The Case of the Missing Vibrato

(I'll be venturing into Sherlock and Watson mode more often)

A dear friend of mine texted me a few days ago with a very interesting quandary: her vibrato is missing. It's intriguing because I've heard her sing in college and I've had the joy of being present to experience her bright, warm voice. She's a couple of years younger than me and I graduated before her, so there were a considerable amount of years between the last time I heard her sing and the moment she texted me.

I made sure some of the necessary pieces are in order: Has she seen a doctor? Did she switch voice teachers while in college? Has she been listening to different music? At the start of her "nonvibrato era," did she change much of her lifestyle that would cause this change?

The thing with vibrato is that it's not something one should really control. Cornelius L. Reid points out in his book, The Free Voice, A Guide to Natural Singing, "The vibrato must never be trained or cultivated... The vibrato is a result, not a cause." Voice Science has evolved since Reid penned those words, but I believe it to remain true. True vibrato is a sign of a free voice. If there is a problem with vibrato, there is a lack of coordination. You can have two causes for these problems: 1) excessive tension in the larynx and 2) unbalanced breath support. Both can be treated by checking the support. But, after four years of college and studying with the same private voice teacher, why was there a lack of coordination? The game was afoot!

After a series of questions, my dear friend revealed to me that she had undergone surgery to remove her gall bladder. Any change to your body will affect your voice. While that particular organ doesn't directly affect her vocal folds, it did, however, affect her abdominal muscles. My theory was that after her surgery, she may have felt the need to overcompensate when supporting her sound. When you overdo it you are applying too much breath energy to the vocal folds and the resulting sound will become straight tone. The mystery should be solved.

I do want to mention that, while this wasn't my dear friend's problem, one can manufacture vibrato. This is quite rampant in the singing community and I've noticed it primarily in young singers who are eager to make it to the top and are listening to today's music artists. You can see as they sing that their jaws, even their entire heads, are bobbing to the well-choreographed pivots of their vibrato. This is caused by excess muscular tension. This is probably due to the overcompensation in breath support, leading to straight tone, so manufacturing vibrato would be the next option. But with all that tension and pressure, it may lead to vocal fatigue.

Your vibrato, what warms up the sound of your voice, will be a magnificent result of freedom and coordination, like when a virtuoso violinist or prima ballerina take the reins and takes to music like a fish in water. It takes patience with yourself and with the time you've got. Most importantly, love the process on which you're embarking!