"With Nicky" - Vibrato Part 2
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 มิ.ย. 2024
- Following on from last week, we are onto Vibrato Part 2. It’s such a personal subject it’s very hard to know how to narrow my suggestions down, and hence our strong encouragement for dialogue and shared ideas and thoughts on this subject.
This week is something of a continuation as we progress from easier to slightly harder vibrato exercises. Development of any skill that is difficult is never a linear process. I strongly advise you to embrace the ups and downs - in not doing so, you will only set yourself up for disappointment, which is a waste of your energy and emotion. Remember it’s the same for everyone - things will get better, then worse, then better again. You’re in good company!
This week, it’s a slightly shorter video, and we’ll be focussing on how to put some of last week’s exercises into practice with one of the most popular pieces of violin repertoire ever - Meditation by Massenet from Thais. Then we’ll be exploring exercises in the higher positions, how to use double stops to practise vibrato, & finishing with some examples of putting it all into practice.
We would love you to share your top tips, videos of exercises and your struggles or ideas on vibrato with us - don’t be shy! We’re all here to learn.
You can also join in live or online with the Benedetti Foundation at www.benedettifoundation.org
The videos have been generously supported by ESTA UK, MiSST - The Andrew Lloyd Webber Programme, and Oasby Music Group and I am very grateful for their support.
Huge thanks to our media partners Classic FM, The Strad, The Violin Channel and WQXR who will be sharing the videos with their audiences each week when released.
Finally, these videos wouldn’t have been possible without an amazing team: Scott Jaeger, our film maker, Laura Gardiner, our Education Manager, Rebecca Driver, PR Manager and Hannah King, Online Media Manager. I want to say a huge thank you to all four of them for being with me on this journey.
Love Nicky
Time Codes
01:34 Meditation Workshop
03:36 Vibrato in High Positions
05:30 Vibrato Exercises with Double Stops
10:13 Engaging Bicep and Arm in Vibrato
12:14 Examples
TH-cam Links:
Click below to watch the full versions of the clips included in this video:
Ana Chumachenco Plays Schumann 1 3 Violin Concerto 1/2 - • Video
Nicola Benedetti plays Korngold’s Violin Concerto from the 2015 BBC Proms - • Nicola Benedetti plays...
Videos and Other Links mentioned in the film:
Nicola Benedetti performs Meditation from Massenet’s Thaïs - • Nicola Benedetti perfo...
Julia Fischer - www.juliafischer.com/
Lisa Batiashvili - lisabatiashvili.com/
Vilde Frang - www.vildefrang.com/
This series is absolutely amazing. As an adult learner, it's unbelievable that you are giving us access to this level of insight and practical teaching from an international soloist.
Thank you so much for the time and effort you are putting in to create this unique and tremendously valuable resource. Every teacher on the planet should be pointing their students at this series.
Hi Nikki,it's Aug.20.2023 pm 547pm It's been really hot here, spent a relatively cool morning meandering through Super Trouper by abba. Boy all gosh the tones are coming alive,once I got that special rosin I was alive and kicking! I'm just an amature, but I feel like a star with your wonderful help and guidance Nicola! Thank You from my heart and soul.! C.e.usa
"Development is never a linear journey" - Nicola Benedetti
The IceKing Gamer she is so awesome i love her she presents herself so vulnerable it makes me feel unalone in my learning journey thank you Nicola
Someone has already done that quote!! 😂
"Development is never a linear journey" Excellent tips and video!!
Thank you very much. Really interesting and useful routines to make our vibrato and our sound a little better. A great opportunity for me. Thanks again for sharing your art. I’m looking forward to watching the next video!!
Jan.7 2023 HI Nicky. Played an enormously good morning concert for myself this.morning. my student model violin bridge overhaul, bridge snapped at wings. Reinstalled old bridge. Used carbon paper rubbing and patient scraping finally got good results. This the best it's ever sounded since I've owned her.Played a baroque concerto Handle? BACH? CERUTI? WHAT EVER IT WAS IT SOUNDED GOOD. BAD STORM PASSING THROUGH MY AREA.BYE FOR NOW.
