The Saxophone Vibrato-An Illustration and Methodology
Document Type
Oral Presentation
Campus where you would like to present
SURC 140
Start Date
17-5-2012
End Date
17-5-2012
Abstract
Vibrato is a technique that musicians use to add beauty, shape and character to the sound. Vibrato is the fluctuation or oscillation of a note that happens by bending or pulsating up and down at various speeds. It is used consistently by musicians worldwide. This is a difficult thing to teach because it is challenging for students to hear vibrato apart from their sound as a whole. Some students will think that they are bending the pitch of the notes drastically, while the listener cannot hear a change. This confusion occurs because students do not have an auditory example of what their vibrato should sound like and the explanations given by their teachers can be rather vague. At Central Washington University, saxophonists are taught to employ vibrato in their playing. College students even struggle because they do not fully understand what vibrato is and what it should sound like. As a future music educator, my goal is to introduce the concept of vibrato to my students and help them use it expressively. The purpose of this project is to create a tool that students and educators can use to learn saxophone vibrato. The project consists of a book containing vibrato exercises and lessons and a CD of CWU Saxophone Professor Joseph Brooks and myself. With this product, students will learn how to produce vibrato on their instrument by hearing examples of vibrato and incorporating it into their playing.
Recommended Citation
Babbitt, Angela, "The Saxophone Vibrato-An Illustration and Methodology" (2012). Symposium Of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE). 28.
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source/2012/oralpresentations/28
Additional Mentoring Department
Music
The Saxophone Vibrato-An Illustration and Methodology
SURC 140
Vibrato is a technique that musicians use to add beauty, shape and character to the sound. Vibrato is the fluctuation or oscillation of a note that happens by bending or pulsating up and down at various speeds. It is used consistently by musicians worldwide. This is a difficult thing to teach because it is challenging for students to hear vibrato apart from their sound as a whole. Some students will think that they are bending the pitch of the notes drastically, while the listener cannot hear a change. This confusion occurs because students do not have an auditory example of what their vibrato should sound like and the explanations given by their teachers can be rather vague. At Central Washington University, saxophonists are taught to employ vibrato in their playing. College students even struggle because they do not fully understand what vibrato is and what it should sound like. As a future music educator, my goal is to introduce the concept of vibrato to my students and help them use it expressively. The purpose of this project is to create a tool that students and educators can use to learn saxophone vibrato. The project consists of a book containing vibrato exercises and lessons and a CD of CWU Saxophone Professor Joseph Brooks and myself. With this product, students will learn how to produce vibrato on their instrument by hearing examples of vibrato and incorporating it into their playing.
Faculty Mentor(s)
Joseph Brooks