THOUGHTS ON VIBRATO
It has been said (Joe Alessi?): "Vibrato is like ketchup; it's better if you don't put it on everything." Hoyt Bohannon and Tommy Pederson would beg to differ, but those days are over. Big band bass trombonists are well advised to never use vibrato in ensemble – and nobody should in unison! Other than that, it is a matter of taste.
In Mastering The Tuba, Roger Bobo wrote that vibrato is the most personal and esoteric musical skill, “more elusive than tone, intonation, dynamic, rhythm or articulation,” and despite the fact that “most of your playing is probably done without vibrato . . . vibrato is still a skill that must be studied.” Vibrato is an artistic choice, it should not be used reflexively or as a crutch. Arnold Jacobs said, “Be able to play a love song with and without vibrato.” (Vibrato can be also be used as a tool to focus in on the center of a tone.)
Listening (singers, too) and imitating are key to developing taste. A good teacher couldn't hurt. This article is pretty good.
There is some disagreement regarding vibrato (particularly slide vibrato) whether it centers around the perceived pitch or remains below it. I come down on the below side, as did Lloyd Ulyate, and one of my great teachers, Roy Main. So does violin teacher, Simon Fischer.
Fischer has written, “It is often believed that vibrato rolls the finger both above and below the pitch of the principal note, but in fact if you do this it makes the note sound sharp. The listener’s ear registers the upper pitch of the vibrato as the principle note.” Fischer indicates Dorothy Delay felt the same. Apparently, Ivan Galamian also taught that the first motion in vibrato needs to be towards the scroll (down). See Teaching Vibrato: An Eclectic Approach.
Lloyd said in an interview in the January, 1984 issue of the International Trombone Association Journal, “I maintain that for my taste, vibrato starts on the pitch and goes below the pitch and then back up to the pitch. Now a lot of people, when they use slide vibrato, may play – and sound marvelous – above and below the pitch. To me, it obscures the true pitch. And it sounds sharp to me.” The interview references a clinic Lloyd presented in 1983 where he discusses this.
And Roy told me, “If you start down, your ear won't let you go wrong.”
To my mind, in slide vibrato on the trombone, staying below the pitch is particularly important for another reason. The handslide compresses the air column when it moves inward – emphasizing the pitch at the top of the vibrato. The opposite occurs when the slide moves out.
People hear, believe, and practice many differently things. Listen to great artists and make up your own mind. Play beautifully.
In Mastering The Tuba, Roger Bobo wrote that vibrato is the most personal and esoteric musical skill, “more elusive than tone, intonation, dynamic, rhythm or articulation,” and despite the fact that “most of your playing is probably done without vibrato . . . vibrato is still a skill that must be studied.” Vibrato is an artistic choice, it should not be used reflexively or as a crutch. Arnold Jacobs said, “Be able to play a love song with and without vibrato.” (Vibrato can be also be used as a tool to focus in on the center of a tone.)
Listening (singers, too) and imitating are key to developing taste. A good teacher couldn't hurt. This article is pretty good.
There is some disagreement regarding vibrato (particularly slide vibrato) whether it centers around the perceived pitch or remains below it. I come down on the below side, as did Lloyd Ulyate, and one of my great teachers, Roy Main. So does violin teacher, Simon Fischer.
Fischer has written, “It is often believed that vibrato rolls the finger both above and below the pitch of the principal note, but in fact if you do this it makes the note sound sharp. The listener’s ear registers the upper pitch of the vibrato as the principle note.” Fischer indicates Dorothy Delay felt the same. Apparently, Ivan Galamian also taught that the first motion in vibrato needs to be towards the scroll (down). See Teaching Vibrato: An Eclectic Approach.
Lloyd said in an interview in the January, 1984 issue of the International Trombone Association Journal, “I maintain that for my taste, vibrato starts on the pitch and goes below the pitch and then back up to the pitch. Now a lot of people, when they use slide vibrato, may play – and sound marvelous – above and below the pitch. To me, it obscures the true pitch. And it sounds sharp to me.” The interview references a clinic Lloyd presented in 1983 where he discusses this.
And Roy told me, “If you start down, your ear won't let you go wrong.”
To my mind, in slide vibrato on the trombone, staying below the pitch is particularly important for another reason. The handslide compresses the air column when it moves inward – emphasizing the pitch at the top of the vibrato. The opposite occurs when the slide moves out.
People hear, believe, and practice many differently things. Listen to great artists and make up your own mind. Play beautifully.