I would hope that vibrato would come more naturaly. You shouldn't have to be thinking about it all the time. This is how it has always been for me. It is sad that it is so hard for some players. I hate that nanny goat vibrato too.

one doesn't hear too much nanny goat vibrato now days, thankfully, but a few do it due to a tight throat, you also may hear it on some really old recordings

Gordon- There are those that claim a natural vibrato, but most people must learn it. In fact, most people I have discussed the phenomenon with were taught the basics of vibrato, but never studied it's proper use, or learned to consciously vary the speed and depth of the vibrato, which to me means that it's not truly natural, since the basics were taught. I would say it's the rare player who can claim a truly natural vibrato. To give a truly outstanding performance, you do need to be thinking about vibrato (and everything else you're doing). Just letting things go tends to hold you back in my experience.

Judy- There are some amazing middle school groups out there, but they are few and far between. At that age, most people simply are not prepared to make the commitment to excellence necessary to become that good (practice and rehearsal time, lessons, etc.). I agree completely with your analysis of vibrato as something taht should be added when the musician is ready, and I have to say I really liked that little analogy.

Patrick- You're quite right, and most people you hear performing professionally do not have the nanny goat thing going on, but I have met quite a few young players who simply weren't ready for vibrato when it was taught, and do sound like this. It's taken a couple of them 6-8 months of struggle to undo.

call me whatever you would like, but i use vibrato only when i feel something in my music, do you know what i mean? i dont thik of looking at my music as just a piece of paper with ink splattered all over it... i think of it as a story and i use vibrato to emphasize it.

i once had this student who asked me how to produce a vibrato and i was completely speechless. the middle school band director is one of those... lets see how i should put this nicely... old-school? directors. and he likes the sound of the so-called "nanny goat" vibrato on every instrument. my student didnt know how to make the sound that he wanted and was therefore being deducted points on her chair tests. i also went to the same middle school, had him as a teacher, blah blah blah. and i NEVER played like that. i played how i wanted to. he became more open to it, but it just wasnt him. different stroke for different folks, i guess.
ANYWAY. it was so difficult to explain to her how to produce a vibrato. so i didnt. i told her not to make one until she knew without thiking how to do it. and then she looked deeper at her music (looked at it pervertedly because that was her nature) and then the next month she was playing with a very nice vib.

but i know that doent work for everyone. i just got lucky

I never learned vibrato, but I have a good ear, so that is why I am always bothered by a mechanical, constant vibrato

Actually I know a number of musicians who never learned vibrato mechanically, we all learn it, how we learn it is the debate.

I am stumped sometimes as well when asked to teach it, but many of my students are developing a nice natural vibrato because I describe it as follows:

- imagine your straight tone like a calm lake or pond, play your long tones like that, the water has depth, shades of color, density and reflection.
Then imagine tossing a small rock in the lake, the ripples that are produced are the vibrato, the ripples and waves caused by the one small rock are very effective and go a long way and are constant and energetic, much like the vocal chords vibrating in our throat, they vibrate constantly when we talk and are natural and relaxed.

Do not throw a brick in the water, then you will produce huge, choppy uneven waves that will upset the natural flow of the water

>>I never learned vibrato, but I have a good ear, so that is why I am always bothered by a mechanical, constant vibrato

Actually I know a number of musicians who never learned vibrato mechanically, we all learn it, how we learn it is the debate.<<

I learned it mechanically, and it just never seemed "right." However, I have to say that, taking the flute back up 20 years later, the one better thing about my playing is that I've lost the mechanics (now the mechanics of double tonguing? I'd like to recoup them). Like I said--vibrato is a mood, an intonation. It is best when it just happens, as part of the music, but I can *keep it from happening, if that makes sense, i.e. when I don't think it's appropriate to use it. When it's SUPPOSED to happen, then it comes easily, if that makes sense. It certainly never happens when I'm playing martial music at forte.

As for my analogy about the cake: I'm an English major, what can I say? Analogies to me are like vibrato to y'all.

I was never taught vibrato either. I heard it done by other flautists and repeated it, like a kid learning how to speak. A few months later I found out exactly what it was. I also listened to a tape by Galway on vibrato and it improved it alot.

Listening to recordings and solos of flautists made my tone color and vibrato better without me even realizing it.

That is a great benefit of listening to recordings, but of course you have to be careful who you imitate. Copying Galway's vibrato will cause you to go sharp, while copying an old French flutist like Moyse might give you the nanny goat. Cycling through many different performer's work will help overcome that, and give you a wider base of interpretations and styles to work with, from which you can create your own sound.

As a flautist and band conductor, I'd definitely agree with Pickled and others who have said that vibrato should be reserved for solo passages.

Playing a flute solo within a band is little different to playing a classical sonata or anything else; you're in the spotlight and vibrato is of course a useful tool for expressing yourself - when used sparingly and as part of a musical performance. Personally I tend to give only the end of longer notes a subtle touch of vibrato, depending on the style of the music, but I know many use it more.

On the other hand a band (or section thereof), in my opinion, sounds best when playing tightly as an ensemble, and letting half a dozen flautists wobble all over the place doesn't exactly encourage that. Not to mention those who try to use vib to hide poor tuning and intonation... I haven't played under many band conductors who have made much of an issue of it, but I have been told in no uncertain terms that it should never be used in orchestral playing, save for solo passages in more romantic works.

"Vibrato - the incessant wobble used in flute-playing to replace musical expression."

I knew a flutist who played awesomely well but was told she may as well quit playing if she couldn't learn vibrato. Bad music teachers, band leaders and others in authority do a tremendous amount of damage to young, fragile egos. I'm glad this subject was brought up. Maybe students should print this discussion out and put it in the mail boxes of the offending parties.

or copy it out in large font and tack it up on the bandroom bulletin board

With my experince... Vibrato CAN be natural and doesn't nesseceraly have to be taught. It really helps your tone and volume in flute playing. I have a natural vibrato.

"With my experince... Vibrato CAN be natural and doesn't nesseceraly have to be taught. It really helps your tone and volume in flute playing. I have a natural vibrato."

Vibrato really shouldn't be tied to either tone or volume. It should be possible to play with a nice full, round sound at extreme dynamic ranges without using vibrato at all. Vibrato is just a little something extra that can be added on top of a well developed, and controlled, tone.

Well, I said it can HELP, not nesseraily make it happen.
When you play vibrato you tend to use a lot more air than normaly (unless you know how to do it the key thing) so using more air = more volume.

I agree that flute and trumpet playing should always at least have a little vibrato, you'll at least have an excuse for not being in tune

I don't use more air with vibrato