Vibrato Exercises

Go here for the full playlist on Youtube.

Vibrato Rules:

  • A minute every day is better than twenty minutes once a week.
  • Only go as far as you’ve done in class.
  • Ask for an extra set of eyes!

Three points of contact

  • Thumb: feel the bone touching, tip of the pad pokes up behind the neck.
  • Lumpy bone: touching at the bone.
  • Finger: right on the tip, both knuckles should be rounded.

Trunk = the core of your body. Imagine your arms are branches – the rest of you is a trunk.

Butterflies

Place hand at the neck. Light as a butterfly, bring it across to your right shoulder, then the body of the violin, and land back at the neck gently. Repeat.

There should be no twisting or wiggling in the trunk to keep the violin in place.

Finger Pops – 3421

Check your three points of contact. Tap the finger right on the tip 4-8x per finger.

Remember to use the order 3, 4, 2, 1.

Open/Shut – 3421

Check your three points of contact. Place the finger on the tip. Remove the base of the first finger (lumpy bone) about 1cm. Repeat 2-4x per finger.

There should be no twisting or wiggling in the trunk. The elbow will swing forwards.

Rolling the Cookie Dough – adult hands required!

Have an adult manipulate your wrist as shown. Your adult will feel if your wrist is allowing itself to move under their touch (correct) , or if you are flexing your muscles (incorrect).

What should the movement look like?

The movement should come from the larger muscle groups, flowing down the arm and into the hand.

Notice how the knuckles are stacked on top of the wrist, not falling back into pancake hand.

Unhealthy movement:

If the wrist is moving in circles, it is repeatedly flopping into an ulnar deviation (bend in the wrist towards the pinky, the finger that is directly attached to the ulna bone in the arm).

Unhealthy movement:

This movement comes entirely from the wrist. Isolating it in this way easily causes repetitive strain injuries.

Advanced Exercises

Movement on the violin

Movement on the string