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Vibrato Proper vibrato is produced by a combination of pulsations by the diaphragm and throat. The purpose of vibrato on any instrument is to add expression to the musical line. Without defining one kind of sound or vibrato as better or more pleasing than another, this individual expression as the ultimate goal of any player as he becomes a better musician. For example, does an untrained player with uncontrolled tone, technique and vibrato play music that is less expressive or beautiful than a consummate flutist who plays with complete control? For perspective, the difference compares to the music of a hill billy country fiddler and Jascha Heifetz. Everyone has strong ideas based on musical taste regarding optimal flute sound. Every student should not sound exactly like his teacher or other professionals; instead, students should develop all the musical controls necessary to make musical chaises. First, flute players need to know some of the most common problems with vibrato before they can find a solution. A slow, heavy vibrato. The three registers of the flute require different amount of physical effort to obtain similar sounding vibratos. What sounds beautiful for an upper register vibrato may sound awful in the lower register. The vibrato some flutists produce, especially in low registers, is similar to that of a tired orchestral cellist who wobbles on long notes. Some opera singers are also guilty of this type of vibrato. The nanny goat quiver. Most often younger players make this sound as they naively attempt to get a vibrato. Many South American ethnic flutists and pop-vocal styles also use this quivering vibrato. Not only is this quivering sound a hard habit to break, it is hard to use it expressively when a non vibrato sound is appropriate. A never changing sythesiser-like vibrato. Players should be able to control speed and intensity through a full dynamic range. There is nothing more uninteresting than a flutist who simply turns on and off his one-speed vibrato. One of the key elements to making music more personal and interesting is varying the speed and intensity of vibrato. Begin to improve your vibrato as well as other aspects of music-making by listening to recordings by the greatest instrumentalists and singers, not just flutists. Study each performers' style of playing similar musical lines. You may hear those who fall into some of the traps, and others whose vibrato becomes an entity unto itself, causing attention to be drawn away from musical expression. Some flutists play with such calculated vibrato that I often feel as if my head is bobbing in unison with their perfectly subdivided vibrations. [Kindly forwarded to us by : Geert Van den Broeck]