Bending with vibrato

Bending with vibrato really makes a note sing. There is a little different hand motion involved, and the sound is created in a little different way.

Vibrato on a unbent note is created by playing a note, and then bending the pitch up slightly and then letting it back down.

Vibrato on a bend note is created by bending up to a pitch, then releasing down, and going back up to the same pitch.

It is important when playing bends with vibrato to keep bending back up to the same pitch after releasing. If not, the ear dose not perceive it as a note with vibrato, but just an uneven warble.

Bad Bending with vibrato (60K) get realplayer

Note: When bending with your 3rd finger, like in the videos below, support that bend with your 2nd finger as well. This will give you much more strength and stability in your bend and vibrato.

Bending (60K) get realplayer

View From Above (62K) get realplayer

Another Above View (51K) get realplayer

One thing that you may notice when bending with vibrato, is and undesirable sound coming from the strings lower (in sound) than the string you are bending. What is happening is that your finger is crashing against those strings and causing them to make a sound. This is minimized by using your 1st finger to very lightly touch the strings right below the note you are bending.

The Crash (73K) get realplayer

The Crash Minimized (90K) get realplayer

Page 4, vibrato on the 1st string

Page 6, vibrato speed and width