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Double Bass Teaching vibrato

#2
Play a scale with individual bows and practice vibrato very slowly at first on each note of the scale.You can use a metronome set at about 140 and do one downward and upward rock on each beat.The third finger will be the hardest! There is a tendancy which should in the interests of tone and taste be punished with the confiscation of the bass and the amputation of the left hand without anasthetic and that is to wobble around on the string in a fast and furious manner which achieves nothing at all save the tensing of the wrist muscles and is more akin to violin vibrato. This is of no use to the bass player owing to the depth of tone of the instrument and the string vibration itself as the vibrato sound needs to emphasise the string speaking speed and not to "quicken " it up.

I think the correct time to introduce vibrato is when the pupil no longer requires the left hand thumb to exert pressure on the instrument neck in order to produce a good note- try playing a scale of one octave without using the left hand thumb and try e major starting on the open e if you see what I mean .If you can do this ,you can, when the thumb is used, be concous and aware of a free and relaxed left hand which will be ready for learning vibrato.
 
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#3
Using metronome is something I would also strongly recommend. There is always the risk of the pupil only learning how to vibrate in a certain tempo that's comfortable to him or her, and it's always easier to speed up than to slow down! A metronome helps here.

WHEN is a variable question, I guess. If you play an old, classic school such as Findeisen, you'll see that he doesn't mention vibrato until late in the third book - which is already rather advanced. I believe the most common opinion is that it isn't as crucial to a bass player as to, say, a violinist or as singer. I know people who advocate very sparse use of vibrato in orchestral playing, and I know players who entered university without really having vibrato, which they were able to get once they were there. Point is not that you SHOULDN'T teach your student how to vibrate early on, but rather to listen to your hunches concerning this particular student. All roads leads to Rome...
 
#4
As with violin, viola, and cello playing, vibrato is important because it is directly related to shifting. In my mind, vibrato should be taught as soon as shifting is taught so the right motion is achieved. Saves time because it takes care of 2 things at once.

hard to completely explain in words. I go the violin teacher's route... start sliding the finger up and down the string... keep the motion going - no pressure on string then gradually apply weight until vibrato appears (no more pressure than necessary). vibrato and shifting have the same motion. If both are taught in conjunction, then it is much easier to connect vibrato through shifts.
 
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#5
Bob Gladstone taught it in the traditional way--72 to 80 for the quarter note, one forearm rotation down (with fingertip rolling sharp) followed by its upward rebound, per click. When this was smooth, advance to two per click, then three, then four. To loosen up my tight arm, he also had me do the rhythmic drill flapping my elbow like a chicken wing. It helped, although you would never do this in a practice room with windows. After years of doing this, a six week layoff for basic military training allowed me to return with a relaxed, fluid, effortless vibrato. Ironically, I rarely use it in orchestral playing these days, as a straight, smooth tone (in tune) better serves the ensemble.
 
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#6
Bubbabass said:
Bob Gladstone taught it in the traditional way--72 to 80 for the quarter note, one forearm rotation down (with fingertip rolling sharp) followed by its upward rebound, per click. When this was smooth, advance to two per click, then three, then four. To loosen up my tight arm, he also had me do the rhythmic drill flapping my elbow like a chicken wing. It helped, although you would never do this in a practice room with windows. After years of doing this, a six week layoff for basic military training allowed me to return with a relaxed, fluid, effortless vibrato. Ironically, I rarely use it in orchestral playing these days, as a straight, smooth tone (in tune) better serves the ensemble.
Click to expand...


This is how I learned vibrato except I went on to six beats a metronome click and skipped five. Also, don't roll your fingertip above the pitch, vibrato comes from below the pitch to the pitch. When you're doing exercises, make surre you start each click with your hand on pitch(accept when you do triplets and quarter notes if one click equals a quarter note), not below the pitch.
 
#7
Can someone direct me to a video of, or post a video of themselves, playing without the left thumb? I have heard mention of that a few times on talkbass, and everytime I try it, either the bass falls over backwards from pressing with my fingers or I can't push my fingers down. I don;t see how its possible without leaning the bass forward 30 degrees or so.
 
#8
I believe it is only possible to do a thumb-free vibrato if you sit and hold the bass somewhat like a cello. As a stand up player using a Rabbath type stance, I need to use my left thumb. The trick is to use only as much squeeze as needed to stop the pitch cleanly, as Kurt mentioned above.

As for how young, I believe in showing a student how to do it well when s/he first shows an interest, since they will attempt it anyway, and continue to emphasize strong fundamental technique as the goal, with vibrato being the final polish. IMO, a student should be able to sustain a bow stroke for at least 12 seconds before introducing vibrato.
 
#10
¡bassballbill!;7008408 said:
untrue

Invalid Link Removed
Click to expand...

I read the article, but will respectfully disagree with it. I believe it's a lot easier to hear the actual pitch when you comes from the pitch to below the pitch, not roll over it and land on a sharp pitch then go below the pitch. How can you really hear where the exact pitch of the note is if you go over and under it and never stop on that pitch?
 
#11
thedbassist,
Does your disagreement come from anywhere other than a desire to retain your previously held belief? This conclusion:
All of the data which were taken support the hypothesis
that the mean frequency of a modulated sound is perceived
when a subject is asked to compare it to an unmodulated
sound. Further this modulated sound gives rise to the same
psychometric curve as that of a single frequency sound at its
mean, i.e., for purposes of comparisons with a second sound
it is equivalent to a single frequency sound having its mean
frequency. Equivalently we can say that a human functioning
as a frequency meter performs identically on an unmodulated
sound and the mean of a frequency modulated sound.
Click to expand...
shows experimental proof that your "belief" is incorrect. How can you disagree?
 
#15
thedbassist, the bottom line is if you are vibrating in a way that it sounds in tune, than it sounds in tune. but if i were to teach someone vibrato from scratch, i would go along with what the experiment says, especially since this is what i've concluded based on my own practice.

jallenbass, i know. but he still had plenty of incredibly valuable things to say.

bassman, you know i love you. big ups to gene for me.
 
#17
CT DB said:
thedbassist,
Does your disagreement come from anywhere other than a desire to retain your previously held belief? This conclusion:

shows experimental proof that your "belief" is incorrect. How can you disagree?
Click to expand...


My disagreement comes from my preference of vibrato, I've tried vibrato both ways and found I liked the way of coming from below the pitch to the pitch much better. Am I not allowed to listen with my ears to figure out what I like? Should my preference of vibrato be cancelled out because scientists have labeled it "incorrect"? I don't think so.
 

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