[MUSIC] Today we're going to talk about vibrato. We being the process of learning vibrato from the very moment that we pick up the instrument. Tapping over the high dot not only relaxes the hand, but sets the impetus for the vibrato motion. Okay Duncan, let's tap our fingers over the high dot. [SOUND] Very good. The egg shaker is a good thing to have around. Your student can just pick it up, shake, and instantly have a nice vibrato motion. [SOUND] Good. Another easy and fun exercise that can be done without the instrument is the knuckle boppers. This simple exercise helps with getting the first joint in the finger moving. Okay, so let's hold our hand like this. Bend your knuckle, and then flatten it. Bend it, flatten it. Good, let's go to the second finger. Bend, flatten, bend, flatten. That's it, good. And third, good. And fourth finger. [SOUND] Very good. The next exercise, climbing up and sliding down the hill, continues with helping flexibility in the first joint. So, let's put our first finger on the A string with our knuckle bent. And we're going to climb up the hill, with the bend, and then, we're going to flattened it, and slide back down. Bend it climb up, flatten it, slide down. Good. Second finger bend it and flatten it. Bend it on the way up, flatten, bend it, flatten. Good, third finger. [NOISE] Bend it, flatten. [NOISE] And fourth finger. [MUSIC] Very good. Next, we will do the sliding and sticking game. This and many of the exercises that we do are from the Paul Roland videos. So, we're going to put your violin in the rest position again, put the scroll a little higher, and we're going to put our first finger down and we're going to shift up and down the neck with long shifts and then we're going to get smaller, smaller, smaller, and put glue on our finger and make it stick. So let's shift, up and down. Get smaller, smaller, smaller, and glue and stick. Keep that vibrato motion going in the arm. Good. That's it. Second finger. Get smaller, smaller, smaller, and stick. Up and down, that's right, back and forth there. Good, and third finger. Smaller, smaller, smaller, stick. Good, and fourth finger. Smaller, smaller, stick. Very good. Next is an exercise called the peg knockers. Okay. I'm going to set my violin down. So, lets put your violin up and we're going to put your hand in first position. And what I want you to do, pull your hand slightly away, is from the wrist you're going to throw your hand back and bop the knuckle, on the peg. That's it, two, one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three, four. And six, four, five, six. One, two, three, four, five, six. Very good. When we teach our students the pieces, we guide their fingers and bows. While this is happening we are also making sure that every time a finger comes off the string it's relaxed like a wet noodle. We also move, or wiggle, the hand back and forth with the vibrato motion on the open strings and long notes. By doing this we are instilling the vibrato motion in their hand. The first time we actually talk about vibrato is when we do the guided vibrato exercise. This exercise engages the finger, wrist, and arm vibratos, and is good to start doing when you get to the pieces in the key of G-Major. The parents can have a lot of fun practicing with their child at home so be sure to teach them how to do it. Your student will have a much easier time with the vibrato, if their parents are helping them with it at home. Lean the scroll of your violin into my hand. Okay, and I'm going to hold it up over here, so let's slide your hand back to first position. Pull your hand away from the neck and let's put the first finger down. That's it. I'm going to depress the nail with my right hand, and then I'm going to put my thumb here and this finger here. Okay, let's vibrate. Good. Can you play it? [MUSIC] Now up. [MUSIC] Great. I can also do it this way. [MUSIC] Good. Now let's take that finger off. I'm going to shake the hand out. Let's do the second finger. Pull the hand away from the neck. Okay. [MUSIC] Okay. [MUSIC] Good. And let's shake the hand out again. And let's go to the third finger. Okay. [MUSIC] That's it. Good. If we have made sure that our students are playing with a relaxed hand and if we have rocked the hand with the vibrato motion on open strings and long notes, then most students can actually vibrate their notes pretty well. Adding the guided vibrato exercises makes learning vibrato quick, easy, and a lot of fun. [MUSIC]
