Date sent: Tue, 14 Dec 1999 11:18:43 EST
Subject: Chin Vibrato - No Such Beast!!
To: vocalist
Send reply to: VOCALIST <vocalist>

Hi, there - coming out of my usual "Lurking" status to add my $0.02. Pop
singers who let their chins wobble in order to alter the sound they're
producing AREN'T properly trained, and unless they do it sparingly for some
kind of jazz vocal effect, are headed for serious tension problems. The jaw
has NOTHING to do with vibrato - you use it for articulating words, so people
can tell what you're singing about. I don't know enough about TMJ, but I
imagine overusing the jaw in a fashion that God/Nature didn't intend could
exacerbate it - if you're trying to stop grinding your teeth, why would you
wobble your jaw?

Vibrato, the aural oscillation you hear in someone's tone, comes from the
highly pressurized air passing through the vocal cords inside your windpipe
(hey, any anatomists are free to jump in and clean up my description!) to
produce pure sound with all the accompanying sound waves and vibrato. If you
are very conscious of what your body's doing, you can experiment switching
between your normal vibrato and straight tone (i.e. those ubiquitous
Gregorian chanters). And everyone's vibrato is a little different, depending
on the length and width of their vocal cords and their general bodily build;
plus, depending on your air flow and technique, you can even speed it up or
slow it down a little. Pull out those CD's and records, and compare the
vibratos of, say, Kathleen Battle to Leontyne Price - small, fast and sweet
compared to wide and lush.

Anyway, you are very astute to pick up on such a habit, and you are right
when you identify the vibrato as coming from somewhere else in the body.
Happy singing!

Teressa (L.A. Soprano who's doing SO much caroling, she doesn't want to hear
her OWN vibrato for a while....)