Mozart’s Bassoon Concerto, Part 16.
Practicing and Developing Vibrato. Presenting research by Prof. Jan
Eberle. By Terry B. Ewell, Bassoon Digital Professor. BDP #227. With
Elaine Ross, piano. www.2reed.net.
<music: “Mozart Mashup” with Terry Ewell and Elaine Ross.>
1. Welcome, this is Terry Ewell. In the last two videos on vibrato, I
provide an overview of the history of vibrato and then what
mechanisms—or which parts of the body—are best employed to
produce vibrato. In this video, I will be presenting ways to practice
vibrato.
2. Prof. Jan Eberle, in her article and presentations, first helps
students identify which vibrato mechanism or mechanisms work best for
each individual.
• Jan Eberle, “Vibrato: No Longer a Mystery!” The Double Reed 29/3 (2006): 128-130.
• https://www.idrs.org/publications/controlled/DR/DR29.3/DR29_3.pdf
3. Let’s review the five throat area vibratos advocated by Prof.
Eberle and identify the one or two that work best for you.
4. The “Whistle” vibrato is made with muscles under the
chin. It is made in the upper throat in the lower tongue region.
5. The “Sister” vibrato is made in the upper throat in the
lower tongue region. Varying the “sis” sound is produces
this vibrato. Feel for movement at the “tonsil area.”
6. The “Laugh” vibrato can be simulated with “ha, ha, ha” sounds. It located further down in the throat.
7. The “Cough” vibrato is produced with coughing sounds. It located yet lower in the throat.
8. The “Vocal” vibrato is produced in a manner done by most
singers. Prof. Eberle notes that this is the most common vibrato. This
vibrato is created by fluctuations in the vocal folds.
9. Pick one of these types of vibrato to practice for one week without
the instrument. Learn to identify the muscles and sensations associated
with that vibrato.
10. In the second week, I suggest you practice this vibrato on the
bassoon, but first on a note that blows freely, one without a lot of
air pressure. G3, the G above open F is a good pitch to start on.
Practice gaining control over the vibrato. Play a note and turn on and
off the vibrato.
11. Once you are comfortable on G3, expand your range by moving up and
down the instrument scale. You will discover that the challenges for
vibrato will vary depending on the tessitura, that is the pitch range
of the instrument.
12. The upper notes on the bassoon are more resistant, and you may feel
more air pressure and perhaps greater difficulty producing the vibrato.
13. Developing a flexible vibrato will be your next step in your
vibrato practice. Try varying the speed of the vibrato. Prof. Eberle
does not recommend practicing vibrato pulses with a metronome, however,
I have found this helpful for me and my students. Set the metronome to
a tempo of 60. Then provide vibrato pulses to the beat, first 1, then
2, 3, 4 etc.
14. Here is a vibrato drive to practice. You will notice that it starts
with fewer pulses per beat, increases pulses per beat, and then ends
with fewer pulses per beat.
• 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 3-3, 2-2, 1-1
15. When you have mastered going up to four pulses a beat, try five and
perhaps even six. Six is the fastest vibrato that I can produce.
16. You might find that you feel the slower pulses more in your abdomen
than in the throat area. When I practice this exercise, I feel the
faster pulses rise up the air column to my throat area. There is the
sensation of an upward progression as the pulses increase in speed. I
suspect, however, that I am using the same mechanisms for all of the
pulses, However, the slower pulses are felt more in my abdomen. This
might be analogous to the slow pulses that a shoe causes on a hose. The
pressure can be sensed closer to the source of water pressure.
17. First practice the vibrato drive without any change in dynamics.
Then practice it with dynamics. The easiest vibrato drive coincides
with the dynamics, increasing the volume as the number of pulses
increase.
18. However, complete mastery of vibrato should include using vibrato
and dynamics in opposition. Here the vibrato decreases in the frequency
of pulses while the dynamics increase in volume.
19. For additional information on the vibrato drives, please see these items:
• "A Bassoonist's Expansions upon Marcel
Tabuteau's 'Drive,'" The Journal of the International Double Reed
Society 20 (July 1992): 27-30.
http://www.2reed.net/EwellArticles/TabuteauDrive.pdf
• Music in Motion, BDP#100 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLlkrHOi83g&feature=youtu.be
20. Well, I hope that this video has been helpful to either get you
started on vibrato or to further refine your understanding of how to
practice it. In the next video, we will examine the Mozart Bassoon
Concerto and discuss how vibrato might be applied to it.
<music: “Mozart Mashup” with Terry Ewell and Elaine Ross.>