How to use vibrato on the double bass: where and when to vibrate

Today I’m bringing you an exercise. Homework, challenge, call it whatever you want — the goal is the same: to make you more aware of the vibrato you use. And of how you use it.

But first, let me tell you a story.

Talking with a colleague this week, he told me that no matter how much he studies vibrato, he can’t move forward. Well, he can, but he can’t.

Let me explain. According to him, the exercises keep coming out better and better.

But… when he puts it into practice in a piece, he doesn’t always know exactly where to vibrate or how.

Also, when he tries to sustain it, his hand gets really tense. I mean, he can vibrate a quarter note, a half note, but connecting several bars is super hard for him and his hand goes rigid.

I’ll talk about that last part in the next email. Today I’m focusing on the “I don’t know where to vibrate” part.

So, since I’m a freaky fan of giving advice nobody asks for, I told him:

“You don’t know where to vibrate because you don’t have the story in your head.”

If you have a phrase, you have a chance to say something. And when you decide what you want to say, you automatically know where to put the vibrato.

How do I know this?

Because when I was writing the script for the course videos, I sat down and thought for a looooong time about the exact moment it clicked for me. I remember my vibrato was really nervous, and I also remember that at some point it stopped being a problem.

It’s not like I became Emilse the super bassist, not at all. But vibrato was never a problem again, so I could use my practice time to solve other things.

And to know how to structure the course, I needed to pin down what made me take that step, so that vibrato became one of my tools for interpreting music and not a headache I couldn’t solve.

That’s how I found that moment. The click that changed everything. Which, by the way, isn’t an instant where some higher being enlightens you and pahh, from then on everything comes out beautiful. Nothing like that (I wish).

You simply change the way you see something, and with practice you make it yours.

So…

Thinking about the story automatically gives you the vibrato you use, and when you use it.

BEAU-TI-FUL.

The exercise:

Choose a phrase. Just one. Whichever you want. It can be a fragment of a piece you’re playing — and the rule is: the easier, the better. Any Suzuki piece would work for this. Easy, so you can focus on what you want to say instead of fighting with the notes.

This phrase, just one, 8 bars max: play it, record it, in 2 different versions, using only vibrato. That is, what makes them different is where you vibrate and, of course, how you vibrate.

This exercise is due yesterday!!!

Why? Because you need to understand that vibrato is your tool for telling something.

If you want to send me the videos, great. I’ll enjoy watching them. And if I have time during the week, I’ll probably give you feedback.

Un abrazo,
Emilse