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Anna Heifetz

Comparing Types of Vibrato, Part Three

April 24, 2012 18:09

Here is the final installment of "Comparing Types of Vibrato." I admit I haven't practiced much the last few days-- knowing I must now face up to the daunting task of double stop scale exercises. If anyone can explain to me why we must do these things, please let me know. Even a bit of encouragement is helpful.

Here's Part Three, based on a letter from my father-in-law, Michael Heifetz, dated 3/20/12:

A. Vibrato and Tension in your Body

We all know that many instrumental musicians develop serious physical problems caused by repeated and/or prolonged stress/tension in various parts of their bodies. These problems may not manifest or become serious for many years - but they tend to get more troublesome as we age. There is a greater awareness of these problems and their causes now than in previous generations, and more players are looking for ways to minimize the physical stresses associated with playing their instruments.

1. When looking at the muscular tension issue in vibrato, one should first consider a prominent muscular tension issue facing all violinists - pronation of the elbow. Pronation is a problem no matter where you are on the fingerboard, and regardless of whether or not you are using vibrato. It is related to the shape of the violin itself, and the necessity of getting the hand and arm around the lower bout of the instrument. Violinists must pull the elbow inward toward the center of the body in order to establish a good hand position relative to the fingerboard. Playing on the lower strings – especially the G string – often calls for pulling the elbow inward even further. Playing well in the upper positions on the G string requires still more inward movement of the elbow. The muscular tension caused by pronation of the elbow appears to be a major causal factor for many violinists’ neuromuscular problems. The problem is worse for violists who must negotiate their larger instruments. (There are even ergonomically shaped violins and violas designed to minimize this problem. For example, look at David Ravinis’ instruments. They have saved many professional careers.)

2. Given this inherent pronation problem, anything that we do which adds unnecessary tension, probably makes matters worse. On the other hand, using “just enough” muscular tension may help us avoid serious physical problems.

3. Some people point out that there is less tension in the body when using wrist/hand vibrato than arm vibrato. Wrist vibrato is activated in the palm of the hand; there is only a little involvement of other muscles elsewhere in the body. The impulse for the arm vibrato comes from the forearm - and also involves muscles in the upper arm, the chest, and (less prominently) the shoulder. (You can test this idea by simulating an arm vibrato movement without holding the violin. Use your right hand to check for signs of the muscles tensing up.) These muscles are tensed whenever the arm vibrato is activated. Arm vibrato operates more like a “large tension system" than the wrist vibrato.

4. If you think this argument has merit, you may wish to emphasize wrist/hand vibrato to reduce the possibility of tension-related problems in your future. In this case, other types of vibrato can be called upon to supplement the wrist vibrato.

B. A few thoughts on the Thumb
These ideas hold true for arm vibrato, wrist vibrato, or no vibrato.

1. The thumb’s angle on the neck reflects the hand’s orientation. Since we are advocating bending the wrist somewhat back toward the scroll (at least in the lower positions), the thumb would point toward the scroll as well. The thumb’s grip on the violin does not increase. It remains flexible, not tight.

2. The thumb must be able to move freely. The thumb is “alive” and continually shifting it’s position as the hand and arm move around the fingerboard. That is one reason why it is hard to state an ideal angle (or even range of angles) for the thumb relative to the neck of the instrument – the angle changes quite often as you reposition your hand and arm to deal with the technical demands of a piece. Here are just a couple of examples – there are many others:
--Sometimes when shifting from a high position to a low position, the thumb can help by “leading the way”. It can reach down to the lower position just before the rest of the hand moves. It establishes a base in the lower position, and helps “pull down” the rest of the hand to the new position.
--Another example: In order to play certain passages, it may be useful to modify the hand/arm/fingers orientation to the violin. It feels like you are modifying the configuration or shape of your hand to reach the notes effectively. When we do this, the thumb’s position changes as well. Suppose you are playing a passage of 3 and 4 note chords in a Bach unaccompanied sonata. It may be necessary to “grab” all the notes of a chord simultaneously - one grab after another. (This is a technique classical guitars are familiar with.) In order to play the chords in tune, you may have to change the orientation of the hand/arm/fingers to the violin from one chord to the next. As the “configuration” of your hand/arm/fingers changes, so does the thumb’s position relative to the violin, arm, and the rest of the left hand.

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Rostropovich plays Shostakovich

April 19, 2012 19:05

I love the beginning theme of Shostakovich Cello Concerto, and the theme at 4 min. 53 seconds. The ending of the first movement caught me a bit off-guard, because it's "polite" compared to the gutsiness and passion of the whole rest of the movement.

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Comparing Types of Vibrato, Part Two

April 18, 2012 13:13

This is a portion of the prepared for me by my father-in-law, Michael Heifetz, 3/30/12.

A. Developing Various Types of Vibrato Vs. Playing Music (Part Two of Three)

When developing various types of vibrato, it's best to develop each one separately. This isn't difficult, since the three types can be fairly well isolated and worked on independently.

1. Some teachers try to identify a person's natural tendency toward either wrist or arm vibrato. Once identified, this tendency can be built upon and refined. But such a "natural tendency" may be difficult to assess - even in yourself (I would agree with this, because now that I play with more wrist vibrato, I am seeing it can be done almost as well as my "natural" arm vibrato). That's because most people begin their attempts at vibrato by tightening up - squeezing the neck of the instrument and freezing the movement of the hand. If you can't identify your natural inclination, simply pick either wrist or arm vibrato to begin with.

