How do you play a vibrato on the flute?

Question: How do you play a vibrato on the flute!?
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I'm a music teacher!.!.!.

Flute is arguably the easiest instrument to do it on!.!.!.It all comes from your gut!.
The first question is a very simple one to address!. There are two components to vibrato: speed and amplitude (see
diagram at left)!. In order for vibrato to become a useful component of your playing, you must learn to control both
of these parameters!. Try this experiment!. Place your hand over your solar plexus (just underneath the bottom of your
rib cage) and cough!. Did you feel the muscle of your upper abdomen contract!? Now do the same thing without
engaging your throat in the exercise!. It should sound like a forceful “Huh!” if you are doing it correctly!. You should
feel those same muscles contract again!. Now see if you can do a number of “Huh’s” in a row like this: Huh-uh-uh-uhuh!.
Try it slowly at first, then gradually speed it up!.
Now it’s time to experiment with your flute!. First choose a note that is easy to play like a B in the middle of the
staff!. Play it with a full, steady sound!. Make sure you are blowing evenly and steadily!. No inadvertent wobbles!
Listen carefully! Be absolutely certain that you can play with a strong and even air stream before you start learning
vibrato!. Otherwise you can make a bad situation worse!. The basis for good vibrato is first learning to play with an
even air stream!. When you are confident that you are blowing evenly you can begin your exploration of vibrato!.
Set your metronome at about 60bpm to start out!. Marcel Moyse’s famous tone exercise is great to use for this
practice (see the diagram below)!. Start out by playing half notes, B to Bb, using the same kind of breath pulse we
talked about above and pulse the air in eighth notes!. When you can progress all the way to the bottom of the flute,
moving by half-step, pulsing in eighth notes, try the same thing now pulsing in triplets!. Next do the same thing pulsing
in sixteenth notes to the bottom and finally in quintuplets!. After you have gotten comfortable doing this through the
low register of the flute, do the same thing through the middle register and finally up through the third octave!. Though
you will never play with a vibrato as slow as eighth notes, it is good practice in learning to control the speed of your
vibrato!. Make sure your vibrato is distinctly wavy whatever speed or register you play!.
vibrato emanates from inside the body!. Scientists have demonstrated that many different muscle groups are involved
including the diaphragm, abdominal wall and throat!. Unless you are interested in the specific physiology of flute
vibrato, it seems as if the specifics are not really necessary to understand as long as the quality of the sound with
vibrato is within some basic parameters!. Probably the most important question you can ask yourself is whether your
throat is open and the air stream is moving freely while using vibrato!? If you close off your throat while you are
generating vibrato, the result will be a so-called “nanny goat” or “machine gun” vibrato that is too fast and not much
good for expressive purposes!.
The most difficult question to give a direct answer to is the last, using vibrato to play expressively!. Though it is
relatively easy to learn to play with vibrato and control the speed and amplitude of vibrato, it can be a lifelong task to
understand how to use it to enhance the music and to clarify the composer’s intention!. If you are studying with a
teacher, they can help guide you in using vibrato musically!. Even if you are not studying presently, there are some
basic guidelines you can follow which can help you develop your musicianship and understanding!.
Listen to lots of soloists - flutists, string players and singers!. Pay careful attention to how much, where, and when
these artists use vibrato!. There is no better teacher than your own thoughtful and analytical listening!. If you can hear
what someone is doing, chances are you can teach yourself to imitate it!.Www@QuestionHome@Com