Vibrato technique

The way a player varies pitch slightly and rhythmically on a held note, produced by the fretting hand or by a tremolo bridge.

On the fretting hand it is made by rotating the wrist so the string's tension rises and falls, and the quality of a player's vibrato is one of the most recognisable parts of their sound: fast and narrow, slow and wide, or uneven and delaying until the note is about to fade. Some players do it with the fingers alone, which gives a narrower, more controlled result. Whichever method is used, the depth and rate should be consistent within a phrase.

Example: a slow, wide vibrato held at the end of a bend is what makes a single note sound vocal rather than static.

Vibrato technique

See also