Its probably far too soon for me to be thinking of such things but just out of interest- how on earth do you get the control to produce a vibrato note?
Or isn't this the done thing on a clarinet. All I know is Aker Bilk does it quite a lot!

If you get a pager and superglue it to the inside of the Bell, then im sure that you could nod at someone to page you when to needed to have the vibrato?

Aker Bilk's vibrato isn't widely admired as far as I know, it's a bit much for my taste.

He seems to use it on everything not just the out and out jazz stuff.

Classical playing will require little or no vibrato except in higher grades and then I believe it should be subtle and used with discretion.


I found I started to add it automatically after I'd been playing for a couple of months.
It can be hard to stop playing with vib, once you've started.
I've now got to change from my diaphragm vibrato to a jaw vibrato for the sax.

It is a very wide vibrato - and probably not what you should, as a general rule, aim for.

There are two types of vibrato : diaphragm and jaw. I much prefer using the diaphragm for clarinet, gently pulsing it. Do it really slowly to start with, practice a LOT, and eventually you'll get the control you desire.

I wouldn't use it though in a great deal of 'classical' stuff at all. In jazz, I'll add a small amount to add some colour to the tone.

I agree - I much prefer diaphragm vibrato on the clarinet. It takes a while to click into doing it (lots of practice!) but once you can do it and know how, you'll be able to use it effectively when you want to add colour to notes. This has made me remember something one of my clarinet teachers once said. I was told that diaphragm vibrato was something you can either do naturally or can't do, and those who can't have to resort to jaw/lip vibrato. Is there any truth to this?

I agree. Diaphragm vibrato is much more appealing on clarinet