Vibrato

Download exercise sheet Trumpet Vibrato Basics

I mentioned in my previous post that I feel the best vibrato for trumpet playing is the hand vibrato. Some of the reasons I feel strongly about this form of vibrato over other techniques are-

1.      It does not interfere with the basic sound of the note.

2.      It is easier to control.

3.      It can be turned on and off much easier than other methods.

4.      Even though it might not be the best technique for other brass instruments, in my opinion, it is the best technique for the trumpet.

There are many inaccurate views about vibrato and the most glaring is the basic misconception that vibrato raises and lowers the pitch of a note. For years I entertained the thought that as you apply vibrato to a note, the pitch would go up and down as illustrated by singers using vibrato on a note. To make my point, sing a note and apply vibrato to that note. Notice that you raise and lower the pitch to produce a vibrato. It only seems logical that we would have the same affect when we play a note on our trumpet. Unfortunately this is what has been taught for many years by leading teachers. “The pitch goes up and down when you apply vibrato to a note”. This is not true! Many years ago, while I was doing some studies on tone quality and intensity, I came across a very interesting fact. When applying vibrato to a trumpet note, the pitch remains the same while the volume and intensity of the note fluctuates. In other words, the pitch did not go up or down. It actually got louder and softer as the vibrato was applied. My early tests with an oscilloscope showed that the volume of the note changed but the pitch remained the same, unlike a vocalist’s vibrato. With this said, we can now begin our first exercise to learn the technique called “hand vibrato”.

Begin in a comfortable, seated position with your “Trumpet Vibrato Basics” sheet in front of you. You will also need a metronome for this exercise. Begin by pinching your right hand’s first finger and thumb together on your lead pipe just this side of your first valve casing. Notice that I said “pinch”, for you need to have a good grip on your instrument. Set your metronome to 80 beats a minute in common time. With your horn supported in your natural left hand position and your new “pinched support” of your thumb and first finger on your lead pipe of your right, begin playing second line G from your sheet at an mp dynamic level. Note that in the second and third measures you have markings indicated on several of the notes. Where you see each plus, you need to bring the instrument gently into your lip. Add slight pressure on the plus marks and relieve the pressure where there are no markings.

Points to watch-

• Think of playing through each line of music with a constant stream of air. Do not vary the air stream as you increase and decrease pressure on your lip.
• Your increase of pressure will be very slight. Do not smash your face!
• If you do not hear a change in your sound while you bring the instrument into your lip and move it away, you might be using too much mouthpiece pressure from the start. Try forming a more “pucker” embouchure (extend your lips more forward when you play each note).
• If you still do not hear a change when you move the instrument, pinch your thumb and first finger more tightly together.
• If this does not help, check your right hand for too much looseness. If you allow the wrist to flex, you will loss the action of the instrument.

“The ultimate goal in this exercise is to move the instrument very slightly into your lip as your hand moves the instrument into and away from your lip”.

With the metronome set at mm= 80, begin playing the first line on your sheet. Remember to observe the dynamics for this is very important. Play the first line four times and observe the four measure rest on the next line. As you perform this exercise, get the feel of what the hand is doing to the sound of each note. Once you get the feel of the instruments motion on your lip, proceed to the next line on the note C. Notice that you will need to increase the speed of the metronome to 112. Different registers of the instrument will require different speeds for your vibrato and for that reason you will be practicing different notes at different tempi. When your C begins to feel more natural to you, continue with the next note (low C). Do not forget to observe the rests on your sheet. These rests will give you the opportunity to rest your lip as well as give you time to sit back and evaluate what you had just played. If you have not been able to hear any difference to your sound when applying pressure and relieving pressure, go back and review the section entitled “Points to review” which is listed above.

If you feel comfortable with your control of your vibrato at this point, continue on. If your hand and horn movement are still not controllable, keep working with your exercises until they have become second nature to you. To test your development, try playing the exercises without the metronome and begin to vary the tempo of the notes. Start very slow and gradually accelerate, then retard. If you are able to change your speed and still feel as if you have complete control of your hand and horn motion with a constant flow of air, then move on to the next exercise.

Begin at the top of your page but this time without the metronome. You will begin at about mm 80 as before. Think of a series of long notes tied together. Make sure that you apply the hand/horn motion to the best sounding note you can play. Remember that you are playing one constant note with the hand/horn motion applied externally to the note. Your lip remains constant as the mouthpiece moves in and out very slightly. Once this exercise feels natural and controllable, begin to apply the same concept to different pitched notes. Think first of these different pitches as one long, constant notes with increasingly faster pulsations. Begin each note with no vibrato, then slowly introduce one pulse followed by more increasingly faster pulses and as you reach the middle of the note, slowly decrease the speed of each pulse until you end your note with no pulses. Remember that the higher your note, the faster the vibrato and the lower your note, the slower the vibrato. To illustrate this point, try playing a low C with a very fast vibrato and a G above the staff with a very slow vibrato. Remember to check back often to the “Points to watch” section for helpful guidelines.

Now that you have conditioned yourself to be able to control your pulses, it is now time to apply it to your horn in a more practical manner. Due to the fact that we never perform with our thumb and first finger pinching the lead pipe, it is now time to move your right hand into your normal position on the instrument. Most often this would be a position with your thumb located below the lead pipe and between the first and second valve casings. In this position you should be able to reproduce the same effect on your sustained notes on the “Trumpet Vibrato Basics” sheet. Continue practicing on this sheet with your conventional right hand position and try to match the sounds you had with the pinch position. If you find that you have not duplicated the same effect, the problem is most often in the thumb of your right hand. You will only be able to regain the pulsing effect if your thumb is ridged. Any flexibility in this area will negate your control on the movement of the instrument. Stiffen your thumb and the effect should begin again.