2. Development of finger vibrato should generally follow the development of wrist and/or arm vibrato. Wait until your basic wrist and/or arm vibrato is very well developed before working on a finger vibrato. Why? Because the wrist and arm vibratos are normally the primary/most frequently employed types and because finger vibrato is more difficult - it involves subtle movements that may be hard to isolate and control. The movement feels as though it emanates from the finger. "The finger swings from its base knuckle with the hand slightly yielding and moving passively in flexible response to the finger action." (Galamian's description) Sounds easy, doesn't it.

3. When playing music, verses concentrating on development of vibrato, the various types of vibrato rarely appear in their "pure" form. There is usually some overlap - despite the fact that any one type of vibrato may dominate at a given moment. If you achieve a flexible vs. stiff feeling as you play, there will be a natural tendency for some interaction between the dominant muscle group used for a given type of vibrato, and related muscle groups (connected muscles; neighboring groups of muscles). If you stiffen up, you’ll tend to freeze up the natural interplay between associated muscle groups. So, if you try too hard to use a pure form of arm, wrist or finger vibrato, it may actually hamper the natural flow of the vibrato movement.

B. Developing an Arm Vibrato

1.The impulse for arm vibrato emanates from the forearm.
2. The finger needs to push down on the string just enough to hold the string down and maintain a pitch center. The finger should be flexible, so that as the arm oscillates, so does the finger. The finger feels passive – it’s movement simply responds to the arm’s movement.
3. The finger should flex with the backward and forward movement of the arm. The finger flattens or stretches during the backward motion, and recurves during the forward motion.
4. While the basic oscillation of the finger is a “backward and forward” movement, the finger addresses the string at an angle – somewhat across the string rather than strictly in line with the string. Addressing the string at an angle also applies to wrist vibrato, and to playing without vibrato. (For some people, the analogy of your left hand “hanging from the neck of the violin, like a coat hanger on a hanging rod” also captures the idea of addressing the string at an angle).
5. The thumb’s position on the neck does not change when you begin to apply arm vibrato. It remains at an angle to the neck – not perpendicular, but roughly 30 – 60 degrees toward the scroll. This is just a rough estimate. (Also this angle will change as you “shape your hand” in different ways to deal with technical problems. See the section on the thumb, below.)
6. You can begin developing the arm vibrato in the first position, or you may choose another position. (This is a different approach than is suggested for wrist vibrato development, where early development starts in the third or fourth position with the hand touching the body of the instrument.)
7. Begin by establishing the outwardly bent wrist position – suggested throughout this discussion. Once this position is firmly established, start the backward, forward oscillation of the arm.
8. If you choose to begin developing the arm vibrato in upper positions (higher than the third position), Galamian suggests this exercise: “Place the second finger on the string and permit the hand to strike the rib of the instrument with each forward swing, as if playing a trill with the palm of the hand on the edge of the violin. This helps in acquiring evenness and rhythm in the movement.”

Prepared by Michael Heifetz/edited by Anna
Next week: Vibrato and Tension in your Body, and finally, a Few Thoughts on the Thumb

4 replies

Comparing Types of Vibrato, Part One

April 11, 2012 13:17

I am still in the integration phase with my newly acquired wrist vibrato, which may take a few more months to fully establish, and a year or two to become fully automatic, but I'm willing to wait :-)

The good news is that it is getting easier every day. One point I'd recommend is to go overboard on the wrist motion when going from arm to wrist vibrato. Arm vibrato takes almost no wrist movement so it feels really strange to then be waving your wrist around on every pitch (really, this is normal?) So err on the side of overdoing it. Your oscillations will be more pronounced and make you happier.

Below is the first part of a letter from my father-in-law Michael Heifetz, sent to me March 30th, 2012, which compares the different types of vibratos (arm, wrist, and finger). I am still in the integration phase, which needs a whole letter or diary of it's own, but I thought this may also be informative.

Anna

Comparing Types of Vibrato (Part One of Three)

There are three basic types of vibrato: wrist (more properly “hand vibrato”), arm, and finger. There is also a fourth type: a "simulated" vibrato called fingertip vibrato. There is no consensus agreement on which type of vibrato is “the best,” and there are excellent violinists who rely on one or another as their primary type of vibrato.

Each type, however, can be particularly useful for certain expressive effects and technical challenges. Because of this, a violinist may wish to develop all types of vibrato to have as part of his/her technical arsenal. Ideally, a player would be able to vary the speed, width and intensity of various types of vibrato to suit the music and personal preference. You could vary your vibrato (including the type of vibrato) to suit the period, composer, piece, movement, or specific phrase. For example, when playing Haydn or Mozart, you might choose a narrower vibrato. For romantic composers such as Brahms, you might typically choose a wider, slower vibrato.

Wrist and arm vibrato are the two most basic and commonly used types. They both allow considerable variation in speed, width and intensity. Finger vibrato relies on quick impulses from the finger. It is inherently a quick, shaking, narrow movement. You cannot attain as wide a movement with finger vibrato, as with wrist or arm vibrato.

It is also helpful to have several types of vibrato "on call" to overcome various technical challenges. Examples:
- When playing in the high positions - especially on the G string - it is very difficult to use wrist vibrato. But arm vibrato is relatively easy to use in this situation.
- You may wish to use vibrato in a fast passage, where wrist or arm vibrato simply cannot be applied quickly enough. In this case, the illusion of vibrato can be obtained by simulating a finger vibrato - it's called "finger tip vibrato". Ivan Galamian (“Principles of Violin Playing and Teaching”) describes finger tip vibrato in this way: "The illusion of vibrato can be created by flattening the fingers and letting them break slightly in their knuckles immediately after the note is sounded...The elbow is placed more to the left to flatten the fingers and the fingers themselves move in a lazy fashion, lifting but little and slowly, and dropping also slowly; after touching the string, the finger-knuckle gives in."

Next Time: Part Two: Developing Various Types of Vibrato Vs. Playing Music

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