How long did it take you to get useable bending vibrato?

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axisusaxisus Frets: 28280
OK, so I've been playing for decades but I can't do bending vibrato. To be honest I had to avoid it due to fingernail issues (which I could bore you with the details of). Anyway, various things having moved on, my problem nails are most of the time the most stable they have been, plus I have switched to using 8-38 strings which helps a lot. 

So a while back I thought I would venture into that dark world. Bloody hell, it's impossible! I can't get anywhere near anything useable after trying on and off for a few weeks. I listen to other people and they make a beautiful sound. Mine just sounds utterly wrong. It is not helped by the fact that I have never had a good ear for music.

So, I was wondering how long it took some of you lot to get something that could be heard in public??? 

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Comments

  • RolandRoland Frets: 8590
    50 years and counting
    Tree recycler, and guitarist with  https://www.undercoversband.com/.
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    Make a video of your playing for me.
    It might be a technique issue.

    This takes a month of dedicated work to fix, max.
    But then a lifetime to perfect.
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  • Danny1969Danny1969 Frets: 10356
    Here's a few tips

    Always get 3 fingers behind a bend if you can, using 3 fingers all taking the strain will result in more control. 

    I find the most control comes from having the thumb over the neck and I actually use my thumb to help generate the vibrato

    As you are bending look at the string as it crosses the fret marker. Bend up the 15th fret of the B string until it's sat bang in the middle of the 17th fret marker circle .... on a Strat scale guitar that's a tone ... this means you can reliably pre bend exactly on pitch before you hit the note. You can use the markers for this all over the neck. 

    Now some say you're supposed to bend up to pitch then back off, back to pitch etc vibrato wise but it depends on what you're going for. Try this though and watch the bent string on the fret marker, bend it till it's in the middle, then back off till it's on the edge then back to the middle and keep doing this until it's steady and consistent. 

    Like anything practice makes perfect but as guitarist we do tend to not practice the things we can't do which is the opposite of real practicing. One of the biggest lightbulb moments for me in improving was learning how to practice rather than noodling about. 


    www.2020studios.co.uk 
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  • stratman3142stratman3142 Frets: 2176
    edited April 2021
    Roland said:
    50 years and counting

    Certainly takes that to maintain it. Listening to my current SotM69 entry I'm thinking it might have become a bit too slow and operatic, but maybe that suits the piece. I think it initially took me over a year, but perhaps that was because there weren't the instructional videos then and I went up a few blind alleys.

    Paul Kossoff was my early hero and I still can't match his vibrato.

    Some good advice given in all the previous posts.

    It's not a competition.
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  • BlueStratBlueStrat Frets: 966
    I found it a lot easier when i dropped a string gauge, worth a try?
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  • LastMantraLastMantra Frets: 3822
    edited April 2021
    Try just bending then release slightly then bend, release, bend release...etc. Don't over think it. 

    I have a wide vibrato that's pretty much that anyway. 
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  • stratman3142stratman3142 Frets: 2176
    I think I've mentioned this to you before, so apologies if I'm repeating myself. Having pursued all options, if it turns out that there is some fundamental reason why you can't do it, you could check out Jan Cyrka's approach, which is to use the vibrato bar more than finger vibrato. His feel sounds great to me.

    It's not a competition.
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  • NeillNeill Frets: 941
    edited April 2021
    @axisus ;I'm not sure what you're talking about here - do you mean when you bend a note up a step or half a step and then apply vibrato, or do you just mean the general technique we generally refer to as wrist vibrato?
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  • JotaJota Frets: 463
    I can't do it also. Tried a few approaches. None worked for me.
    Been playing for 20 years and only recently noticed that it was something I wasn't able to do. 
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  • bbill335bbill335 Frets: 1368
    so you're bending to the note you want, then bending it too far, and back again to pitch, rapidly?
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  • AK99AK99 Frets: 1563
    One small tip from Chris Buck I found useful was to practise pre-bending the string to the note you want and then play it / check the pitch.

