SavageRiffer
Banned
New member
I've been into watching a lot of youtube players lately. There are so many talented players on the net that it's dizzying. However, I've noticed a few common annoyances. There are guys who otherwise play with fantastic technique, timing, and phrasing, but they hit a vibrato and it sounds like shit. How the fuck does someone get their technique down so well and be so musically gifted only to ruin it all with shitty vibratos and bending?
Then there are those Eric Clapton dudes who think the vibrato is everything. I'll concede that Clapton had a great vibrato, but unless you're some weirdo, you're not going to sit around waiting for that part of a solo where he hits a minute long vibrato. Oh yeah, and those guys who are like "Fuck you! Paul Kossoff had the greatest vibrato in the world." fucking baffle me. I'll concede that I've heard Kossoff do some tasty shit, but how the hell do they figure his unsteady vibrato was somehow the greatest? Funny thing is most of those dudes like to bash Yngwie who AT LEAST has an even, well-timed vibrato and actually bends to pitch.
On the other end of the spectrum are the gifted jazz players who do that damned left-right sliding vibrato thing that essentially sounds like no vibrato at all. They sit there wiggling their finger side to side and nothing happens to the stinking note. Some of those dues do like that exaggerated Greg Howe thing where they slide wildly left and right until they figure out what they're going to play next. I fucking hate that. Very few jazz/fusion guitarists actually use it as an interesting effect. Most of the time it's like a filler. You keep thinking "when is that guy going to click on some fucking distortion?" Then they never do. They just keep playing with some monotone overdrive that they don't even kick in until halfway through the song... eh, well I digress...
Another type are the dudes who have to vibrato every damned note they land on are annoying too. Joe Satriani did an interview where he talked about just sustaining notes and not trying to always hit a vibrato. That was a really good point he made. Satch is a dude who has great taste even if you don't like his style of music. Now there's a dude with a variety of vibrato tehniques and never sounds ill-timed or unsteady.
Lastly, I'll rag on those slop players who pretty much hit and miss a bunch of fast notes and then stop on a vibrato as if they just did something cool. Some dudes actually pick all the notes, but all they do is stop at a vibrato. There's no phrasing to it, just a bunch of "doodlie, doodlie, doodlie, dit, itldoo, itldoo, itldoo, ewee ewee ewee ewee ewee..." phrases running up and down and up and down and landing a vibrato, and again, and again.
I'm no one to bash anyone's technique, but in the least, players should have a vibrato that's in tempo and doesn't go out of pitch (unless tastefully like EVH or something). Players should at least have a couple of different vibratos too. Some guys use the same fucking vibrato on everything.
Hmmf, well that's my rant for tonight. What are your thoughts on the whole vibrato thing?
Then there are those Eric Clapton dudes who think the vibrato is everything. I'll concede that Clapton had a great vibrato, but unless you're some weirdo, you're not going to sit around waiting for that part of a solo where he hits a minute long vibrato. Oh yeah, and those guys who are like "Fuck you! Paul Kossoff had the greatest vibrato in the world." fucking baffle me. I'll concede that I've heard Kossoff do some tasty shit, but how the hell do they figure his unsteady vibrato was somehow the greatest? Funny thing is most of those dudes like to bash Yngwie who AT LEAST has an even, well-timed vibrato and actually bends to pitch.
On the other end of the spectrum are the gifted jazz players who do that damned left-right sliding vibrato thing that essentially sounds like no vibrato at all. They sit there wiggling their finger side to side and nothing happens to the stinking note. Some of those dues do like that exaggerated Greg Howe thing where they slide wildly left and right until they figure out what they're going to play next. I fucking hate that. Very few jazz/fusion guitarists actually use it as an interesting effect. Most of the time it's like a filler. You keep thinking "when is that guy going to click on some fucking distortion?" Then they never do. They just keep playing with some monotone overdrive that they don't even kick in until halfway through the song... eh, well I digress...
Another type are the dudes who have to vibrato every damned note they land on are annoying too. Joe Satriani did an interview where he talked about just sustaining notes and not trying to always hit a vibrato. That was a really good point he made. Satch is a dude who has great taste even if you don't like his style of music. Now there's a dude with a variety of vibrato tehniques and never sounds ill-timed or unsteady.
Lastly, I'll rag on those slop players who pretty much hit and miss a bunch of fast notes and then stop on a vibrato as if they just did something cool. Some dudes actually pick all the notes, but all they do is stop at a vibrato. There's no phrasing to it, just a bunch of "doodlie, doodlie, doodlie, dit, itldoo, itldoo, itldoo, ewee ewee ewee ewee ewee..." phrases running up and down and up and down and landing a vibrato, and again, and again.
I'm no one to bash anyone's technique, but in the least, players should have a vibrato that's in tempo and doesn't go out of pitch (unless tastefully like EVH or something). Players should at least have a couple of different vibratos too. Some guys use the same fucking vibrato on everything.
Hmmf, well that's my rant for tonight. What are your thoughts on the whole vibrato thing?
