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How do I get my left hand and my right hand to do different things. It's like rubbing your stomack and patting your head at the same time.
Yes, That's tough. I have another question: How do we know which kind of vibrato to use?
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Ha, I was thinking of starting a new vibrato topic too. I'm having issues as well. It is most certainly like patting your head and rubbing your stomach, only much harder (for me, anyway).
My second and third fingers seem to be cooperating more these days. Fourth is understandably a bit wimpy. I have a lot of trouble loosening up the joints on the index finger. That baby doesn't want to vibrate.
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First of all you should see my 3 videos on vibrato.
For those of you that are having trouble using the bow arm together with the vibrating left hand I suggest that you get that vibrato to be automatic by practicing vibrato with just the left hand and not the right for a while. You can even watch TV with the fiddle in your hand and just vibrate one finger at a time.
@ Pky - Use a wider vibrato for lower more romantic pieces and make the vibrato tighter for the higher and more classical type of music. If you play pop, rock and even jazz you can easily choose not to vibrate at all. With Baroque play very little or no vibrato. Way up on any string, a wide vibrato will be even wider because equal movement changes the pitch more way up high. Increase vibrato as you play stronger climactic passages.
@ SaraO - try coming up a little more on the tip of the finger, applying more pressure on the left side of the finger and doing it slowly for a while.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
Ok, my next question is:
Do we learn the vibrato in the order of finger, wrist, then arm vibrato or it could be in any order?
I personally find finger vibrato easier than the other two.
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pky said:
Ok, my next question is:
Do we learn the vibrato in the order of finger, wrist, then arm vibrato or it could be in any order?
I personally find finger vibrato easier than the other two.
Interesting. I find finger vibrato incredibly difficult.
SaraO said:
Interesting. I find finger vibrato incredibly difficult.
Maybe I didn't do it right:P
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I learned arm vibrato first, then wrist and lastly finger. The arm vibrato is slower and incorporates all the right movements for your fingers to bend the right way and to later add the wrist is not too difficult. Finger vibrato can incorporate a little wrist action to get the fingers moving.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
Thank you,
It wasn't pretty but I used yor arm vbrato videro and actually got some vibrato. Now to keep working at it. With arthritis in my fingers it's tough but I'll get it
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I'm still too new to playing to try and add vibrato, it seems. All my attempts to date wind up shaking the entire instrument and affecting the bow's contact with the strings (which is already pretty shaky, as it is).
Do you suppose this could be a result of how much of the weight of the instument is currently supported by my left hand? I note that many violin players can remove their left hand entirely and continue to support the instument with their neck/shoulder hold alone. I cannot, and my son has suggested that a shoulder rest could help.
My thought is that I won't be able to vibrate my fingers until they are isolated from the task of keeping my viola from hitting the floor...
Help?
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You should be able to support the violin (viola) without your left hand, however, you shouldn't do it all the time. The support that you give the instrument should be limited to a relaxed one. My biggest job when taking over a student who has already been playing for a while is often to relieve tension and making their playing more relaxed. Find a compromise between holding it with your left hand and your chin.
Also, it is OK for the instrument to move when you vibrate. As long as it doesn't move so much that it affects the sound negatively. Sometimes the movement of the instrument actually slightly gives your vibrato a bouncing and more even effect. Remember that I said "slightly".
Lastly, with a viola especially, a shoulder rest could be important for comfort. Viola's weigh more than violins, are bigger, and are played slightly differently by most players. There are some violists that have switched from violin late in the game and maintain the very violinistic way of holding the instrument. I've see a bigger variety of holds in the viola sections than I have with violinists.
It is extremely important to find the right shoulder rest and chin rest when comfort and relaxation are involved. There are limitless varieties of equipment available though the problem remains to find one place that has many to test at once.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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Thanks for the suggestions. I had also posted the question in the Violaman.com forums, should you want to cut and paste your reply there.
Perhaps it's time to pay a visit to the shop where we rent my son's viola and ask if they can help fit me up properly. It might also be a good time to have them look over my viola to see if they have any setup suggestions. Hopefully, they won't give me much grief over my internet instrument. 
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This one I have taken from elsewhere. I find all the members of the forum to be very sincere and fast learners (with the exception of one that is me). So vibrato may take less time to be mastered. Good luck to you.
"Learning violin vibrato, or vibrato for any other stringed instrument is aBIG step. Many students are often very excited and eager to learn what some people refer as the 'finger shake'**. Vibrato takes an intermediate player and makes them sound very advanced. Vibrato adds fullness, rich color, and variety to your playing, but it is also very difficult to learn and slow to master.
(**Vibrato is not simply moving your finger, it is much much more than that!)
So, you think you're ready for Vibrato....only if you can answer YES to the following questions!
1. Have you fully learned first position?
2. Do you have a decent understanding of third position?
3. Is your violin fingerboard free of tape and other fingering markings?
4. Can you shift with ease between first and third position?
5. Does your left wrist and arm have good form?
6. Do you play notes up on the fleshy part of your finger without collapsing (flattening) them?
7. Do you have good intonation.
If you can answer YES to ALL of the above questions then you are ready to learn Vibrato. If you answer NO to any of these questions, take time to perfect that area and wait until you are completely ready. Vibrato is one area you do not want to rush into. I have seen far too many students who are too anxious to learn vibrato and start learning it on their own before they are ready. Bad vibrato habits are so hard to break."
If music be the food of love, play on;
Give me excess of it ..(William Shakespeare in Twelfth Night)
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I guess I'm a long way away from being ready for vibrato, then. I answer "no" to quite a few of those questions.
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HeadCheese said:
I guess I'm a long way away from being ready for vibrato, then. I answer "no" to quite a few of those questions.
This honest admission makes you one step closer to vibrato. Go ahead! As a starter try this: I shall give you 2 measures.
1. d dc#dc#dc#bc#
2 d dc#dc#dc#bc#
(the finger which performs the shake is to be raised to its highest from the string, at least as high as the first joint of the finger stopping the lower note of the shake and brought down with such a firm and hammer like beat upon the string that the player can hear the beat on the finger-board as well as the note sounded). You can similarly have your own notes like g gf#gf#gf#ef#.....
If music be the food of love, play on;
Give me excess of it ..(William Shakespeare in Twelfth Night)
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