Sounds produced using vibrato is one of the reasons I love cello. My teacher told me to try vibrato once in a while for fun when practising as I have just started to learn the cello for only about 2 months. Couldn't do it well, and I seem to have lost a bit of confidence after that. Is trying vibrato so early like trying to run before learning how to walk?

Well, the AB's syllabus, (if my memory serves me correctly), says that the candidate is expected to have acquired some skill in vibrato by about grade 4 or 5, so I wouldn't worry about it after only a few weeks. Keep trying and have lots of fun!

Well, i think it's too early to worry about vibrato. Unless you are very well guided, jumping the gun will cause you to learn the wrong way of doing vibrato, which would for most people result in uneven vibrato. It took me about 2 years since i started learning the violin to fully master my vibrato, and it took me another 6 more months for my vibrato to mature into character. From my own experience, it might be easier to do vibrato on the cello, but then again, this depends on individual aptitude.

Cheer up! Vibrato takes quite a long time to develop so don't expect instant results. However, in my view, you are quite right to make a start as soon as possible. A key benefit of trying it is because it should encourage a more relaxed LH, avoiding the "death grip" which is common with beginners. A relaxed LH will produce a better sound, and will allow easier adjustment of intonation where necessary, as well of course as facilitating vibrato.

You'll get there!

Dont worry about it unless you are under 5 years of age - when then it seems to come more naturally in my experience - goodness knows why!!!!

It is good to 'explore' how to do vibrato from time to time! You have to keep trying, and ask your teacher for demonstration

?????? Was I some sort of freak then?! I didn't start the violin until I was 10, but vibrato came naturally to me. Never once did I have to be shown, it just developed as my emotions and musicality developed. When I took up the cello at 19, it was something I could do almost immediately - even though vibrato on the cello is a very different movement of the arm and hand to that on the violin.

I think that's called talent, Amanda!

I still can't do vibrato very well/at all easily.

I remember shortly after being shown how to do it myself, showing a young friend who was showing great talent. She picked it up in about 30 seconds and was producing a beautiful natural vibrato just like that - after having been shown by a less-than-expert me! (She's now at the RCM ) She was probably about 10-ish, and hadn't been learning for a very long time...

Thanks for the advice guys.
... Will keep on trying and trying till I get it right !
For the love of the cello!

I can do vibrato much better now, but how do you do vibrao using the fourth finger ?? argh

It's sometimes easier if you put your third finger down at the same time as your fourth. It somehow balances your hand and makes it easier to control the vibrato. The fourth finger has to be the hardest tho, so don't worry, it will come!!

IMO, you should only do pretty short notes vibrato with the 4th finger.

For a long expressive note with vibrato, I would always shift to finger 1/2 (maybe 3) on the note, as this allows one to centre the hand over the note and relax into it.

A very similar principle applies to trills, where a very short trill can be done with the upper fingers, but a long trill really needs to be done 1/2: shifting should be done to achieve this hand configuration.

Building up fluency in shifting is thus an essential skill on the cello: I recommend "Position Pieces Bks I/II" by Rick Mooney.

Hi Cherskie

I've been playing about the same length of time as you - (restarting, after about 20 years of non-playing). I started Faure's Libera Me from Time Pieces Book 2 with my teacher last night, and found it really fantastic as a piece to explore vibrato on. It's a beautiful piece, and it really cries out for the expressiveness the vibrato gives. Perhaps you could ask your teacher to go through it with you. I was playing it tonight, and was feeling almost like a musician while I was playing it!

Loving my cello.


J

My daughter was taught vibrato after about 5 months of lessons, and she was 6 at the time. She found it really easy to pick up so there may be some truth in the comment someone else made about it being more natural if you are under 5!!

I think you might just need practice! It will eventually come to you as 2nd nature

My teacher says that Vibrato comes at different speeds to different people, I started doing vibrato on my violin last year, and my mum asked me how my teacher told me to do it, so I told my mum the exercises I had learnt, but she still hasn't done it, although she is getting better!

CharlieCello, tried using both 3rd & 4th fingers today while doing vibrato, a bit difficult but I did managed
to produce the vibrations I wanted.. It just might work.

That's great Cherskie. Glad it was some use to you.

My violin teacher told me to used 3rd AND 4th finger for 4th finger vibrato when i first strated because my fingers are quite weak

Meerkat,
You mentioned Time Pieces, Book 2, did you mean the book by Catherine Black ?
I tried searching for it in Amazon but wasn't sure of which one it was.

hi cherskie, yes, that's the one. It's an ABRSM publication - Catherine Black and Paul Harris. It's the collection that has a couple of exam pieces from the syllabus in (vol 2 has Month of Maying, Haydn's Andante from the Surprise Symphony, and the King Penguin's Strut, for grade 2, and Ich liebe dich and the St Anthony Chorale for grade 3). I've worked through about half of it, and find it a nice learning tool.

Hope that helps.