1 and 2 part really nice. I liked both. Very easy. Thank you so much.
You're an inspiration Nicky... Thank you so much
It's so valuable to hear what your struggles with vibrato are. It gives me encouragement to keep working through my struggles. Thank you for sharing these tips and exercises.
Your technique vibrato is still beautiful 😀 Thank you for another excellent video demonstration.
So enjoying listening to you. II am OLD and playing grade three pieces. Loving every minute of playing again .... huge gap between 15 and 69 when I just filled a dream of playing again.. Took me forever to find a teacher. Love your videos. Bren
great video today Nicola! I really found that really helpful thank you!
That went well. I ONLY PRACTICED THE FIRST HALF OF YOUR VIBRATO EXERCISE. EVEN AFTER SEVERAL DAYS OF NOT PLAYING I CAN HEAR A RESEMBLANCE TO YOUR BEAUTIFUL VIBRATO NIKKI. I AM SO VERY GREATFUL FOR YOUR STEADFAST TUTILAGE AS I LEARN EXTREMELY SLOWLY. I USED THE MILLSTEIN EXERCISE EARLY ON JUST BEFORE I DOVE INTO YOUR VIBRATO EXERCISE. I HAVE BEEN WATER FLOSSING MY TEETH SO HAVE NOT BEEN PARTICULARLY PRACTICING MY VIOLIN AS I WOULD LIKE. HOWEVER TAKING CARE OF MY TEETH HAS LEFT ME BETTER AT MANAGING MY CONCENTRATION AS YOU SAY NIKKITHIS IS NOT A HOLLIDAY FOR THE MIND. AND I FEEL CALMER NOW THAT I HAVE FLOSSED MY TEETH. P.S. ILOVE YOUR LOUVERED PRACTICE OF THIRDS. I WOULD HAVE LIKED TO HEAR THE VOLUME OF THE VIOLIN AS I LOVE THE SOUND OF A JET AIRLINER AND THAT IS WHAT YOUR PRACTICONG OF THIRDS REMINDS ME OF. I AM RETIREING FOR THE EVENING: THANK YOU FOR A BEAUTIFUL LESSON NICOLA! SEP.3 2023C.E.USA OVER AND OUT!😊
What a great lesson. Thank you for all your tips and advice. It is essential for anyone who wants a big, expansive tone, or something less moody to have control of a vibrato; and you’ve crystallized it in two short videos. Huge thanks!
I really appreciate your videos, especially on vibrato. I no longer play but i do believe that if i had this kind of teaching when young, i would still be playing today. You are a very good teacher. Thanks again.
Dear Nicola,Thank you so much! I just corrected my third finger vibrato thanks to you!
Nicky’s vibrato Part one two, far the best complex videos on vibrato. Even I have no problem with it I learned so much combing many types and experimenting more. Thank you Nicky.
Beautiful! Tone wise, the violin, and the person
Wow your amazing and have so much patience thank you so much.
I am a violin beginner student. Thanks so much for your on line teaching. I have experienced the "ups and downs" you kindly mentioned in this
session. I thought it was just me. Glad to know it is normal, and should be expected.
I'm a slightly older woman who is still taking violin lessons and these help me extra.
Thank you very much!
I started at nearly 40 and am learning for the first time. Love to hear those of us still loving learning well into adulthood. Happy learning vibrato!
Followed through from a professional career to a friendly and amazingly informative 'violin teacher at your side' approach. All the 'beginner' and 'experienced' questions at your fingertips with a friendly approach.
Thank you Nicky for sharing all your knowledge and experiences .
I'm cellist from Argentina. I' m always watching masterclasses and I usually try to imagine ... what kind of sensations the musicien could have with their hands and emotionally ... taking lot of ideas from rational , conscious explanations and musicien's feelings. By this way I improve my study.
I LOVE YOUR OCTAVE VIBRATO PRACTICE, IT SOUNDS LIKE A JET AIRLINER COMMING DOWN. I ALSO NOTICE YOUR VIOLIN HAS ABEAUTIFUL ORGAN TONE. LOVE IT ITS UNIQUE!
Amazing!! So helpful, thank you!