    Helps train and strengthen your hands (and you ear) in finding the target note around which you're going to base the vibrato.
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  • DLMDLM Frets: 2513
    I remember your ongoing struggles.

    Took me a few weeks/months as a teen to get anything going at all. But I then stopped playing out for about 15 years, so hardly anyone had to listen to it! :lol:

    Lower tension is good to start.

    Things no one's mentioned so far that I've seen:
    1) Reference pitches. Putting a backing track in one key on and bending up to the strong notes in that key and working on getting any sort of musical vibrato sound going on those. You can even use a drone on your own guitar if it doesn't detune when you bend. I've used pianos with the sustain key, you can work up to doing it to music on the radio or on TV.
    2) Digital tuner (or at least one with a needle). Can you get to the right pitch and vibrate around it in different ways?
    3, the Godwin of bent-note vibrato) Robben Ford famously cannot do this. I don't think he, or anyone else, cares.
    4) Big – or even scalloped – frets. Unleash the fury! \m/
    5) You'll initially need to build those muscles and calluses. I did this after a month off working back up to good bent-note vib bending up a tone from D to E at the 24th fret prepping for cutting lead guitars:

    I think Jan Cyrka can do this, but often chooses not to. He can get very close to the sound of finger vibrato with the wang bar, learning all this adds to your expressiveness toolbox. Early Michael Lee Firkins is also good listening, playing slide guitar licks with the bar. He later learnt slide with an actual slide on his finger, but sadly dropped off the radar a lot. Love his early playing, though he's still really great and has grown a lot.  

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  • DLMDLM Frets: 2513
    edited April 2021
    Another thing to play around with is bending to the same pitch with vibrato in different directions (got this idea from an article on SRV's use of the G string in an old GftPM). Can you get the same sounds/effects/tones? What different ones can you get? As I've just posted elsewhere, the contraction muscles in the fingers are stronger. Sure, you can do a lot locked-fingers and wrist/forearm rotation/opening doorknob motion, but there's a wealth of useable sounds out there!
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  • ToneControlToneControl Frets: 11788
    have you also polished your frets with micromesh pads?
    I would think that smoother frets would help
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  • fastonebazfastonebaz Frets: 4065
    August young is the master of bent string vibrates, I've been studying his technique for 30 years and still can't master it.  

    I bend the string to pitch then rapidly release and bend a fraction, as best I can.  Still only about 50% of Angus speed. Because I think bends holds and rotates his wrist somehow.

    My bones and ligaments don't work that way, plus I'm ambidextrous/partially kackhanded so it's confusing as the best of times.


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  • Danny1969Danny1969 Frets: 10356
    You can certainly learn the technique quite quickly if you put the work in. I have a student who's only 13 years old but his bending vibrato is very, very good. It's the result of being shown a good way of doing it and then practicing like a mofo. 

    It's generally better to practice bands at a semitone flat, it's just easier and less wearing on the fingertips. As you build up strength and callouses bending in concert isn't a problem but start a semitone flat with 9's or 10's. 


    www.2020studios.co.uk 
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  • KeefyKeefy Frets: 2272
    After over 40 years of playing I still can’t put finger vibrato on a bent note. Can anyone link to a video that helped them crack the case?
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  • axisusaxisus Frets: 28280
    Thanks for the input people. I found out something recently - my attempted vibrato when pushing the string up to pitch is truly horrendous, but .... if I pull the string downwards then attempt vibrato it is way better, certainly in the ballpark of almost usable. It is a way smoother action for me pulling instead of pushing. I'm not sure how much this helps as it's usually the G. B and E strings I want to use bending vibrato on and I can only use that on the G, but at least it gives me a reference of something to aim for.

    Youtube videos - I've looked a a fair few over the years but none really seem to show quite what I want. I'd like to see a close up of someones hand with them bending the same note a bunch of times in a row and adding vibrato - something that you can try and mimic at the same time. Yet to find that ...
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