Guitar Technique: Vibrato [Hand Movement] (Guitar Lesson TE-008)
-
0:05 - 0:07Hi, how you doing?
Justin here. -
0:07 - 0:10Today we're going to be
talking about vibrato. -
0:10 - 0:12It's a very common question
this one. I see questions about -
0:12 - 0:15it all the time on the forums
and in private lessons -
0:15 - 0:18A lot of people don't really
get how to do a vibrato, -
0:18 - 0:20what the different types are
So there's three types -
0:20 - 0:23The one that we're looking
at today I call "hand vibrato" -
0:23 - 0:27It's the most common type of vibrato
that you'll ever find and it's -
0:27 - 0:30definitely the one that I would
recommend you get to grips with first -
0:30 - 0:33The other types are "classical vibrato"
where you tend to move your hand -
0:33 - 0:38left and right, side to side which
is less useful on electric guitar. -
0:38 - 0:42It's possible to use it but it's not
really what you want to be checking out -
0:42 - 0:46I think for electric guitar and the
other one I call "whole arm vibrato" -
0:46 - 0:50which is the type of vibrato that few guys
use like Eric Clapton and John Mayer. -
0:50 - 0:54It's not the most common in blues
and rock but it's still definitely worth -
0:54 - 0:57checking out so we're going
to do that in a separate lesson. -
0:57 - 1:02Now the idea of vibrato, of course, is to
make your guitar sound a little more vocal. -
1:02 - 1:05It's really-really important that you get
to grips with the idea of that note -
1:05 - 1:09moving up and down in pitch If you
just play the note and you stay on it, -
1:09 - 1:11it tends to sound a little bit flat.
-
1:11 - 1:15Especially where singers do that without
the vibrato, it sounds really wonky. -
1:15 - 1:17So it's really important to realise
that you got to get the note -
1:17 - 1:21and then you want to be changing
the pitch up and down a little bit. -
1:21 - 1:24Now on guitar we can make it go
up and down with a whammy bar but -
1:24 - 1:28because of the way the instrument is
designed we tend to just move the note up. -
1:28 - 1:31Now before I talk about that,
let's get to a close up and check -
1:31 - 1:34out the actual technique that
you're going to need to use. -
1:34 - 1:40So I want you to start by putting your 3rd
finger in the 7th fret of the 3rd string. -
1:41 - 1:45Get the other 2 fingers behind it,
just on the 6th and 5th fret. -
1:45 - 1:47Or if they bunch up a little bit,
it doesn't really matter. -
1:47 - 1:51And make sure that your thumb
is over the top of the guitar. -
1:51 - 1:53Now you can do it without
the thumb over the top but -
1:53 - 1:56it's a lot easier to start
with the thumb over. -
1:56 - 2:01Now, if we just remove our fingers
a little bit I want you to see that the -
2:01 - 2:021st finger is in contact with the neck
because when we've got our fingers down -
2:02 - 2:09actually the vibrato pivot point is this.
-
2:10 - 2:14It's actually our hand that's moving,
okay. So when we're playing a note -
2:17 - 2:20you'll see there that it's
actually this motion, it's the hand. -
2:20 - 2:22I'm exaggerating it now so you can see.
-
2:22 - 2:25Okay? It's not this:
-
2:25 - 2:28If you try and do it with just your
fingers by pulling your fingers in -
2:28 - 2:31like that you end up with
this kind of quite odd vibrato -
2:31 - 2:34and usually you'll bend it out of tune
as well because it's really important -
2:34 - 2:37that it comes back to the note
that we call the "fundamental" -
2:37 - 2:38Which is the first note
-
2:38 - 2:43So thumb over the top, 3rd finger
on the 7th fret of the 3rd string. -
2:43 - 2:45Play the note
-
2:45 - 2:50and then just pull it down a bit
and then relax it again and again -
2:50 - 2:56Play and see if you can get into
a little pattern of doing that -
3:02 - 3:05Okay, that's how you want
to practice the technique -
3:06 - 3:10Just pulling it up
-
3:10 - 3:14Now what I tend to think about is
when I'm putting the string back up. -
3:14 - 3:16Instead of just going to
the spot I'm looking for, -
3:16 - 3:19I tend to try and think of
it going a little up as well. -
3:19 - 3:22So I'm pulling it down and when
it's going back I'm trying to think -
3:22 - 3:25of it going slightly up, but if
you imagine where the sting is -
3:25 - 3:29that's pulling the string down
that's pushing it up, okay? -
3:29 - 3:32So even though we're mostly concentrating
on pulling the strong down, -
3:32 - 3:36I want to really make sure that
I come back to exactly that note. -
3:36 - 3:40Cause if you do the vibrato Like this:
-
3:40 - 3:44Now the note that we hear is note in tune.
That's the note that's in tune -
3:44 - 3:52So we have to make sure that we
keep coming back to that note. -
3:52 - 3:56Just pulling it down
-
3:56 - 4:03See if we can get that going
nice and smoothly. -
4:03 - 4:06Like I said, I'm thinking about
pushing it up a little bit, -
4:06 - 4:09but it's definitely more of a down thing.
-
4:09 - 4:11Like it's definitely moving further down.
