Vibrato Rate Adjustment

The goal of the present study was to document the acoustic changes that occur as singers attempt to increase or decrease their vibrato rate to match target stimuli. Eight advanced singing students produced vowels with vibrato in three registers, both naturally and while attempting to match faster or slower rate stimuli. Slower rates were associated with lower intensity and less steady vibrato. Faster rates involved increased vibrato extent in the chest register and increased intensity in the head register. Singers whose spontaneous vibrato rates were naturally either slower or faster tended to also be relatively slower or faster when matching target rates. This ability to modify rate may have beneficial effects on the artistic quality of the voice for performance.