 I've had a few people recently asked me how to use a whammy bar. So today I'm going to show you a few whammy bar do's and don'ts. For this lesson you will need two hands, a guitar with a whammy bar, a pick, an amp, one kilogram of Dutch butterflies. So first of all this might seem a little bit obvious if you've been playing a tariff for a while. But if you haven't been playing for a while this won't seem obvious. The way you use a whammy bar is not by moving it around like this. The way you use it is push this down so that the tip of the bar gets closer to the strings. And what you'll see is the back of your bridge will lift up as you push that down. So with that in mind let's look at some techniques. So the first thing I would say about using a whammy bar is it is also a part of your instrument. So you want to make it musical. Don't just use it to make loads of noise. I mean you can do if you want to but you can also use it to make music. So here's an example. So this is the start of wiki game by Chris Wier. Okay so notice that I bend it down to a certain pitch. I don't just go. Okay so it's very easy just to move it but you want to train your ear so that you're moving it in tones or semi tones. So play a note. And then try and bend to Okay try and bend down to that pitch. Some way you can also lift up. So likewise try and use it to play actual notes rather than just throwing it around. So another way of using the whammy bar as well as being musical is dive bottom. Okay so you're literally diving it all the way down. Okay and a good one is to use is diving it down. And then hitting another note. And then coming back up. Okay so what I'm doing that is just playing a different note on the fretboard. Another use of wiki bar is to create rhythmic pulses. So what I'm doing there. If you've got a beat. Okay and you're using a bar in time with the beat. Whammy bar dives and harmonics wheels. So we're going to play a harmonic here. Just above the third fret of the G string. So don't push it down literally just put your finger on the fret or above the fret on the string. But don't push it down that you normally would. Literally instead of pushing it down we're going to press. Just going to play it and then lift off. So what we're going to do now we're going to dive the bar down. Okay and then we're going to pick that harmonic. And then let the bar back up. And then if it's a bar that can lift as well as dive then you dive it and then lift it at the same time. So one more time we're going to dive and we're going to pick that harmonic when it's at the bar. And then lift it at the same time. Okay so that's another technique. Here's another technique. So what I've done there is I've taken that down a tone. And then from there I've seen down a tone. So that will be the same note as we're playing here. And then I've released the bar and it's back up to the same pitch. Okay. Another thing we've got which sounds really cool is a pre-dive. So we're going to play a B minor chord here. Okay. We're going to bend the bar down before we play it. And then we're going to let the release the bar. Okay this works on single notes. Okay but it sounds really good on chords as well. So again when we do there you bend the bar or you push the bar down, play the chord. And then lift it up. So you can use the bar as an actual part of your riff. So all I'm doing there is when I hit that open power chord, I'm just giving it a little. And then again watch this white hand here. So another technique is to do the dive and release. Okay so all I'm doing there is I'm hammering from five on the B string to eight on the B string. And then I'm just pushing the bar down and releasing it. Another cool trick I learnt years ago is how to make your task sound like an elephant. Okay so the way you do that is you pick a harmonic on the 12th fret. You tend to guitar volume all the way off. Pick a harmonic on 12 on the E string, 7 on the B string and 5 on the G string and let them all ring out. Then dive the bar while the volume is still off and then you bring it up again. And then turn the volume up at the same time. So I'll show you that one more time. Okay so you're going to dive the bar, pick the strings. And then let the volume up as you let the bar come back up. You can use your whammy bar to make a chorus type effect. Okay so all I'm doing there is just vibrating it really fast. And then using my left hand just to pick or not pick just the hammer. And don't forget to use it subtly because it is a part of your instrument. So here are some things you shouldn't do with your whammy bar. Number one, don't use it to pick your nose. Fingers are much better. Number two, don't use it to clean out your ears, cotton buds and much better. Number three, if you're a dentist don't take it out and use it as a tool. Your tools are much better.