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Chapter 10: Express Yourself: Making the Guitar Sing, Cry, and Wail
183
Vibrato is a fairly simple technique to acquire,
but it can take a lifetime to master. Many expert
listeners like to think they can identify a performer
just by his vibrato. Whether or not that’s
true, certain guitarists are known for their particular
brand of note-shaking. Consider a couple
of techniques of the pros:
B.B. King (born 1925) has stated that he
developed his vibrato as a way of imitating
the slide guitar of his cousin, Bukka White.
If you have a chance to watch him play up
The kings of vibrato
close or in videos, you notice that B.B. King
removes his thumb from the back of the
neck and waves it in the air like a counterweight,
especially when applying vibrato
with his index finger.
Michael Bloomfield (1943–81), who inherited
a great vibrato from B.B. King, said that the
trick of vibrato was to keep the pressure on
the string consistent from the beginning to
the end of the maneuver.
Track 60
Figure 10-10:
A whole
note with
vibrato.
5 5
T
A B
To produce a more vocal-like effect, let a sustained note sound without
vibrato at first, then introduce it gradually (with slow, gentle bending), getting
more intense (by increasing both the speed and width of the bend), and
then finally, end the note with a little fall-off slide. Now, that’s the way to be
expressive with a whole note that would otherwise just sit there gathering
dust!
Good vibrato, it is said, takes years to achieve. Listening to B.B. King, the
master of the blues vibrato, certainly supports that claim. No one can match
the soulful quality of his vibrato, and he got better as he got older!
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