the.com/vibrato
The wobble singers use to hide that they can't hold a perfectly straight note.
means A musical technique in which a sustained pitch is given a slight, regular wavering in tone, used by singers and instrumentalists to add warmth and expression.
from Straight from Italian, the mother tongue of so much musical vocabulary. Vibrato is the past participle of vibrare, 'to vibrate or shake,' which traces back to Latin vibrare, 'to set in tremulous motion.' That same Latin root branches out into 'vibrate' and 'vibrant' in English — so a vibrato is, quite literally, a note left trembling.
- frequency
- Typically oscillates five to seven times per second
- baroque snub
- Once considered ornament, not default for every note
- the body
- Comes from involuntary pulsing of vocal muscles
- violin trick
- Created by rocking the finger on the string
- too much
- Excess wobble earns the dreaded label warble
luciano pavarotti — tenor whose distinctive wide vibrato defined operatic singing in the 20th century
jascha heifetz — violinist renowned for his controlled, expressive vibrato that became the standard for classical violin technique