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Today I bring you a guest post by Guitar Noize regular Ysrafel, you may have seen his guest post recently on Why You Should Learn Music Theory, well he is back again with another great in-depth lesson this time covering Vibrato Technique.

Vibrato Technique

by Ysrafel

http://www.Ysrafel.com

If you find the information in this lesson to be useful, you may also enjoy my free newsletter which contains many more high quality free lessons on guitar technique.

Vibrato technique:

One of the most important and most often used (and unused by beginners) techniques for guitar is vibrato. Vibrato helps add intensity and variety to musical phrases, lengthens the sustain of notes and bent notes, and gives the guitar a human-like voice quality. It is played by picking a note and moving your fretted finger up and down, or side to side while the note rings out in order to create a modulation in the pitch.

A professional and balanced vibrato technique can take many months to years of playing to master, but once mastered it will drastically increase the intensity and expressiveness of a players guitar phrases. In general:

 
• When used properly and efficiently, vibrato can be a incredible tool of expression.
 
• When vibrato is not used or used too little, notes have less sustain and musical phrases lack interest.
 
• When vibrato is used too often, it loses its effect the listener and becomes gimmicky.

Here are the steps to performing vibrato:       

1. Fret a note on the fretboard with your finger. Now play the string of that note.
   
2. While the note is sounding, apply a little extra pressure pushing the string down on the fretboard, then alternate bending the string up or down (raising the pitch) and returning the string back to its normal position (pitch goes back to original pitch).

OR

Alternate moving your finger from side to side within the fret (raising and lowering the pitch).

Usually vibrato is played using the first three fingers, but also the pinky. Playing vibrato with the first three fingers allows for a better grip in order to get power behind the vibrato. This depends on the players preference and/or location on the fretboard.

While performing the vibrato, (just as performing a bend) your fret hand thumb will come up close to or above the top part of the neck. From there, apply the vibrato using a combination of power from your wrist and movement from your fingers. Once again, the vibrato should predominantly be a product of the power from the wrist, not the power from the fingers.

Types of Vibrato:

Horizontal and Vertical

Vibrato is played Vertically and Horizontally, and is created using the muscles of the wrist to power the fingers while the fingers generate the vibrato motions. Both types are used very commonly, and have different situations where they are both most effective.

Horizontal

Playing horizontally means that your vibrato is generated by moving your fretting hand finger from side to side while within the fret. This vibrato type potentially has a more narrow range than vertical vibrato, and is commonly used in situations to create a subtle, but noticeable vibrato.  This type is regularly used on classical guitar, but is also used on electric guitar. In extreme cases for electric guitar, players will create a very wide-ranged intense vibrato by using this motion spanning across 5 frets or more! This is uncommon though, and can be similarly duplicated with much less effort by using vertical vibrato.

Vertical

Playing vertically means bending the string up or down to create vibrato. This motion allows for a potentially wider range of note possibilities than horizontal vibrato. It makes no difference whether the string is bent up or down, it creates the same pitch. This will be decided by the player’s preference and/or location on the fretboard.

Note: Some players create vibrato by combining these two types into a circular motion with a narrow to wide pitch range. Also, much wider vibrato can be used by the use of a tremolo bar; however I will not be covering that in this lesson.

Vibrato has 2 main types measured by 2 factors:       

Depth(Range): How Far the Pitch varies from its original pitch

 
• Narrow: Around a quarter step
 
• Moderate: Around a half step
 
• Wide: Around a whole step

Rate(Speed): How fast the pitch fluctuates back and forth from the original pitch

 
• Slow
 
• Medium
 
• Fast
   

Here is a chart demonstrating the effects of the various combinations of depth and rate:       

To effectively use these various types of vibrato, try practicing each one until you can calibrate for the appropriate time to use each one.

As a general rule, you will find that using vibrato with moderate range and medium rate will be effective to use in most notes of your guitar phrases. Using narrow/fast vibrato will be useful for slower passages where it is more subtle. In very intense parts of a song or musical phrase, wide/moderate and wide/fast vibrato will be very effective in expressing intensity.

Staying in tune with your vibrato:

Vibrato can sound out of tune if the new pitch (created by the vibrato) is not returned
consistently to the original pitch. Make sure to start and end your vibrato in the middle part of the fret. This can also happen when bending the string, and not returning it to the same pitch each time.

