Zeraph

Anyone a vocalist? I haven't been singing too long (bout a year), but I know the basics. One thing I just can't get right is vibrato! I can sort of force it, and very occasionally I'll do it naturally if my voice is really soft. Any explanations I look up (or even talk to really good singers in real life) just doesn't cut it for my way of understanding things. I need like, physiological insight. Although if you have your own way of explaining it feel free. Anyone have, or know of, a good explanation to produce vibrato with one's voice?

Thanks

SecretMethod70

Well, the answer to your question really depends on what kind of singing you're trying to do.

A "correct" vibrato just kinda happens as a side effect of singing properly. So, in that sense, you're asking the wrong question, because you're not supposed to *do* anything to create vibrato.

I suspect you're not trying to sing classical voice though, so the issue is probably a little different. Unfortunately, there's really no way I can think of to communicate on the subject over the internet, without hearing what you're doing/trying to do, and without being able to give examples.

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Zeraph

I'm not singing classical, but I would like to learn how to sing properly. Where does it happen? I get different answers from different people. Is it an oscillating pitch or volume that creates the effect?

SecretMethod70

This page has a pretty in-depth description of what causes vibrato and the various wrong ways people tend to achieve it. Understanding Vibrato

If you're looking to properly produce a vibrato in your voice, you should focus on supporting properly and also on making sure you're singing without tension in the jaw or throat. Proper vibrato isn't really something you're likely to achieve without a vocal coach/teacher.

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vanblah

Define "properly." What are you trying to accomplish? My suggestion is to find someone to talk with who understands what you are trying to do.

If you go to an opera singer or a broadway-style singer for help singing pop/rock you'll likely end up sorely disappointed unless they understand what you are trying to do. There are a lot of tips and exercises that you can learn but nothing is worse to me than hearing someone try to bring a classical singing style to pop/rock. Think Lawrence Welk singers doing Beatles covers ... sure it can be funny or campy but it's not really appropriate for the style. The best thing you can do is learn to support your voice and not blow it out.

With regard to vibrato, it's a slight back-and-forth (up-and-down) smooth variation in pitch. SLIGHT and SMOOTH. Much more than a slight variation in pitch and it becomes a trill; but how much variation in pitch and the speed depends on the mood and setting of what you are singing. For instance, ballads sometimes use a slow subtle vibrato that progresses to a rapid more pronounced vibrato during long drawn out open vowels. Rapid variation in volume is usually called a tremolo.

Your vibrato is part of your signature (coloratura if you will). Some singers (especially pop/rock) have a goat-like vibrato; some don't use vibrato at all. It's up to you to develop what you like and want to hear. There is no wrong way to do it in pop/rock.

Zeraph

That's a great article. Thanks SM.

I guess by properly, I just mean healthily. I didn't realize there was such a difference in genres. I thought the basic voice was the same, and then style was added later. So if I'm reading you right, van, you're saying there are actually base stylistic differences in how I should learn to sing?

What do you mean by goat like vibrato?

vanblah

Although there are stylistic differences you can learn a LOT from the classical techniques with regard to voice health ... but you also have to understand that you may be required to break those rules in order to do something in pop/rock. From what I understand there are actually teachers who will help you learn to scream properly for metal.

There is a really great singer here who is classically trained but can sing rock/jazz like nobody's business. She teaches voice on the side; but she stays pretty busy. Her husband produced/engineered my last record so I got a chance to know her and her advice to our singer was to not change a thing. The things he was doing "wrong" (in a classical sense) were exactly what was "right" for our band. (Susan Marshall: susan marshall memphis - Google Search).

The person I'm thinking of with a goat-like vibrato is Gwen Stefani ... I think. It's intentional and it is what makes her sound like her.

SecretMethod70

Yes. Think of it this way: classical voice is the ultimate in healthy singing (if done absolutely properly). But that doesn't mean that it's BAD to bring some unhealthy actions into your singing, so long as you know how and where to find the right balance. Musical theatre and pop music aren't exactly healthy (in different ways), but just like you can have McDonald's so long as you know about eating healthy as well, you can create the musical theatre, pop, or metal sound in ways that are healthier than they might otherwise be.

For the most part, it all comes down to supporting. work on supporting properly, and your singing will already be much healthier than it would have been otherwise. Your best bet really is to find a teacher who knows what they're talking about but also focuses on the type of sound you're trying to produce healthily.

Classical voice sounds different from musical theatre which sounds different from pop which sounds different from metal. But unhealthy habits in any of those styles can lead to vocal nodules, etc.

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Zeraph

So if vibrato comes naturally, does that mean an accomplished singer that wants to sing a flat note has to concentrate *not* have vibrato?

vanblah

It's funny but it really is harder for an accomplished singer (or any musician) to sing/play "badly" on purpose.

But don't confuse tuning with vibrato. Singing flat or sharp doesn't really have anything to do with vibrato in the sense that the vibrato is "out-of-tune." The basic note should be in tune before you go for vibrato or any other type of coloration. In a pinch you can use vibrato, trills or other vocal tricks to cover up a note that you don't hit properly--but it's not a good idea to rely on it. It is also stylistically acceptable to sing slightly out of tune ... look up desafinado.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desafinado)

It's not so much that vibrato comes naturally than it is that you have to find your vibrato.

Zeraph

Yeah sorry, I didn't mean flat as in flat and sharp, like flat as in an even tone without oscillation.

thespian86

Vibrato is a natural occurrence when you sing properly like they said but you can develop it unnaturally. Stop stylizing your voice and sing naturally.

Please don't do this; sing with support by using your diaphragm and see someone who can help you get to a point where you are singing properly. but if you want to cheat, just sing a song: don't imitate, just sing. Get to a comfortable place within that realm, and it will come naturally.

I would do a better job of this if I weren't so intoxicated.
-----Added 8/1/2009 at 11 : 05 : 49-----
Theatre people call it singing it "straight" or with a "straight tone".

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allaboutmusic

Brett Manning actually has a training program specifically for vibrato which is not bad at all and costs about the same as a one-hour singing lesson with a decent teacher. There are teachers who specialise in metal and screaming, and I actually have one of those DVD programs (The Zen of Screaming).