# Fixing my vibrato **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 19, 2010, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fixing-my-vibrato/536622 "2010-04-19T12:00:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fixing-my-vibrato/536622/1 "2010-04-19T12:00:43Z")
I’ve been singing in my chorus for 15 years, and the one complaint about my voice has been that I don’t have vibrato. People have told me not to force it, that it’ll happen when it’s ready. Well, it’s apparently ready, because I finally have vibrato. But it’s the ugliest vibrato I’ve ever heard. It’s extremely fast, and sounds not unlike a machine gun . . . or Woody Woodpecker. I have the ability to turn it on or off, but how can I change the speed? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fixing-my-vibrato/536622/2 "2010-04-19T13:11:39Z")
“Bad” or undesirable vibrato is often linked to lack of breath support. Tell us more about yours: what do you do to “turn it on or off”? Are you changing something in your diaphragm, your larynx, or where? Is it related to volume or pitch in your singing? ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fixing-my-vibrato/536622/3 "2010-04-19T18:36:59Z")
You probably just need to change the batteries. Sometimes there’s a dial for adjusting the speed, but that’s pretty fancy. …I may have misread the title of this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Stealth\_Potato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Stealth\_Potato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stealth_Potato)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fixing-my-vibrato/536622/4 "2010-04-19T20:59:46Z")
Dammit, **JSexton**! The main reason I opened this thread was to see if anybody had made that joke already. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fixing-my-vibrato/536622/5 "2010-04-19T21:14:09Z")
Hmmm, I’ve been singing for yonks and can turn it off and on but can’t adjust speed. Never really thought about it before but I just tried to and couldn’t. So no help from me, sorry! ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fixing-my-vibrato/536622/6 "2010-04-19T22:12:02Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > “Bad” or undesirable vibrato is often linked to lack of breath support. Tell us more about yours: what do you do to “turn it on or off”? Are you changing something in your diaphragm, your larynx, or where? Is it related to volume or pitch in your singing? I know that breath support has always been my problem; I don’t feel anything coming from my diaphragm, only the larynx, and that’s not good. And the vibrato happens more easily when I’m singing loud. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fixing-my-vibrato/536622/7 "2010-04-20T00:18:48Z")
I just discovered that I can do it when singing quietly too. But it’s coming from the larynx, not the diaphragm. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fixing-my-vibrato/536622/8 "2010-04-20T02:22:43Z")
Sounds like you might have a [caprino](http://www.singwise.com/cgi-bin/main.pl?section=articles&doc=Vibrato&page=2): > [@](#): > > Caprino, which means “goat-like” or “little goat” in Italian, is a term used to describe a rapidly beating vibrato that sounds like a trill or like the bleating of a goat. It occurs when a vibrato is poorly executed, and a tremolo-like pulsation on only one note results, like the reiteration of a single pitch. It is not a sound that is produced by healthy production. > > Caprino, also called trillo caprino or simply trillo, is likely caused by breath that has not found its proper point of placement and becomes dispersed. (When the breath is taught to go to the right place through technique, the voice becomes steady.) An overly fast or bleating vibrato can be caused by pressure at the root of the tongue, which may have its origin at inhalation or at the attack or onset of sound, lack of vocal fold approximation or lack of support. It may also be the result of an excessive level of energy in the high vocal range. Can you articulate what it is you do to “turn the vibrato on or off”? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fixing-my-vibrato/536622/9 "2010-04-20T18:25:41Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Sounds like you might have a [caprino](http://www.singwise.com/cgi-bin/main.pl?section=articles&doc=Vibrato&page=2): > > Can you articulate what it is you do to “turn the vibrato on or off”? Yes, “caprino” describes exactly what I’m doing. There’s no slight variation of pitch, like there is in a true vibrato. The only way I can describe what happens when I turn it on is that I increase the energy (not the same as volume) of the note, and there is a slight feeling of constriction in my throat. To turn it off I sort of make the energy back off and the effect goes away. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fixing-my-vibrato/536622/10 "2010-04-20T19:08:28Z")
Yup, sounds like you’re producing this effect with muscle tension somewhere in the mouth or throat, and “backing off” causes the muscles to relax more naturally and eliminates the caprino. My totally unqualified and subjective opinion would be that this “caprino” sound is just a bad vocal habit that is not going to get you any closer to a true natural vibrato. I think you should avoid it, and try to get in the habit of doing at least a minimal regular amount of simple breath support exercises (google “breath support exercises” for zillions of suggestions). That will help discourage your little goat friend and also make it easier for your own true vibrato to eventually manifest itself. (And if your own true vibrato is naturally very minimal because you have a naturally straight tone, there’s nothing wrong with that either. Somebody’s bound to throw in a joke about “straight” tone here, but I’m taking the high road.) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fixing-my-vibrato/536622/11 "2010-04-20T23:27:02Z")
Meh. Vibrato is not really that highly desirable anymore, anyways. Far better to work on tone quality. But if you do want to work on vibrato, try stuff like panting like a dog, and make sure it comes from the diaphragm. The idea is that it will help you naturally release those muscles when you are singing. Remember, a true vibrato is caused by relaxing, not by tensing up. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fixing-my-vibrato/536622/12 "2010-04-21T04:14:29Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Yup, sounds like you’re producing this effect with muscle tension somewhere in the mouth or throat, and “backing off” causes the muscles to relax more naturally and eliminates the caprino. > > My totally unqualified and subjective opinion would be that this “caprino” sound is just a bad vocal habit that is not going to get you any closer to a true natural vibrato. I think you should avoid it, and try to get in the habit of doing at least a minimal regular amount of simple breath support exercises (google “breath support exercises” for zillions of suggestions). That will help discourage your little goat friend and also make it easier for your own true vibrato to eventually manifest itself. > > (And if your own true vibrato is naturally very minimal because you have a naturally straight tone, there’s nothing wrong with that either. Somebody’s bound to throw in a joke about “straight” tone here, but I’m taking the high road.) Thanks so much for this. Now I have to kill my little goat, and get busy learning to develop a real vibrato. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fixing-my-vibrato/536622/13 "2010-04-21T04:21:03Z")
I came in here expecting something else entirely. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fixing-my-vibrato/536622/14 "2010-04-21T04:59:15Z")
Wait, what? > **[Fixing my vibrator](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=560282)** > > I’ve been sexually active for 15 years, and the one complaint about my sexual experience has been that I don’t have a vibrator. People have told me not to force it, that I’ll get one when I’m ready. Well, I’m apparently ready, because I finally have...