VIBRATO RATE – TOO SLOW VS. TOO FAST

Structure and Function

VIBRATO RATE – TOO SLOW VS. TOO FAST

Voices that consistently use too much weight often develop a very slow vibrato, or wobble.

Singers who use excessive vocal cord and throat tension often have a fast bleating sound, which is called by the Italian word tremolo.

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Vibrato adds richness, warmth, stability, and power to the tone. It is an essential element of good singing. Vibrato should be introduced as soon as sustained tones can be sung with good vocal production. Vibrato is often the favorable result of a well-balanced voice; however, sometimes it is necessary to encourage vibrato production. The following methods will give a student the experience of vibrato; ultimately, the neuromuscular system will take over and the vibrato will occur more naturally.

Be aware of tension building up in the student’s throat; in creating vibrato, the teacher should not allow extrinsic muscular action to occur. As the voice becomes better balanced, the singer will sometimes naturally start to use vibrato, particularly if he or she has had good vibrato modeling from the teacher. Therefore, emphasis should be placed on balancing the voice first.

1) A “false” vibrato can often be encouraged by rapidly pulsing on the area just below the sternum as the student sings a sustained [i] vowel in a comfortable range. This allows the student to experience vibrato without having to “make it happen”. Alternate between exercises sung with the teacher providing pulses, and exercises sung without teacher assistance. Then ask the student to place their fingertips in the same area and pulse rapidly when singing a sustained pitch.

2) Ask the student to oscillate the pitch up and back a minor second on an “Edgy mmm”. Then ask the student to do the same on an “[i]” or an “[u]”. The closed vowel will provide release for a student whose Tends To (tendency towards) is

“pull chest”. If the student’s Tends To is “no chest” (refer to Chapter 6), you may want to try tool combinations that provide more air resistance and cord closure, such as wide vowels and hard consonants. Your two primary objectives should always be good cord closure and a low, stable larynx.

“A relaxed vibrato should exist whenever you dwell on a note, or sustain. It is a natural function of a

free voice.” Seth Riggs

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3) The student will sing a lip trill followed by a straight tone on a closed vowel such as [i] or [u] with the teacher pulsing on the area just below the sternum to facilitate vibrato. The pulse rate should approximate the correct vibrato pulse rate of 4.5-6.5 pulses per second. Next, alternate the “tummy pulse” with the student attempting to initiate the vibrato on their own.

4) 5-tone scales on F[i] or F[u] are effective because they create release due to the narrow vowel. G[i] is also effective because the hard consonant establishes cord closure. Again, use the “tummy pulse” and start this scale in the student’s chest register, sustaining with vibrato on the top note.

5) The “Car Start” exercise is an exaggerated form of good vibrato and may be helpful in getting the student to experience the feeling of vibrato; use the [i] vowel and make the sound of a car trying to start with an almost dead battery: ee-ee-ee. Start slowly and increase speed.

6) To correct an overly fast “bleating” vibrato (tremolo), or its opposite, the slow

“wobble”, have the student sing a straight tone. Once that is accomplished, you can “trick” them into feeling a more correct vibrato by manually pulsing the area below the sternum at the rate of about 5-7 pulses per second.

7) Teacher modeling: demonstration followed by student imitation is effective in teaching vibrato. Students often learn “aurally”, that is, by listening to the sound and imitating it. Start by demonstrating vibrato on a whole note (four counts).

Have the student imitate you. Extend to eight counts, and then move on to exercises with sustain, such as the “repeater with sustain” and “octave down 3x”

exercise. Sing phrases of music with vibrato and have the student imitate you.

(If you cannot model good vibrato, consider working more often with a higher-level SLS teacher on your own voice).

8) Shaking a fist or both fists in the air creates a temporary pulse as they hold a straight tone. Alternate this with attempting to initiate the vibrato on their own.

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1 The larynx is made up of: _______________ __ __ . 2 Phonation is created when the vocal cords _________ _ . 3 The sound wave is modified by ..

4 Laryngeal trauma can be a result of _______________ . 5 What is Titze’s opinion regarding the requirements for optimal vocal production?

6 Speech Level Singing does not necessarily refer to singing exactly as you speak. Why?

7 When we breathe, the cords open or . 8 When we speak or sing, the vocal cords . 9 What occurs when the cords are adducted too much?

10 A breathy voice is the result of too little .

11 Although we can only see vocal cord function from above, we are reasonably sure that the cords require less to sing high notes because they are functioning with less .

12 Why is it not necessary to focus primarily on breathing techniques with our students? What is a more effective approach?

13 What happens if we blast too much air against the cords?

14 Why is volume not our first priority as teachers? What is more important?

15 What is the definition of volume, as stated in the manual?

16 What is vibrato? Should every singer have it?

17 What does Seth say about vibrato?

18 An overly fast, “bleating” vocal sound is called . 19 A vibrato that is too slow is called a and may be the result of

too much _________________________ . 20 True or False: Vibrato just happens: some have it, and some never will.

21 Vibrato is often the natural result of a voice.

22 Name three techniques that will encourage vibrato in a student.

23 If you are not able to demonstrate and model good vibrato, you should:

a. Avoid teaching vibrato and hope they get it on their own.

b. Tell the student they should have a natural vibrato if they are talented.

c. Study with a higher level SLS teacher than you are, and work daily on your own vocal technique.

d. Limit the student’s repertoire to songs with no sustained notes in them.

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In document SLS Manual (Page 36-41)