How do you improve your Vibrato?

I'm wondering if anyone has some tips for improving vibrato. I can get some vibrato during my practicing but find if I push it I crack sometimes. Some vibrato notes are easy and I seem to hit them no problem everytime. Other times it seems I try and hit a vibrato and it's like I lose control/concentration and crack. I enjoy the vibrato effect (although not on everything and it's been overdone) but I'd like the ability to do a few more....

HEY BRO

I only get vibrato when I'm *not* pushing. That said, I have a tendency to push too hard and go sharp a lot of the time.

Maybe you just gotta relax. Keep it calm and cool like the shine on a radiator grid.

When I was a little kid, I always made ghost sounds.

Like OOOOOOOHHHH. That kinda stuff. Now i have this amazing falsetto and vibrato hahaha.( I sound like a total douche)

Anyways, first post! Hello there.

When i was confuse then...

:confused::confused::confused:

Don't push it!

Do it NATURAL

Don't push it! Do it NATURAL

When I "try" it sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't... Is that the same as pushing it? I'm not sure....I'm not straining, just trying to get that vibrato in new spots. Again there are a number that I can hit every time.

Are there any tips for exercising / practising vibrato? Is this a "learned" skill after experience? Maybe there's a warm up...

Vibrato is supposed to develop naturally, but it takes time, even with the proper breath support.

In the mean-time, I think Al has a guide on the subject.

Hmm...I once again don't have a whole lot to offer. I've always found vibrato really easy and natural, but here are some things...

- When I was 14 I loved singing along to various songs on the radio. Songs I avoid like the plague now (Whitney Houston, Mariah Scary, heheh, and some others), and one time I was singing along with a particular song and the end note was held for a long time and I was doing fine with that, singing along, and I couldn't really hear any noticeable difference between what I was singing and the singer on the radio until about halfway through that long end note, when suddenly we sounded different. I was curious and disturbed by this as I couldn't work out what had changed. It turned out that the singer was using vibrato for the last half of that long note, whereas I wasn't. I just kept on singing straight or whatever you want to call it.

Once I realised this, I had absolutely NO idea how to emulate it. I was stumped. I tried a few things...singing the right note while going up and down again to it like a strange siren (not quite as bad as it sounds), and doing things with air and breath control, but nothing worked. So I gave up for a while.

A few months later I was singing along with someone on the radio and suddenly I realised I was using this mysterious vibrato (at that stage in my life I didn't even know what it was called so I named it "wavering", lol) so...ever since that time, it's come naturally, and I don't know why or how.

- I don't actually know if you do need a heap of control or whatever to do it, because in other parts of my singing style or technique, I suck. I have NO projection and I actually think I may use vibrato to my detriment sometimes...I find it easy to do a wide/slow vibrato (as well as a fast one) and apparently (something I learned here) this can cause problems when trying to sing louder or more powerfully. So I have problems with my singing, and yet I can use vibrato easily.

- I'd be really interested to hear a sample of you singing something using vibrato and when you can't "hit" the vibrato. For me, the word "hit" and vibrato don't go together. Hitting a NOTE yes, but hitting vibrato? I tend to think of it as more that the vibrato quality is accompanying the notes you're singing, or that you're able to USE the vibrato quality or ability on notes.

Natural talent does exist.... I may not have enough in the vibrato department...lol

Don't have anything on tape but basically when I don't hit the vibrato, my voice cracks and/or slips/stumbles into falsetto (although not good falsetto). Maybe imagine like your voice slips from chest to throat and then hits a wall crashing and burning....

Hmm, ok. It may be different cause I’m a girl so going into falsetto voice for me is something I have to really make the conscious effort to do, as I can go higher than guys obviously (or most guys anyway!)

It seems to me that you might be pushing too hard in your efforts to get the vibrato sound happening and maybe not doing it in the right way. You have to have a relaxed voice to do vibrato apparently…if I sing something with vibrato, even on notes that are high for me, I find it harder to get a good, relaxed and even vibrato going, and it uses up more air (which may also be incorrect technique on my part), but it never cracks. This is why I’d be interested to hear a sample of your singing when this occurs, as it seems to me that a voice doesn’t generally crack or “fall” into falsetto uncontrollably unless it’s really straining. In my probably useless and uneducated opinion, vibrato comes naturally…you can never force it. My best friend has been singing for years and still hasn’t got a proper vibrato. I’ve noticed lately she has a BIT of vibrato going, but it sounds “fake”…forced, not relaxed, and not as vibrato should ideally sound. So…I don’t know. We’re both 30…I don’t know if she’ll ever get it and I don’t know how to teach her how to do it either cause I don’t know how I do it, you know?

I know how it feels for a voice to slip from a chest to a throat. It feels bad, I know. It never happens when I’m using vibrato though…unless I’m pushing my voice too hard on higher notes and my vibrato tends to get faster and strained a bit…but that’s incorrect singing technique for the notes I’m singing. It’s got nothing to do with vibrato. The vibrato is just there either way. Maybe if you sing with 100% correct technique on the notes you’re having trouble with, the vibrato will come good too?

Don't push it. That's the main thing. As for the other questions, I don't know of any warmups or exercises for vibrato. Mine came pretty naturally. My only suggestion is to not intentionally add lots of vibrato, like when little kids try to imitate opera singers. It's easier when your throat is really open and your voice is nice and dark. It's hard to define what causes it, but once you find it, you'll know exactly what to do every time.

