February 2011

Teacher Talk

A series of teaching-articles in the Strad Magazine

Where do you stand practising vibrato exercises separately from repertoire? Angela Beament, Colorad, US

Boris Kuschnir: I think of vibrato as a colour to help musicians make pieces more expressive. As in real life, there are a million shades of colours, and the infinite possibilities of vibrato in combination with other techniques enable musicians to show their thoughts, feelings and moods.

Therefore, when teaching vibrato with special exercises and giving technical advice about it, I never separate it from music, as it is only a means to a musical interpretation.