Bye the way, I love how this sounds, shiver and all! Wish youd turn this up!
Thankyou for these videos, Nicky! Really love how you not only share how you would practice it, but also for us to embrace all the weird sounds we might experience, as everybody also goes through that.
P.s. I just encountered a passage in Reverie by H. Vieuxtemps (last note) that i found super hard to vibrate. It's a high E on the D string while doing double stop with G. Hopefully this video will help 😆
Nicola, thank you very much for revealing the secret of your lovely vibrato !!!
Thanks so much for sharing your skills and teaching us. I think i'm shaking the viola more then my fingers. Some how i can do it easy on guitar but when switch over to the voila its a different ball game. And Nicky you Rock.
Thank you! I am a cellist and now am playing the violin again (I learned the violin as a child) and vibrato came very naturally for me on the cello, but the violin is totally different.
Must be hard getting a cello under your chin,though?😂
You are amazing! So enjoyable to watch and listen to! I am learning so much and so excited to keep working hard despite the ups and downs of the journey! Could you do a video on staccato please I am working hard on that right now! Thanks so much for sharing your amazing talents of playing the violin and teaching!
Absolutely! We will be doing videos on many different bowing techniques. Thank you for watching!
Great to hear back from you, I so appreciate the time you share with us, your video was very helpful in my ability to combine my vibrato types and The anchor and support high up is such a big help ! Thank you so much!
Thank you, 2.0. I will be working on the material offered in these two videos.
Excellent, thank you I love your videos, I am in my 60's and learning the violin all over again. As a former violist, I find the vibrato particularly problematic. It seems I have a hand and wrist but no arm.
Você é muito especial!!!!Talentosa!!!
Thank you so much for your tips. I am trying to develop my vibrato. I Have been playing for just 2 years
Love the video Nicola! I have been playing violin for about 10 years but I have developed arm vibrato as my main type and I see most, if not all of violin soloists using mostly wrist vibrato. I'm trying to develop my wrist vibrato but my wrist is always very stiff making it hard to develop it and also other techniques that require a relaxed wrist like up-bow staccato. Do you have any tips on being more relaxed and how to develop wrist vibrato after using another type of vibrato after such a long time? Love the amount of effort you're putting into these videos and how much help you're giving us as a renowned musician.
It would be a good idea to just submit yourself to not sounding good for a while and prioritise feeling over sound. In time, and with patience, this will hopefully begin to improve.
Violin Vibrato is just so sexy, I feel such desire and inner power learning it, failing and knowing that the solution and freedom is somewhere inside of me.
Overwhelmed by Norwegian foreign lanhuage course I emcounterr moments ago. Happy Thanksgiving to you Nicola. I must break now for breakfast. Then maybe violin.nov.23, 20 2023 8:20 am very cold here.
Just got my angel headphones up and running yesterday. Meant to say A.K.G. cell phone spoils my actual words appologize. Eat now.bye
Thank you! Very valuable advice, whichever string instrument you play!
She plays the small cello
Thank you so much for breaking all this down. I'm getting back into violin after dealing with chronic health issues, so I am familiar with those "aches and pains." I wonder -- have you tried doing a food journal to see if your immune system is reacting to a food or certain foods you eat? The point of the food journal is to track what you eat and when you have symptoms, and look for patterns going back 1-3 days. That helped a lot with my issues and more or less regain the reliable use of my hands.
As an amateur who not practice much i always having problem doing vibrato with 1st & 2nd finger, especially the 1st finger in 1st or 2nd position where i very often lost control with the motion & speed, it's like trying to stand with only one leg but lose balance all the time but looks like this "vibrato with double stop" things work for me .. by pressing 2nd or 3rd finger on the other string at the same time help stabilize my 1st finger and suddenly my vibrato improve.