To practice being consistently in tune with vibrato, first play the note you are bending to, and then bend to that note. This way it will be easier to hear if you are bending to the correct pitch. Also, you can use an electric guitar tuner to see the exact pitch you are bending to. Practice slowly until it becomes consistent. Additionally, try applying vibrato to various parts of your guitar phrases to see the effects it generates. Most commonly, vibrato can be effectively applied to the ending of your phrases to help sustain and enrich the overall feeling of a note with a longer duration.

If you’d like to have free access to more high quality guitar lessons, click here.

See you soon~

(C) 2010 Ysrafel

http://www.Ysrafel.com

For this guitar lesson I have decided to take the outro from Mastodon’s Circle Of Cysquatch from the album Blood Mountain. The reason I chose this particular passage of music because I thought that it was an interesting way to spice up a riff, what Mastodon have done is taken a riff and created 3 variations by changing the time signature each time it is played. The first time this riff is played it is actually a bar of 4/4 (A) and a bar of 5/4 (D) followed by a bar of 4/4 (A) and a bar of 3/4 (B) and finally a bar of 4/4 (A) followed by a bar of 4/4 (C). In the video above I have started with the 3/4 or B variation for simplicity’s sake as it is easier to see how the riff is extended.

Here is the tab for the riff and I have indicated the sections that I speak of in the video. The format I have used is A-B-A-C-A-D this then repeats. I have tabbed the riff using single notes for the B,C and D sections but once you are comfortable with the timing play these notes as power chords instead.

Try making your own riff and then creating a variation by changing the time signature, it may be just the thing you need to turn an ok riff into a great riff.

The name Ysrafel may be familiar to regular Guitar Noize readers, that is because I reviewed a couple of books of his here on Guitar Noize, The Essential Tapping Resource last January and Sweep Picking Mastery in September 2008. Well Ysrafel has written a very well thought out post on learning music theory to share with you, so without further ado take it away Ysrafel:

First, let me list a few myths about music theory….

1. Music theory is only about memorizing and learning notes, key signatures, chords, etc.
2. I don’t need music theory, because if I learn too much, I won’t be able to express myself freely with music.
3. Theory is too much over analyzing, which isn’t to make great music. Just sit down and write how you feel!
4. Music theory is too hard. In order to understand it, I need to be incredibly intelligent, attend a university, etc..
5. Learning theory will take away from my playing time, and overall experience as a musician.

So what is music theory really?
Very simply, music theory is the study of how to express yourself with music. It is a set of guidelines and rules that are made to help us understand the different ways to express emotions with sound. Learning music theory is essential for musicians, and certainly any truly great musicians or artists.

Have you ever listened to a beautiful song and wondered: “How can I write music like that?” The answer my friend is music theory. Music theory is not just learning how to build chords, learn intervals, learn key signatures, etc. Every single concept in music theory is an idea or foundation for learning how to express your thoughts with sound and music.

Some people say that music theory is not necessary because if you analyze too much, then you are not feeling the music on an emotional level.. Or, that not all musicians truly have to know music theory to make good music. Well, here is the truth: The more you know about music theory, the more you can accurately express your specific ideas, thoughts, and emotions with music.

Imagine if you wanted to start exercising to build your muscles and become stronger. You wouldn’t say this to yourself: “I am passionate about having big muscles and exercise! But, I don’t need to know anything about nutrition, general health, weight lifting routines, etc. That will only stop me from getting stronger. All I need to do is go to the gym to lift weights when I am in the right mood, and I will get the results I want.”

Do you see how this doesn’t make sense? After a while, all musicians, songwriters, or potential songwriters run into a mental block where they are lacking information they need in order to bring their ideas to life through music. By learning music theory, you can learn how the various sounds and rhythms of music are used to create emotion in the listener. By learning the processes and patterns that are used in music theory, you can avoid musical “writer’s block.”

Not only will music theory help you when you are writing music, it will help you get better when you are improvising on guitar and you have to think quickly about what notes to play next. Learning why certain notes make you feel a certain way will help you to make quicker decisions in any musical situation. One of the problems that people have is that they think that music theory is too hard. Anything you are learning for the first time might seem more difficult, but as you keep learning a practicing, it becomes more easier. You don’t need to be super smart to learn music theory, just like you don’t need to be super smart to learn how to drive, how to read, how to play a game, etc.

Learning music theory also depends on your own personal goals. What do you want to fo with music?: Learn how to write songs, be a great and expressive composer, play songs for fun, master techniques, play in a band, teach guitar, teach music, etc? Music theory will help you in any of these situations. However, if you plan on becoming a great musician or musical artist, then a great knowledge of music theory must be a huge priority for you!

