Hello everyone!

I am looking for advice on daily exercises I can do to improve my vibrato. I have been playing violin for three years and am past the point where I should have been able to do vibrato comfortably. I can do it in the loosest sense of the word, and only very well at all with my second finger. So I am looking for simple little exercises that I can spend 5 minutes a day on to just start getting it better. Thanks for your help!

I've heard using a metronome can help. Set it slow and do one 'vibrate' per click and then gradually increase the speed, then do two 'vibrates' per click.. etc.

I don't have a metronome so just do increasing and decreasing speed on each finger as practice.

Not very technical and I'm sure some of the teachers on here will have better ideas.

Well, it sounds like a decent way to start. I'll add a couple minutes of that tomy exercise plan every day.

Is your hand position right? - That is, the side of the first finger not resting against the side of the neck? If your vibrato is not relaxed and free, it's worth checking. Assuming there are no problems there, the metronome idea is sound. Start slowly and build up gradually, and you should develop a good, consistent vibrato. If your violin wobbles around, rest the scroll against a wall. Also, try practising your vibrato in front of a mirror, so you can see exactly what is (or isn't) happening. Above all, be patient; for most people, it doesn't happen overnight.

Good luck!

when i learnt, i did it with a metronome, sliding finger up and down per click of the metronome, as the get faster and faster, your finger moves less and it ends up being vibrato.

i think the thing is is to be patient. it takes a long time to increase the speed. it took me about 6 months to get the vibrato going properly and then a couple of months later i 'lost' it, so had to do the exercises again. however, its definately worth being patient

I found to help develop my vibrato, I stood in front of a wall resting the scroll of my violin against the wall for some support and then practicing the vibrato. I found this really helped because it created a relaxed vibrato because of not finding I have to grip the violin.



Hope this helps

xx

Thanks for the input everyone. I'm not having any problems with holding the violin up, and my grip on the neck is very good, the only time when I'm playing where my hand is touching the neck of the violin is when I'm doing harder stuff on the G string - it can sometimes be a bit of a stretch. I trained myself to have it like that after a very great violin player from the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra advised me to keep my grip on the neck looser and not have my hand touching the neck.

It sounds like using the metronome is the way I should be going, I was doing it this morning and I think it'll become a permanent part of my practices. Thanks for the help.

If you can get hold of Simon Fischer's book 'Basics' it has a great section on vibrato with illustrations and lots of useful exercises.

Actually it is a really good book all round -- I wouldn't be without it.