Can Beginners Learn Violin Vibrato? Yes, kind of! A Violin Teacher's Opinion

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Can a beginner on the violin learn vibrato? It’s not necessarily a question of can they, but should they?

Learning violin basics is tricky enough. You’re focused on where to put your fingers to play in tune, plus you’re trying to to make a decent tone with your bow. And if you’ve played violin for more than 5 minutes, you know I’m simplifying things quite a bit.

Vibrato gives the violin that beautiful, flowing quality, so it’s understandable why beginners want to learn it. However, learning violin vibrato too quickly can set beginners back or just make them frustrated. You need to have the time to dedicate to learning violin vibrato, and many beginners have enough on their plate already. Plus, it helps to have some technique and skills under your belt. And you want to make sure you aren’t doing any bad habits. If you want to learn more about how to prepare for learning violin vibrato, click here.

With all that said, I do think beginners can start the basic vibrato motion exercise. This is a simple exercise done without the bow, just to train your left hand. Incorporate of few minutes of this exercise into your daily warm-up and when it’s time to really learn vibrato, you’ll be ready!