whammy bar
Guitar vibrato lever
A whammy bar is a lever attached to an electric guitar's bridge that allows the player to bend the pitch of notes by changing string tension.
Pushing or pulling the bar creates vibrato, dive-bomb effects, or dramatic pitch shifts: He pulled the whammy bar for that screaming solo.
Also called a tremolo arm or vibrato bar.
Steep aerial attack descent
- flutterRapid light movement
- vibratoOscillating pitch effect
- pitch bendContinuous note frequency alteration
- harmonicsFrequencies above the fundamental
sustain · shred · legato · tapping · scoop · dip · gargle · squeal
- Jimi Hendrix
- Jeff BeckEnglish electric guitar innovator
- Steve Vai
- David Gilmour
Famous American electric guitar
- IbanezJapanese guitar company
- electric guitarAmplified stringed instrument
- floating bridgeRoadway buoyed by floats
- pickupsOpen-bed work vehicles
Structure spanning an obstacle
- pivotPoint of rotation
- springsCoils, sources, or leaps
- saddleMounted rider's seat
- locking nutSelf-securing threaded fastener
string tension · intonation · setup · action · routing · knife edge · baseplate
Loud guitar-driven genre
- heavy metalAggressive amplified rock genre
- shredTorn fragment
- progressive rockComplex, extended rock music
- glam metalFlashy hard rock subgenre
grunge · surf rock · psychedelic · hair metal
dive bomb
Steep aerial attack descent
- flutterRapid light movement
- vibratoOscillating pitch effect
- pitch bendContinuous note frequency alteration
harmonics · sustain · shred · legato · tapping · scoop · dip · gargle · squeal · detune
Eddie Van Halen
- Jimi Hendrix
- Jeff BeckEnglish electric guitar innovator
- Steve Vai
Fender Stratocaster
Famous American electric guitar
- IbanezJapanese guitar company
- electric guitarAmplified stringed instrument
- floating bridgeRoadway buoyed by floats
bridge
Structure spanning an obstacle
locking nut · string tension · intonation · setup · action · routing · knife edge · baseplate
hard rock
Loud guitar-driven genre
- heavy metalAggressive amplified rock genre
- shredTorn fragment
- progressive rockComplex, extended rock music
glam metal · grunge · surf rock · psychedelic · hair metal
- Guitarelectric guitar, acoustic guitar, classical guitar, guitar string, guitar strap
- music gearguitar, amplifiers, piano, amps, keyboard
- instrument accessoriespicks, guitar picks, pick, plectrum, flatpick
- playing techniquespicking, arpeggiated, fingerpicking, spiccato, block chords
- Tremolo Systemsfloating bridge, locking nut, knife edge, pivot point, pivot points
- pitch techniquespitch bend, bend, vibrato, glissando, portamento
whammy bartuning peg
Knob controlling string tension
machine head · tuner · nut · fret