Last night on Australian Idol there was a guy who was using vibrato a LOT, and it sounded really nice (maybe a TAD too much exaggerated vibrato) but you could see both his throat area AND his mouth/lips moving in order to make the vibrato. Moving your lips to do this is really wrong, isn't it?

I have heard that vibrato is supposed to come naturally as a side effect of proper technique, but I've never experienced that. I suspect it might come as a side effect of proper *opera* singing technique.

You can make vibrato using your stomach, your throat, your lips, or just your vocal cords. I agree with grace_slick, it would be helpful to hear what's going on with you.

In any case, one way you can learning to do any of these kinds of vibrato is by starting extremely slowly, like a siren, and over days or weeks increasing the speed of pitch bend until it's no longer a siren but an actual vibrato.

Vibrato is something I don't really think about. I don't recall ever really learning it; it just sort of developed naturally as a result of singing a lot. I couldn't even tell you how much or how little I use. It's one of those things you only notice if it isn't there.

Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, or Michael Stipe of R.E.M sing with no vibrato, and the effect is a deadpan, detached sort of voice, which I suppose is OK, but that probably isn't what you're going for.

I've heard some of the stuff you've posted, and you've got a decent voice--kinda reminds me of Eric Clapton--so I don't think you've got much of an issue. I don't remember ever thinking, "that guy is not using enough vibrato". So I guess my advice would be don't sweat it. Probably not the advice you were looking for, but that's really all I can say.

True enough--many singers simply do without vibrato. I saw Steve Earle and Jackson Browne together last week () and it struck me that through the whole evening there wasn't a trace of vibrato in the lead vocals.

I only noticed this because Jackson Browne's backup singers did use vibrato.

So, vibrato is a useful tool for some styles, but not always necessary. And overdone it is a sure sign of LSS (Lounge Singer Syndrome).

*Just an opinion* Kthanx...

Vibrato isn't really a requisite for singing, although I think it makes a nice transitional tool, or makes for some great sounding/sustaining variations.

Steve Perry for example, uses his vibrato to carry notes and it works very well, however I've never heard him without Reverb saturation in his mixes.

Peter Gabriel doesn't use vibrato often, especially now in his career, but his voice is so distinct he doesn't seem to need to use vibrato...

When I use vibrato, I just do it from my throat and try to sustain the rate of vibrato and try to match the tempo of the song. I can't explain it, but I just use my mind and it comes out. I've never had lessons or training but it sounds right, feels right, and doesn't strain at all.

When you said you push it, what do you mean? You shouldn't have to strain to get vibrato, it's an extension of your already sung note or word.

There are theories that vibrato is bad, causes your vocal chords to act as a rubberband, being overstreched and well, you can read the rest Here: http://notsosynonymous.tripod.com/sing/vibrato.html

Sounds like vibrato is more a natural thing that can improve with some practice....

Yeah, some singers don’t use any vibrato. There’s another guy who doesn’t use any either…I don’t know who he is, and his voice actually annoys me, but not because of the lack of vibrato. He’s one of those emo-type new guys.

Anyway, I heard that using anything other than the base of your throat and diaphragm to produce vibrato is wrong. Lips wrong. Mouth wrong. Top of throat wrong. But I don’t know, it’s just what I’ve heard.

Lounge singer syndrome. Lol. I have to watch myself in that way. I’m no lounge singer, but I do tend to use this wide vibrato. I was never aware of it until now. Karen Carpenter does that too…Joan Baez sometimes as well. Then you’ve got people who use rapid fire vibrato (which is apparently a sign of vocal damage or tension actually) like Stevie Nicks and Grace Slick. So everyone’s different.

And yes, vibrato does seem to be a natural thing that develops over time and with some experience…yep.

I was recently at a Tears 4 Fears concert, trying to sing all loud and strained my voice...Never again! Amplify my voice, or bust! I'm not a fan of the rapid fire vibrato. That one annoys me bad. In the past I used to associate vibrato with how good a singer was ...Now, I'm not convinced it is necessary provided what the singer is doing sounds *good.*

Curious, does reverb saturation=cheating when singing?

I've noticed many "singers" seem to need this?

You should look into taking some voice lessons. Having someone who knows what they are doing helping you learn how to properly use your voice and breath and work with you regularly would probably be most useful. No one online can provide the one-on-one advice a personal instructor could.

One thing I can tell you is that pushing is the worst thing for your voice. If you are cracking, that is a sign that you are straining and any type of stress is terrible for your vocal chords. Vibrato should come naturally and once you get it right, your body will remember the sensation and you'll be able to control it.

Great post.

Reverb saturation? I just find it slightly amplifies but also softens my voice, and gives it a more ethereal sort of sound…I think maybe, if they’re anything like me, a lot of singers find it too confronting and “naked” to sing without it. It places your voice a bit further away, whereas without any reverb at all, your voice is right up front and very exposed and un-prettied-up. Lol.

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I have massive vibrato and can turn it on or off since I emulated my Idol Johnny Mathis since I was 10 years old. Even if (and I'm sure it's probably not your style of music), trying to SOUND like someone can help a lot even if you don't know how to "do it". Be a copy cat and even if it's just goofin' around, the assimilation will help with the final sound.