Adding Vibrato When You Play Ocarina Music Can Dramatically Improve Your Sound

Adding Vibrato to your ocarina music can dramatically improve the sound of your ocarina music.

Vibrato (ocarina or otherwise) is that wavering sound that you hear when a singer or instrumentalist holds a long note on a slow song. Though not hard to learn to play vibrato on your ocarina, it can add a wonderful richness to your tone on certain ocarina music songs, especially slow ones.

On the ocarina, there are different ways of producing vibrato. The method that I employ is what is called diaphragmatic vibrato. Let me explain... The diaphragm is a muscle that is used for breathing and that separates the thoracic cavity, where the heart and lungs (etc.) are located, from the abdominal cavity, where the stomach and intestines (etc.) are located.

How does this anatomy lesson add to vibrato in ocarina music? Hang on and we'll get there...

The ocarina... Actually, let me get back to anatomy for a second and then we'll get back to ocarina music... When your diaphragm contracts, it flattens downwards, thereby increasing the volume of your chest cavity and causing your lungs to take in air to fill the resulting vacuum. When your diaphragm relaxes, it moves up, forcing air out of your lungs.

Getting control of your diaphram for the sake of ocarina music...

While your diaphram frequently functions without conscious input from you (like when you sleep), here are some simple steps you can take to gain control over your diaphragm to produce a nice vibrato.

Improve your ocarina music by trying this...

First, place your hand on your stomach and try laughing, "Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha," in a whisper, i.e., without using your vocal cords. Can you feel your stomach pulsing? That was your diaphragm propelling air out of your lungs. Next, play a long note on your ocarina while expelling air in slow rhythmic pulses with your diaphragm just like you did when laughing. After practicing this for a while, eventually begin speeding up your vibrato by slightly tightening your stomach muscles. Try and not expect spectacular results the first or second time you try this on your ocarina. Learning to produce a pleasant, controlled vibrato is not complicated, but it usually requires small amounts of practice over an extended period of time. Keep at your ocarina music vibrato practice, and you'll get there.