Reduce tension and finger effort, while adding more dimension to your vibrato sound.

You can do this exercise with or without the bow. You might find it easier without, so you can focus on your left hand motion. Or you might really dig the warped sound this one makes when you do it slowly with the bow.

1. Start with your favorite finger on your favorite string (usually 2 or 3 on the A string is a good place to start).

2. Slowly roll the finger back onto the pad, and at the same time release most of the finger pressure so you’re barely stopping the string. (The finger should still be in contact with the string, but probably not pressing it all the way down to the finger board.) If you’re using the bow, at this point you should hear either a scratchy/static-like sound or a harmonic (if your finger happens to be over one of the natural harmonic spots on the string).

3. Slowly roll the finger forward onto the tip while gradually resuming your normal amount of finger pressure.

4. Repeat this cycle (steps 2 & 3) S-L-O-W-L-Y until the motion starts to feel comfortable (or at least not completely strange).

5. Gradually speed up this motion, always staying aware of the release at the bottom of the motion, and the return at the top of the motion.

Advanced violinists (or adventurous violinists at any level):

Repeat daily, ideally for at least a week. You might find that each day it feels a little more natural, and your top speed is a little closer to real vibrato speed. Just keep your emphasis on making the correct motions, not on attaining a certain speed. If you do that patiently, you WILL eventually reach full vibrato speed.

If you’ve tried this out, leave a comment below to let me know how it went!