Six Strings
In this section: Techniques
Techniques

Whammy bar

A lever attached to the bridge slackens or tightens all the strings at once: push it down and the note drops; let it go and it comes back up. Use it to make a held note waver, or to send it diving.

Notation
w/bar above the tab
Hand
Picking hand
Difficulty
Intermediate
Style
Rock, surf, metal

Listen

     w/bar      w/bar
e|---------------|
B|------5--------|
G|-7-7~---7-5----|
D|------------7~-|
A|---------------|
E|---------------|

What it’s for

The whammy bar is a lever screwed into the bridge of some electric guitars. When you push it toward the body, the strings slacken and the note drops; when you let go, springs pull the bridge back and the note returns. In small movements, it makes the note waver, wider and slower than finger vibrato. All the way down, it makes the note dive.

Hank Marvin, with the Shadows, used it to make his instrumental melodies sing. Jimi Hendrix used it to make notes scream and fall, Jeff Beck to shape them like a voice. And in 1980s hard rock, Eddie Van Halen and Steve Vai pushed it to the most extreme dives. Fender calls it a “tremolo,” but it really is a vibrato: the pitch changes, not the volume.

How to do it

The example at the top of the page: the D on the G string, 7th fret, first straight, then with the bar.

  1. Put the bar within reach: screw it or push it into the bridge, and swing it around so it sits under your picking hand, near where you pick.
  2. Play the note with the pick, and keep your fretting finger pressed down firmly: the bar moves the pitch, not your finger.
  3. Hook the bar with your pinky and ring finger, or cradle it in your palm, while you keep the pick between your thumb and index finger.
  4. Push it down gently, then release, in a steady rhythm: the note dips a hair and comes back. For vibrato, the movement is just a few millimeters.
  5. Let it return all the way to rest at the end of the note, without letting go abruptly: the bar should settle back, and the note should be back in tune.

In tab, w/bar above the note marks the bar. Here, the note also gets a wavy line, 7~, for the waver. Elsewhere you’ll often see a curve or a number telling you how far the note drops: −1 for a whole step, −½ for a half step.

Examples

The example at the top of the page plays the same D twice: straight, then with the bar. Then a short A minor phrase settles on an A, with the bar.

At the intermediate level, an E minor melody with a clean tone, in the style of 1960s instrumental bands. The bar only comes in on the two long notes, the B and then the E.

         w/bar        w/bar
e|---------------------|
B|---------------------|
G|-------4~------------|
D|---5-7----7-5-4-5----|
A|-7----------------7~-|
E|---------------------|

At the advanced level, a rock phrase in A minor at the 12th fret, with a distorted tone. A quick dip on every long note, in rhythm, then one last held note. You have to grab the bar, push it and release it without missing a single pick stroke.

   w/bar      w/bar      w/bar      w/bar                  w/bar
e|-----------12~------------------------12-15-12-----------|
B|-15~-13-15-----15-13-----------13~-15----------15-13-----|
G|---------------------14~-12-14-----------------------14~-|
D|---------------------------------------------------------|
A|---------------------------------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------------------------------|

Licks

A surf lick in E minor with a clean tone: a melody on the low E string alone, with the bar on the B, then on the open E. Add lots of reverb and you’re on a California beach.

Loop it in the Studio →
           w/bar        w/bar
e|-----------------------|
B|-----------------------|
G|-----------------------|
D|-----------------------|
A|-----------------------|
E|-0-0-3-5-7~-8-7-5-3-0~-|

A rock lick in E minor with a distorted tone: the open-position pentatonic, run down from the high E to the low E, and a dip on the last note.

Loop it in the Studio →
                         w/bar
e|-3-0----------------------|
B|-----3-0------------------|
G|---------2-0--------------|
D|-------------2-0----------|
A|-----------------2-0------|
E|---------------------3-0~-|

A country lick in G major with a clean tone: a run down, a small waver on the B, and a climb back up that lands on the open G. The bar stays subtle, like on a guitar fitted with a Bigsby.

Loop it in the Studio →
               w/bar        w/bar
e|-3-0-----------------------|
B|-----3-0-----0~------------|
G|---------2-0------------0~-|
D|------------------0-2-4----|
A|----------------2----------|
E|---------------------------|

Practice routine

Set your metronome to 60 bpm, on the G string at the 7th fret.

  1. One waver per beat: push on the click, release before the next one. Small and even.
  2. Two, then three wavers per beat, without letting them get deeper.
  3. Check your tuning: play the note without the bar, then with it, then without it again. On a tuner, the note should come right back to pitch.
  4. The intermediate example at 70 bpm, then up to 107, its full tempo.
  5. The advanced example at 100 bpm, then up to 150: every dip lands on a long note, never in between.

Common mistakes

Your guitar goes out of tune after every dip? The strings are catching somewhere, often at the nut. A little pencil graphite in the nut slots and well-stretched strings help a lot. On a locking bridge (Floyd Rose), make sure the locks are tight.

Your vibrato sounds seasick? Too wide, too slow. For a waver, a few millimeters is plenty. Save the big moves for dives.

Other strings start meowing? The bar works on every string at once: anything still ringing dives too. Mute the strings you’re not playing with the edge of your picking hand and the free fingers of your fretting hand.

You lose the beat as soon as you grab the bar? It’s too far from your hand. Swing it around so it falls under your pinky without changing your picking position.

Variations

  • The dive. On a held note, push the bar all the way down, slowly, then bring it back up. On a 5th- or 7th-fret natural harmonic, or on a pinch harmonic, it’s the great hard rock classic.
  • The scoop. Push the bar down before you pick, pick, then release: the note slides up into pitch, like a slide.
  • Pulling up. On a floating bridge, which can also tilt the other way, you pull the bar up, away from the body: the note rises, like a bend.
  • On a chord. A light waver on a held chord makes it shimmer: lovely with a clean tone and some reverb.
  • The flutter. On a floating bridge, flick the end of the bar and it vibrates on its own: the note gargles.

Acoustic or electric

On electric guitar, it all depends on the bridge. A Stratocaster-style vibrato handles fine wavers and medium dives. The Bigsby, found on many rockabilly and country guitars, stays soft and singing. The locking Floyd Rose takes the deepest dives without going out of tune. And a fixed-bridge guitar, like most Les Pauls, has no bar at all.

On acoustic guitar, there’s no bar. To make a note waver, use finger vibrato, or a small released bend.

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