BB kings vibrato?

Question

I have watched his valuable lessons on vibrato.
These are the problems that i encounter
I cannot shake my hand spontaneously while doing vibrato..
Do you shake your hand vertically or horizontally?? What is better
When I end up shaking my hand it seems more like a classical vibrato.
How can I solve this annoying problem.
Like BB king said, I really want my guitar to sing
Please don't just say Practice is the only way ,that is rather obvious. I want to find out the best possible way..

Answer 1

First of all, don't try to sound like BB King. By trying to sound like him, you're forcing yourself and not doing what is most natural to you. That's probably what's making it difficult for you. The whole point is to play naturally.

There are three kinds of vibrato: The kind where your finger moves between the frets ("horizontal"), the kind where your finger moves but stays in place on the string ("stationary") and the kind where your finger slightly bends the note back and forth ("vertical").

The "horizontal" kind is the kind that really sings (in my opinion), but it's the most physically difficult. It's basically the same movement as if you're sliding between two notes, only you're staying on the same note. What I mean is, if you're playing a note on the 12th fret, you slide between the 11th and 12th without crossing over either one. Thing of it is that your movement is in your wrist, not your finger.

The "stationary" kind sings and is faster, but doesn't have the same sustain that a "horizontal" vibrato would. It's the kind of vibrato you hear most often because it's a very fluid movement. You're basically just shaking your hand while keeping your finger in place on the string. The trick is, again, the movement is in your wrist, not your finger.

Then the "vertical" kind is easiest (well to me it is) but it causes the most pitch bend (which you either want or you don't). You basically bend the note about a quarter-step back and forth. It sounds more like a tremolo bar than the other two but it has the advantage of giving the most sustain. Unlike the other two, the movement is entirely in your finger.

All three of them create different vibrato. Incidentally, BB King is right -- you want to do it spontaneously -- don't think about it, just listen to it. You should play with your ears, not your fingers.

Try playing a melody that ends in vibrato, then try out the three different kind I'm talking about. Go with whichever one sounds best to you and practice at it until you play it naturally. It's especially important to learn how to play vibrato with all of your fingers, not just your pointer.

But most importantly, you want it to be a very fluid, natural movement, that you could do on just about any whole, half or fourth note.

Hope this helps...

Answer 2

Yeah... Hate to say it, too, but... It's all about practice and repetitive application, which trains your muscles to perform in a new/different way. But another thing to consider, then, is this; MANY guitar players express themselves beautifully on guitar and pretty much nobody but BB has that kinda vibrato, so... Why kill yourself trying to cop HIS vibrato? That weird, shaky-twisty thing he does probably came fairly naturally for him. What comes more naturally for you? Like I said, plenty of other guys/gals play their keesters off. You don't have to have a BB vibrato to make a guitar sing. But ---if you MUST have that BB vibrato--- you gotta PRACTICE it. Over and over and over and over...

Answer 3

You answered your own question. Hate to say it but practice is the only way. All else fails then start taking guitar lessons.