have also been playing for almost 20 years and I jsut cant seem to get happy and in control like I would like, maybe my wrist isnt strong enuff but I get fed up sometmes with it - the door nob analogy is good actually, but jeff you sound like you have great vibrato and lets face it if your vibrato is good you can make any solo sound awesome -

 

[jeffrey]

I honestly spent a LOT of time working on it.

I'm telling ya, experiment with "grips", which and how many fingers you use, etc.

You might be pleasantly surprised!

One thing that may help is, focus on pushing or pulling the string ACROSS the fingerboard, I find a lot of my students squeeze entirely too hard THEN try and bend it, that just makes it even harder to control.

Just a thought!

 

[Oldtoe]

<---exercises supreme control of comic urges

 

[azazael]

don't need it, its all in the fingers.

 

[lock-ny]

I honestly spent a LOT of time working on it.

I'm telling ya, experiment with "grips", which and how many fingers you use, etc.

You might be pleasantly surprised!

One thing that may help is, focus on pushing or pulling the string ACROSS the fingerboard, I find a lot of my students squeeze entirely too hard THEN try and bend it, that just makes it even harder to control.

Just a thought!

when you say across the fingerboard you mean from nut to bridge(horizontally) or from E string to E string (vertically) - looking for tips from guys with good vibrato

 

[roburado]

I think there are people who do one and people who do the other.

I go E to E. Mine is not as precise as I think it ought to be--either pitch-wise or rhythm-wise. Also, I lose the grip sometimes when it's just my first finger. Oops

 

[jeffrey]

when you say across the fingerboard you mean from nut to bridge(horizontally) or from E string to E string (vertically) - looking for tips from guys with good vibrato

Across, meaning E to E.

Experiment with how much preassure you can apply to the fingerboard minimally. A lot of times we as guitarists apply entirely too much preassure. Just makes life harder.

 

[candid_x]

Across, meaning E to E.

Experiment with how much preassure you can apply to the fingerboard minimally. A lot of times we as guitarists apply entirely too much preassure. Just makes life harder.

Thanks for the reminder.

 

[jeffrey]

When I feel like my playing isn't so great, I will re-evaluate some thing and one of those is touch. I'm just as guilty as the next guy of applying way too much preassure when fretting notes.

One thing I do a lot is pick a simple phrase using a few notes (what you play isn't that relevant) and slowly lessen preassure until the notes start to buzz and fret out from not enough force. Then gradually increase the preassure until the notes are clear and solid again. This is where you want to be all the time. One notch above *just* enough preassure to fret the note.

Just gotta re-set your baseline every once in a while.

 

[meenahga]

good vibrato takes a lot of practice!

 

[jeffrey]

That it does my friend, that it does.

It's amazing too how many players take it for granted.