Why Does My Violin Bounce When I Do Vibrato?

A shaking scroll is a very common problem that is usually caused by one or more of the following:

1. The thumb is pressing and trying to “participate” in the vibrato motion. Instead, it needs to learn to be stationary and function as a stabilizer for vibrato.
2. If your violin is not securely on your shoulder, either with or without a shoulder rest, then the violin is free to bounce around, and that’s not what you want. Make sure your setup is good.
3. Tension, usually found between the thumb and fingers. The tension comes because people work too hard when doing vibrato. Because it is hard! But we need to learn to make it “easy”. Such an irony.
4. Thumb placement can sometimes be wrong. I have a video about the left thumb that you’ll want to watch. It’s called “Where does the left thumb go on violin?”
5. If your fingers are not rolling on the pads but are instead making “jackhammer hops” to accomplish the oscillations, then your scroll will bounce. Often, when students start to accelerate their vibrato, they freak out and resort to crazy tactics, the Jack Hammer being one. Be sure you check this. One of the simplest ways to fix this is to pin your scroll to a wall and practice for a week like that. Often, just the simple act of stabilizing the scroll causes your hand to make the necessary changes to adapt to a stationary scroll.

“Mini whooshes” are essential for learning to move the fingers while keeping the thumb still. Regular whooshes are where the thumb stays in place, and the fingers ghost slide up and down the string 5 or 6 inches. Mini-whooshes are the same, but the finger ghost slides 1 centimeter, as if rubbing bug guts off the string. That’s about as clear as I can explain it in a blog post, but my violin vibrato course goes into great detail with helpful videos. Check it out.

Meanwhile, work on a relaxed, effortless left hand. My video called “Break the Squeezing Habit in 28 days” will help with this.

This problem can be frustrating, but the fact that you are noticing it is a great start! Be a detective and eliminate the suspects one at a time.

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