Keep The Vibrato Party Rockin'
By now you should have a beautiful vibrato on every finger and have full control of vibrato speed such that you can color each note according to your own musical desires. If this is not the case then I highly recommend the previous 6 video lessons on vibrato! Start on the wall then move the motion to the cello, refine the motion and add the bow. Pretty soon you’ll have a nice pre-vibrato. Then it’s just a matter of learning to vibrato on every finger and controlling the speed.
The next step along your path to vibrato mastery is consistency through the musical line. In video lesson 5 we learned about resetting the vibrato motion to prevent tensing up. In this lesson, we are going to unlearn the habit of resetting so that we can vibrato straight through a musical line without re-establishing the motion with each new finger. Because the vibrato motion originates from the back it can continue uninterrupted as we change fingers. Hopefully, by this time your vibrato motion is established enough that you can continue through multiple notes without tensing up. If not, please review previous lessons and continue to ingrain the motion by daily, intentional vibrato exercises.
Vibrato is about your muscles remembering a feeling. When you think it feels and sounds right do your best to reinforce and recreate that sound. Like most skills you can’t force it and your performance may vary from day to day. Over time as your body becomes more and more used to that motion, your brain creates the connections to commit that motion to muscle memory. Eventually, the motion that started out requiring your undivided focus will become second nature. It is the same process a child experiences as they learn to walk. When attempting to develop a new skill, review the fundamentals that the skill is based on. Go back to the wall and feel the basic motion again. Reviewing each step that led you this far can be a more effective way to acquire the new skill than exclusively practicing for the desired outcome.
Pro Tip
You may not realize that your fingers don’t transfer vibrato from finger to finger. Try taking a video of you playing a slowish piece and watch it back with an eye on your left hand the instant it changes fingers. You may discover that you have a habit of delayed not continuous vibrato.
This continuation of vibrato through finger changes is a big part of many pieces you know — The Swan, Vocalise, Elgar Cello Concerto 1st movement — but you may want to begin with good-old French Folk Song from Suzuki Book 1. This time with beautifully mastered vibrato!