1 00:00:17,752 --> 00:00:19,076 How you'all doing, Justin here. 2 00:00:19,076 --> 00:00:22,230 In this lesson today we're checking out whole arm vibrato. 3 00:00:22,262 --> 00:00:23,798 Now I'm going to be honest. 4 00:00:23,829 --> 00:00:27,463 This is a type of vibrato that I ignored for probably fifteen years or more. 5 00:00:28,273 --> 00:00:32,187 It was something that just didn't ever feel right to me when I tried to play it. 6 00:00:32,235 --> 00:00:36,323 I think the reason it didn't feel right was cause I hadn't practiced it enough. 7 00:00:36,323 --> 00:00:41,471 i had always done the traditional vibrato which is where you put a finger down to 8 00:00:41,631 --> 00:00:46,723 use as a pivot point on the side of your hand like you were doing string bending. 9 00:00:50,160 --> 00:00:53,490 And that's kind of the most common way of doing vibrato. 10 00:00:54,486 --> 00:00:58,634 But I was seeing Eric Johnson and Eric Clapton doing this other vibrato and 11 00:00:58,650 --> 00:01:00,532 it sounded different. 12 00:01:00,532 --> 00:01:03,908 And I guess there must have been value in it if those guys were doing it that way 13 00:01:03,908 --> 00:01:08,195 so I set about learning to do it. I did it by a lot of watching, really, to be 14 00:01:08,195 --> 00:01:13,035 honest, and experimenting myself. I got some great advice from my buddy 15 00:01:13,035 --> 00:01:16,774 Dario Cortese, which is watching videos of the guys that you like doing the technique 16 00:01:16,774 --> 00:01:19,355 you want to learn, with the sound off 17 00:01:19,426 --> 00:01:23,962 Because when the sound is on, our ears are really overtaking things a little bit 18 00:01:23,962 --> 00:01:25,678 You concentrate on that a bit more. 19 00:01:25,688 --> 00:01:29,455 But when you turn the sound off, you can get a good look at what they're doing. 20 00:01:29,455 --> 00:01:35,595 That was really interesting for me to see. And it really is a whole arm vibrato. 21 00:01:35,646 --> 00:01:40,240 The idea really is that with a traditional vibrato, you're gripping the neck 22 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:43,885 quite solidly and you're using a pivot point at the bottom of the neck, but 23 00:01:43,885 --> 00:01:47,889 with this sort of vibrato, if we start off I'm putting my first finger in the eighth 24 00:01:47,939 --> 00:01:50,330 fret of the second string. 25 00:01:50,330 --> 00:01:56,853 When you play that note, you're actually pushing and pulling with your whole arm. 26 00:01:56,853 --> 00:02:01,925 If I just turn sort of sideways so that you can see this part of my arm here 27 00:02:01,945 --> 00:02:08,704 That's the motion. And what I found was that keeping your hands, not tense, not 28 00:02:08,704 --> 00:02:16,561 angry tense, but locked into the same position so the fingers around the note 29 00:02:16,601 --> 00:02:21,770 Also for some reason, poking the thumb up the back of the guitar neck is something 30 00:02:21,780 --> 00:02:24,912 all of the greats do and it does seem to make it easier. I don't know why. 31 00:02:24,912 --> 00:02:29,826 In theory it shouldn't matter really if you hang everything off, but when it's 32 00:02:29,856 --> 00:02:36,641 in a line a bit, the thumb's up the top and the fingers are hanging down 33 00:02:36,651 --> 00:02:41,967 it seems to make it a little easier. And it's definitely a nice vibrato, this type. 34 00:02:41,997 --> 00:02:52,203 This one doesn't sound as natural to me now that I've been practicing this one. 35 00:02:52,203 --> 00:02:55,029 It seems to sing a little more, or something. 36 00:02:55,029 --> 00:02:58,804 And you also get this sort of, I'm not sure if it'll do it now. 37 00:02:58,804 --> 00:03:02,418 There is this sort of scratchy thing that happens, like that. 38 00:03:02,418 --> 00:03:05,886 So you can get this other type of scratchy thing that I don't really 39 00:03:05,886 --> 00:03:09,349 understand either, to be completely honest, but I just wanted to explain 40 00:03:09,349 --> 00:03:14,918 to you this idea. First finger, eighth fret, second string, making sure that 41 00:03:14,918 --> 00:03:19,053 you get your thumb poking out the top of the guitar 42 00:03:19,053 --> 00:03:22,602 The motion is very much up and down. If you'd try and do it side to side, 43 00:03:22,602 --> 00:03:25,560 like that, it doesn't really do as much. 44 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:28,932 There is a very mild vibrato there, but it is not the type of vibrato that you want 45 00:03:28,932 --> 00:03:32,684 if you are trying to copy the Eric Clapton style. 