| A good vibrato adds a natural beauty to the sound | | | | hear the note being in tune as you play the vibrato. |
| of the saxophone. | | | | Next, speed up the metronome the about 70, and |
| The saxophone uses a Jaw vibrato. The basic | | | | try again. Strive for an even sound on the vibrato. |
| concept is that you are saying "YA YA YA" over and | | | | Now, bump the speed up to around 80, but use |
| over again. By moving the jaw down and up again, | | | | triplets instead of 16th notes as you basis. It is |
| you are actually taking the pitch and making it flat | | | | important to remember that the number of pulses in |
| and then bringing it back up. This up and down pitch | | | | the vibrato is NOT attached to the length of the |
| is what we call vibrato. | | | | note! So, If I see a whole note, I do not assume |
| There are several things that can go wrong with | | | | that I should play 16 pulses with my jaw! If the song |
| vibrato. It can be too fast, or too slow. The rate of | | | | is slow, it will be much more, if the songs is fast, it |
| vibrato should be between 76 and 90 on your | | | | will be much less. |
| metronome for sixteenth notes. | | | | THE RATE OF THE VIBRATO IS INDEPENDENT |
| The second problem is being too wide or too narrow. | | | | FROM THE SPEED OF THE SONG; THE RATE IS |
| You should be able to listen to most styles of music | | | | ALWAYS AROUND 76-90 ON THE METRONOME. |
| for a good example of vibrato speed. You'll notice | | | | Keep in mind that your vibrato is not attached to |
| that vibrato tends to me a little faster in classical | | | | your tongue. You can use vibrato with tonguing or |
| styles, and a little slower in popular styles. | | | | without tonguing (slurring). Usually you want to put |
| Now, pick a note in the middle of your instrument | | | | vibrato on notes that are long enough that the |
| and set the metronome around 60. Try playing a | | | | vibrato can be heard. The only way to have a nice |
| scale using sixteenth notes as a guide for the vibrato | | | | vibrato is practice is all the time. When you start to |
| speed. Make sure you are using "YA YA YA" as the | | | | learn it, you should use it on everything that you play. |
| syllable. Ascend up the scale in whole notes going YA | | | | If you do this consistently, you'll have a nice vibrato |
| YA YA 16 times per whole note. You'll feel that the | | | | in about three weeks. I like to recommend to my |
| vibrato is slightly different as you get higher. | | | | students that they play really easy, slow songs to |
| Usually it is a little narrower as you go up, and wider | | | | develop the vibrato. Generally anything that you can |
| as you get lower. Make sure that you can clearly | | | | play without having to think about notes or rhythms. |