Vibrato technique

arjr

Hi

I am learning how to play lead and have a question about vibrato,
I know when it comes to technique every player will have his
or her own way of executing to get the same sound.
The video below of Yorgui is a good example. Is he using wrist, finger, or arm movement at .24 and .46 seconds?
Also how would one practice to achieve such a sound?
With the other video of Adrien at 48 sec and at 1:46 it looks
like from the angle he's using wrist and finger movement.
When I listen to the vibratos of these guys and others it
sounds like the vibrato speeds up till the sound fades out.....is that right?




Angelo

wim

I would also like to know how to get this sound, especially Yorgui technique which sounds quite like the django vibrato. My vibrato sounds crap, I've tried time and time again and just can't figure out how to do it so quickly as django does

Jim Kaznosky

Robin Nolan waxes poetic on the various vibrato styles in his Secrets from the Heart course, which was free to all of this year's DiJ attendees.
Stochelo has a pretty great vibrato and RA would be a good place to look at this.

Phil

good question...I love the way you can identify individual GJ guitarists by their vibrato...especially Jimmy Rosenberg's distinctive vibrato...also Stochelo's. Has anyone filmed / asked the pros to demonstrate this? That would be really cool to see.

Jazzaferri

Its also covered in the syle of Stochelo DVD very well.

wim

How do I access that robin nolan content? I was at DIJ 2013 , but had no idea about this!!

I agree Stochelo's vibrato is great ... probably my favourite style/sound of the guys alive today ...

dennis

there are so many ways to do vibrato, even in the django style.. one of the most important things is to keep it in tune... that you are oscillating between the same two pitches pretty much at all times.. it's pretty much like bending strings up and down but obviously very quickly.

technique wise, one of the typical ways of doing it has to do with actually tensing up the wrist area that connects the forearm to the hand .. if you do it right now without a guitar in your hand , you'll see your hand quivering very quickly.. that's sort of the idea...

but a lot also depends on the direction you push the strings, depending on whether you push up or down and the speed of the vibrato desired, or on which strings you're on, your thumb might even have to come off the back of the neck.. i don't have my guitar with me right now so i can't verify which is which

at any rate, i think the intonation thing is the most important one that most people tend to have trouble with (just listen to metallica's kirk hammet for an idea of poor intonation) ; it's extremely crucial to oscillate between two pitches and two pitches ONLY (ok there may be some exceptions, but i can't think of any besides wanting to sound out of tune on purpose).

If you do a vibrato that's a quarter step, make sure it's a quarter step up. and then make sure you come back to the original pitch.. that's the one that most people screw up, they bend up to a pitch but don't come down to the original pitch.

Jazzaferri

A vibrato going up and down a semi is a very wide one indeed. Bechet would have been jealous.

I use classic technique which is what I learned 40 years ago and I am too lazy to change. Much more subtle...maybe 20 cents.

Jim Kaznosky

Wim...Andrew sent an email about a month ago to all attendees

arjr

Thanks Denis,

Your explanation helps a lot, in the next few weeks I might
try uploading some videos of my vibrato.

Rather than focusing too much on picks, strings, upgrading guitars and really cool licks,
I think it's important to focus on sound, I haven't heard one person yet
at DiJ or DFNW pull off this type of vibrato (some get close) except for the visiting
artists......why is that?


Angelo

anthon_74

Definitely follow Denis' advice in terms of tightening your wrist, and creating the vibrating movement from there, as opposed to trying to create is in your finger area. I find that people who have weak vibrato tend to try to try an wriggle the string with their finger, which will never quite sound right. Your finger will essentially remain in a locked position, with your palm/wrist area creating the movement.

ALSO - for the gypsy jazz vibrato, you need to press the string even harder than you normally do. this creates that subtle sound of increased amplification and sustain of the note being vibrato'd.
Speed of the vibrato is something that comes in time. if you're doing the rest correctly though, even a slower vibrato can sound cool.

Anthony