Is your vibrato twitchy, weak and out of tune? Then let me give you a few things that can help.
First of all, in order to do vibrato well you need to understand what vibrato is.
Vibrato is a small, repeating bend that bends to the same pitch, releases to the same pitch and pulses at the same rhythm.
You need to get each one of these factors right in order for your vibrato to sound good.
First of all, your vibrato needs to bend to the same pitch each time. It’s up to you how much bend you apply to your vibrato but the average vibrato bends to about 1/4 of a tone.
If you prefer a wide, Zakk Wylde style vibrato – feel free to bend more.
What ever the amount you choose to bend your vibrato, you need to bend it to that same pitch each time. Otherwise it’s going to sound out of tune and uncontrolled.
Next you need to make sure you release your vibrato to the same pitch each time, this will be the natural note you applied vibrato too.
If you don’t release your vibrato to the same pitch each time, it’s going to sound out of tune.
Last, but not least – you need to make sure the repeating pulses of your bends and release are done at a consistent rhythm.
Otherwise your vibrato is going to sound like it speeds up and slows down rapidly which is not what good vibrato does.