VIBRATO

History. At first all violins, fiedels, viols and violas used strings wound from animal gut,
which make a soft sound (and could smell bad in the summer!). These strings were hand
spun, in the same manner as they made yarn and therefore were not uniform in thickness
and density throughout. This meant that their vibration wasnt uniform, either, and the
pitch actually fluctuated as you played it! (So much for good intonation)
As instrumentalists began to play in larger halls it became important that they be able to
play louder. Luckily this was about the same time as they were learning how to use metal
to wind around the strings, which made them play louder and hold a pitch better.
Eventually all steel strings completely corrected the imperfections of the original gut
strings (and they smelled a lot better!).
Only problem was that the more steel they used the more specific the pitch and timbre
and they lost the softness that made the instruments sound pretty!
People began fattening up the pitches of long notes, in particular, by rolling their fingers
to vary the pitch! This was the beginning of vibrato.
Modern Vibrato. Vibrato is still the fattening of a pitch by rolling the finger to vary the
pitch. Good vibrato flattens the pitch and then returns to it, in a rhythmic manner than
always begins and ends with the pitch itself. The lower the pitch or the slower the note,
the wider and slower the vibrato. Like shifting, where the movement of the arm brings the
hand and fingers up to a certain position, the arm or wrist create the finger motion that is
vibrato.
Arm vibrato ~ is from the German school of string technique. You literally pull the arm
back and allow it to return to position, dragging the hand back and rolling the finger.
Larger people, violists and people playing loud, intense or high position passages most
often use arm vibrato.
This teacher is against prolonged use of arm vibrato for most players because the pushing
of the arm back to position can make you vibrate up and sound sharp. Because it is easy
to tire with this vibrato, it can get out of rhythm easily (and sound warbilly). But, most
important can lead to tendenitous! Death to a violinist!
Wrist vibrato ~ is from the Russian school of string technique. It is the most difficult to
learn and takes flexibility rather than strength but this teacher feels that it is worth the
greater effort to learn it because it carries none of the dangers of arm vibrato!
Cello/Bass Vibrato ~ cellists and bassists play in a position very condusive to easy vibrato
and they can learn it in minutes! They actually roll their hand back and forth to vibrate.

Vibrato, continued. Page 2 of 3 pages

Learning vibrato. This can not be taught on paper. But I can give you a beginning
understanding:
First, you must be comfortable shifting and playing into the V position.
You may want to do each step of these excersizes first with your Violin or Viola on your
knee ~ where the motion is freer and you can see what you'e doing. Using a mirror is a
must in learning vibrato, also.
Shift your hand into V position, so that your fingers are over the shoulder of the instrument
and the base of your thumb is against the rib. Place your second finger (your strongest
finger) on the D or A string anyplace that is comfortable (no stretching). Now pretend to
clean the string by running your finger back and allowing it to come back to its original
position.
Do this with the first and third fingers, as well on every string.
Now, try to hold the finger down, in place and repeat the cleaning motion. If your hand is
arched over the body of the fiddle for freedom and the base of your thumb is against
the rib for security you should be doing a large, slow vibrato. If you play it it will
sound like a sick cat.
Now you need to do this with all the fingers on all the strings, in various increasingly fast
rhythms until you develop the strength to keep it going smoothly.

Using Doris Gazdas Ball Method

This is particularly good for students who are having a difficult time with the above
method.
Balance a small, harder rubber ball between your two middle strings. Place your thumb on
the neck, directly under the ball and put your second and third, or second and first, or just
second finger on the ball (whatever works for you). Try to roll the ball back into your
pegbox! Allow it to roll back forward and repeat the process.
This has the advantage of allowing you to keep the base of your thumb away from the
instrument. But, after beginning with this you probably will want to return to the original
method of learning vibrato.
Once you have conquered the motion you must try to apply it in orchestra and practice to
half and longer notes before you try to use it on quarter notes.

Vibrato, continued. Page 3 of 3 pages

People are often surprised that it takes time to build up the strength to have an even,
smooth and continuous vibrato. And, when you have reached vibrating it may not sound
right to you it may sound too slow because of the way and time you have taken to get
this far!
Be patient! It takes PRACTICE. There are NO shortcuts with this. You must put in the
time! But, you WILL get this if you put in consistent effort.
Vibrato Exercise