Flute Vibrato by David Vornholt
When and how to introduce your students to the secrets of flute vibrato
Vibrato in the tone of the flute has been discussed endlessly for more than a hundred years. French flutists of the nineteenth century were the first to popularize its use. However, there were outstanding artists as late as 1935 who refused to recognize vibrato as a necessity to the production of a beautiful tone.
Make no mistake, vibrato is an accessory to the tone. Before a student is introduced to this effect, he or she must have considerable control of tone production. He should be able to produce a clear, "silvery" tone with great nuance ranges from pp to ff. The student should have "edge" or center to the tone through the entire scale of the instrument. All of this can be accomplished by daily practice of long-tone studies.
Once these goals are reached, the student is ready for an introduction to the secrets of vibrato.
In the first presentation, I play a note with a straight or "white" sound and then the same note with vibrato. The pupil is asked if he can hear a difference in the two sounds. After it is established that one is a straight tone and the other has a wavy effect, we are ready to proceed further into how the latter is produced.
I then sing a pitch using vibrato and ask if the student can do the same. Needless to say, it is rare that a young pupil can sing with vibrato. However, if the neophyte is able to produce vibrato by singing, it is a relatively easy process to transfer this effect to the instrument simply by forming the embouchure and feeling the same muscle movement in the throat. When the transition is not possible through singing, we must proceed to the next step.
For this I ask the pupil to cough very lightly, trying to feel the glottis opening and closing. This generally takes but a few minutes to accomplish. I then place the student's thumb, first and second fingers over the muscles in my neck that control the glottis. Using my instrument, I play a G on the top space of the staff and produce a very wide, slow vibrato. This allows the pupil to get a "feel" for how the effect is produced.
I next ask the pupil to play a G on the top space of the staff, and using my hand doubled into a fist, I gently push and release the diaphragm, thus casing a slight fluctuation of the tone. I ask for a straight tone immediately followed by this fluctuation or push of the diaphragm without any help from me by the use of my hand. Once this has been accomplished, I ask that the speed be increased; to increase the speed, the feeling will be more in the throat than from the diaphragm.
During this entire discussion, I constantly stress the need to keep an open throat and to use the imagination to think of a very large and round metal cylinder. Great care must be taken that the pupil does not use a fast "shake" instead of waves as produced on a calm, quiet sea.
Vibrato adds great beauty to the sound of the flute, but it is not necessary to use it at all times. For example, a sixteenth-note passage would generally never require it. Long notes such as wholes, halves and quarters, yes. Eighth notes in certain passages, sometimes yes and sometimes no. A good example of not using vibrato is in the Kent Kennan "Night Soliloquy." The first measure and a half is started non-vibrato, with vibrato beginning slowly on the D-sharp on the second beat of the second measure. This, of course, is a personal interpretation.
The speed of the fluctuation depends on the style of the music being played. Generally, I prefer a slow "wave" for piano and pianissimo passages and a fast speed for forte and fortissimo work. A faster vibrato generates more excitement, while a slower one makes for a more calm feeling.
Again, let me stress the importance of the basic tone quality before introducing vibrato to the young student. There is no easy road to its instruction, but once accomplished, the pupil will be well on the way to conquering some of the intricacies of la belle flute.
David Vornholt, a renowned flutist and educator, was a longtime member of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. This article has been revised and updated from a column that first appeared in a 1972 edition of the Armstrong Flute Forum.
