The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    In my young jazz career as I transcribe solos I can't help but notice the absence of vibrato, particularly in traditional jazz guitar.

    Coming from a rock, pop, and blues background, where you can't survive without several varieties of vibrato, I find myself still struggling to restrain my vibrato. I mean, I get it, a big wide vibrato seems really out of place in jazz, but come on, no vibrato at all? Where the note just dies flat? Is that really the tradition? It still tweaks my ear to hear a phrase end and there is absolutely no movement while the note drops off a cliff.

    I'm really trying to develop my taste for it but it's difficult to swallow.

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    I'm sure peeps will chime in with examples of players that use vibrato, as well as bends or even distortion, but others will tell you that the arch top, clean, warm, vibrato-less tone is the sound that has evolved to be what it is. And like all kinds of evolution, it's random..... I agree that is odd that it has turned out this way, especially given that since Charlie Christian we envy the horn player's range of expression, which includes extreme glisses, bends, shakes, vibrato, growls, flutter toungeing etc etc. But I suppose no champion came along to change the rules significantly enough, so techniques like the above mentioned remind us more of the Blues or Rock genres, for better or for worse...

    If a player comes along one day that turns the jazz guitar world on it's head, bends, whammy, etc , and captures the imagination of all the young up and coming players, then these things will start to sound "right" to everyone..... maybe....

  4. #3

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    If it doesn't link to the time, try 1:26. Nice, subtle vibrato. Wes's whole solo here is a masterclass in playing with superb taste and restraint IMO.
    Last edited by jckoto3; 04-04-2014 at 09:38 AM.

  5. #4

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    Jim Hall used a Whammy pedal to create odd interval sounds.

  6. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by jalapeno
    Jim Hall used a Whammy pedal to create odd interval sounds.
    Jim "Buckethead" Hall?

  7. #6

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    Ted Greene had an almost constant vibrato.


  8. #7

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    Thanks jckoto3, that's nice. I feel another transcription is in order. That is beautiful.

  9. #8

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    Check out great Belgian guitarist Philip Catherine, he plays with a lot of vibrato. Sometimes a little too much IMHO.

  10. #9

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    He's certainly not traditional, but Bill Frisell uses vibrato, among many other effects (especially loop effects), to great purpose, e.g.,

  11. #10

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    Do your own thing. If vibrato is part of your playing, include it.

  12. #11
    To me the lack of vibrato is what I like the least about jazz guitar. Guitar has so much more life with vibrato than without. I grew up as a classical violinist and can't understand why there isn't much vibrato in jazz guitar. it's all over the place with the horn players. Look forward to more in this thread.

  13. #12

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    How about Benson?

    Vibrato gets used a ton these days. It's pretty rare to hear anyone that doesn't use it, at all.

  14. #13

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    There are different types of guitar vibrato. I think straight ahead jazz guitarists more often use the subtler kind, where you either waggle finger(s) towards the bridge and back or shake the whole guitar, rather the blues/rock one where you move the string up and down vertically on the fretboard.

    You can see Tim Lerch doing this at the start of this video:


  15. #14

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    I like a slow vib
    I don't like the rapid vib thing

    its just taste though , and there's no accounting for it

    but vib it deffo not taboo ...

  16. #15

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    vibrato is part of the guitar tradition. George Barnes and George Benson both use quite a bit of vibrato as do many jazz guitarists.

  17. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by manleyman123
    To me the lack of vibrato is what I like the least about jazz guitar. Guitar has so much more life with vibrato than without. I grew up as a classical violinist and can't understand why there isn't much vibrato in jazz guitar. it's all over the place with the horn players. Look forward to more in this thread.
    Interesting. One thing that turns me off about string instruments in classical music is the overuse (to my ear) of vibrato, it comes off to me as a trick to mimic intensity.

    I think in jazz guitar one reason why vibrato is not used a whole lot (in say a clean archtop setting) is that the decay is quick. But some archtop jazz guitar players, especially those that have a great sound, do use a slow vibrato to sustain notes. Peter Bernstein is a good example, eg here he uses a slow vibrato on long notes, sometimes just bends a note as it dies to squeeze some more out of it

    Last edited by pkirk; 04-04-2014 at 07:24 PM.

  18. #17

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    Yeah agree with the above comments that subtle vibrato in jazz guitar is quite commonplace. As for incorporating a blues/strat/clapton/carlton/etc. vibrato into straight ahead jazz guitar playing - I think one of the reasons it's not done that much is when playing standards you often don't get a lot of time to sustain a note before the harmony changes and you need to switch to another arpeggio/scale. I really dig Bill Frisell, but his approach isn't that applicable to bop tempos and changes - I think he intentionally chooses slower tempos and songs with more open chord progressions so he can really hold those notes and make them sing out. My2c

  19. #18

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    Some great responses, thank you.

    I agree that the modern players seem to use it with some regularity. It seems, as it has been suggested, that in some styles there is barely any room for it as in the clip of Wes above but you can definitely hear it very subtly in a couple of places.

    The relatively rapid decay of an arch top probably contributes as pkirk suggests. It's just not a factor.

    except for melody work you rarely hear the boppers hold notes longer than a quarter note. And silence itself seems to be very much a part of the phrasing characteristics of jazz soloing. Which is a major difference from rock or blues where you have these long notes held out and tied to the next note or phrase.

    Then you have Santana known for lots of sustain with some of the most subtle vibrato ever. I mean he would hold a note pure and clean for a minute yet it wouldn't sound flat.

    Im digging the subtle vibrato thing but sometimes I wonder if I've ruined my ears with vibrato and I can't tolerate a held note allowed to decay unembellished...

  20. #19

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    Btw....this is one of my favorite clips of Jim Hall. The subtlest, slowest, most beautiful vibrato on the planet..



  21. #20

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    Quote Originally Posted by Michael Kaye
    Btw....this is one of my favorite clips of Jim Hall. The subtlest, slowest, most beautiful vibrato on the planet..


    The "subtlest, slowest" . . everything "on the planet".

  22. #21

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    Django uses quite a lot of vibrato and bending - even though he's playing over chord changes, a lot of the gypsy jazz repertoire has more space between chord changes than bop/straight ahead. And the GJ guitars are strung with lighter gauge strings as well.

  23. #22

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    Maccaferri notes dies even quicker than on archtops though ..... Django was more about bends

  24. #23

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    I've listened to some George Barnes now. He really has a pretty unique vibrato and does a lot of bends and trills too.

  25. #24

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    I never realised that Jimmy Raney uses subtle vibrato constantly until those videos of him started appearing on youtube. It's not that obvious when you just listen to the recordings, but I suspect it contributes something to his sound.

  26. #25

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    Also check out Jim Mullen, he uses quite a lot of vibrato.