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Singing vibrato


LeeJoon

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I'm having a very difficult time with this. I can sing well and hit high and low notes but vibrato is very hard for me. I've been trying to achieve vibrato for the past few months but it just doesn't happen. There was one time while I was practicing where I actually did a perfect vibrato and it felt amazing but I couldn't do it anymore after that one time. I've read and watched many videos and tried stuff like breathing with diaphragm and equally letting the air out to each note and relaxing/opening the throat but it just doesn't seem to work. Sometimes I might have a very weak and subtle vibrato but I'm trying to get a fuller vibrato. When I watch singers in KPOP for example, they seem to do it so easily but I don't know why I'm having such a hard time. Anyone have some special tips? Can you do vibrato? Did it come naturally or was there something you did that helped you achieve it?

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I've experimented a lot with vibrato. There's actually quite a few ways to make vibrato. There's natural vibrato and there's "fake" vibrato. Some singers can have a natural vibrato by opening up and relaxing the throat and having steady breath support. Natural vibrato is quite subtle but produces a lot of overtones. There's some exercises that might help "develop" or "encourage" vibrato, such as practicing trills by alternating up and down by a whole tone, then gradually increase your speed. There are also some singers that use a wide wooble by bobbing their larynx up and down repeatedly (I wouldn't recommend this method though).

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I want to do the natural way. I relax the throat and everything else but it just doesn't seem to hit that vibrato. I breathe from the diaphragm and sing but one question I have is when I sing, do I sing with a powerful voice (use more air than needed) to reach that vibrato or do I just naturally sing and use the same amount of air I do when I'm talking for example?

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Room acoustics are a big thing but you can control them. My recomendation would be to try and deaden the room. To do this I would pick a smaller room like a closet or bathroom. Then get some blankets and hang them on the walls. You basically are trying to absorb as much sound as possible in the room. Hard smooth surfaces are reflective and echo, soft textured surfaces absorb the sound..

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Vibrato is invoking a muscular pattern that goes between two semi-tones. The function is as simple as changing between two pitches, however you have to find the 'pattern' that let's you do it quickly. Best way to look for that pattern is by practicing vibrato in your falsetto or head voice.

 

Now there's finding vibrato, but there is also applying vibrato. Vibrato can ONLY occur when the vocal tract is relaxed. It will never occur when the vocal tract isn't relaxed. If vibrato stops at a certain point, it means your tract isn't relaxed.

Also, places of undeveloped cord closure will always be a falsetto vibrato. If you want to have a full voiced vibrato at places where you break into falsetto, you would have to develop good cord closure first. Without knowing how to train cord closure for your higher notes, the best thing you could to is to keep your throat as open as possible. That's the best way to get some vibrato in that situation.

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It is very important to sing with vibrato in classical singing but otherwise it may not be as urgent as you think. I have a lot of vibrato when I sing because if I don't my teacher gets upset. Also having vibrato means I'm singing correctly (for classical at least). But also like the others above mentioned, especially Davie, your vibrato will come naturally if your throat is relaxed and learning to always sing with a relaxed larynx is very important. You said you sing with a relaxed throat but you may not know how to check.

One of my teachers would have me slowly rotate my head in a circle while singing so that I couldn't tighten up. Try that. Also, if your larynx moves up or down you are using too many throat muscles unnecessarily. The vibrato comes from the diaphragm pulsing. It's not something you should make happen. It will just happen after many weeks or months of trying to sing relaxed. Singing from the diaphragm takes a lot of practice. Vibratto comes naturally from correct breathing, posture, and such. Make sure you're breathing deeply (you're stomach should expand) rather than shallow breathing (your shoulders will move. If your shoulders are moving, you're doing it wrong). Don't expect it to happen over night.

Hoped that helped. :)

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