It is always a good idea to write down your personal goals with music. Write down why you want to follow these goals. What do you want to do with music? How will you will feel when you reach your goals? How would you would feel if you didn’t reach your goals? Answering these questions will help motivate you to do whatever it takes to get to where you want to be with music. I recommend that you come back to these written goals form time to time to keep yourself focused. Your goals may also change over time, so it is important to keep track of this as well.

There is one thing that is very important that many people do not realize when they are wondering whether or not they should learn music theory…Music theory is fun! Remember, you have a passion for music. It is only natural to feel excited and stimulated by learningnew things. Also, learning is and always will be “work” to some degree. However, it always takes hard work and effort to be great at something, and whether you enjoy that work or dislike that work is what will determine how far you get with it. Don’t just do the given exercises that you read, and be done. Do any exercises, and then make your own exercises….do them until they are second nature! Enjoy the learning process, and do every single exercise while keeping your music goals in mind to help you stay motivated..

Here is a small list of things that music theory will help you with:

Understanding why your favorite musician used a certain chord in his or her song.
Writing your own songs.
Making nice sounding chord progressions.
Becoming a better at guitar or any instrument you play.
Understanding why music makes you feel a certain emotion.
Writing songs that are incredibly beautiful, catchy, happy, sad, and everything in between.
Filling in the different sections of a song.
Helping you get past writer’s block; when you are stuck and you can’t think of what to do next.
Understanding what notes to use when you play a melody over a chord progression.
And much more!!

So keeping all of these things in mind, what is stopping you from learning music theory right now?
If you need to improve your music theory and composition knowledge, click here where we can begin working together today to help you express yourself better and become a more complete musician.

Until next time,

Ysrafel
http://www.Ysrafel.com

Bio:
Ysrafel is a professional guitarist, musician, and recording artist who has written articles for many websites to help thousands of guitarists all over the world, and has created an ongoing instructional series titled The Electric Guitar Technique Master Series. In addition, he also teaches music theory, composition, and expression from his website.

He is currently working on various musical projects including his upcoming guitar instrumental album which will be experimental progressive metal. To stay current with all of Ysrafel’s events, visit his site at Ysrafel.com, and sign up for his free newsletter which contains very useful guitar playing information and advice to help you improve your guitar technique.

So, NAMM is upon us and the buzz word is “polyphonic tuning”. That’s great tech but just how much will this help us get our guitars in tune properly? It will certainly speed up tuning up floating bridges and I’m seriously interested for that alone! But there’s so much more going on with the guitar neck that in my opinion an electronic tuner is simply one step of the tuning process.

And it’s tuning that is one of the areas where I think a lot of guitar players fall flat. See what I did there?! Love it.

In many experiences tuning can be the difference between an amateur and professional. I’ve seen some amazing players play well, out of tune, and some good players play well but sound awful, even very slightly out of tune. So what’s the deal with that? Where’s it going wrong? Watch a great like an Eric Johnson, Joe Satch, anyone… they won’t play a note until the axe is smack on in tune! And there’s a good reason why… learning and developing is so much better when you’ve nailed your tuning.

With tuning I have OCD. I can’t help it. It really pains me that in some places on a guitar neck you can be anything up to a half tone out of tune depending on strings, setup, fret wear etc. And I’m not gonna go order one of those properly tempered fret jobs!

The first tuning lesson to learn is very simple but rather disappointing; with a standard neck and fret job you are not going to get a perfectly tuned guitar all over the neck. So it’s a situation where you are going to need to compromise. Learning how to compromise the tuning is a skill that pros seem to nail down very quickly whilst others ignore it and move on to alternate picking exercises, neglecting the fact that it sounds terrible.

Here’s my recommended way to a fully “tuned” guitar:

Step 1 - Electronic Tuner

i) Tune each open string electronically to pitch. We’re talking green lights and perfect for those 6 notes only. No fretting.

ii) Check and set intonation. I can write up more detail on this if enough peeps ask. In my opinion, doing your own intonation is something you really should be able to do yourself whilst tuning. String height and relief too. All of these things work together to affect your tuning so it’s really in your best interest to learn how to set these things yourself. It’s not a difficult thing, you just need to be shown what’s right and what’s wrong.

iii) Once the intonation is set to best position tune the open strings again but use 12th fret harmonics. You should be tuning all the way through the intonation setup as very slight adjustments affects the entire guitar tuning. Basically leave this stage with the open strings green lit again to move on to step 2.

