Vibrato in the middle of the fingerboard

shadow_FIX · #1 04-08-2010, 11:59 AM

Hi Patrick.

I have a question about vibrato in the range right around where the neck meets the body of the instrument...specifically 4th finger. I can do 4th finger vibrato in the lower range and 3rd finger in the upper range, but right around this "middle" area I have a lot of trouble getting a good oscillation. I feel like my thumb against the fingerboard is inhibiting this...like I don't have any room to pivot. If I use a "crutch" and rest by arm on the back of the bass and take the thumb off completely I can get it to sound good but this technique is improper and isn't efficient.

What is the best way to go about perfecting this? This issue has been plaguing me for a while now.

Thanks!

-Bobby

PNeher · #2 04-17-2010, 01:05 PM

Yes, well, particularly for standing players (vs. those who sit while playing), the string bass' neck provide a rather awkward neck-block position (for many 4 finger on f or f# on the G string is the worst). What the problem is: the shoulders of the bass in ratio or relationship to the "overstand" or the amount the neck comes outward from the top of the bass. If your bass' neck is set very close to the body/top, and the shoulders are wide, that neck-block position is rather strenuous to play in. If the neck comes out further and the shoulders are more sloping (as with my Quenoil-model bass) then this position only calls for a slight movement of the arm towards the upper positions to vibrato the F# with the 4th finger, AND the thumb still at the block (not raised for vibrato). Now, it is EASIER to vibrato by lifting the thumb (again in this position with the 4th finger on F#), but if you are a standing player, you lose the support of the bass by the thumb, so many players move the bass forward in angle to accommodate this loss of support. NOT A GREAT IDEA! only because you then have changed the weight-to-bow proportions as well as lost your intonation reference.
SO: THE ANSWER (ha!): Learn to RELAX your arm and hand when in that position. Consider vibrato as if a relatively narrow pivot (as if you were fingering A to C on the G string, 1 to 4, but without moving the thumb -- a pivot). Practice D to F or F# (1 to 4), getting a relxed motion between the two notes. Rest on one note and have the same motion: presto, relaxed vibrato.
Hope this helps. Maybe I will do a YouTube video on this... it is a constant problem for everyone.
Best!
Patrick

shadow_FIX · #3 04-23-2010, 09:22 AM

Thanks for the reply.

I think the word "relax" could be used as a blanket "cure-all" statement for a lot of instrumentalist technique issues. I did do a good amount of focused practice on this area and it seems to be helping a lot. I'm currently working on Rabbath's "Ibernique Peninsulaire" and vibrato in this area of the bass needs to happen many many times in this piece.