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How you'all doing, Justin here.

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

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Now I'm going to be honest.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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it sounded different.

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

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

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

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

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you want to learn, with the sound off

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

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You concentrate on that a bit more.

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

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

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

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

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

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fret of the second string.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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It seems to sing a little more, [br]or something.

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

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

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

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

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

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you get your thumb poking out[br]the top of the guitar

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

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

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

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if you are trying to copy the [br]Eric Clapton style.

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The first finger is quite locked. It is [br]solidly in place.

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

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

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Really slowly pushing down and then [br]pushing up.

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It almost feels like it's kind of bouncey[br]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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most of the time. Not all of the time, but[br]most of the time.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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happens as well, which is on[br]the thinnest string. [br]

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

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

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pushing it up a little bit more.

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

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for that style of older blues as well.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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on the third string and either my second[br]or third finger on the thinnest string

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To keep everything nice and quiet.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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of a couple of years ago.

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