A Beginner's Guide to Violin Vibrato

I started playing the violin when I was 7, and about a year and a half later, I performed the Boccherini Minuet from Suzuki Book 2 at a Ribbon Festival in Houston, Texas. The goal of this festival was to give us an opportunity to perform and get feedback on our playing. All of my comments said something along the lines of "it's time to start vibrato!" My teacher had been trying to convince me to start learning vibrato, but I was very adamant that I didn't want to because vibrato is hard! After this festival, I reluctantly agreed to give it a try and started on a long, challenging journey.

I think that many students have the opposite problem that I did-they want to start vibrato too early! Vibrato is a very important technique that adds a layer of beauty and depth to pieces, but it is not the most important aspect of violin playing by any means. Before starting vibrato, I strongly suggest that students have a solid foundation of posture, tone, intonation, and shifting.

Things to master before vibrato

Posture

Before starting vibrato, I believe students must exhibit a proper, relaxed bow hold and proper violin posture. Improper posture and positioning will only lead to problems and potentially injury down the line, so it's vital to master proper violin posture before even thinking about violin vibrato.

Tone

While vibrato does make your playing more beautiful, it cannot make up for a bad sound. In addition to a flexible bow hold, students must be able to bow straight, have minimal "noisy neighbors" during string crossings, and create a pleasing (not scratchy) sound. Students should also be comfortable playing in all parts of the bow.

Intonation

Before starting vibrato, students must have accurate intonation. This doesn't mean that all of your notes are in tune 100% of the time (I don't think anyone's are, except for maybe Hilary Hahn!), but it means that most of your notes are in tune and you can quickly adjust when they aren't. Your left hand shape will change when using vibrato, so it's important to have a good grasp on intonation beforehand.

Shifting

This is a personal preference, but I teach shifting before vibrato. Since shifting expands the amount of notes you can play, it also expands the amount of pieces you can play. Although vibrato does make your pieces more beautiful, it doesn't allow you to play any different or more challenging pieces.

Please do not rush into vibrato before you're ready. On average, students should expect to start vibrato between 1-2 years of playing.

Vibrato basics

There are two types of vibrato: arm vibrato and wrist vibrato. Finger vibrato isn't really a "thing" for violinists. I believe that one of the two types will come more naturally to you, and that's the type you should focus on learning first. When I was first learning vibrato, my teacher was trying to teach me wrist vibrato. Turns out, arm vibrato comes more naturally to me, and once I focused on that, it finally clicked! I suggest that violin beginners try both, figure out which one comes easier to them, and stick with that one. There may be a very slight difference in sound between the two, but it's negligible; and unless you are a professional level violinist, you don't need to worry about which one (arm or wrist) works best for a particular sound. It does not matter which one you use, so pick the one that's easiest for you to start.

Vibrato is a backwards motion. This means that when using vibrato, your finger should start on the correct pitch and then move backwards, or lower than that pitch. Our ears naturally pick up the highest sounding notes, so if your finger goes over the pitch when using vibrato, your notes will sound out of tune. No matter which type of vibrato you use, your finger should roll from the tip to the pad.

When using vibrato, the points of contact in your hand change from 3 to 2. Up until this point, you have been touching the violin in the following three spots: your thumb, the inside of your first (index) finger, and whatever finger you were pressing down. When using vibrato, you are no longer going to touch the instrument on the inside of your first finger. Creating a bit of "air space" here frees up your hand to move when using vibrato. Additionally, you may find it easier and/or more comfortable to also move your thumb more underneath the instrument to give you a bit more support.

A word of caution for wrist vibrato

One of the biggest mistakes I see when students are using wrist vibrato is moving the wrist back and forth. The wrist should not move; rather it should act as a hinge for the rest of the hand to move. To help understand and solidify this movement, I suggest first practicing wrist vibrato in 4th or 5th position. Here, your palm and wrist will be against the side of the instrument, preventing any superfluous movement.

Pizza exercise

The very first vibrato exercise I use to teach my students the movement and help with vibrato speed is one I call the pizza exercise. There are four steps to this exercise, and I suggest first practicing it without the bow to solely focus on the vibrato movement, and then adding the bow back in later.

Step 1: quarter notes. Start on the pitch and move your hand with each click.

Step 2: eighth notes. Start on the pitch and move your hand twice per click.

Step 3: sixteenth notes. Start on the pitch and move your hand four times per click.

Step 4: as fast as you can. Move your hand as fast as you can.

Once you can perform this exercise with all four fingers on all four strings, congratulations, you can do vibrato! It may take a few weeks or months to learn the movement, but years to master. Do not discouraged, as long as you stay the course, you'll get there :)

Check out my violin vibrato playlist for more vibrato tips and exercises!