Vibrato

What it means

Vibrato means “oscillating” and designates a slight, regular fluctuation of pitch, occasionally connected with a fluctuation of loudness. The note is thereby enlivened and gains in warmth and carrying power. It is produced, with string players, by a movement of the stopping hand, with wind players via breath, lips, or throat, with singers by the voice itself.

The most important distinction concerns the tremolo. With the tremolo, a note is repeated or alternated between two notes; with vibrato, the note stays put, and only its pitch fluctuates slightly. The terms were not always cleanly separated historically, which leads to confusion in older sources.

Vibrato is furthermore to be distinguished from a bend, which shifts the pitch deliberately in one direction.

In the notation

Vibrato is as a rule not notated but belongs to tone production. Where it is expressly called for or excluded, words such as vibrato, molto vibrato, senza vibrato, or non vibrato stand above the staff. In older music a wavy line occasionally appears as a sign for a vibrato-like ornament.

Musical use

How much vibrato is appropriate depends strongly on style and period. In the Baroque it counted predominantly as an ornament for individual notes; in the twentieth century, continuous vibrato among string players and singers became the norm. Historically informed performance practice has raised this question anew and again uses vibrato more sparingly. In twentieth- and twenty-first-century music it is often deliberately prescribed or forbidden.

Today vibrato is the normal case among string players and singers. Geminiani describes it in 1751.

Performance practice

Use vibrato as a means of shaping, not as a habit: width and speed should suit the character. Take care that the pitch is correct on average — too wide a vibrato blurs the intonation. Practise notes without vibrato deliberately, so that you have both available. And check what the style of the piece demands.