Vibrato at the Piano!? Why the Analogy Matters

The term “vibrato” is generally used to describe a subtle and rapid variance in pitch used by singers, string players and some wind instruments as an expressive device.

In this guest post, pianist and pedagogue Fred Karpoff shares the origins of his use of the term in the context of piano technique and how it can be applied to support expressive gesture at the piano.

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“Quick repeated notes, like the octaves in Schubert’s Erlkönig or in Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6, depend for their efficiency on the vibrato technique just described.”

– Louis Kentner, Piano, p. 65

Why use the term ‘vibrato’ at the piano?

I recently received this thoughtful question a participant in my new course, Mastering Intermediate Technique (MIT):

“Given we are not, and cannot, make a vibrato sound on the piano, why choose a term that may cause some confusion to our students, especially those who also play the violin? Vibrato and piano are mutually exclusive!”

It’s a fair challenge, and one I appreciate. After all, vibrato is traditionally a sonic phenomenon: a modulation of pitch heard in string playing, wind instruments, and the human voice. So why invoke it when speaking of physical motion at the piano?

In my lessons with Ann Schein, she often referred to a ‘shake-out technique’ – her way of describing the freeing of muscular tension through coordinated release.

While reading Louis Kentner’s Piano, I was immediately struck by his use of the word “vibrato” to describe a kind of trembling or oscillating impulse that facilitates trills, repeated notes and expressive shaping. Kentner wasn’t just describing mechanics – he was pointing toward a deeper expressive link between motion and sound that few pianists were articulating at the time.

Then, in a master class and, later, in private lessons with Karl Ulrich Schnabel, I learned additional creative ways to refine this technique.

Prior to Kentner, I’d never heard anyone else use the term “vibrato” this way. And truth be told: I still haven’t encountered anyone else who uses it in this context. Yet it made perfect sense to me. The idea of an initial impulse from the shoulder or upper arm being subdivided by the smaller anatomical components – forearm, wrist, even fingers -paralleled my own developing experience of how effort, when well-sequenced, could flow through the body with minimal tension.

Kentner writes:

“The term ‘vibrato’ describes fine trembling movements with which a smaller part of the anatomy subdivides, as it were, the initial impetus given to it by a bigger one…”

This resonated not only anatomically, but musically. While pianists can’t alter pitch once a key is struck, we can still shape a phrase’s contour through timing, articulation, touch and weight release. The vibrato-like gesture is one of energetic motion – a subtle physical wave that supports expressivity, responsiveness and flow, especially in passages requiring rapid repetition or sustained emotional nuance.

To be clear: we’re using the vibrato analogy not to describe periodic changes in pitch, but to illuminate how energy flows in the body to support expressive gesture.

This concept quickly took root in my teaching. It became a core principle in 3-D Piano, then evolved further in Entrada, and now anchors much of the movement work in my current teaching, especially through Mastering Intermediate Technique.

Even if you’re not participating in MIT, you’ve likely felt vibrato’s influence woven into how we approach artistry, gesture and release. It’s not about imitation of sound, but about movement that brings music to life – especially in some of the most advanced elements of piano playing, like trills, tremolos, repeated chords and octaves. And for those who do play violin or sing, the analogy becomes more powerful – not less – when framed carefully.

We are not creating vibrato at the piano. But we are embodying its essence in how we move. Kentner’s insight lives on, in every motion that serves the music!

– Fred Karpoff

Do you have a question about piano technique, teaching concepts or even a term that’s puzzled you? Let us know -your curiosity might shape our next conversation! What other words deserve rethinking in the context of modern piano playing?