This is extremely insightful. So many people like to say that there’s a right and wrong way to do bends and vibrato. Then I see successive pros who had their own way of doing these techniques. Seeing you break down B.B.’s methods has helped me understand why I gravitate to unconventional styles and techniques. First off, they sound more musical and evoke emotions in ways that the “correct” conventional techniques don’t. Then there’s the aspect of implementing vibrato and bends (and any other skill for that matter). I have physical disabilities from something called CRPS that I got from a 2003 work accident, as well as a lung biopsy I needed in 2019 that messed up my right arm. I also have a TBI, among other medical issues, that put me at a disadvantage of sorts as compared to other musicians learning to play an instrument. I’ve overcome a lot to learn to play guitar and ukulele on my own since March 2020. Part of what’s helped me is compensating and utilizing alternative methods that most guitarists would scoff at. The thing is, I’ve advanced at a much faster pace than I ever could have imagined with all the physical and cognitive issues I experience because I’ve naturally embraced finding other ways to do things by breaking the rules. Sometimes I’ve done this to be able to play something until I can develop the ability to do it the “right” way. Other times, I’ve come to the realization that I prefer playing with specific alternative approaches and have permanently kept those things a staple in my playing. It’s funny. I’ve seen B.B. playing a million times and never noticed his vibrato with a wildly flailing hand, nor did I realize what he was doing while bending. However, I’ve heard these techniques and always knew they were distinct sounding. Now I understand why I really enjoy his style. He’s using unconventional techniques that work for him and end up sounding more musical in the end. If B.B. was good with doing it his way, I can feel just as good about the way I play. I’m far from a virtuoso and know guitar development is a lifelong journey . . . but the next time someone comes along and tries to tell me my technique is “wrong,” I’ll refer them to this video and point out that B.B. seemed to turn out alright, lol. 😂🤘🏻🎸
Bb king is a legend. I'm so glad your doing this series. I was thankful to see him play live before he passed, and I was blown away at how musical he actually was.
Kool lesson.. very informative. Just wanted to mention regarding finger vibrato.. you CAN indeed flatten the pitch with what we call a prebend. Bend the note before you pick then pick.. now you can use your fingers to sharpen AND flatten the original struck note. Not sure if you're not aware of this technique or just not considering it. Either way food for thought. Keep rockin.. love the channel 🤘
Well you *could* do a flat vibrato on a fretless guitar but I consider fretless guitar to be basically a separate instrument with exceedingly few electric players that even attempt to commonly use a fretless. Also you can make it feel as a flat vibrato if you pre-bend up to the intended, in-scale note then start the vibrato but this so rare I almost never see players do this
Yea, I think it’s rare because it’s a bit impractical to think of vibrato that way. It’s hard to process and pull off while playing but anything with enough practice can become automatic if it’s a crucial part of one’s style/sound!
@@andrefludd I actually do that all the time, though I'm going both below and above the note with my vibrato to be more free floating and vocal/violin/slide guitar like.
You can vibrato pitch up and down if you use longitudinal vibrato rather than transverse vibrato... even with fretted instruments. Classical guitarists do this all the time, and it can be done with any guitar. It is subtle, but the pitch does indeed go down.
Michael, concerning the discussion about the possibility of actually lowering the initial pitch of a fretted note via longitudinal finger vibrato alone. I went to your channel yesterday, watched your video on the subject, and I admit there may be something counterintuitive yet true going on with the subtle phenomenon you described. I just went to your channel to watch the video again hoping to explore this further during my guitar practice today and found it's not available to view. Is there a problem?
@@markpell8979 you removed your comment, so felt it fair that I removed my video link. I can give it to you again for you to save. It is not very counter intuitive… strings have elastic properties, and if you can stretch a string you can compress it. Lateral bends and vibrato stretch the string and thus increase the tension, and therefore pitch the note up. Longitudinal vibrato can compress the string on one side of the fret position, and can pitch the note down. Classical players use this vibrato all the time because their strings have greater elasticity and the effect is much more obvious than on steel strings. But being quick to say something is impossible and then referencing an emperical subject like physics as supportive is not the best ploy, when experiment can save you some time and teach you a lot. Then an appeal to authority (especially that of others) and finally excoriation on questioning a teacher was pushing it. Any teacher looks forward to questions, and does not need others to defend their teaching for them. Thus I was irritated. Have you tried my suggested experiment with your tuner?
