Vibrato

   Let's consider one of the features of the left hand. In many cases one can feel that the vibrato equates and defines personality of the performer. I do not agree. One cannot judge the musical personality of a performer based solely on just one of techniques of the left hand: the whole performance that includes interpretation and musical judgment must taken into account. Of course the vibrato determines a part of the tone color and is a part of the player's personality. But the whole nuance of the performance is a culmination of the whole technique of playing and the vibrato will or should change according to piece. Intonation must be adjusted according to the nature of the vibrato and therefore the choice of intonation and vibrato goes hand in hand. One of the most frequent questions that I am asked concerns the speed of the vibrato. This has been studied from many years ago. Some say that the fast vibrato shows energy and therefore is the best: some say that the slow relaxed vibrato is best. I think that it is best to have both kinds of vibrato but if a student is inclined to one or the other, one should always focus on the other kind of vibrato that the student lacks so that one can aquire a good variety. The width of vibrato depends largely on the different makeup of the hand. It is, of course, best to balance the width and the speed of the vibrato but in many cases students tend to use the wrong balance. In other words, the slower the vibrato, the smaller the width should be: the faster the vibrato, the larger the width. It is common that students do the exact opposite. A beautiful tone is created by a combination of the ratio of the speed and width of the vibrato. The physical characteristics of an individual player will enhance the quality of the tone but in many players the vibrato will change throughout their lives. Just like the face and the body changes even in adulthood, performers experience changes in their playing. Oistrakh's monumental tone and vibrato came into fruition after his forties, as did Szeryng's and Milstein's pearly tones. Of course these player maintained a wonderful sound throughout their youth too but the performances after their forties were that much more polished and outstanding. The only player who sustained the same sound was Heifetz.
   Most performers and students must be challenged by improvement of technique and tone throughout their lives. Tone production and intonation is subject to endless investigation and as the left hand becomes stronger, the right hand will naturally follow.