How To Improve A Vibrato

When I think of the great names of violin playing and what the most identifying elements of their playing are, vibrato comes up near the top of the list.

Vibratos, like fingerprints, are quite individual.

Mischa Elman, whose tone is legendary, had a very full, lush vibrato for much of his career. And he generously applied it to everything he played.

Jascha Heifetz’ was extremely fast though he had quite a bit of amplitude in it, so it didn’t sound like a bleating lamb the way many do with ultra-fast vibratos.

Of course, for my money Fritz Kreisler had the most beautiful vibrato of all. It had energy, relaxation, virility, and sensitivity; all at the same time. How can those all be present at the same moment. Well, you’ll have to ask him next time you see him.

When I was in my mid-teens my vibrato was very much on the slow, laconic side. I had very good tone production, however, so the result was not terribly unappealing.

Once I began listening to the great players in earnest, however, I wanted something more.

I realized that I had to train my vibrato as I trained every other technique on the violin. I also benefited from some truly knowledgeable teachers; Milstein the most notable of them.

In the process I learned a tremendous amount about what goes into creating a really first class tone. And vibrato is just one part of it.

The good news is that all I know is coming available to you. And just so you know what you have to look forward to, ‘Kreutzer For Violin Mastery, Vol. 3’ will have a great deal to say about tone production and vibrato.

In the meantime, make full use of volumes 1 and 2.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. If you’ve a mind to transform your playing PRONTO, you really