@@michael-varney-music Yes I have. I now think increasing the finger pressure and therefore the string tension immediately behind the fret, especially with rapid cycling of the vibrato, has a momentary effect of reducing the tension on the actively vibrating segment of the string between the fretted note and the bridge, which briefly wavers the pitch downward. A corollary of that might be that fret height is also a factor and taller frets (or a scalloped fretboard?) might enhance the effect. I've given you a fair listen and adjusted my own opinions about the subject as a result. As I said, call it a win. It's worth noting that Andre is a solid believer that there's no way to lower the pitch of a fretted note with linear vibrato, which was also my belief. His degree is in music and he certainly plays better than me but I won't presume to speak for you. Maybe he'll have a further look at this and change his mind, at least a little bit. Maybe not. Whatever, this debate has been stimulating and I've learned from it and enjoyed it, so thanks.
@@markpell8979 to enhance the effect use three fingers one behind the other on adjacent frets and play a note and press towards the bridge with all three fingers. You won’t have to rapidly vibrate, forwards and backwards, you can just push towards the bridge and hear the dive down.
@@michael-varney-music Yeah I was starting to mess with that a little. Thanks. Will keep in touch on your channel, thanks also to André for putting up with us. Peace!
I got to see BB in concert at Orchestra Hall in Mpls., MN. He was awesome! I am curious about you, Dr. Andre. I.e., your accent is interesting. It sounds kind of European, like Swiss, for example. Out of curiosity, may I ask where you were born and raised? Thank you kindly.
Hey Doc Fludd! Is it possible to get your hands on a Brain May Red Special guitar? The tremolo is supposed to be novel and they allege it is "perfect." Moreover it is made by the guy who played the guitar for Queen, theres a huge guitar nerd following, etc. The thing about the Red Special is that the reviews of it seem rather shilly and uncomprehensive.
@@andrefludd ❤️ ❤️ I watch you all the time especially when you were talking about working in NYC (born and raised) and all the travel time. I subscribe and watch all your stuff.
This is extremely insightful. So many people like to say that there’s a right and wrong way to do bends and vibrato. Then I see successive pros who had their own way of doing these techniques. Seeing you break down B.B.’s methods has helped me understand why I gravitate to unconventional styles and techniques. First off, they sound more musical and evoke emotions in ways that the “correct” conventional techniques don’t. Then there’s the aspect of implementing vibrato and bends (and any other skill for that matter).
I have physical disabilities from something called CRPS that I got from a 2003 work accident, as well as a lung biopsy I needed in 2019 that messed up my right arm. I also have a TBI, among other medical issues, that put me at a disadvantage of sorts as compared to other musicians learning to play an instrument. I’ve overcome a lot to learn to play guitar and ukulele on my own since March 2020. Part of what’s helped me is compensating and utilizing alternative methods that most guitarists would scoff at. The thing is, I’ve advanced at a much faster pace than I ever could have imagined with all the physical and cognitive issues I experience because I’ve naturally embraced finding other ways to do things by breaking the rules. Sometimes I’ve done this to be able to play something until I can develop the ability to do it the “right” way. Other times, I’ve come to the realization that I prefer playing with specific alternative approaches and have permanently kept those things a staple in my playing.
It’s funny. I’ve seen B.B. playing a million times and never noticed his vibrato with a wildly flailing hand, nor did I realize what he was doing while bending. However, I’ve heard these techniques and always knew they were distinct sounding. Now I understand why I really enjoy his style. He’s using unconventional techniques that work for him and end up sounding more musical in the end. If B.B. was good with doing it his way, I can feel just as good about the way I play. I’m far from a virtuoso and know guitar development is a lifelong journey . . . but the next time someone comes along and tries to tell me my technique is “wrong,” I’ll refer them to this video and point out that B.B. seemed to turn out alright, lol. 😂🤘🏻🎸
Bb king is a legend. I'm so glad your doing this series. I was thankful to see him play live before he passed, and I was blown away at how musical he actually was.
Kool lesson.. very informative. Just wanted to mention regarding finger vibrato.. you CAN indeed flatten the pitch with what we call a prebend. Bend the note before you pick then pick.. now you can use your fingers to sharpen AND flatten the original struck note. Not sure if you're not aware of this technique or just not considering it. Either way food for thought.
Keep rockin.. love the channel 🤘
Great lesson! Vibrato for me has taken a very long time to master, and this level of analysis great to see. Thanks!
Well you *could* do a flat vibrato on a fretless guitar but I consider fretless guitar to be basically a separate instrument with exceedingly few electric players that even attempt to commonly use a fretless.
