Hello all,

I study classical singing and have developed a kind of fake vibrato (i think from trying 2 emulate teacher and operatic greats) where i manipulate either my larynx or back of tongue or both to make the vibrato, it sounds manufactured and is inconsistent, worst of all it has become a innate and i find if i sing without it i get an undesirable straight tone. So does anybody have any advice on how to a) achieve a natural vibrato and/or how to b) overcome a fake vibrato. Maybe someone has gone through the same problem.

As far as i've been told a natural vibrato happens without effort/awareness?

Thanks

Hello,
Lots of people go through this! Vibrato is a lot like resonance: it is not a destination or immediate goal, but a bi-product or result of all that has to come before it. Just as resonance is a bi-product of a well-shaped vocal tract, Vibrato is a result of a well-shaped vocal tract, and a healthy and free mechanism. It sounds like all that's happened is that in your efforts to create a beautiful and resonant sound, you have gotten yourself caught up exclusively on laryngeal activity, and you are maybe micro-managing, and not simply allowing your mechanism to move freely. Go back to basics and build your sound up step-by-step from your inhalation, and take it all the way through to the end of a phrase, when you've used the last of your air. Remember that without a silent and well-managed inhalation, everything else kind of goes down the pooper because it is from that moment that your mechanism prepares itself to sing (ie. Diaphragm flattens and exacts a gravitational pull on your larynx, ribcage expands...etc)... and all that (and more) before you've even made a sound! I've had students with the same problem as you, and often it's solved by working a little bit on the transition between your inhalation and the onset of your voice. An unnatural vibrato can be a result of a clavicular inhalation, paired with held breath between inhalation and onset. Be sure to breathe deeply, and not to collapse your chest. Then, work on initiating the onset of your voice at the peak of your inhalation, so as to eliminate held breath and therefore eliminate the tension that could be causing your unnatural vibrato.

I hope this has helped!