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For the very last day of my month of scales, I’m finishing a two-day look at vibrato. Yesterday I focused on vibrato width. Today I’m focusing on vibrato speed. Together, these are the two main variables that every great violinist works with (along with other more subtle factors).
If you want to keep it relatively simple, you can do a slow scale with vibrato and just examine what’s going on with the speed of your vib. But I chose to connect speed to crescendos and diminuendos to give more focus and purpose to the changes in speed. I even did a version using only vibrato speed to make the cresc/dim – no change in the bow. It takes some careful control, but it definitely works!
Why do this one?
Vibrato is the soul of your playing. It conveys the emotion of your music better than any other single factor, and it’s a huge part of what makes your sound unique. The more you understand about your vibrato, and the more precisely you can control it, the more purely and convincingly the emotional heart of your music-making will come across.
The Details
Do your scale or arpeggio in a slow tempo; give yourself time to observe what’s going on with each note’s vibrato. I did half-notes at about 50 bpm. For an extra challenge, and to develop better control, try to keep the width of your vibrato unaffected by changes to the speed. Some possibilities for exploring vib speed (from simplest to trickiest):
Start with an even pass through the scale (no intentional cresc/dim). Try to keep the dynamic even, with the same vibrato speed and width throughout. Think of this as a warmup to what comes next, or as a baseline for the experiments that follow ... or make this your simple, straightforward examination of vib speed, and be done. :)
Make a crescendo as you ascend the scale, leading the shape by increasing your vibrato speed. Each note gets vibrato that’s ever so slightly faster than the note before. Then make a diminuendo as you descend, similarly leading the shape by decreasing the speed of your vibrato. Support the shapes with your bow, adding or reducing bow intensity as your vib speed increases or decreases.
>> For the ultimate in control of vib speed, you can think of the number of vib cycles per quarter note (two, three, ... up to six or eight)
Flip the shape: similar to 2., but make a diminuendo as you ascend and a crescendo as you descend.
Repeat 2. and 3., but make the shapes only by changing your vibrato speed. Keep your bow the same throughout. (Yes, it really does work!)
⚠️ With the enhanced focus on vibrato, there’s a danger of that focus turning into increased tension, tightness, or squeezing. These are all enemies of good vibrato. Check frequently to make sure you’re using relaxed technique, and doing only as much muscular work as necessary – but no more. Or check out ”Vibrato Exercise 3: Finger Release” and this post on thumb tension for more detail.
If you’ve tried today’s scales, I’d love to know what your experience was like! Just post a comment below.
Do this in any key, with your usual fingerings.
tomorrow:
I’m a violinist and private teacher in the Chicago area, and in a previous musical life I was in a professional string quartet. Teaching violin and chamber music are dear to my heart. Send me a note or leave a comment on a post — I’d love to hear from you.
If you’ve tried today’s scales, I’d love to know what your experience was like! Just post a comment below.