I have been playing whistle about 6 months now and learning to play music by ear. A lot of what I know is by Mike McGoldrick. I have noticed that when there is a longer note that there is some kind or verbato(?don’t know spelling). I was just wanting to know how to do that. Thanks!
This question has been asked before. If you do a search of this forum using the search word “vibrato” you’ll find lots of stuff. For me the bottom line is that vibrato should be used very sparingly in Irish music. Unless you can get vibroto from your diaphrum (I can’t) the best way IMHO is to shake the whistle in your mouth. Wobble it back and forth from side to side I’ve seen it done and I’ve done it. The downside of this is that it can look goofy.
Vibrato is done either by tapping a low hole or changing breath pressure with your diaphragm. Purists frown on using breath pressure, but like all things traditional, if someone does it really well and it gets copied, it becomes part of the tradition. The finger tapping: say you’re playing a g note (on a d whistle), you tap your lowest or next-to-lowest finger down on that hole so it doesn’t completely change the note value. Experiment and see which finger works best to get the sound you want. You’ll find that certain notes allow a vibrato, while others, like a low e don’t with the finger technique, unless you get a bit obsessive about hitting the edge of the lowest hole or something. (In other words, you need at least one open hole between the note played and the vibrato finger.
Tony
One other thing worth mentioning about vibrato:
you can also do vibrato with the throat muscles. Although many classical flutists do use diagphrematic vibrato, there are also many who use a throat vibrato because it gives more control over the speed and depth of the vibrato.
The point to all this is that I have heard recording where Irish flutists, including some darn good ones, use a throat vibrato to great effect. Matt Molloy in his slow air playing is one good example; if you listen to Frankie Kennedy playing “An Feochan” you’ll hear a more extreme example of this kind of vibrato done sparingly as a special effect.
And I would say that’s the key to using vibrato in trad music: sparingly, and as an effect. Never the ever-present and uncontrolled vibrato you hear in so many flustists of the classical pursuasion.
Just my $.02 worth.
Best to all,
–James
http://www.flutesite.com
Another technique is to not actually close the lower hole, just shake the fingers up and down above the hole, as if you’re threatening to close them, but not really doing it to cause a bit of a quaver in the tone.
Hi Tradgirl,
There are several ways of producing vibrato on a whistle or flute, but the style I think Mike (and many Trad Irish players) favours is to wobble the spare fingers over the open holes.
e.g. playing G xxx ooo, you can wobble the right hand fingers (1, 2 or all 3) close to the open holes without actually closing the holes at all. Done right, this will produce vibrato. I’ve seen it done in concerts, on TV, and in sessions, though I haven’t mastered the technique myself.
Another way is to use your diaphragm to produce the wobble in your lungs, varying the air pressure used, though I believe this is more frowned upon.
I am a whistle-shaker. Technically, this produces TREMOLO rather than VIBRATO, but my ear isn’t critical enough to know the difference.
–quote–
e.g. playing G xxx ooo, you can wobble the right hand fingers (1, 2 or all 3) close to the open holes without actually closing the holes at all. Done right, this will produce vibrato. I’ve seen it done in concerts, on TV, and in sessions, though I haven’t mastered the technique myself.
–endquote–
The proper name of this technique is “flatment,” commonly called “fingered vibrato.”
It is very effective on flute and on wide bore whistles but less effective on narrow bore whistles.
Just for grins, you probably don’t want to know that this technique is drawn from early Baroque performance techniques, where it is often found in the playing of the recorder!
Best to all,
–James
http://www.flutesite.com
[ This Message was edited by: peeplj on 2002-08-27 09:30 ]
On 2002-08-27 09:29, peeplj wrote:
The proper name of this technique is “flatment,” commonly called “fingered vibrato.”
It is very effective on flute and on wide bore whistles but less effective on narrow bore whistles.
Just for grins, you probably don’t want to know that this technique is drawn from early Baroque performance techniques, where it is often found in the playing of the recorder!
Best to all,
–James
Oh no, now I’m recommending recorder techniques! Ah well, if it ain’t broke…
I’ve seen it done on wooden flutes & low whistles, but also Susato Kildares (high D), by the whistle and pipes player in Tuatha, when I saw them in Killarney. I’m pretty sure I also saw the whistle guy from the Pogues using it when playing alongside the Dubliners in a TV concert to celebrate their xth anniversary of playing together earlier this year.
Heh, flatment eh? Sounds like someone couldn’t decide if they live in a flat or an apartment.
I’ve heard that being nervous (very) helps in producing vibrato, too. Obvious ain’t it.
Heard of twisting the whistle? As in clockwise/anti-clock while playing? Yer could end up with blowing the whistle the wrong way around!
(UP)
/------------
/
/--------------
(DOWN)
tapping, and it’s OK
to tap the edge of the
low D hole when playing a
low e–not so difficult.
I get really effective vibrato playing in the car when someone else is driving. Haven’t figured out quite how to control it yet . . .
Tery
A lot of people frown on Diaphragm Vibrato because they are going about the wrong way of learning it… First you start out with very slow extreme pulses… then work your way faster with less push… and sooner or later it’s almost like breathing… I play with a slow vibrato on Slow Airs and it sounds better (I think) than tapping your finger…
In college, it was a dispute among flute players as to what was better, throat vibrato, or diaphragmatic vibrato. I easily did it from the throat, so that was the way for me. But I couldn’t control it, at first. So my teacher had me spend two weeks with no vibrato, whatsoever. Then, when it was time to vibrate, I did it by watching the clock. One vibation a second, two, until eventually my teacher told me that the rule of thumb was around 5 vibrations per second. It is something to practice, if you want to do it. I vibrate on whistle all the time. It’s fun. Do it if it makes the music sound better. Don’t, if it doesn’t. Hey, Irish dancers are now raising their arms. How else can a new tradition get started?