Anyone got any tips, tricks, techniques on how to master the vibrato? Have slight success with diaphragm and tongue vibrato but the throat vibrato eludes me in that I can't get it nice and smooth.
I can do the throat vibrato on the blow, but not on the draw. Basically I do the equivalent of saying "uh" rapidly. Works better when I'm playing softly rather than loud. ---------- Hawkeye Kane
So what type of vibrato is it using the "Adams Apple"? Mine moves slightly and I can get a fast, smooth vibrato that way easily. Not as smooth for a slow vibrato.
EDIT. Just checked and actually my Adams Apple doesn't move, seems like I'm using the back part of my tongue and jaw.
Last Edited by on Feb 09, 2012 5:15 AM
Adam's has a Youtube lesson where he talks about getting a good strong vibrato on the 2-hole draw (I forget which one). Sustain a vibrato for seven beats, breathe out one beat, then seven beats vibrato, etc., for five minutes. I've gotten a whole lot better doing this way.
Concentrate at first on just lasting the five minutes. That may take some time. When you get to the point where after five minutes your vibrato is still going strong, then start worrying about control. A good vibrato is like a sine wave, an uncontrolled one is like a square wave, either full-on or full-off. In the latter, the epiglottis slams shut over the airway opening and the vibrato "hits bottom," or pops open suddenly.
One other thing that really that made a difference in my vibrato was learning how to overblow the 5-hole tongue blocked and sustain it. My guess is that it strengthens the muscles that underlie the tongue and glottis, providing support.
Hey Tookatooka I'll try to say a few things about how I do it at least that will hopefully provide something...
When I first figured it out it was by accident after trying to force it for a while getting no where: I was trying to improvise something really emotional just messing around and I tried to draw the flat third and make it sound like it was wimpering...and somehow that illuminated a physical path to get there.
After that, I started to work on that effect, which given that it was a bend, it made the pitch waver.
After that, I got facile with what I would call a true round vibrato on unbent low draw notes.
Now I can do it on blow notes too, it is very similar although it doesn't seem that way at first.
I'm now trying to get it with bent notes and I am getting closer. I think it's possible.
Here are some tips:
If you are a smoker, or ever have been, it is very similar to blowing smoke rings, except in rapid succession.
At least for me, the diaphragm is completely the bellows regulating air pressure and the throat is like a valve shaping the flow. I don't know the names for th e muscles but there is a mixture of tension and relaxation which facilitates an almost passive undulation of whatevers undulating in there, not that you can't get very active with it as well.
I think some useful exercises might be to practice playing in general with absolutely no tongue articulation, just diaphragm and throat to stop, start, and shape notes. I think this kind of training has helped me get more in touch with the musculature involved and increased my expressive capacity.
Another would be to go outside in the cold without a jacket. You know how when you are cold you get that stilted, shuddery breath? And if you can focus you can exaggerate it or diminish it. Those are the muscles to get control of.
I just re-read your post and realize that you can do it, just not as smooth as you like,so I apologize for speaking as though you hadn't a clue how to do it at all!
In that case I would say it's all about breath control exercises like what I described.
Another thing I do that helps me is to try and play stuff as quietly as possible, the bends, the vibrato, everything. It forces your technique to be very accurate or it won't sound at all! ---------- Shane,
I just got a change to look at the video posted. I really appreciate that posting.
It describes the same vibrato technique I have used for years on the Trombone and have transfered to the harmonica. I expect the physics of how it works on the trombone vs the harmonica are different but the results are similar.
Glad I could be of assistance-Lee really nails it for me-his videos are to the point,without a lot of filler-just the facts,along with great demostrations.
ok here is the secret this has been given to me several times. First from Forrest Scott the guy Steve Guyger studied chromatic with. Cham ber Huang and Robert Bonfiglio. Vibratos are combination of AM am FM sounds. These can vary depending on what your playing.
The trick is how to start to get the chain of muscles to work together to give you control and nice sound.
The first part is to play triplets slowly with an accent on the first note of every triplet. this sounds simple but the key is not loose that slight accent on the first triplet as you speed up you may loose it. Slow down and get control. This is the place to start. After a time you can move up and down in tempo.When you feel your reading put a slight bend that will move up and back in pitch slightly. You will develop your own sound. You can intensify this by using a slight "cough" as some describe it. Start with the triplet sit up straight and will feel the diaphragm move. Eventually the throat and the diaphragm will work together. ---------- Emile "Diggs" D'Amico a Legend In His Own Mind How you doin'
Hello TookaTooka, this isn't entirely on topic, but adds to what Diggsblues was saying, and might be useful. He said, "Vibratos are combination of AM and FM sounds."
AM (amplitude modulation, as in radio broadcasting), and FM (frequency modulation) are good ways of describing their musical equivalent-- tremolo (a regular, rhythmic volume change), and vibrato (a regular, rhythmic pitch change).
On another harmonica forum, I once put together two sound samples in which I played the same note or song on a C harmonica three different ways:
1. no tremolo, no vibrato 2. tremolo only 3. vibrato (which necessarily incorporates tremolo; as Diggs describes it, "a combination of AM and FM")
So, if you or anyone else is interested in the difference between tremolo and vibrato, have a listen:
Lee Sankey's video is great and says what I would have tried to say, had I been asked. Don't overlook the "practice" advice at the end of the video, there's no substitute.
Lastly, about vibrato, I've noted that they vary in subtle but identifiable ways from player to player. There is no perfect, official harmonica vibrato. I love hearing the differences. In some ways, they are the "fingerprint" of the individual players. Comparing Diggs' subtle and Lee Sankey's obvious vibrato for instance, you would never mistake one for the other.
A huge vibrato isn't de rigeur for blues harp playing. As 5F6H said two months ago in this forum, "Little Walter didn't really have particularly pronounced or distinctive vibrato, pretty subtle really (not that it's a bad thing), often absent altogether". I agree with that.
