The whammy bar has many names: the tremolo bar, tremolo arm, vibrato bar, and twang bar. But in this article I will refer to it as the “whammy bar”. The whammy bar is a tool guitar players use to make a vibrato sort of sound on their guitar. The whammy bar has many uses, you need to simply use your imagination when it comes to it though. The whammy bar is located on the bridge (where the strings tuck in at the bottom of the guitar). If you don’t have whammy bar in and think you can use one, usually there is a hole of some sort on the bottom of the bridge. If you don’t have this, I don’t think you are able to use a whammy bar.
In order to use the whammy bar in an effective way hit one note, then take the whammy bar and press it down towards the guitar (not too hard) with the whammy bar pointing towards the head stock. You’ll notice that the sound of the note gets deeper. I think it’s especially effective when using the whammy bar on one note rather than a whole chord. This makes your solos more effective and makes them more unique as well.
You can use it for a chord as well though. For example, strum a G-Major chord and press the whammy bar down lightly. If you press the whammy bar down slowly, it gives it a nice melodical effect if you do it right. For chords I suggest doing it slower since it may get a little messy when using a compilation of notes (chords). Once again, when pressing down on the whammy bar, make sure the whammy bar is pointing towards the head stock.
As you have noticed I have said to point the whammy bar towards the head stock when you are applying pressure onto the whammy bar. Now we are going to try something a little different. Play a chord or a note and take the whammy bar, point it towards the bottom of the guitar and press down, not too hard. The pitch of the chord/note goes up, unlike before when the pitch lowered. A nice technique to do with this is to start by pressing the whammy bar down pointed towards the head stock, then turn the whammy bar in circle repeatedly to make the pitch variate.
Pushing the whammy bar down with it facing towards the bottom of the guitar during a solo is an excellent idea on high notes. If you’re playing and you get to lower notes in a solo (like on the A or D string), and you hold a note, I suggest making the pitch lower momentarily and variate that rather than making the pitch higher.
Another thing to do is use the whammy bar during harmonics/pinch harmonics (which I will write seperate how-to articles for). When you use harmonics and then use the whammy bar it sounds nice and soothing. Harmonics generally sound very nice, so adding in this nice whammy bar addition to play tricks with the pitch is a nice touch. Using the whammy bar during pinch harmonics makes solos stand out more, especially in metal songs where they use a lot of pinch harmonics generally.
A lot of players have used the whammy bar over time. Some of these players include Jimi Hendrix, Dimebag Darrell, Steve Vai, Eddie Van Halen, and so many more. If you would like to know how the whammy bar sounds, I suggest listening to some of these talented artists, you will really notice how it makes their solo’s and music in general more unique.
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