On vibrato, experiment with different speeds and types of vibrato with different styles of music and see what sounds the best. Use lip vibrato in soft, delicate passages and hand vibrato on strident ones.


On trills, there are certain rules to follow. Old style trills are to be used on any works written before the Romantic period. This involves playing the upper note of the trill to begin the trill. In the modern trill, you play the lower note of the trill to begin it. Many players also put a five note turn on the end of a trill to kind of finish it off.

Phrasing involves grouping sections of a musical line together and playing them with breaths in between. This is something that a player must decide for his or herself. The way someone phrases something is how they get a name for themselves. The only useful advice that can be given on this subject is to listen to professionals and how they phrase a piece of music to get ideas from them. As you play, allow yourself to get into the music, imagine what the music is trying to make you think of and then figure out how to group the phrases in such a way as to make others get the picture in their head too.