Bar God - how to limbo lo-pro style

[RSVampire]

I wasn't sure if I should post this here or what...oh well...moderators, move if you like. I would like to know what "bar exercises" to do, to become a nice bar handler.

[Rich]

First off to become a nice bar handler you should be nice to your bar. Gently stoking it, fondling it, until you build it up to a frenzied finalle of hard pumping Vai killer tricks that leave you exhausted, spent, and a little wet in the drawers

Ahhh, who could resist!

[Kevan]

Sad...truly sad. *A grown man acting like that....:biggrin:

I love my bar (not like Rich described), but I love it for a different reason- I'm a hack and I need every little bit of help I can get! *Nothing like a bar to hide hacking! *:-)

Try this on for starters: *Hit an open string. *Practice diving your bar to certain notes (down a whole step, 2 setps, 3.5 steps, etc.). *It'll help in training your ears a little too.

Next, and this one comes from SSV himself: *Practice I-IV-V's with the bar. *I use an open string to start, but lately I've been working on fretted notes too. *Dive down to the IV, then down to the V, then back to the IV then back to the I. *When you get the I-IV-V down pat, work on other progressions. *(Sure Kev...I'll be piloting the Space Shuttle next week too...LOL) * This one is HARD, but keep at it. *

Lastly, and I think this one is most important: *Smoothness. *Spend a whole day/night diving and pulling up. *Get a good feel for your trem- how it acts, and re-acts to your touch, where your bar lays, etc.

Now go get your VH albums and play along with Ed! *:-)

[Rich]

What's most important is getting a feel for how to use it musically. The tendency of first time tremmers, and I was one before, is to use the bar 95% of the time. This is actually good, it'll show how redundant overuse is

To use it more musically start with the swell which is letting the bar rise to the note. The smaller the swell the more subtle the effect, but you can do mind welding too. Same thing with pulling up a note instead of bending it, it's got a different tone. There's always flutter to learn and pure mind meld pyrotechnical jackhammering and they all have their place, it's all up to what you want to say :biggrin:

Learn to pick with the bar in your hand and not effect tune. Keep it in your hand the whole time until you can. When you can control picking without effecting the tune then you can manipulate the tune precisely when you want to. Like Kev said, it's all feel, and I feel my bar nightly (and sometimes when I first wake up in the morning!)

[jay ratkowski]

I like my bar, it amuses me. *It amuses my girlfriend too. *She is sad that she doesn't have one.

And before you get the wrong idea, she has a samick strat with no whammy bar. *;-) *(that is what we're talking about here, right?)

I'm kinda with Kevan here, I could use the extra help. *Plus, no matter how sophisticated we all try to act, we are all subject to amusement by the most simple things. *Well, I'm no different, hitting the bar on my guitar and hearing it go "boing" is fun. *On top of that, it's an easy way to impress novices and get hot chicks... well, maybe if your name is Kirk.

[jem7vwh]

I personally don't like the bar at all and don't use mine, but when I was a kid, I used to play pentatonic scales and flutter each note so it sounded like an oriental instrument.

[RSVampire]

I'm getting that "raise to the note" thingy down a little bit...divin down is a tad tough...and I still have NO clue how to flutter or hold the bar and pick with no tone deviation.

[Rich]

You can float it in your palm and bridge over it (or I can, my bar's bent pretty level [with a little hook to the left]) or rest your 3 free fingers on it, ultimately you want to be able to have it be anywhere on your hand and be comfortable and not pushing it out of tune. And you don't need to swell every note, use it more like you would a wah, unless you wah every note For flutter point the bar towards the rearstrap button. Pick any note G string or higher (wait, I have to fondle my bar) the higher the note the more you'll hear it. With a strong note take your thumb, pinky, whatever, and push the tip of the bar down 1/4 - 3/8" and let it slide off. Practice that until you get the depth of flutter you want.

[Rabin]

Rich on 7:00 am on Mar. 13, 2002
First off to become a nice bar handler you should be nice to your bar. Gently stoking it, fondling it, until you build it up to a frenzied finalle of hard pumping Vai killer tricks that leave you exhausted, spent, and a little wet in the drawers

Ahhh, who could resist!

LOL are you sure you were talking about about the same "bar"?? And remember if you play too much with it you'll grow blind!!
But hey, I like playing with my bar too!

[Rockstar]

You know what I hate about that silly bar? When I'm jumping around and it spins round and round and I get my hand wedged in between the bar and the strings. OUCH!!!! *Awful! Awful! Awful!
Try the solo to "We're not gonna take it" by Twisted Sister. Simple bar stuff in that one. And don't jump around with that thing swinging around, you might hurt yourself

[7 Dying Trees]

Bars are fun, especially when mixed with harmonics (natural or pinched) :biggrin:

Just slack all the strings, mute the low string you don't want sounding with your thumb rested across them, and the high strings with your remaining fingers. Then with the bar still depressed hit a harmonic (say 5th fret g-string) and return the bar to pitch, or just raise it untill it can be raised no further for some excellent screams . Just make sure the whole thing is smooth, and that no muted strings ring out. Once you've nailed that (it's pretty easy) try two harmonics on different strings (preferably different fret positions) and repeat.

Another one which is fun to get is to slide your finger up the fretboard while simultaniously depressing the bar smotthly to keep the pitch constant (so it seems like you are sliding from the same not to the same note). Then repeat raising the bar and sliing down. The guy who taught me that called it "choking the frog", which is a kind of cool name for it.

[sniperfrommars1]

Pete Townshend told a story once on letterman about when he was doing his windmill stuff and rammed his bar right through the middle of his hand. OUCH. Anwyas with bar technique I agree with rich. If you cant use it in a song dont use it at all. I typically only use it anymore if its a note I cant hit, Basically I never use it for subtle stuff its just not useful for that, High pull ups, and divebombs and some flutter, but typically not vibrato that makes me lazy anyways.