Egg Shaker Vibrato

Today is our last group class before Easter, so to celebrate I'll be giving out homemade egg shakers to all of my students! All you need are a couple dozen plastic eggs, a half tablespoon of rice in each, and a little hot glue or tape to help keep them sealed. I chose the smaller eggs to accommodate the smaller hands of my beginning students.

Egg shakers are great for preparing the left arm and hand muscles for vibrato! I learned this trick from my teacher-trainer Joanne Bath! It's as simple as holding the egg shaker in the left hand and shaking it and it is useful for practicing both arm and wrist vibrato. For a more refined and metered approach, you can practice with a metronome as the girl in this video is doing! One shake per beat, then two, then four, etc. https://vimeo.com/125569841

And as we artists know, presentation matters; that's why I'll be presenting the eggs from a lovely little basket and wearing a pair of bunny ears at group tonight. :) 

In honor of today being St. Patricks Day, I searched for some kind of shamrock treat or golden coins, but the best I could find was Skittles! Taste the rainbow!