Ayreon_Equation

University of Western Ontario in Canada (brrrrr)

...another electric guitarist here. I'm working on a major in music with lots of professional and amature recording experience. I generally spend most of my time in the progressive, blues, and jazz idioms, but I dabble in all styles. If you need something really ripping, I can help with that as well. I can offer myself as an acoustic guitarist and mandolin player, but as far as bass, nylon string, etc goes- I have to make arrangements to borrow equipment. I have a fair bit of classical training (approx grade 6-7, if you 're familiar with the Canadian conservatory), but if you want that kinda stuff I have to know well in advance. I have to grow and shape nails, borrow a nylon string, etc. The video in my signature shows one dimension of my playing (technical...aka shred), coincidentally--it's what I do the least of! Just let me know what you need, and we can talk it over.

Because you are MORE than qualified to make that call!!!!!!! yup. tremolo and vibrato are worlds apart....my 12 year old brother is more than qualified to make that call.

maybe in bizarro world. lol sho' nuff. UNLESS you mean moving your finger 'up' towards the headstock. this is considered down, because direction is determined by change in pitch. so moving your finger down (towards the headstock) when executing classical vibrato will lower the pitch. dang... so much misinformation spewed on this simple little thread just try this experiment: 1. fret a note with index finger (preferrably high up on the fret board) 2. using index finger, pull the string up towards the bridge while continuing to fret the same note 3. VIOLA! the string tension decreases and pitch decreases MAGIC ok, it seems we've misunderstood you...at least i wasn't the only one . the joys of the internet. i just thought you were confused .

maybe in bizarro world. lol sho' nuff. UNLESS you mean moving your finger 'up' towards the headstock. this is considered down, because direction is determined by change in pitch. so moving your finger down (towards the headstock) when executing classical vibrato will lower the pitch. ps the tremolo argument is hilarious. tremolo on classical guitar is when one uses 3 (sometimes 4) fingers, as well as the thumb, to play notes in rapid succession. on electric guitar, tremolo occurs in the style of 'tremolo picking' wherein one uses the pick to quickly execute notes on one string. think miserlou by dick dale (pulp fiction theme). so basically everyone was correct except one guy. lol. cheers

Lucky we got a guit-box teacher in the house . Vibrato is an extremely diverse technique on electric guitar, and can be done many ways. I'll list some different approaches. Watch your favourite players and see if you can spot them doing these things: -(clapton)lifting the thumb off the neck, and using the forearm in an up-and-down motion -(bb king)lift the thumb off, and rotate your left hand as if opening a door handle-----that's the way he describes his technique -go to vai's site if you want to know how he does it (someone else posted the link, it's from his old martian love secrets column. it's a fantastic read, i used to do a lot of those exercises.) circular vibrato is interesting, combining classical and mainstream electric styles. -yngwie uses a really wild version of bb's technique, where his vibratos are much more wide. I believe he leaves his thumb on the fretboard. (going by memory, haven't watched him in a few years) There you have it, the best of both worlds. In the blues idiom guitarists often leave their thumbs hanging over the fretboard (watch clapton or BB...hendrix...whoever) for more leverage on bends as well. Generally speaking, when people are having vibrato problems poor form when bending is an issue. I'd recommend surfing over to www.guitarprinciples.com ; signing up for their newletter (i've been on it for years, they don't give it out to spammers), buy their books, go to their forums. If you don't want to purchase their materials, just sign up for the news letter, study the free articles, and use the forums. It's very likely you'll learn tons and be more motivated to play than you ever have been! Now that I've given you a very general idea on vibrato form (watching guitarists on video and locally will help more), here is a great way to practice vibrato. -get a metronome (perhaps the most sacred of practice tools!) -set it to a slow tempo -choose an 'easy' note to do vibrato with (say 7th fret on the g-string) -relax your forearm, and execute vibrato. each 'pulse' of the vibrato should occur either twice per beat (8th notes), three times per beat (triplets), or four times per beat (sixteenth notes). The reason for doing this is to garner some control, and reprogram your old vibrato habits. One more quick note about vibrato: relaxation is the key. If you're tensing up it will never sound good! One common thing between blues greats and shredders alike is relaxation. A smooth, vocal-like vibrato can't be achieved if you're tensing you're arm. Sorry that was unorganized, but it's almost 2 am, and it's been a year since I've been on these forums. I hope I wasn't a nuissance, and GOOD LUCK!