When you play a classical stringed instrument, such as the violin or viola, it is expected to the learn the technique of vibrato, around your third or fourth year of playing. The technique emulates a singer, and alters the pitch of every note we play, to make the instrument sound like it singing beautifully, and it helps to blend sound in a harmonious way with other instruments or vocalists. In every class, I will instruct the class on drills and practice exercises to develop the skills from scratch, or to improve the skills the student already has. There are two types of vibrato used for our instruments, wrist and arm vibrato, I will be teaching both, but I tend to favor arm vibrato. We will take turns in the class, practicing this skill over and over again, until the student feels confident with their new technique, and can take it into their symphony playing, or other musical endeavors students might find themselves in. 

This class is designed for students to join in any week they want to get better at this skill. Would you like to come every Monday to say hello to me and practice vibrato? Come on in! Do you have a playing test or audition coming up and are struggling to get your vibrato beautiful? Come on in! Have you never used vibrato ever and are learning from scratch? Let's do it! Join anytime, or keep coming in! Some weeks, I might cancel class ahead of time, due to either a planned trip, musical event, or illness, but for the most part, vibrato class is every Monday evening with me. Practicing this skill never really ends, so I will keep offering this class to help students grow! If you have any questions, please message me through Outschool.

The breakdown of every class so you know what to expect is: 
Class will meet every Monday (unless the class is cancelled ahead of time for whatever reason).
Please have your instrument out of it's case, mostly tunes, shoulder rest on, and bow rosined BEFORE class.
All sheet music or any exercises (which is also sheet music) needs to be printed and ready before class. I also suggest having a pencil and highlighter available as well. 
Students log in, and then we get to work, we always start with a quick tuning of instruments, just a check in essentially, and then I will answer students' questions. 
We will take turns listening to where the students are with this technique, and then talk about goals.
Then we go over exercises I will provide that will need to be printed out by the parent, and that's it! 
You can book your student to join in on any Monday, you come every week, or skip some weeks, or just come for a times to get extra help before an upcoming audition or playing test your student might have.

Schedule:
1.) Week 1- January 8th - What is vibrato? Wrist vs. Arm Vibrato. Exercises using quarter notes and scales with separate bowings. Additional exercises might be introduced.  
2.) Week 2- January 15th -  Continuing Wrist vs Arm Vibrato. Exercises with half notes, whole notes and scales with slurs. Listening for accurate intonation.
3.) Week 3- January 22nd - History of Vibrato. Where did it originate from? Continuing exercises. Working with 8th notes and 16th notes. Scales, and some excerpts, samples of music to be practiced. 
4.) Week 4- January 29th - How to develop your own signature vibrato. What makes you stand out, while still having a beautiful sound? Review of previous topics, open questions and demonstrating new abilities or advanced abilities to the class!

If you do miss a class, or want to join at anytime, you don't really need to prepare too much to hop right in, but I would suggest to please read everything about the class, and the topics, so see where the class will be when you join the class. My aim is to work will all students who are eager for help in this vibrato technique. 

Then the cycle will start over, I will continue to list the dates and topics throughout the year! Please message me with questions through Outschool!

-Ms. Nickie