Learn Spanish Guitar Vibrato

When learning different styles on guitar it often involves learning new techniques or simply adjusting how you already do something. For the purposes of this article we’ll take closer look at learning Spanish guitar vibrato and how performing it is different from what you may be used to especially if you are coming from electric guitar.

There’s an increasing trend for guitarists to learn different styles of guitar playing as this is now known to improve your over all ability and scope on guitar. Even if you are principally concerned with playing Blues for example, there’s no harm in learning Spanish guitar through some easy pieces or even some things about Jazz or Classical harmony… they will all go into making you a richer and more musically educated guitarist. Remember that great musicians have broad horizons.

A Spanish guitar vibrato is performed principally from the wrist with stiff fingers just as on electric guitar however it’s the direction of the vibrato which is different. Normally in rock or blues we try to get a wide and even osculation in the sound through moving the string up and down vertically, it’s as though they were miniature bends on the string however it’s done so quickly that it creates a constant and pleasing wave pattern in the sound.

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To learn Spanish guitar vibrato however requires that you change your vibrato motion from vertical to horizontal. This creates a more sensitive and refined vibrato effect which is much more suited to the nylon strings and fit’s the flamenco music associated with Spanish guitar much better.

It can take a little practice to get used to this horizontal vibrato at first however once you gain control over the movement you’ll find yourself naturally doing it as you play through your guitar pieces. It can be easy to create this movement too quickly with your fingers which results in a tin like vibrato which is not so pleasing. One of the things most guitarists need to practice when learning Spanish guitar vibrato is to slow the rate of their wrist movement down so that they can create an even and slow variation in the sound. This is particularly important when playing ballads.

It’s also important to stay within the fret while performing the vibrato meaning that even though you are doing a horizontal movement you finger is still anchored in its position within the fret. The action comes from your arm all the way down to your wrist and into rigid fingers. You can practice varying the rate of your vibrato too and even use a metronome to practice rocking the vibrato in time to a click track at various speeds and tempos. For more instruction please see the video section where you’ll learn Spanish guitar vibratos through close up camera shots and commentary.