Guess i will stick to this trick for a while. Thanks for the video. Have a nice everyday.
thank you
I've been working regularly on violin vibrato for a bit over a year now. It sometimes seems like "one step forward, two steps back." I am following your suggestion by adding the first few bars of "Meditation" to my practice routine. I had some lessons with two teachers, teaching classical violin bow holding and shoulder placement positions, but most of the music that I play is Celtic, with a bit of country fiddle tunes like "Orange Blossom Special" and "the Devil Went Down to Georgia" thrown in to entertain the crowd. I have my own approach to learning the fingerboard by "scale shapes" like on the guitar. Instead of thinking of positions, I think of what string and finger the tonic note and the other chord tones are on. It all looks the same, once you are out of first position and away from open strings.
Firstly, thank you so much for creating this video series! I like that you keep the tone of the video really informal, you feel almost like a friend.
I had one question about thumb placement. I see most of the violinists have their thumbs peeking out over the fingerboard, but I feel more comfortable with keeping it a little below such that only the tip can be seen from the other side. But because of that, when I am trying to do a vibrato, my wrist curls too far away from the fingerboard. I don't know if I am doing it right. Is the thumb supposed to be above, or is it okay to keep it low?
Hi Nikki!!! Thank you for these videos!! I am a violinist and teacher and learning so much from you 🙏🏼 could you talk about fingernail length? I have a hard time getting kids to trim their nails short enough for vibrato however I have seen some like Sarah Chang able to vibrate even with longer nails! It looks like perhaps your nails are long on the right and short on the left?
Stana Alexandru -România.Tehnica viorii predată de Nicola este etalon
Mulțumim pentru modul iteligent de predare
Nicola, thank you very much for this new video and all the others from this really cool series of « tutorials ».
I am struggling to get my vibrato really nice and smooth (and slower!). Did I get you right, so we have to practice the slow vibrato exercices only with a wrist motions, but in real life playing there is nothing wrong with involving all the hand in vibrato ? Because I feel like it’s easier for me to slow down my vibrato if I involve the whole hand... but it surely not suitable for all music styles, because it’s maybe too much intense... 🧐
Elena A All styles of music require a whole plethora of vibrato styles so absolutely experiment with your types of vibrato
Thanks for another great video. You make a very important point about not playing with pain. I know of many string players who have had to retire too young due to stress injury!
Q - Do you do muscle/arm/finger "warm up exercises" to prepare the muscles/fingers before playing & also a "warm down" afterwards?
Athletes all do this to prevent strains & string players are athletes too. Having seen you play many times I have visions of you putting your hands/arms into ice buckets after the demands of a performance :-)
Pat McDermott Yes, warming up and stretching throughout practise are so important. Back to Basics Part 1 gives some good examples of warm ups both for children and for older students from my friend Elena.
Thanks for amazing video,how much pressure is on the string when playing vibrato?
Thank you soooooo much. How much time would you suggest to put into vibrato exercisesrvery day? 10 minutes? 30?.... ;-) I play violin for many years and my most difficult part is the vibrato.
By the way: I experienced you once in Bonn and LOVED it!
I love your Videos, I would like to know witch violin do you play?
Please let me know.
By the way you are looking gorgeous 👍😎
Very nice...
What shoulder rest do you use?
Libero Shoulder Rest
Hi Nicky, thank you so much for this video! I have wanted to improve my vibrato for a long time! I have a question, which is that I was wondering if the proximal phalanges of my index finger should be in contact with the neck of the violin when I vibrato because sometimes it can be very painful and tender if I have been playing a lot? Thank you
“it’s extremely uncomfortable for me” omg nicola i thought vibrato should be comfortable when u learn it thank u im on the right track i guess
Thank you for the wonderful video and sharing of your knowledge. I would like to ask you about the thumb when doing vibrato... I have a double jointed thumb and it arches backwards when I'm holding the violin and doing vibrato. I try to consciously keep my thumb relaxed and relatively straight but it invariably goes back to arching :-/ Do you have any suggestions on how to correct this
I think even with double jointedness, you can develop strength to counteract it. However, my friend Elena Urioste is hyper mobile and I will ask her for some advice.
thanX I have been working on really relaxing my thumb, in fact the whole left hand and have made some improvement also by keeping in mind the image of how my thumb should be. Also helpful is the exercise you showed of practicing in high position and feeling the strength between the thumb and fingers.
Nicola,have you thought of erging (static rowing) as a way to build lean muscle?
