How to start developing vibrato on the violin
Just starting out with vibrato? Here’s a gentle, step-by-step guide to getting the motion, setting up your left hand, and adding it to your playing with patience.
10/21/20264 min read
Vibrato is one of the most expressive tools we have as string players. If you are just starting out with it, this post walks through what vibrato is, the two main types, and some simple exercises to help you build the motion gently and sensibly. (If you already have an established vibrato, there are different exercises for developing and enhancing it, which I will cover another time.)
A good vibrato can take quite a while to develop, so patience is the name of the game.
What is vibrato?
The word comes from the Latin for "shaken", and that is exactly what it is: a slight wavering of the pitch, used on a voice or an instrument to intensify and enhance the tone. Used well, it is beautiful. It helps with phrasing, interpretation and the storytelling in our playing. Even once you have a vibrato, using it intentionally is a continuous process.
Types of vibrato
There are two main types of vibrato we aim to use on the violin:
Wrist vibrato, where the movement comes mainly from the wrist.
Forearm vibrato, where more of the forearm moves along with the wrist.
There is also finger vibrato, but very few violinists can use it effectively. It is difficult, not really necessary for our technique, and not something I use or teach.
Personally, I mainly use forearm vibrato, with a little wrist at times. Which one you lean towards depends on how you play and how you have developed, so I would encourage you to try both and see which feels most natural and works best for you.
Exercise 1: Getting the motion
First of all, we need to get used to the motion of the wrist and forearm rocking backwards and forwards.
A simple way to begin is with a small egg shaker, or anything that will sit in the palm of your hand. Hold up your left arm as if you were holding your violin in front of you, and rock your wrist backwards and forwards, bringing in a little forearm too.
Start rhythmically and slowly: one and two and, one and two and.
Speed up: one two three four, one two three four.
Then go as fast as you can, and you will start to get that vibrato action.
It may feel strange at first, and your arm may well get tired. That is completely normal, and it is a really good place to start.
Exercise 2: How the fingers sit
The second thing to think about is how your fingers sit on the fingerboard. They need to hold the pitch of the note while you rock backwards and forwards.
For this one you can use something like a harmonica case, a table or even a ruler. Place your left-hand fingers on it so they sit up like little hammers, almost as if they are hanging, which is how they will be on your fingerboard. Apply some downward pressure and rock backwards and forwards. You might like to try two fingers at a time.
Notice that the fingers are staying in the same place while the hand rocks. Try it with your thumb gently placed, then with it away. You will feel that you do not really need the thumb to do this. Practice this until you are comfortable with the feeling of the fingers rocking but staying put.
Always vibrate down first
This is the most important tip in the whole post. When you start the vibrato action, rock backwards first, so down in pitch rather than up. If you start by moving upwards, you can change the pitch of the note far too much. Always vibrate down first is motion to learn.
Your left hand position
On the violin, we start to see why a specific left-hand position matters.
When I am first teaching students, I ask them to keep their thumb and first finger in contact with the neck. Once you start to vibrate, there needs to be a small gap or feeling of relaxation between the first finger and the neck so the hand is free to move. Try feeling the difference between the finger when it is still and when you vibrate.
The thumb should stay quite loosely in place on the neck. Do not squeeze the neck when you are learning vibrato, as it will make everything very tense. You are aiming for a relaxed motion.
Putting it on the violin
Once you have the fingers on the fingerboard, start with fingers two and three, which are usually the easiest to develop. Fingers one and four are generally the most difficult to establish.
Here is how I suggest building it into your practice:
Play long open strings as part of your warm-up.
Do the two prop exercises above to get the rocking motion and the feel of the fingers.
Put the third finger down and hold the pitch first, then begin to vibrate.
Try the same with the second finger, and then the first.
Do not repeat these too many times in one go. Little and often is best, and you will slowly find the vibrato begins to develop.
Adding vibrato to your pieces
When you are ready, begin adding vibrato to your repertoire. A good place to start is the end of a phrase or section, where you have a long note and time to think about adding it deliberately.
Try to add it everywhere at first. Vibrato should be an intentional enhancement of your playing. Sometimes it creeps in at the wrong places and disrupts the pitch, or appears because we are not quite sure where the note should be, and that is not helpful. Being able to play without vibrato is an important tool both for practice and stylistically for some repertoire.
In summary
Vibrato takes a while to develop, so be patient, even if the exercises do not feel very helpful at first.
Keep working on the feeling of the wrist and forearm rocking backwards and forwards, and of the fingers rocking on the string.
Always vibrate down in pitch first.
Try it in simple phrases and on long notes.
I hope you found this helpful, and good luck with developing your vibrato! If you would like to see the exercises in action, you can watch the full video on my YouTube channel, and please do subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7ivlF2Pf5A&t=1s