Vibrato

Vibrato is a musical effect that adds warmth and expressiveness to the sound of string instruments. Here is a brief overview of the different types of vibrato, their mechanics, and some tips for developing and using vibrato effectively in your playing.

The vibrato is an extremely important expression technique for string instruments. Generally we recognize 3 types of vibrato:
1. Arm vibrato (in Russian it is called elbow vibrato)
2. Wrist vibrato
3. Finger vibrato.

The naming comes from the part of the arm that gives an impulse to vibrato, but to master vibrato it is important to understand and learn all 3 types.

On viola, finger vibrato is not too common, in my opinion, due to the wrist angle adjusted closer to the neck of the instrument, for a more comfortable mechanics of the 4th finger. Still, finger vibrato is possible for slower cantilena passages or long notes.

I am not an expert on finger vibrato, but as I understand correctly, the impulse of the motion can come from the proximal phalanx, as well as the distal joint, and flexibility between different parts of the finger allow the rolling (and/or sliding) of the tip of the finger as in other types of vibrato.

Logically, if the angle of the finger relative to the string is more perpendicular, that motion would not be very useful, so on viola I think the usability of finger vibrato would be even more limited to the first and second finger. However, practicing the mechanics of finger vibrato can be used to develop better flexibility in fingers necessary for other types of vibrato.

The wrist and arm vibrato are more common, and it is important to have both and be able to combine or switch from one to another depending on the character of music.

When I studied with Yuri Maschenko, he had a system of developing vibrato almost identical to this video by Ray Chen. You can clearly see that when demonstrating the “result” vibrato on real excerpts, Ray shifts more towards the arm vibrato, rather than demonstrating the pure form of a wrist vibrato.

The goal is to develop the “vocabulary” of vibrato, with different degrees of flexibility in the wrist, impulse origin, and degrees of flexibility of the fingers. The speed and the amplitude of vibrato are other characteristics that are changing depending on the musical context.

Few more things to remember:

1. 4th finger vibrato, especially on viola, sometimes requires lighter pressure of the finger on the string for a possibility of a slight sliding of the finger on the string, as the pad of the finger is usually considerably smaller than that of other fingers. That sensation also can be used for a vibrato on artificial harmonics.
2. 1st (also 2nd if necessary) finger vibrato in slower melodic passages can be improved by supporting the neck of the instrument just with the thumb and removing any other contact point. That way the motion can have a bigger amplitude, more relaxed, and also not “hitting” the top of the curve of the vibration.
3. “Hitting” the top of the vibrato curve is another problem that we should try to avoid \- the smooth oscillation, even at faster speed and in tense or aggressive character of music, still sounds better than a vibrato that is “hitting the wall” in the curve. It happens sometimes when the impulse for the vibrato only goes one way, and the return is more relaxed. It can be helpful to imagine for a smoother curve of vibrato oscillations (in slower tempo) that you are not pressing the finger into the string but rather pulling it out (like pulling a tooth) of the fingerboard.
4. Vibrato can be used in double-stops, and on single notes with lower finger pressing on the string as well, to take some part of the tension from the playing finger.
5. Transferring vibrato from finger to finger is extremely important for beautiful melodies, where it is appropriate and corresponds with the style of music, such as romantic music. For that, the combination of wrist and arm vibrato works best. It is important to work on that skill on scales first, developing the general vibrato motion with constant speed and amplitude, and separating it from the finger motion mechanics.
6. Practicing continuous vibrato helps to listen better and recognize when in melodic passages vibrato stops on the notes that are less comfortable to vibrate, like on the 1st and 4th finger, or after the string crossing or a shift.
7. In orchestra it is important to remember to not use a soloist vibrato when it is not a solo passage. Vibrato should correspond more with the sound of the whole section, rather than demonstrating individual talent. For octave unisons the upper octave players should be even more careful with vibrato, especially on viola when playing in higher positions on A string.
8. The general slight vibrato in fast passages is very beautiful, it is almost unrecognizable by ear, but brings life and joy to the passages that might sound mechanical and dull otherwise.
9. Vibrato should be a “live” effect, not just a mechanical tool. Changing characteristics of vibrato during a long note or a melody can add another level of detail to the music. There are different ways we can explore it: for example, by gradually changing the speed and the amplitude of vibrato <,>,<>,><.

We can use vibrato like micro dynamics, or change it with the phrasing as it feels appropriate. With better control vibrato can be not just an expressive technique to make sound more beautiful, but a powerful musical tool. We constantly experiment with vibrato, finding the best option for the certain moment \- what type or a mix of vibrato to use, at which speed and amplitude. There are many exercises and further information on vibrato use and development.

Anna Savkina - vibrato exercises.
Nathan Cole demonstrating Simon Fischer vibrato exercises.
The Strad articles on vibrato:
1. Developing arm, wrist, and finger vibrato
2. Leila Schayegh's top 5 tips on historically informed vibrato
3. 10 things you need to know about vibrato