Flute Vibrato Tutorial - 7 Level Exercise

In this flute vibrato tutorial, Lance Suzuki teaches a flute vibrato exercise in 7 levels appropriate for all levels of flute playing. For newer flutists, practicing metered vibrato helps to develop a stronger, deeper and more projecting flute sound. For more advanced flute players, learning how to control and vary the speed and depth of flute vibrato can widen your color palette and expressive capabilities.
Practice between 40-60 beats per minute (50 is a good starting place for most people). Work to exaggerate slower vibrato pulses and integrate faster ones into the core of the sound. Please let me know if you have any questions in the comments.
This exercise is available in my book, "8 Essential Exercises" available here: www.lancesuzuki.com/store/pro...
Recorded with Shure MV88: amzn.to/2LVH6sE
Find more about me at www.lancesuzuki.com
#flutevibrato #fluteexercises #vibratoexercises

[@butontheflute]

Love this! Thanks for making this and sharing!

[@LanceSuzuki]

Thanks, Karmen! You probably recognize that exercise. I'm pretty sure I got it from Gary. xoxo!

[@tootles7568]

You explained this very clearly, thank you

[@leejoycechung2162]

Very nice. Enjoyed this video and super presentation.

[@christinaschramm-n.3156]

I love the way how you explain it!!! Thank you soo much! 💝💝

[@LanceSuzuki]

Thanks so much! Happy practicing! ❤️🎵

[@user-qx8ey9im1t]

Thank you Maestro Lance, good explanation about vibrato

[@bonniestolz9724]

Finally, a really clear explanation! Thank you.

[@LanceSuzuki]

👍 Thanks, Bonnie!

[@justinchoi4321]

Thank you! Very very very helpful!

[@LanceSuzuki]

Great! Thanks for watching!

[@mariusg1264]

Great! Thank you very much !

[@guptaadrianakamal]

Thanks!

[@LanceSuzuki]

Thanks so much!

[@yeunganthony7517]

Very useful and hope my daughter can learn this technique from you very soon

[@cubasestudent55]

This is great! I am ready for metered vibrato now. I have only used free vibrato until now.

[@garymeroff3297]

Thanks Lance I really enjoyed the video and it did help me grasp vibrato even better. I will keep working on it. I did feel a little breakthrough here : o ) Now to work on it everyday and incorporate it into my playing. You sound very nice and expressive. Beautiful sound !

[@LanceSuzuki]

Thanks so much, Gary!

[@elainerinne3468]

Thank you so much! This is so helpful!

[@LanceSuzuki]

Great! I’m glad it helped! Let me know if you have any questions.

[@danieloleary1782]

I have been attempting to develope an internal vibrato on the Cornet. Not a common technique for a cup mouthpiece instrument. Some suggest it is inferior , I on the other hand suggest it is far superior but much more difficult to master than shaking the instrument with the hand. I find The sensation of an internal vibrato connects to the instrument. That one becomes a direct extension and part of the instrument. In searching for advice on how to approach the task at hand , the mathematical steps were as expected, articulation 101. However explanations of belly wobbling fell a bit short. Thanks for your notations regarding not complicating the phenomenon with mechanics but rather a more intuitive approach. I find that reassuring that I'm on the right track. After while it just starts falling in place doesn't it ? your playing along a melody and here comes that note that wants a smooth easy vibrato and out of you it comes. 〽️〽️🌬️〽️〽️

[@JorgeLTE]

Thank you so much for this video! Very helpful and I like your teaching style. Just as a side note, it would be great if you could crank up the volume of your future videos.

[@LanceSuzuki]

Thanks, Jorge. Yes, my audio quality (and volume) have improved a lot since this video. I will probably be releasing a newer version of this video in the coming months. Stay tuned!

[@brunosampaio2399]

Great exercises, Vibrato is kind of natural to me, but develop a conscious approach surelly can improve the vibrato skills on every musician.

[@adamszabo2017]

This video is amazing 😍❤️ I watched tons of videos on vibrato, but this one was beyond all of them, thank you 😍😊 Also, my lips quite have the same shape as yours, so I'm struggling with the right embouchure. Do you have any suggestion to play easily with 'fuller' lips? Sometimes I leave too much place for the air to run out.... 😔😊 Thanks once again and thank you in advance for your time 😊

[@LanceSuzuki]

I'm so glad you enjoyed the video. Regarding full lips, I consider mine medium sized. There are many with smaller and fuller. Perhaps, take a good look at the embouchure hole on your headjoint. This is what you're aiming for. You don't want to be substantially wider than that. Neither do you need to be smaller than that. Sometimes an embouchure that is too tight can lead to an "airier" sound because it obstructs the air. Number one priority is the resonance of the instrument and not necessarily the shape of your lips.

