Vibrato

Hello! Any suggestions about how to do a good vibrato? It seems to me quite hard and I can't do it for more than a minute, so I think I am doing something wrong...

I'd suggest you to book a lesson with Carolina Eyck. She has not only an excellent vibrato technique but she is also very good in explaining/teaching it.

What kind of technique are you using? Posting a video would be helpful for us to ascertain how you play and maybe to direct you to the right teacher that is close to the technique you are using rather than the opposite...

If you are having trouble executing a theremin vibrato for more than a minute then the chances are you are using the wrong muscle group to do it (probably one of the "wiggle" techniques - the "finger wiggle" or the "wrist wiggle"). If you are experiencing pain, stop doing what you are doing immediately. If you force yourself to continue you will hurt yourself.

The biggest mistake that newcomers to the theremin make is to believe that they do not need to take a "formal" approach to the instrument they way they would if they were going to study a traditional instrument like the violin or the harp. They think they can figure it all out for themselves, by ear, as they go along. What happens is that they come up with ways of doing things that initially sound O.K., without realizing that what they are doing is unsustainable. You not only have to be able to produce a particular effect (such as a vibrato) you have to be able to do it with sustainability and maximum control of rate and depth.

"People expect to go over to the theremin and IT PLAYS. No! It takes hard work, sensitivity, sensibility....attention to detail. You have to learn it and it's not easy.....It is much harder than the violin, which I played for years." Clara Rockmore