Vibrato (‘a pulsating effect in the vocal tone produced by slight and rapid variations in pitch’)
Vibrato (‘a pulsating effect in the vocal tone produced by slight and rapid variations in pitch’), i.e. ‘wobbling the note’ (see online tutorial Chapter 28) is, in a perfect world, produced with diaphragmatic control. One of the basic mistakes that everyone makes when first learning to sing is to create vibrato using the jaw. You can feel if you’re doing this, because your head will wobble up and down slightly as you sing. True vibrato is controlled by the larynx and diaphragm, working together, to produce an even vibrato, i.e. an even wobble! Once again, relaxation is key. It’s a gentle action, so try not to force it. I’ve had a few questions from students who have a large, deep, wobbly vibrato that they want to learn to control, so they can turn it on and off at will. In my experience, a big vibrato is often acquired early on. Either one admires a particular singer with a big vibrato, or the voice has a natural propensity to create one. A big vibrato is a taste issue, there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with it. But it can be like the loudmouth at the party, taking over the whole voice and robbing it of its subtlety. When your voice is centered, vibrato is something that occurs naturally. The mains reasons for big, wobbly vibratos are:
The throat is controlling the note, not the diaphragm.
The diaphragm is working nicely, but the singer is used to creating a big vibrato and the subconscious continually ‘goes there’. So it’s something that needs to be unlearned. It’s like taking a plate of metal and wobbling it. The wave formation is slow and even. Yet again, even though larynx and diaphragm may be working together, to create this effect most of the work is still going on in the throat. The focus is on the throat, i.e. ‘my voice is in my throat’, and not the whole body working together as one.
The best way to control a big vibrato is to go back to basics, re-training the emotion memory of the body. Sing long, even, quiet notes in the middle of your range. Try to create a ‘white’ note, i.e. with no vibrato at all. Relax the back, looking straight ahead, everything balanced, knees relaxed. Then sing some vowels in the middle of your range, using long, quiet notes. Remember to use the tongue, not the jaw, and image the note connected to the diaphragm, like a ping-pong ball sitting on a jet of water, i.e. the note controlled by the diaphragm. Close your eyes and concentrate on relaxing the diaphragm on the in breath. Concentrate on the solar plexus on the out breath. Image the ‘string’ going through the center of the body and feel the connection between the solar plexus and larynx through the string. Make the note as quiet and even as you can. Then try to quicken the vibrato, i.e. speed it up. So instead of big, floppy waves, you have quick, ‘further together’ waves, like a hummingbird.
It can also help to use a breathy voice, concentrating on controlling the amount of breath in the note (online tutorials Chapters 30 and 31, Soft to Loud and Pure to Breathy). Concentrate on the breath, and not the vibrato, i.e. take the focus off it. Remember, the diaphragm controls the note, not the throat. You can use Track 17 of the Vocal Exercises to practice these exercises.
So the basic rule of thumb in controlling a big vibrato is to take the emphasis off the throat and to learn to use the diaphragm. The more we try and the sing from the throat, the harder it gets. The subconscious is telling us that the voice is in the throat, so everything has to come from there. If you’re ‘trying too hard’ then that is often when the vibrato sounds unnatural and forced. The more centered your voice is, the better. You don’t need a lot of breath, a small sip will do. It’s what you do with the breath that counts, how you control it. Diaphragm relaxed (i.e. smiling) as you breathe in, creating a centered note. Using your energy internally to control the note. In fact, rule of thumb, the more centered the note is, i.e. the more you use your internal energy and relax the rest of your body, so you’re using certain parts very efficiently and the rest of the body is working to facilitate that action, then the focus should change from your throat to your whole body. Flex your hand and see how everything has to work together to make it work in one smooth action. The same thing needs to work for your voice to be balanced and whole.
Tags: control, diaphragm, instruction, larynx, Singing, vibrato