Whole Arm Vibrato (Technique Guitar Lesson TE-110)

In this guitar lesson we're going to check out 'whole arm vibrato' the style favored by Eric Clapton and many others.

Find the related course notes on the following link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoP37ge1rFU&feature=player_embedded

Taught by Justin Sandercoe.

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Have fun :)

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How you'all doing, Justin here.

In this lesson today we're checking
out whole arm vibrato.

Now I'm going to be honest.

This is a type of vibrato that I ignored
for probably fifteen years or more.

It was something that just didn't ever
feel right to me when I tried to play it.

I think the reason it didn't feel right
was cause I hadn't practiced it enough.

i had always done the traditional vibrato
which is where you put a finger down to

use as a pivot point on the side of your
hand like you were doing string bending.

And that's kind of the most common
way of doing vibrato.

But I was seeing Eric Johnson and Eric
Clapton doing this other vibrato and

it sounded different.

And I guess there must have been value in
it if those guys were doing it that way

so I set about learning to do it. I did
it by a lot of watching, really, to be

honest, and experimenting myself. I got
some great advice from my buddy

Dario Cortese, which is watching videos of
the guys that you like doing the technique

you want to learn, with the sound off

Because when the sound is on, our ears
are really overtaking things a little bit

You concentrate on that a bit more.

But when you turn the sound off, you can
get a good look at what they're doing.

That was really interesting for me to see.
And it really is a whole arm vibrato.

The idea really is that with a traditional
vibrato, you're gripping the neck

quite solidly and you're using a pivot
point at the bottom of the neck, but

with this sort of vibrato, if we start off
I'm putting my first finger in the eighth

fret of the second string.

When you play that note, you're actually
pushing and pulling with your whole arm.

If I just turn sort of sideways so that
you can see this part of my arm here

That's the motion. And what I found was
that keeping your hands, not tense, not

angry tense, but locked into the same
position so the fingers around the note

Also for some reason, poking the thumb up
the back of the guitar neck is something

all of the greats do and it does seem to
make it easier. I don't know why.

In theory it shouldn't matter really if
you hang everything off, but when it's

in a line a bit, the thumb's up the top
and the fingers are hanging down

it seems to make it a little easier. And
it's definitely a nice vibrato, this type.

This one doesn't sound as natural to me
now that I've been practicing this one.

It seems to sing a little more,
or something.

And you also get this sort of,
I'm not sure if it'll do it now.

There is this sort of scratchy thing
that happens, like that.

So you can get this other type of
scratchy thing that I don't really

understand either, to be completely
honest, but I just wanted to explain

to you this idea. First finger, eighth
fret, second string, making sure that

you get your thumb poking out
the top of the guitar

The motion is very much up and down.
If you'd try and do it side to side,

like that, it doesn't really do as much.

There is a very mild vibrato there, but it
is not the type of vibrato that you want

if you are trying to copy the
Eric Clapton style.

The first finger is quite locked. It is
solidly in place.

Your hand is a little bit tense, not angry
tense, but holding its shape.

And then just start by pulling up and down
slowly with your arm.

Really slowly pushing down and then
pushing up.

It almost feels like it's kind of bouncey

Just don't worry about the speed, just
trying to get it kind of flowing and even.

I do find that mine still sometimes
kind of goes from slow to fast

Particularly if I think about it too much.
It's really a great one to practice.

First finger is definitely easiest, so. I
recommend that you get that one down

first and when you're cool, you can have
a go using the other fingers as well.

It does work. It just doesn't feel quite
as comfortable for me.

And I do notice most of the guys who
are doing it are using the first finger

most of the time. Not all of the time, but
most of the time.

So just starting real slow. Remember
it's the arm. That's the position of it.

Your whole arm is pushing down.
Try it on different parts of the guitar.

Because it feels different. Like here,
I end up doing little circles when I'm

more down this end, I think because my
hand is further away from my body

It's a little bit more awkward to pull
straight down. It's possible, but if feels

a lot more awkward than here where the
whole weight of my arm is like doing a

bicep curl. It's a lot easier to get it
nice that way.

It feels again different up at the top and
there is another interesting thing that

happens as well, which is on
the thinnest string.

If you just do it regular on the thinnest
string, it just pulls the string off the

end. So when you do it on the thinnest
string, you have to be thinking of

pushing it up a little bit more.

It's a great vibrato. It's got that
Freddie King thing that seems to work

for that style of older blues as well.

It's a really interesting vibrato.
It takes a bit of practice.

The other thing you want to be aware of is
string noise. I'm doing some stuff here

with my pick hand, which I should
explain. When I'm doing it on the second

string, this hand, my third finger
is grabbing the thinnest string.

It's just touching the thinner string.
And my pick is resting on the third string

Cuz if I take that hand away, you get all
of these other notes ringing out.

The strings on either side because they're
getting touched by the motion of your hand

You get all of that stuff. So you want ...
nice clean notes. I'm just using the pick

on the third string and either my second
or third finger on the thinnest string

To keep everything nice and quiet.

On the thinnest string, I'm using my pick
and the edge of my thumb is resting on

all of the strings, really making sure
that those other strings stay quiet.

Kind of an important part of this type of
vibrato. It is important in the other

traditional style of vibrato as well but
it's not as obviously bad.

So, I hope you have a bit of fun with the
whole arm vibrato. I love it.

I think it's great and I wish that I had
started practicing it 15 years ago instead

of a couple of years ago.

Have fun. Take care. I'll see you for
another lesson very soon. Bye bye.