Also you can make it feel as a flat vibrato if you pre-bend up to the intended, in-scale note then start the vibrato but this so rare I almost never see players do this
Yea, I think it’s rare because it’s a bit impractical to think of vibrato that way. It’s hard to process and pull off while playing but anything with enough practice can become automatic if it’s a crucial part of one’s style/sound!
@@andrefludd I actually do that all the time, though I'm going both below and above the note with my vibrato to be more free floating and vocal/violin/slide guitar like.
Every time you release tuition, I become more eager to afford your course.
Great lesson, thank you!
This is an excellent video; thank you for going into so much fine detail.
Thanks for watching!
This a wonderful video! I appreciate how in depth you explained and demonstrated! Have a magnificent weekend!!🎸🎸🎸👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Thank you!
Great lesson. Thanks
I rather stupidly sold my BBK tab book which essentially the transcription of the previously released video instruction. It was a gold mine!
BB King is one my favorite Blues guitar player amongst Albert King & Albert Collins 💙 🎸
You can vibrato pitch up and down if you use longitudinal vibrato rather than transverse vibrato... even with fretted instruments. Classical guitarists do this all the time, and it can be done with any guitar. It is subtle, but the pitch does indeed go down.
Michael, concerning the discussion about the possibility of actually lowering the initial pitch of a fretted note via longitudinal finger vibrato alone. I went to your channel yesterday, watched your video on the subject, and I admit there may be something counterintuitive yet true going on with the subtle phenomenon you described. I just went to your channel to watch the video again hoping to explore this further during my guitar practice today and found it's not available to view. Is there a problem?
@@markpell8979 you removed your comment, so felt it fair that I removed my video link. I can give it to you again for you to save. It is not very counter intuitive… strings have elastic properties, and if you can stretch a string you can compress it. Lateral bends and vibrato stretch the string and thus increase the tension, and therefore pitch the note up. Longitudinal vibrato can compress the string on one side of the fret position, and can pitch the note down. Classical players use this vibrato all the time because their strings have greater elasticity and the effect is much more obvious than on steel strings. But being quick to say something is impossible and then referencing an emperical subject like physics as supportive is not the best ploy, when experiment can save you some time and teach you a lot. Then an appeal to authority (especially that of others) and finally excoriation on questioning a teacher was pushing it. Any teacher looks forward to questions, and does not need others to defend their teaching for them. Thus I was irritated. Have you tried my suggested experiment with your tuner?
@@michael-varney-music Yes I have. I now think increasing the finger pressure and therefore the string tension immediately behind the fret, especially with rapid cycling of the vibrato, has a momentary effect of reducing the tension on the actively vibrating segment of the string between the fretted note and the bridge, which briefly wavers the pitch downward. A corollary of that might be that fret height is also a factor and taller frets (or a scalloped fretboard?) might enhance the effect. I've given you a fair listen and adjusted my own opinions about the subject as a result. As I said, call it a win. It's worth noting that Andre is a solid believer that there's no way to lower the pitch of a fretted note with linear vibrato, which was also my belief. His degree is in music and he certainly plays better than me but I won't presume to speak for you. Maybe he'll have a further look at this and change his mind, at least a little bit. Maybe not. Whatever, this debate has been stimulating and I've learned from it and enjoyed it, so thanks.
@@markpell8979 to enhance the effect use three fingers one behind the other on adjacent frets and play a note and press towards the bridge with all three fingers. You won’t have to rapidly vibrate, forwards and backwards, you can just push towards the bridge and hear the dive down.
@@michael-varney-music Yeah I was starting to mess with that a little. Thanks. Will keep in touch on your channel, thanks also to André for putting up with us. Peace!
I got to see BB in concert at Orchestra Hall in Mpls., MN. He was awesome! I am curious about you, Dr. Andre. I.e., your accent is interesting. It sounds kind of European, like Swiss, for example. Out of curiosity, may I ask where you were born and raised? Thank you kindly.
Hey Doc Fludd! Is it possible to get your hands on a Brain May Red Special guitar? The tremolo is supposed to be novel and they allege it is "perfect." Moreover it is made by the guy who played the guitar for Queen, theres a huge guitar nerd following, etc. The thing about the Red Special is that the reviews of it seem rather shilly and uncomprehensive.
Nobody told me either. I just paid close attention to it and studied the hell out of it.
This is cool and all but how you gonna put that sweet strat with the numbered frets up and no ID. 😂😂😂 just kidding, but for real what guitar is that?
It’s a Carvin holdsworth with stickers on it haha
@@andrefludd ❤️ ❤️ I watch you all the time especially when you were talking about working in NYC (born and raised) and all the travel time. I subscribe and watch all your stuff.