David's Tip of the Day: Travel Inside the Mouth - Point 8

At 2:33 he tries to play a vibrato, but he's going about it the wrong way. You see that he's moving his tongue backwards and forwards in the mouth, moving the tongue in and out of the bending range. The result is a bending and releasing of pitch, which is what a vibrato is, but the result is not pleasing... the tone is thin and whinny.

At 2:25 he plays a tremolo. Note the slight sympathetic movement of the tongue (see how it's moving because of the opening and closing of the vocal folds/chords... not because he's moving the tongue with the normal muscles associated with movement).

Put these three elements together... with time and practice... and you have the elements of the vibrato...
1) Mouth is tuned to the pitch of that reed
2) Tremolo
3) Tongue is relaxed enough that it's moved by the increasing and decreasing pressure in the mouth from the tremolo (vocal chords opening and closing)... the tongue is moving sympathetically, not with muscle.

For More Information:
Tremolo and Vibrato Lesson: http://www.bluesharmonica.com/lessons/tremolo_and_vibrato

Video Referenced
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTEXSb6duVs&feature=player_embedded

Thank you to all that were involved in the making of this footage... fantastic.