46 00:03:32,684 --> 00:03:36,137 The first finger is quite locked. It is solidly in place. 47 00:03:36,167 --> 00:03:40,827 Your hand is a little bit tense, not angry tense, but holding its shape. 48 00:03:40,837 --> 00:03:48,944 And then just start by pulling up and down slowly with your arm. 49 00:03:48,994 --> 00:03:53,312 Really slowly pushing down and then pushing up. 50 00:03:53,312 --> 00:03:57,825 It almost feels like it's kind of bouncey 51 00:03:57,825 --> 00:04:05,826 Just don't worry about the speed, just trying to get it kind of flowing and even. 52 00:04:05,826 --> 00:04:09,332 I do find that mine still sometimes kind of goes from slow to fast 53 00:04:09,332 --> 00:04:15,851 Particularly if I think about it too much. It's really a great one to practice. 54 00:04:15,851 --> 00:04:19,718 First finger is definitely easiest, so. I recommend that you get that one down 55 00:04:19,728 --> 00:04:23,508 first and when you're cool, you can have a go using the other fingers as well. 56 00:04:23,508 --> 00:04:26,867 It does work. It just doesn't feel quite as comfortable for me. 57 00:04:26,867 --> 00:04:30,497 And I do notice most of the guys who are doing it are using the first finger 58 00:04:30,497 --> 00:04:33,648 most of the time. Not all of the time, but most of the time. 59 00:04:33,648 --> 00:04:41,561 So just starting real slow. Remember it's the arm. That's the position of it. 60 00:04:41,561 --> 00:04:51,569 Your whole arm is pushing down. Try it on different parts of the guitar. 61 00:04:51,579 --> 00:04:56,212 Because it feels different. Like here, I end up doing little circles when I'm 62 00:04:56,212 --> 00:05:00,560 more down this end, I think because my hand is further away from my body 63 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:05,239 It's a little bit more awkward to pull straight down. It's possible, but if feels 64 00:05:05,239 --> 00:05:08,618 a lot more awkward than here where the whole weight of my arm is like doing a 65 00:05:08,618 --> 00:05:15,086 bicep curl. It's a lot easier to get it nice that way. 66 00:05:15,086 --> 00:05:19,964 It feels again different up at the top and there is another interesting thing that 67 00:05:19,964 --> 00:05:23,104 happens as well, which is on the thinnest string. 68 00:05:23,104 --> 00:05:27,574 If you just do it regular on the thinnest string, it just pulls the string off the 69 00:05:27,594 --> 00:05:34,004 end. So when you do it on the thinnest string, you have to be thinking of 70 00:05:34,004 --> 00:05:37,110 pushing it up a little bit more. 71 00:05:37,110 --> 00:05:45,001 It's a great vibrato. It's got that Freddie King thing that seems to work 72 00:05:45,001 --> 00:05:47,783 for that style of older blues as well. 73 00:05:47,783 --> 00:05:50,969 It's a really interesting vibrato. It takes a bit of practice. 74 00:05:50,969 --> 00:05:54,896 The other thing you want to be aware of is string noise. I'm doing some stuff here 75 00:05:54,896 --> 00:05:58,498 with my pick hand, which I should explain. When I'm doing it on the second 76 00:05:58,498 --> 00:06:05,124 string, this hand, my third finger is grabbing the thinnest string. 77 00:06:05,124 --> 00:06:10,220 It's just touching the thinner string. And my pick is resting on the third string 78 00:06:10,220 --> 00:06:16,369 Cuz if I take that hand away, you get all of these other notes ringing out. 79 00:06:16,369 --> 00:06:22,174 The strings on either side because they're getting touched by the motion of your hand 80 00:06:22,174 --> 00:06:27,565 You get all of that stuff. So you want ... nice clean notes. I'm just using the pick 81 00:06:27,565 --> 00:06:32,997 on the third string and either my second or third finger on the thinnest string 82 00:06:32,997 --> 00:06:35,793 To keep everything nice and quiet. 83 00:06:35,793 --> 00:06:42,774 On the thinnest string, I'm using my pick and the edge of my thumb is resting on 84 00:06:42,774 --> 00:06:50,527 all of the strings, really making sure that those other strings stay quiet. 85 00:06:50,527 --> 00:06:55,791 Kind of an important part of this type of vibrato. It is important in the other 86 00:06:55,791 --> 00:07:03,592 traditional style of vibrato as well but it's not as obviously bad. 87 00:07:03,592 --> 00:07:07,369 So, I hope you have a bit of fun with the whole arm vibrato. I love it. 88 00:07:07,369 --> 00:07:11,369 I think it's great and I wish that I had started practicing it 15 years ago instead 89 00:07:11,369 --> 00:07:13,125 of a couple of years ago. 90 00:07:13,125 --> 00:07:17,796 Have fun. Take care. I'll see you for another lesson very soon. Bye bye.