Friday, November 7, 2014

The Holy Grail of Singing: Vibrato (New Quick Fix Video!)

Today we're going to talk about the mystical, elusive creature of the Enchanted Singing Forest which we call Vibrato.

Vibrato can come naturally to some, but finding vibrato can be a very frustrating task for others.  Before we set out on our quest and get a quick video tutorial fix, let's learn a little about it! 



Where the hell did vibrato come from?

The man responsible for your vibrato woes
Vibrato was first introduced in the early 1800's by an Italian singer named Giovanni Battista Rubini.  He was known not only for this new trick but also for having an extraordinarily high range. While he was praised for his use of vibrato to heighten emotion in his performance, copy-cat performers were considered offensive, and vibrato was then seen by the pros as a way to disguise poor technique, aging and lack of support. 

**Food for thought: Rubini had been a violinist since age 12 and string players made their vibrato debut some 50 years prior.  Perhaps this was his inspiration to incorporate it into his singing in his 20's!  

As of right now, we're not 100% sure what creates vibrato and this adds to the frustration experienced by vibrato-seekers, but we do know that you have to be relaxed to produce it and that it comes from an "undulation" of the vocal folds, meaning they're being tossed around.  Another morsel for your brain: Vibrato-haters considered vibrato an indication that the singer was TOO relaxed and not using enough "support."  However, it's highly probably that the reason Rubini had such a notably high range was because he was, in fact, relaxed!  Relaxed enough to produce... vibrato!   

Let's just briefly talk about why we're so stressed about not having vibrato:

Why do we even like vibrato?
Well, Rubini was using it to show emotion, so this is perhaps how we've come to see vibrato even to this day- as an expression of emotion.  In addition to my explorations regarding vibrato I've also been exploring Taan which is the vocal trill we hear in a lot of Indian music!  In one interview of a Hindustani singer she mentioned that it is used as a "beautifying effect."  So, it would seem that globally we just recognize rapid, deliberate pitch change as something that makes music more aesthetically pleasing: vibrato, taan, finger vibrato for string instruments, even riffing could be put in this category!  Is this why we freak out about it when we can't do it?  If we don't have vibrato, the whole world thinks we're ugly and emotionless?  This got me googling.  

How Does Vibrato Happen and What Should it Feel Like? 

I've been reading about a study being done at The University of Missouri that aims to find a cure for vocal tremor disorders by investigating the differences between taan gestures which is considered voluntary and vibrato which is considered involuntary.  If you want to see more about that study watch this video

From the study: On a spectrogram, Taan Gesture is seen at left; Vibrato is seen at right.  They show taan as very drastic pitch changes and fast.  Vibrato is slower and pitch change is less drastic. 

For the purposes of the study, one Hindustani singer and one Opera singer are asked to describe the act of initiating and sustaining taan or vibrato, and the Opera singer describes vibrato as a "spinning" feeling.  This is a typical response to that question.   The question I had was whether someone without extensive training who could produce vibrato would have had a different response.  I think that's a word we think we SHOULD use because we're not sure how to explain it even when we CAN do it,  I sure don't feel anything actually spinning and I wouldn't even say it's involuntary for me!   (Side note, I thought to myself that it's kind of like peeing.  You know how to start peeing, you can turn it on and off, but you can't explain it, really. And I just googled whether peeing is voluntary or involuntary and it says that that's still not clear and one thought is that it's a voluntary relaxation.  Hmm... sound familiar?) 

So I decided to ask a few people who are new to vibrato and wouldn't have the vocabulary of a trained classical singer. Here are some of the responses I received to give you a general idea of what you could be feeling when you strike gold:

Sarah - (learned as an adult) : "I feel a regular oscillation at the back of my throat as well as in the top of my abs... I engage a driving muscular support from the top of my abs just below where my ribs come together. Doing exercises to mimic vibrato helped my body learn how much to engage some muscles and how much to relax others."
Amelia, Age 8 (learned by copying a friend):    "Vibrato is holding a long note while shaking your vocal cords. It kind of feels like a wave in your throat. "

So now that we know a little about vibrato (or now that I've scared the hell out of you), take a look at my latest video and try this quick fix so you, too, can capture your own natural vibrato and ride off into the sunset!  Comment in the comments section and let me know if it works for you!