[mike713]

I have been getting back into long tones recently and was wondering if anyone could shed some light on this issue I've been having:

When listening to recordings of my favourite players, I notice that a very personal vibrato is always there as part of a unique sound - and since I have been unsatisfied with my own vibrato recently I was wondering: is there an effective way to practice vibrato to make it really personal? and is there a way to incorporate this into long tone practice?

a related question: do you practice long tones with or without vibrato?

 

[collegestationsax]

Longtones are generally used to listen to pure tone without any distractions so you can really hear what you sound like, so generally, no. But, there are vibrato specific exercise that incorporate long tones into them. A good exercise for you may be practicing half note through sixteenth note (including triplets) vibrato on 4 count scales around 80 bpm

 

[CooolJazzz]

Back in the dark ages when I was trying to develop a nice vibrato I used long tones to work on it, but I wouldn't confuse this with the practice of long tones for the purpose of tone development and embouchure control. Practicing long tones with no vibrato is important. The fact that you use "long tones" when practicing vibrato isn't really long tone practice...it's vibrato practice...a different exercise entirely (in my opinion). The two do tend to merge when you work on delayed vibrato. When it comes to personalizing your vibrato, you're mostly concerned with "how wide", "how fast", whether or not it's delayed or immediate, and whether or not you use it all the time or just "here and there". You should also be able to control your vibrato and change it at will to suit the style of music rather than using the same style of vibrato on everything you play.

Whether for better or worse, I had to figure out vibrato on my own. I never had anyone teach me how to control it. After much frustration about not knowing how to do it, I came up with my own exercises using a metronome...playing long tones on a single note...subdividing the beats into rhythmic vibrations based on eighth notes, triplets, and sixteenth notes...gradually increasing the tempo of the exercises over time as my ability to control the vibrations progressed. Of course this isn't how you use vibrato in the real world. Vibrato isn't a precise rhythmic subdivision of beats, but what those exercises did was to help me develop the feel for how to create vibrato and how to control the speed and depth of it at will. The hard part after developing the control was forgetting about the specific subdivisions I had been practicing and learning how to maintain the same kind of control without it being so beat-specific. In other words, playing with a more natural voice-style vibrato, and learning how to change it up if and when necessary or desired.

The short answer to your "related question"...I don't use vibrato when practicing long tones...but I do use long tones when practicing vibrato.

 

[empressdiver]

You could try playing a slow song like Summertime or the theme from the Godfather movie, and on the longer notes, try starting with a faster vibrato and then slowing it down near the end of the note. You can also try going from a slow vibrato to a faster one to see which is more appropriate for a particular passage.

 

[Nefertiti]

I associate vibrato with the song I'm playing. A great vibrato needs to be fluid and always changing. I think it's best to work on it with tunes. Find a recording and player you really like and try to imitate them. Making it into a long tone exercise is good for the technical side of using vibrato but I don't think it would do much for the musical side of things.

 

[mike713]

"The short answer to your "related question"...I don't use vibrato when practicing long tones...but I do use long tones when practicing vibrato. "
This makes a lot of sense to me.

 

[Turnaround]

When listening back to yourself, what do you NOT like about your vibrato?

 

[Pete Thomas]

This exercise could have been custom made for what you are asking:

http://tamingthesaxophone.com/saxophone-tone-control.html

 

[teledyn]

much good advice here already, to which I only add one more: listen to the singers.

Submerge yourself in a study of the sound of the truly great singers and listen to how they vocalize and articulate vibrato. When you play, pretend to be that singer, keep the image of their voice clear in your mind, emulate their sound as best you can match it and then decide if that's the sound you want, or what all you might steal from it. Exercises to gain better control over vibrato are always useful, but do remember that its the sound of the music that is the primary thing, it is all about whether your playing connects or not.

I think it was Coleman Hawkins who said he shaped his notes around the meaning of the lyrics, and that often it was in the story of what was being said by the song that informed his playing of a particular line.

 

[saxpiece]

Ella Fitzgerald

 

[mike713]

When listening back to yourself, what do you NOT like about your vibrato?

Well for one thing it's not very consistent, with regards to width or speed. But I guess I just never really hear *me* in it - so maybe if I could figure out what kind of vibrato sounds like me the consistency will naturally follow...

This exercise could have been custom made for what you are asking:

http://tamingthesaxophone.com/saxophone-tone-control.html

Thanks Pete, I'll check that out.

 

[mike713]

much good advice here already, to which I only add one more: listen to the singers.

Submerge yourself in a study of the sound of the truly great singers and listen to how they vocalize and articulate vibrato. When you play, pretend to be that singer, keep the image of their voice clear in your mind, emulate their sound as best you can match it and then decide if that's the sound you want, or what all you might steal from it. Exercises to gain better control over vibrato are always useful, but do remember that its the sound of the music that is the primary thing, it is all about whether your playing connects or not.

I think it was Coleman Hawkins who said he shaped his notes around the meaning of the lyrics, and that often it was in the story of what was being said by the song that informed his playing of a particular line.

That is also something I haven't done - thanks.