Vibrato

"Vibrato - A tremulous or pulsating effect
produced in an instrumental or vocal tone
by minute and rapid variations in pitch..."

This technique (literally "shaking" in Italian) is used as an integral part of classical guitar technique to express more emotion in a passage or passages of music. It is the "swelling" of a note by oscillating a finger which results in a slight variation of the note pitch.

To play vibrato on classical guitar it is best to use a lateral or sideways motion rather than a vertical or up and down movement.

The sideways movement is much easier to control whereas the vertical movement can be easily subject to too much string bending, making the note sound more like it belongs to Blues guitar than classical guitar.

When I say sideways or lateral movement I mean from the nut to the bridge. The tip of the finger stays in position on the note and the thumb pinched against the neck behind the finger helps you to "squeeze" more out of the note, minutely altering the pitch.

Most guitar experts like Fred Noad, Anthony Glise and David Braid all agree that the student should practice on the strings from 2-6 and from the 5th to 7th fret upwards.

It is much easier to perform in these positions rather than on the first string towards the nut.

It really needs to be used sparingly as its overuse can make your performance somewhat distasteful and garish...

Leopold Mozart, writing about the overuse of vibrato on violin way back in 1756 said…

"Performers there are who tremble consistently on each note as if they had palsy."

It still holds true today and you would be well advised to heed the old saying "less is more".

Here is a picture from David Braid's excellent book on classical guitar which shows the correct way to perform vibrato. Notice the arrow which depicts the movement of the fingers in a lateral way...

In contrast to what Leopold said above here's a little video showing how to play this technique a little more than needed.

Because if you can "over-do" it in terms of dynamics then you'll have the "range" to be able to "squeeze" more out of this technique when required. Here's what I mean...

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Don't be afraid to "up the ante" sometimes in practice. You'll notice, especially when you're nervous, that your dynamics often "fall away" and you're left with a pretty flat performance. Just a tip to keep in mind

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I hope this has been of use.

Good luck!

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