The Fingering Forum

RE: Vibrato, again

Author: TorusTubarius  Date:   2004-01-05 16:37 It's probably something that just depends on the instrument. I remember this was a point of contention on this forum a whlie back, and I think that was the general determination we all came to. I think for string players, clearly there is a pitch change when they're moving their fingers back and forth on the fingerboard. There is also clearly a pitch change for singers. With woodwinds, the situation is a little more complex than that. You know as well as I do how dependent the tuning of the oboe is on the intensity of the airstream, so it stands to reason that wavering that intensity back and forth through vibrato is going to result in a change in pitch. And if you listen, this is exactly what you hear. I think this more than likely applies to bassoons as well. On my previous instrument however, the saxophone, I'm not entirely sure that that is what's going on, at least with diaphragm vibrato. On a saxophone, as long as you have a boisterous enough air column to begin with and a good embouchure, the pitch isn't really going to change much with increasing intensity, except when you start overblowing and making the pitch go flat. So in this case, I would be more inclined to say that a normal diaphragm vibrato on the saxophone isn't going to result in much of a pitch change, if any at all, but rather is a rapid change in dynamics. This is incidentally why back before I saw the light and was still a saxophonist, I always used to use lip vibrato instead of diaphragm vibrato. Lip vibrato does indeed effect a pitch change on saxophone and always sounded more voicelike than a simple dynamic change, which to me comes across as very mechanical. Lip vibrato also gives you the ability to modulate the timbre as well, much in the way a double reed instrument does. See? That was the oboist inside just trying to escape from the saxophone prison into which it had been incarcerated. I think ultimately this is a matter of personal preference however. You know what, I have a theory about this trend we're seeing towards downplaying the importance of a pitch change in vibrato lately. Personally, I think teachers are scared of their students' vibrato getting out of hand, and in order to curb any wild, out-of-control wavering of the pitch, they instead tell their students to think of the vibrato as a change in dynamics in order to keep the wavering of pitch at an acceptable level. I think this is both a good thing and a bad thing. On one hand, it prevents students from thinking of vibrato as a way to <i>correct</i> pitch discrepancies. Nothing gets under my skin more than to hear one student tell another to vibrate the notes more when he is playing out of tune. This is not what vibrato is there for; rather vibrato is supposed to make the instrument "sing" in an attempt to emulate the human voice. Being in tune should be something you rely on your ears for, not your diaphragm. On the other hand, I don't like deceiving students into thinking they're physically doing something they're not, just to prevent something that can be assuaged through more careful instruction without deception. The reason I think this is detrimental is that it leads students into this sort of dogmatic thinking about the "proper" way to produce vibrato on their instruments, regardless of whether or not what they are saying is bourne out by simple physical principles. Then when someone like me comes along who isn't afraid to say that vibrato is what it is, I am virtually excoriated for what I'm earnestly trying to put on the table. But I suppose objurgation is life in the music world.

Reply To Message

Avail. Forums  |  Need a Login? Register Here

User Login  User Name:  Password:  Remember my login:

Forgot Your Password? Enter your email address or user name below and a new password will be sent to the email address associated with your profile.