Vibrato (Italian, from past participle of "vibrare", to vibrate) is a musical effect consisting of a regular, pulsating change of pitch. It is used to add expression to vocal and instrumental music. Vibrato is typically characterized in terms of two factors: the amount of pitch variation ("extent of vibrato") and the speed with which the pitch is varied ("rate of vibrato").[1]
In singing, it can occur spontaneously through variations in the larynx. The vibrato of a string instrument and wind instrument is an imitation of that vocal function. Vibrato can also be reproduced mechanically (Leslie speaker) or electronically as an audio effect close to chorus.
- ^ Sundberg, Johan. "Acoustic and psychoacoustic aspects of vocal vibrato" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 April 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2010.