Vibrato: To Push Or To Pull--- That Is The Question.

[la szum]

This is an interesting one I hadn't thought of until now. Some say that vibrato is the most identifiable
signature in our own personal playing style. It's definitely a very expressive act. Even singers have this
iconic vibrato that we can often identify them by the use of when they sing. Tiny Tim, anyone??

Anyways, it feels to me like vibrato has a beginning. It's source seems to either be when we push upward
towards an higher pitch, and then releasing/resolving it back down, and then repeating that, or we pull
the string downward, and create the increased tension that way, before releasing and repeating.

So what are you? A pusher or a puller? Or do you do both in different ways.

Thought this could be a cool entryway towards a really huge part of how we play.

 

[the-trooper]

So what are you? A pusher or a puller?

Puller.
Hate vibrato on first string.

 

[Piing]

Neither push o pull with my scalloped necks. A movement parallel to the neck, like the violin or cello players

 

[Eagle]

Push pull shake and bar . No reason not too. Sometimes trem bar is best on a epic melody because you can go up and down.

 

[mavrick102000]

This is an interesting one I hadn't thought of until now. Some say that vibrato is the most identifiable
signature in our own personal playing style. It's definitely a very expressive act. Even singers have this
iconic vibrato that we can often identify them by the use of when they sing. Tiny Tim, anyone??

Anyways, it feels to me like vibrato has a beginning. It's source seems to either be when we push upward
towards an higher pitch, and then releasing/resolving it back down, and then repeating that, or we pull
the string downward, and create the increased tension that way, before releasing and repeating.

So what are you? A pusher or a puller? Or do you do both in different ways.

Thought this could be a cool entryway towards a really huge part of how we play.

Both Push/Pull - finally.

However, when first learning I made the mistake of only bending or doing vibrato down toward the first string (Pull). That works to the G string, the B and E you'll run out of fretboard before completing the bend and there's no room do add vibrato to the note.

I spent several months developing my vibrato after bending upward on those two strings a few years ago. It took a good 4 months of regular practice to overcome the feeling I was doing it with my opposite hand and lock it into muscle memory (much faster than originally developing my vibrato - about 12-13 months of focus).

Push still doesn't quite feel as natural as pull, but I haven't put in nearly the playing time as I have the original way back in my early 20's.

 

[DrewJD82]

I’m a vibrato nut! All of the above!

I think I took Gilmour, Wylde and Vai and mixed up all their vibrato/whammy bar use into my overall technique so there’s never a note I’m on I can’t get vibrato from in one way or another.

The G, B and E strings I’m pushing up, but the E, A and D strings I‘m pulling down. Out of every guitar technique, vibrato is the one thing I never think about; whether I’m going to wait til the end of a note to add it or start the note right off with vibrato, that’s all autopilot at this point where everything else I think I have an idea of what I’m going to do before it happens. Same thing with vocals and I recently realized that I approach vibrato on both guitar and vocals exactly the same way. Nothing jagged, even if it’s really fast vibrato I always want to reach the exact note I’m bending to every time I go for it.

I don’t know if that was something I worked on at some point, I know I spent a while in high school getting Vai’s circular vibrato down and I’ll use that often when sliding up or down to a note and kind of want to slur into the vibrato.

Gilmour and Vai definitely instilled bar use for vibrato right from the very start. Both guys cup the bar while playing and use it for both dropping in pitch and pulling up in pitch depending on what they’re doing. I’ve seen people try to break down why they go for certain things at certain times, favoring the bar over fingers or vice versa, I don’t think there’s really an answer to that, it’s just what works at that exact moment.

 

[TSJMajesty]

I mostly pull, then push, and occasionally parallel. But it's pretty much dependent on what I just did. But with any of them, I hardly even think about it.
But good question!

 

[Sleezy E]

Does shaking the neck count?

Asking for a friend

 

[James Freeman]

Always pull down.

This part of the hand is touching the bottom of the neck and rotating the forearm back and forth without moving the wrist.

 

[Alex Kenivel]

I try to do a circular motion like Vai taught me