Hi,
Thank you very much for this video. I have to ask a small question. Sometimes when I do up bows on the string (especially E string) with the vibrato and when I get to the frog of the bow (it probably starts after the middle of the bow), I feel like the bow loses the contact with the string and it starts shaking. Can you please advise me on how to fix that problem?
Thank you.
Thanks I .try it.
Hi Nicky! Would you also do other intervals (6ths, 4ths etc), or is it thirds and octaves to affirm hand shape?
I’d do 3rds and 8ves initially, and be careful not to overdo it, then try other intervals too.
Thank you@@NicolaBenedettiOfficial! The series is great, and I hope you're getting good + useful feedback :)
Nice tutorial
Sometimes I hear this great friction on my violin when I try to do vibrato😪
Please can you send the music sheet of the meditation. Thanks 😊
Hi Nicola, I am currently looking into buying a new rosin for my violin and was wondering what rosin you are using or would recommend. I have decided that I am going to practice my violin instead of studying for my GCSE exams so any rosin advice would be great. Thanks
I’m using Guillaume rosin right now.
Dear Nicola! Hi Chris E. From America again 3 26 24, I will be on jury duty April 1 thru 5th, 2024 so will not be commenting those times. Alaska alas I re beginn where I left off, on the early beginnings of Sibellious. This will be the first time I've played in 4 or 5 months. Have a great Easter Nicola! I probably won't comment untill after mid April, 2024. Happy Easter!
Hi! Not sure if you still check these but worth a try. While you vibrate, is the violin supported by your left hand/thumb or by your chin and shoulder? Or maybe both?
😍😍😍😍😍
Ahh Nicky, anything you say is helpful.
Hi when I'm doing the vibrato underneath the top of my arm feels quite tight do you know why? Also my elbow always touches my body which might be why.
In this video you say that Meditation starts out in third position. How do you determine what position to start in?
Tami Ringler This is an excellent question. I’m going to cover this topic in a future video.
Tami Ringler do you really feel entitled for her to respond to you? Who are you and who is she? Could you actually be well behaved and thank for the response?
would Chanson Triste (Tchaikovsky) be a good piece to practice on Nicky?
Is there a way to keep the middle joint on the pinky from locking?
Vibrato in first & second position is hardest for me, as I don’t have the body of the violin to support the free movement of the wrist as I do in higher positions. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
How do you stop the violin from shaking?
i have tension in my bicep and shoulder any tips?
Dear Nicky, can you PLEASE PLEASE RESPOND and tell me what basic melodies or songs I can practice with if I'm just starting to learn violin in my 30s so its,not so monotonous and depressing just doing mechanical exercises like scales or these movements..especially with vibrato? Thanks very much..
Please I hope you can respond d I'm,so depressed and frustrated with life in general I'm,sick of violin being so damn hard and frustrating...
hey nicky, do you keep your hand near index finger in contact with the neck of the violin?
how can I study? octave and third sounds on the Violin?
selim kurtuluş listen really carefully and work on finger placement, hand shape and muscle memory will help you to place the fingers.
selim kurtulus you're welcome...is it so hard to act properly? Why the heck do you feel entitled for a response from an international master and cant even be thankful and grateful for that?
What is the name of piece that you’re playing in the first few seconds of your videos?
My left hand always squeezing when playing vibrato how to overcome that?
Try really hard to keep the thumb relaxed....there will be a video on thumbs soon!
Thank you 😊
I getting some problem in doing these exercises.
Türkçe alt yazı ekler misinizz
I've never seen that detailed description like in this series. Vibrato is still problem to me :)
Listen to Frank Sinatra, Jussi Björling and imitate them.
I DONT THINK YOU EVER SOUND UNMUSICAL NIKKI! YOU HAVE A WARM HAMMOND ORGAN SOUND you remind me of Garry Newman, "cars", that wild organ sound. At least that's what I think it sounds like. Here in my car, I FEEL SAFEST OF ALL, IN CARS! ILL SAY GOOD NIGHT FOR NOW YOUR LOYAL STUDENT, CHRIS, USA BYE!
Wonderfull