Vibrato during a sung phrase is a vocal quality frequently addressed in the voice studio. However, there is little known about how much singing teachers know about vibrato and how they teach it. Despite vibrato being a ubiquitous singing tool, there are misconceptions about the correct way to produce vibrato, which often contradict each other, leading to confusion among students who are attempting to study voice. The purpose of this research is to determine the current understanding and practice of singing teachers addressing vibrato.
225 teachers of singing completed a survey about opinions and beliefs about vibrato, (the systems controlling vibrato, and the origins of vibrato difficulties) and about their current teaching methods and resources for learning more about vibrato. 40% of respondents were university professors and 75% were western classical singers (opera, oratorio, art song, liturgical) with 91% having a master’s degree or higher. Responses to the definition of vibrato revealed that most (59%) thought it was an undulation in pitch rather than quality (20%) or intensity (18%). Most thought that vibrato came from multiple systems (respiratory, phonatory, and resonatory) and most thought that it was both an innate vocal attribute and a trained quality. Fewer respondents provided strategies to remediate issues with vibrato (45%) and most thought it was due to poor respiratory support. Although most thought that vibrato should be addressed in the studio (96%), and that at least 40% of their students had issues with vibrato, they also (60%) reported they did not use any exercises themselves. Most admitted to not having sufficient information about vibrato and relied on colleagues for guidance. However, if their colleagues also do not have sufficient information, where is this knowledge originating.
It is clear that vibrato is a less understood vocal attribute despite the high prevalence observed in the voice studio. Systematic education about the nature of vibrato, the systems that underly vibrato, the difficulties that arise when these systems do not coordinate, and training techniques to improve imbalanced vibrato appear to be needed to assist voice teachers in their profession.