[@adamszabo2017]

@@LanceSuzuki thank you so much for your help 😊❤️

[@prachandpralay7871]

namaste sir🙏. I m from india and i am learning indian bamboo flute for last 2 years..but for me vibrato and stroking is most difficult..thanks for the video🙏🙏

[@LanceSuzuki]

Great! I'm so glad you found the video useful. Thanks for watching!

[@chneney]

How do I know if I'm ready to do vibrato? I've been playing for a couple of months, and just 2 months ago, I started a really intense passion for flute playing.

[@dilaredilo2212]

Plaease do staccatto

[@diandenmark]

Wonderful video - thanks so much for it. About the confusing advice on the actual production of the vibrato, I would like to share this from Jennifer Cluff - what is especially interesting is her description about how the "production place" moves upward as you get skilled! - It sounds kind of logical somehow - what do you think? ************** "To start vibrato from scratch: 1. Yawn your throat open slightly, and keep it open as you play, so that the air coming from your lungs has a nice, open, relaxed "pipeline", and meets no constriction from your lungs to your lip opening. Play like that every day consciously experimenting with how relaxed your throat can be. 2. After a week or so of this....now that you're comfortable with relaxing your throat: Start adding a gut push onto a long-held note. It's like saying: AAAaaaaAAAAAaaaaaAAAAA Where you get louder by pushing the air faster on the AAAA part of one long held note. 3. As you begin to get control over the gut pushes, after several days practice, pulsate the loud "AAA" in rhythm. For example, set the metronome on a nice, easy, not too fast 4/4 time and pulse rhythmically. aaaaAAAAaaaaAAAAaaaaAAAAaaaaAAA. If you don't have enough breath, just do two pulses, then breath, and do another two. 4. Slowly but surely you'll find that you can do a slow easy pulse. Next, once the muscles are co-ordinating, do triplet pulses. example: think: BLUE-ber-ry BLUE-ber-ry and play: AAA-AAA-AAA----AAA-AAA-AAA. 5. Next, once you've spent a few days on triplet pulses, try eighth note pulses based on your 4/4 rhythm you established earlier. AA-AA-AA-AA---AA-AA-AA-AA. The trick is to leave no silences in the sound but to get the gut muscles used to pushing the air in rhythmic bursts. The faster you eventually get, the less the gut muscles will actually have to move, and you'll find you can use much smaller muscles higher up under the thorax (in the uppermost part of the chest). Very fast vibrato eventually can be felt as a slight undulation at the base of the throat....but only once you've mastered the big exaggerated gut pushes. **** Jen Cluff on Flutenet - www.jennifercluff.com/vibrato.htm

[@LanceSuzuki]

Thanks a lot for this detailed comment. I like a lot of your points, however, I'm not sure I agree with skill having anything to do with where the vibrato comes from. For me, I like to keep a little mystery in where vibrato comes from in the body. Sometimes people can get overly focused on one area of the body rather than concentrating on the air. The pulses really come from the air...your body should fill in the details. Thanks for watching!

[@ronrobbins2737]

I think it’s time for a reality check…..let’s demystify where vibrato actually comes from, OK? i’ve had to learn how to teach it not only on flute but also Sax/TRUMPET/and vocals, At a large music school. Producing a natural vocal sounding vibrato in four different mediums is a different mechanism-but all very non-mystical and easily learned lol!

[@Shrey10]

Hello sir, do lower lips shake while doing vibrato ?

[@LanceSuzuki]

Hopefully not. Lip shaking is often caused by excess tension.

[@Humbardi]

I am following your method since 10 days ago practicing an hour/day… How much time do I need to practice to improve my vibrato ?

[@anna.anna.0]

How it went?

[@annamariaandalo7754]

do we have to make vibrato to every single note of any melodie?

[@LanceSuzuki]

I don't think so. Vibrato is a color and a tool. There are some melodies that want vibrato on every note. Other times, vibrato can be used to accentuate certain notes of the melody.

[@vijayakumarphd]

Good. Volume of recording may be increased.

[@ronrobbins2737]

Nothing mystical at all about vibrato production Maestro, we use the “hissing” exercise to practice subtle air pulsations (throat). I’m not even an advanced player or teacher and have nine-year-old second-year players starting vibrato this way.

[@Emkyinshanworldofenthusiasm]

I felt my diaphragm shaking, is it right？