Wrist vibrato / releasing index finger from the violin neck

Question

I am teaching myself the vibrato technique on violin and I have some doubts about it. Hopefully some one can shed some light here.

If I understand correctly, it may be obvious because no one writes about it, you only use vibrato on long lasting notes, correct? It's not like you are vibrating all time while playing...

Then my problem with it is that, when I am playing fast notes, it helps leaning my index finger on the neck of the violin, however when I have to play a vibrato, because a long note is coming, I have to release my index finger to have some gap that allows my hand 'waving'. Is this the correct technique, releasing from/leaning on the the neck of the violin depending on whether you are vibrating or not, or should I play all the time with my index finger detached from the violin neck? How do you do it?

Answer 1

you only use vibrato on long lasting notes, correct?

Only when you are learning.

It's not like you are vibrating all time while playing

It depends on the piece and the violinist. There are some pieces where good violinists will be vibrating almost all the time.

it helps leaning my index finger on the neck of the violin

Leaning is fine. Gripping is not. You should never grip. That leads to tension, bad technique and long term injury.

should I play all the time with my index finger detached from the violin neck? How do you do it?

If you play with a shoulder rest then this is possible and perfectly fine. If you play without a shoulder rest then in lower positions (1st and 2nd) you will need some light contact which does not inhibit sliding of the index finger and thumb. In higher positions your thumb will rotate and move, first under the violin (by 5th position), later up to the body and even round the body in very high positions.

You cannot develop good technique with either the thumb or index finger "glued" to the neck.

Answer 2

You should not be teaching yourself vibrato!

If you do it wrong once, your muscle memory for wrong vibrato will become fixed and it will be very difficult to unlearn and relearn it. I would strongly recommend getting lessons for this!