To Thread - Forum Home

The Mudcat Café TM
https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=159273
10 messages

Violin Vibrato Tips

16 Feb 16 - 11:32 PM (#3773276)
Subject: Violin Vibrato Tips
From: LilyFestre

Over the years, I have tried to play vibrato on my violin but have never had any success. My hand and wrist are too tight. I'd try and give up...try again later and give up again. I've started watching some YouTube videos about how to do this and I wondered if anyone here had any tips that they might share?

Thanks so much,

Michelle


17 Feb 16 - 12:47 AM (#3773277)
Subject: RE: Violin Vibrato Tips
From: GUEST,#

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BENXYt2c10

See if anything there is useful to you, Michelle.


17 Feb 16 - 03:06 AM (#3773283)
Subject: RE: Violin Vibrato Tips
From: Backwoodsman

This might help...??


17 Feb 16 - 04:48 AM (#3773291)
Subject: RE: Violin Vibrato Tips
From: GUEST,Henry piper of Ottery

If your in the England, don't bother !! most traditional English style fiddling used little or no vibrato !!


17 Feb 16 - 08:16 AM (#3773314)
Subject: RE: Violin Vibrato Tips
From: Doug Chadwick

If your in the England, don't bother !! most traditional English style fiddling used little or no vibrato !!

I'm in England and we play an eclectic mixture of traditional styles at the sessions I go to. There are several delightful waltzes and slow airs that benefit from the judicious use of vibrato. My vibrato technique is such that I normally switch from the fiddle to the mandolin when we play those tunes. Just because I can get away without vibrato for most of the time, is no reason why I shouldn't stretch my technique to include something that adds warmth and colour when used at the right time.

DC


17 Feb 16 - 10:29 AM (#3773328)
Subject: RE: Violin Vibrato Tips
From: Backwoodsman

I've frequently heard Fiddler's using finger-vibrato at the (mostly Lincs/North Lincs) sessions I've played at.


17 Feb 16 - 11:27 AM (#3773344)
Subject: RE: Violin Vibrato Tips
From: Jeri

You don't need a violin to practice, and it really does help in learning the motion and how to relax the parts of the hand that need to be relaxed.


17 Feb 16 - 01:37 PM (#3773370)
Subject: RE: Violin Vibrato Tips
From: GUEST,Henry Piper of Ottery

Please don't misunderstand me! I was not implying that you should NOT use vibrato, but rather pointing out that most traditional English Fiddlers, used little or no vibrato, so you should not feel guilty or inadequate if you don't.
I appreciate that many modern fiddle players have been more formally trained than historical fiddlers such as "Jinky" Wells or Charles Benfield or the various Baldwins, from Gloucestershire and the Welsh borders, and it is not surprising that they make more use of vibrato than the fiddlers of years gone by.


17 Feb 16 - 01:41 PM (#3773371)
Subject: RE: Violin Vibrato Tips
From: Doug Chadwick

One of the problems I had when I first tried adding vibrato was that, as I was gripping the fiddle too tightly, I was moving the whole instrument back and forth rather than rocking the finger on the fingerboard. A tip I picked up at a workshop was to stand close to and facing a wall. With the scroll resting against the wall, the fiddle is trapped (gently) between the chin and the wall, keeping it still. Well adjusted chin and shoulder rests will support the fiddle and allow the left hand to be more relaxed.

Even after following these tips, vibrato is still a technique I am having to work on.

DC


17 Feb 16 - 01:51 PM (#3773375)
Subject: RE: Violin Vibrato Tips
From: Backwoodsman

It's a difficult technique on the guitar too - the 'backwards/forwards' technique barely works because the positions of the frets are fixed, so it's more an 'up & down' motion, which takes some serious getting used to. Clapton describes it as 'shaking hands with the neck'.