-
4:11 - 4:14It's important to realise that there's
2 things that we've got to play with. -
4:14 - 4:18The depth which is how far
we're bending it, okay? So: -
4:18 - 4:25You can have a really wide vibrato, like
that which is a little bit exaggerated. -
4:25 - 4:31Okay? Or it could be quite subtle.
Where it's hardly moving at all. -
4:31 - 4:33Just a little okay. Okay?
-
4:33 - 4:42And then of course we've got speed so the
wide one slowly will sound really weird. -
4:42 - 4:49Okay? The little one slowly
will sound quite nice. Okay? -
4:49 - 4:57So we've got those two different things.
Normally the wide one would be quite fast. -
4:57 - 5:01Otherwise it just sounds
kind of wrong so you want to -
5:01 - 5:04experiment a little bit with
all of those different things so -
5:04 - 5:08Just putting a finger on, see if
you can get a nice small vibrato. -
5:08 - 5:13Where it's not moving much.
Making sure again you're coming -
5:13 - 5:18back to the note as if it's not
being pushed or pulled at all -
5:18 - 5:26And maybe trying to
make it a little bit bigger. -
5:26 - 5:29And then back. Okay, then
try it with different fingers. -
5:29 - 5:31The first finger's a good one as well.
-
5:31 - 5:35Cause then you can really
feel that kind of a pulling there. -
5:35 - 5:38You can really see while
I've got my first finger straight. -
5:38 - 5:43Bend it in and then by moving my hand
you can see that it's making that motion. -
5:43 - 5:47So then put it down.
-
5:47 - 5:58Get use to what it feels like.
Little, little motions. Big ones. -
5:58 - 6:01And experience. Get a feeling.
How does it makes you -
6:01 - 6:04feel when you're doing
that nice little subtle vibrato? -
6:04 - 6:12Okay, try it on some
other parts of the neck. -
6:12 - 6:16Little vibrato, quite wide vibrato.
Now one thing that -
6:16 - 6:19you're going to find straight
away on the first string -
6:19 - 6:24You can't pull it down. So you have to be
thinking now of pushing it up. -
6:29 - 6:32Okay, so instead of all of that feeling
that you had before pulling down. -
6:33 - 6:36It's the same things,
it's still the hand moving -
6:37 - 6:40Just a bit more subtle. Try it all over
the neck, with all the different fingers. -
6:40 - 6:51I don't tend to use my little finger
much for vibrato, to tell the truth. -
6:51 - 6:55But you probably should be able to do it.
Okay? -
6:55 - 6:58just going through a bunch of time.
Sometimes working on a -
6:58 - 7:10real slow nice vibrato, like you
might play in a ballad. -
7:10 - 7:17Just thinking about something
really beautiful and soft -
7:17 - 7:20and make the note sound really
nice and vocal and singing. -
7:20 - 7:26Other times you might want to be doing:
-
7:26 - 7:33Something more aggressive
and fast and crazy. -
7:33 - 7:36That one's gone right out of
tune because I've gone too crazy. -
7:36 - 7:40But experiment and see because there's a
time and a place for every different type -
7:40 - 7:40of vibrato and you want to learn how to
make the guitar sound how you imagine. -
7:40 - 7:43One last little tip for you before
you start your practise, and that -
7:43 - 7:53will be to emulate the vibrato
that you really like. -
7:53 - 7:57So a lot of the guitar players -
Angus Young springs to mind, very, -
7:57 - 8:00very distinctive type of vibrato and
if you really like that style of vibrato. -
8:00 - 8:04Something that you want to think about
is really trying to copy his vibrato. -
8:04 - 8:07So maybe learn one of his
licks that's got vibrato in it -
8:07 - 8:12and then sit and try to make
your playing sound exactly like his. -
8:12 - 8:15Try and copy it. Listen to it closely.
Is it very wide? Is it very fast? -
8:15 - 8:19Or is it very narrow? Is it slow?
Really try and pick up on what -
8:19 - 8:23it is that he's doing and then try
and make your guitar sound like that. -
8:23 - 8:26It's going to take you some practise,
but it's totally worth it. -
8:26 - 8:29Even if you don't end up using
his style of vibrato all the time. -
8:29 - 8:33The fact that you've learned
how to copy it will mean that -
8:33 - 8:36you're better able to express yourself
through the instrument. You know, -
8:36 - 8:40BB King another guy who's got a very
distinctive vibrato and it's something- -
8:40 - 8:44it's really, really, important to try and
emulate the stuff that you really like. -
8:44 - 8:49The things that really connect with
you on a kind of a spiritual level -
8:49 - 8:52That's the stuff that you really want to
copy and you want to try and really make- -
8:52 - 8:57incorporate those things into your playing
because they obviously resonate with you -
8:57 - 9:01in a kind of a deep way so try and copy
the things that really move you. -
9:01 - 9:03The stuff that you really, really like.
-
9:03 - 9:05So hope that helps you get
your vibrato on track and I'll -
9:05 - 9:07see you for plenty more lessons very soon.
-
9:07 - 9:08You take care of yourselves
-
9:08 - 9:12Bye
- Title:
- Guitar Technique: Vibrato [Hand Movement] (Guitar Lesson TE-008)
- Description:
-
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
JustinGuitar (legacy)
- Project:
- Technique (TE)
- Duration:
- 09:15
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