Step 2 - Tuning 1 5th Fret Position

i) This is generally the first way we learn to tune; 5th fret 6th string, open 5th string… match them. 5th fret 5th string, open string 4th string etc. (The sequence should be 5th, 5th, 5th, 4th 5th). If you have both notes sounding simultaneously you’ll hear a cycling to the dissonance between the notes.

Hint:

So, tune up the middle two strings, then go top and bottom, back to the middle, back to the outers and work you’re way in. And so on. As you get to know a guitar better you’ll get a good feel for how the tension affects the tuning.

Step 3 - 12th Harmonic, 7th Fret

i) Check 12th harmonics with 7th fret notes. This changes for the G, 12th fret harmonic, 3rd string, to 8th fret 2nd string. This is in my opinion the most effective tuning method as it affects the biggest note span and the most commonly used fret areas.

Step 4 - 5th to 7th fret harmonics

i) Check the 5th fret harmonic with the 7th fret harmonic on the next string. This doesn’t work for the 3rd and 2nd string combination so revert to one of the other methods for that. I highly recommend step 3. Again, you’ll hear a dissonant cycling. This is a fine tuning method and it’s up to you to balance step 4 with step 3. Providing your intonation is pretty good, your frets are pretty good and you have a neck with a sensible string length (some guitars don’t) you should find that this is pretty accurate.

Step 5 - Balance

i) I always like to check through the different tuning methods shown here once more. It’s a balancing act, a compromise. If you are going to play a lot of chords around the 7th fret you know where you want your notes in tune right?!

Hint:

This will mean that if you then solo up high on the neck you will likely be a little bit flat, maybe even up to a quarter tone, depending on how many frets you have, string length etc. However, it’s up to you to bend on the fly and adjust when necessary.

There we go, simple but painful. If peeps are interested I can run a few more of these, intonation, string height, relief etc. so you can all have amazing playing axes!

Tuning is such a simple but important first step, make it your first step at the beginning of every session!!

Have fun folks!
Paul.

This lesson uses a riff from Chimaira’s “Frozen In Time” from the album “The Infection”, initially you may look at the tab below and think it looks pretty easy as it is all based on the low E string but you will see that the real lesson here is in the timing, the picking and the muting. Watch the video above and follow along with the slowed down version to get the timing right and then slowly build up speed until you are at actual tempo, which I think is around 125bpm.

Download a pdf of this tab here.

Welcome to another Guitar Noize guitar lesson, this lesson will also be available at shredknowledge.com, check Shred Knowledge out for more free guitar lessons.

Most of us are not born with the natural ability to improvise on guitar, actually I doubt that anyone is. The thing about improvisation is that you can improve with practice and a few tips and tricks. The tips and tricks I am talking about are strategies to help you make ideas flow together seamlessly without hopefully sounding composed, and don’t worry this isn’t a dirty little secret of the guitar underworld, it is a perfectly legitimate part of improving as a guitarist.

I am going to show you how you can use 2 string patterns to move diagonally up the fretboard without having to think. This is not a magic trick, although it does work like magic. The basic idea is that we will play a sequence of notes from a scale on 2 strings, then shift that pattern up 2 strings to the next octave and then shift the pattern once again to the top 2 strings and another octave. The pattern will remain the same so you only need to learn it once!

Let’s take an A minor Pentatonic scale to start, we’ll use notes from this scale to form our patterns.

The magic comes from the way the strings on a guitar are tuned in 4ths (except the B which is a 3rd above G), a note on the bottom E string is replicated 2 strings and 2 frets higher so by playing an A and a C at the 5th and 8th frets on the E you can then play the same notes and octave higher on the D string at the 7th and 10th frets. The same applies to the A string with the G string so lets dive into an example to see what I am talking about.

Now the jump from the D & G strings is slightly different, the shift is now 3 frets instead of 2 due to the B string being a major 3rd interval rather than a 4th but the pattern is still the same.

So this little 4 note pentatonic pattern has suddenly taken you from the 5th fret on the bottom E string to the 12th fret of the top E string through 2 octaves and you haven’t had to even break a sweat trying to figure out the necessary scale box positions. Of course by knowing these you have now leapt into a new position which should inspire you to play the scale a little differently from 1st position and if you get stuck you can always descend with the same method. Try descending with a different pattern from the same scale:

As you can see it really doesn’t matter which notes you choose from the scale, you just replicate the pattern in the different octave positions. This means that you don’t really need to learn from an example you just need to experiment with different note combinations from scales. By doing this you will probably have a few patterns that you prefer that you can always fall back on should you get stuck during a solo or just want to move up a position for further inspiration!