Vibrato

Vibrato is a musical effect where the pitch or frequency of a note or sound is quickly and repeatedly raised and lowered over a small distance for the duration of that note or sound.

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Confusingly, vibrato is sometimes referred to as tremolo, notably in the context of a tremolo arm of an electric guitar, although true tremolo is a periodic fluctuation in the amplitude (rather than the frequency) of a sound. Conversely, the so-called vibrato unit built in to many guitar amplifiers produces what is known as tremolo in all other contexts.

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The extent of the variation in pitch in vibrato is down to the performer, but does not usually exceed a semitone either way from the note itself. The effect is intended to add warmth to a note. A helpful side effect is that it can help to disguise bad tuning.

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Wide vibrato (as wide as a whole-tone) is used commonly among lead electric guitar players and adds a vocal-like expressiveness to the sound.

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A precursor to vibrato was the trillo (not to be confused with a trill), used in vocal music in the early 17th century, where a singer would rapidly repeat the same note on one syllable. The effect was much more strident than that of vibrato, and is compared by some to the bleating of a sheep.

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Not all instruments can produce vibrato, as some have fixed pitches which can not be varied by sufficiently small degrees. Most percussion instruments are examples of this, as is the piano. Some types of organ however, can produce the effect by altering the pressure of the air passing through the pipes, or by various mechanical devices (see the Hammond or Wurlitzer Organs for example).

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Some instruments are played with constant, mechanical vibrato, notably the vibraphone and the Leslie speaker used by many electric organists. Soul singer Aaron Neville sings with vibrato, having been originally inspired by yodeling.

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The method of producing vibrato on other instruments varies. On string instruments, for example, the finger used to stop the string can be wobbled on the fingerboard, or actually moved up and down the string for a wider vibrato.

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In pop music the effect is sometimes heard on the guitar and some, but not all singers, use it (in some pop ballads, the vibrato can be so wide as to be a pronounced wobble). The use of vibrato in some folk musics is rare, or at least less pronounced than in other forms of music, although in Eastern European gypsy music, for example, it can be very wide.

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Most jazz players through the 20th century and up to the present day have used vibrato more or less continuously. From around the 1950s, however, some players in more avant garde styles, many following the example of Miles Davis, began to use it more selectively, playing without vibrato as a rule. Davis, however, frequently used a mute, which also alters the tone of the instrument.

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Vibrato is sometimes thought of as an effect added onto the note itself, but in some cases it is so fully a part of the style of the music that it can be very difficult for some performers to play without it. The jazz tenor sax player Coleman Hawkins found he had this difficulty when requested to play a passage both with and without vibrato by the producer of a children's jazz album to demonstrate the difference between the two. Despite his otherwise exemplary technique, he was unable to play without vibrato. A symphony saxophonist was brought in to play the part.

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Many classical musicians, especially singers and string players have a similar problem. The violinist and teacher Leopold Auer, writing in his book Violin Playing as I Teach It (1960), advised violinists to practice playing completely without vibrato, and to stop playing for a few minutes as soon as they noticed themselves playing with vibrato in order for them to gain complete control over their technique.

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Music: Music is a natural intuitive phenomenon operating in the three worlds of time, pitch, energy, and under the three distinct and interrelated organization structures of rhythm, harmony, and melody....

Pitch: Pitch may refer to:...

Frequency: :...