How This Small Change Gives BIG Improvment In Your Playing (Please Read!) :)

[Jak Angelescu]

Hey guys and dolls!
I’m on lunch break going through the riffs section (again) and I see so many players that have great melody, good licks, and so much more. But as I’m enjoying a marvelous solo of either beautiful passes or high-octane, teeth-grinding shred, there is ONE thing that I’m finding that is killing students’ solos faster than giving up..
And that’s the vibrato.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do NOT be offended by this! I only mean to make it a general point out of love for everyone on here. But time after time again I am so impressed by people ranging from complete beginners all the way to shred masters and they ALL tend to make the same mistake, and that’s leaving out and impressive vibrato.
Think about it this way. What is the difference between a violin and a guitar? They both tend to take leads in a song composition, so what’s the difference?
We hear a violin play simple quarter notes slowly and we think it’s the most beautiful piece ever written.
We hear a guitar playing quarter notes slowly and it sounds flat, boring, and “inexperienced”.
We are so use to hearing a violin sounding good with simple notes and movement, yet we are lead to hear that the only time a guitar sounds good is if it’s going fast.
Why is this? It’s because a violinist is NOTORIOUS for adding a strong, soothing vibrato even in simple phrases, and THAT is what makes the difference.
Syn has gotten on to me NUMEROUS times about adding a stronger vibrato in my playing. And oftentimes when I’m improvising I forget to because I’m so focused on note choices and “what am I going to do next?” So after many times of him pointing it out to me, I realized how much impact it can have on my playing.
Slow down, get the vibrato through STRONGLY, because that’s what’s going to make people say, “Damn, even though this person is playing slowly, it’s so beautiful it’s moving me to tears.” You don’t have to play constantly or fast to improvise. I actually read a student’s description of his video saying, “No shred, sorry ” and it kind of made me feel sad that us guitarists feel we HAVE to shred in order to be considered good. And his notes he used in his improv were great, but he missed the vibrato.
Please work on your vibrato! It’s the same song and dance I leave on many riff videos and I’m sure people are getting tired of me saying it. Get a good wrist turn and get that string to move! When I was practicing Hail To The King slowly, Syn almost completely vibratos to a different note in some spots because it’s so strong. And it sounds SUPER impressive sounding even on the easier parts of the solo.
Separate yourself from the crowd and get that vibrato to shine! I see and witness SOOO many amazing things in the riffs section, and it would completely blow my mind to see the guitarist who posted the video to add the attitude or greater feel with a stronger vibrato. Believe me, it’ll take you to the next level and really make you a pro for sure!
Great work everyone! Hope you all have fun this weekend!

 

[Sayonil Mitra]

So true. I have started working on it more seriously after Syn and you pointed that out in some of my videos. You have almost said everything needed. I will just add one more thing. There have been many posts on this forum about how to add feel to solos. Vibratos are the CHEATCODES to that. Seriously, I have used “cheatcodes” because it is so damn powerful, it can even make inexperienced players like me sound professional and a skilled player. Also, on live shows, when a guitarist goes wild on vibratos, people go nuts. So practice it people. It is really NOT difficult to do the simple ones at least. But it will change your playing A LOT, A LOT. You will be amazed yourself. Human ear easily gets bored on flat static sound, be it noise or purely musical instrument. So either shred all the way to make changes in the notes (which is also boring after a point of time), or Vibrate it like Syn===Best?? Combine both.
A side note: My mom is not a fan of Rock/Metal music at all, does not know who A7X are etc. But whenever I play the solo from Seize The Day, She literally comes to me and tells me to STOP IT!! Because it makes her SAD.

 

[Ed Seith]

Just today, I watched a video interview with Paul Gilbert and he discusses this in depth. He refers to EVH always being “vibrato-ready” no matter where he lands, and how important that is.
It’s an hour long, but an hour with Paul Gilbert flies by. You can always get a sense of his enthusiasm and love for all things musical and guitar, and it’s infectious.

 

[Syn Gates]

I couldn’t agree more Jak and great insight Ed and Sayonil! I always loved Dime’s philosophy of vibrato and how you could land on a bad note and with a little more of an aggressive vibrato, it would sound good! Totally true!

 

[idssdi]

You are soo right. I always look at it this way if there is one technique you want to master it’s vibrato. Because frankly whichever style of music you want to play you won’t sound good unless your vibrato is good. I’m saying it is easy to master it but is pretty fundamental to your feel and stuff like that. So please everyone listen to Jak on this(or check out the video ofor Paul Gilbert Ed shared) because she is absolutely right!

 

[Guest]

Yes you nailed it jak I see a lot of people not using vibrato which its very important to everyone including myself, about a year ago I found out that my playing was lifeless with out vibrato I made a solo and it had no vibrato and I said to myself how about I had some vibrato it gave the solo a whole new sound and I enjoyed how much feel it had. And about the shredding I feel sometimes if I don’t shred I’m not good because I can’t play as fast as someone like syn or John petrucci or Steve Vai or Paul Gilbert, then I watch David Gilmour and I hear how much feel the solo or melody has and it sounds awesome I rather have a rememable melody or solo then have a fast shredding solo while that’s cool and I’m not saying John petrucci Steve Vai all those guys can’t make a rememable solo because they have done it many times I’m saying shredding is not always the best approach to a song solo etc. I have tried to make shredding solos but I can’t do it I’m more of a melody guy anyways so that’s how I approach it, and vibrato is a great way to express feel. Great topic Jak!

 

[Jak Angelescu]

These are all great words! Lachlan I would like to actually tell you that some of my favorite Gates solos are the ones where he shreds the least. The 2nd solo to the stage as just the most amazing solo ever written. And it’s not nearly as shreddy as the 1st half. I also love Fermi paradox’s solo. And absolute YES to David Gilmour!

 

[Guest]

Yeah like how I was talking about syn and everyone else with the shredding and soulful guitar solos, hail to the king is a an great example too it has a lot of feel and shedding parts which I’m currently learning thanks to you

 

[idssdi]

I forgot to mention a solo. Which I feel is a pretty good example. It’s the solo in estranged(in the video Slash is standing on water when he’s doing this one) and slash can shred like crazy but that solo is probably my favourite slash solo and it’s pure melody and feel. It gives me goosebumps everytime.

 

[Chris Johnston]

I totally agree with this. Like you said Jak, even if the mechanics/technique of a solo are correct, it can still really lack in feel if the notes are played just straight. It’s something I’m continually trying to improve on/stay aware of.
Totally agree with Syn aswell on the wrong note example, if you play with conviction, most listeners will asume it was intentional
It’s like in Jazz improv, if you play somethig wrong, repeat what you did with conviction and make it an ‘outside’ type idea