Zhàn or zhànyīn 颤音

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A Shandong and Henan technique of heavy vibrato that is pressed strongly enough to produce audible pitch changes. This traces back to the vocal styles of operas and narrative singing from northern China.This character is the same as the one for “chàn” in the “chànyīn” technique of light vibrattos found in the south. It appears to be a regional difference. We’ll use Chàn for light vibrattos and Zhàn for heavy vibrattos.

Note: some linguistic sources say zhàn is a taiwanese pronunciation, which would make more sense applied to southern styles. Unfortunately I don’t have clear guidance on this.

VibratoJ BHeavyComment