Technical Tip #6: Electric Vibrato

(The following is a description of "wrist/arm vibrato" done on electric guitar. It is the most used, and most difficult to do properly. These guidelines do not apply to "finger vibrato".)

Some things we need to learn to do as part of playing the guitar are by their nature extra tricky to learn. This is because to do them properly, a certain amount of strength in the right muscles must be developed. But in the beginning of practicing such moves, the lack of strength in those muscles makes us use the wrong muscles, and so the muscles that need to develop, don't.

Vibrato on electric guitar is such a move. A good vibrato is one of the biggest challenges a developing player faces. It is also one of the hallmarks of a good player. If your vibrato sounds good, you sound good as a player. If your vibrato is bad, you will sound like an amateur.

Here are the things people tend to do wrong when learning vibrato on an electric guitar:

They keep their thumb BEHIND the neck (which is proper for normal acoustic playing, but NOT for electric vibrato). The thumb should wrap around the neck to give support and leverage to the hand.

They try to move the string with the fingers, using the muscles that extend the fingers. The correct way is to use the larger muscles of the arm. Most of the work of moving the string back and forth in vibrato is done by the muscles that rotate the forearm. Put out your left hand and pretend you are turning a dial. That is the action used in vibrato, a twisting motion of forearm and wrist, with the force directed by a firm wrist and finger, onto the string.

Because the wrist is weak in the beginning, they allow it to collapse and go out of line with the hand. The wrist and hand should remain straight and in line with each other while doing vibrato.

Here are some things to make sure of when practicing vibrato:

Make sure your thumb is wrapped around the neck in what used to be called a "bad" position, and in fact is bad for normal acoustic-type playing. Make sure the thumb is helping you move the string with a pumping, squeezing kind of action.

Make sure your finger, the one touching the string to vibrate the note, remains firm during the movement. Look in a mirror to make sure the string actually moves. Sometimes people are shaking their hand all over the place, but the string isn't moving!

Make sure the little finger side of your hand keeps its distance from the neck and does not collapse and come to squeeze against the neck. If it does, it is a sure sign that the wrist and finger have collapsed, and so are not properly directing force to the string. This side of the hand will come in toward the neck, then move away from the neck, in the course of doing the "dial turning" action of the wrist and forearm described above.

The best advice I can give you is to watch good players do vibrato and study their hands. Also of course, pay great attention to the sound of a good vibrato. Eric Clapton and Angus Young (AC/DC) come to mind as examples of great vibrato.