Your vibrato like a singer: Find your own voice through the double bass.

When I started studying, my vibrato sounded like a goat.

Let me tell you my story with vibrato.

When I started studying, I vibrated like everyone else at first, because you have to. It was an “ornament”. The only problem I saw was how hard it was to sustain. If the notes were very long, halfway through my hand would get really tense and stiff, and the vibrato was very nervous.

Not gonna lie, it sounded like a goat! Haha

Like all my classmates, I tried to imitate the greats. I’d listen to recordings and mark bowings and vibrato spots into my sheet music. But obviously it didn’t sound the same. My goat vibrato wasn’t adding anything to the piece.

One day, in a lesson with Félix Petit, I remember he said to me: “my dear, why did you decide to vibrate from the beginning of the phrase?” I told him because that’s how Gary Karr does it. And well… Gary obviously doesn’t have a goat vibrato, so it was a disaster.

But I remember Félix told me that day: you can’t copy someone else’s vibrato, yours has to be unique. Let’s work on it.

And from that lesson on, I began to understand that vibrato isn’t just a repetitive movement, that it isn’t an ornament you apply to long notes. And that there are infinite ways to produce it, just like there are infinite personalities in the world.

And as you probably know, you can’t copy someone else’s personality. It looks, sounds, and feels fake. Same with vibrato.

Your vibrato is the most powerful tool you have to express yourself through the instrument.

Let me tell you a story about one of my favorite bassists.

Janne Saksala, in a masterclass, stopped a student right as he reached the climax of Bottesini’s Elegy, and asked: “why are you playing that A with your third finger? Which is your best vibrato finger?” And the kid said, “the first,” and played it with one.

Saksala stopped him again and said: “try the second, it’s almost always the best vibrato finger”. He tried it, and there it was a little better.

Then he said: “in my sheet music, on the notes I want to highlight expressively, I write the letter B — for best vibrato finger”.

Meaning, he doesn’t care which fingering is most comfortable to play the passage. He simply builds it around landing on finger 2 at the climax, which is his best vibrato finger (or at least it was at that moment), so he can deliver his best vibrato.

Hearing him say that made me understand why I love him so much as a bassist, what makes him so musical: he’s always thinking about what he wants to say with each phrase. Not about what’s technically appropriate.

That’s why, when we hear different versions of the same piece by great soloists, they sound completely different. You can go on YouTube, pick one of Bottesini’s concertos, and choose three of your favorite soloists — you’ll see how each one has a different way of singing it. And the type of vibrato they decide to use in each section has a lot to do with that.

That’s why I made this course.

It’s designed so you don’t just master the technique, but so you can ask yourself: how would I do this if I were a singer?

A singer has something to say. They phrase, they breathe, they build the musical idea with intention. They don’t repeat the text without thinking. A good singer uses and controls every note intentionally to tell a story.

That’s what we’re going to do with the double bass. Make it sing. Make it carry your signature. So when someone hears you, they don’t hear Gary Karr, or Saksala, or your teacher. They hear you. What you intentionally want to express with each phrase.

Technique here is at the service of music, not the other way around. You can do this.

 

How long is this course?

The pre-recorded modules run 1 hour, 40 minutes and 15 seconds.

I tried to make it as dynamic as possible, using voice overs and subtitles while showing you the technique. This way, each module packs the information as tightly as it can, so you can absorb the content in a short amount of time.

Making this a course you will actually finish.

And one you can come back to whenever you want — the virtual classroom is available with no time limit.

 

By the end of this journey, you’ll be able to:

 

• Stop copying other people’s vibrato and start building your own.
• Have control over the movement, not be at war with it.
• Understand and master the different types of vibrato.
• Know when to vibrate and when not to — because each note is a decision, not an automatism.
• Phrase with intention, the way a singer would.

 

If you enter the virtual classroom before June 7, you get a hugely valuable bonus.

 

The Lighthouse

I named it that because it will light up your path as a navigator during this journey.

If you enter the virtual classroom before June 7, you’ll have personalized accompaniment with me until July 7. Not inside a group. Not a bot. Not automated replies. I’ll personally respond to your questions through the chat we’ll activate once you’re inside, so I can make sure you get the most out of the course, and reach your destination victorious.

You can send me audios, videos of you playing, technical questions, whatever you need. I respond personally.

Why only until June 7?

Because it’s the only way I can do this well. I organized my schedule to make space for you. I can’t accompany so many people one on one. That’s why this first opening has the Lighthouse — and after, it’s gone.

The course will remain available at the same price after June 7. But without the Lighthouse, without my chat, without direct accompaniment.

If you want to come with me on this journey, this is the moment!

This course is for you if…

• You play the double bass and feel that your vibrato sounds tense, nervous, out of control.
• You’ve been copying the vibrato of your favorite soloists and you know something doesn’t sound right, but you can’t pin down what. It sounds like a costume, not like you.
• You’ve just started with a teacher or in a youth orchestra and they tell you “now vibrate” — but no one has explained how, from the body, step by step.
• You know the fingerboard at least up to the middle region of the instrument.
• You want to stop thinking of vibrato as a technical ornament and start using it as a tool of expression.
• You want to understand not just how to vibrate, but when to do it and why — because each note should be a decision, not an automatism.
• Every time you try to sustain the vibrato through a phrase, you end up with a stiff and tense hand.
• You’re willing to study slowly, with discipline, no shortcuts. You know vibrato doesn’t get fixed in a week — but you also know that with the right guidance, it does transform.
• You want that when someone hears you play, they hear YOUR voice. Not your favorite soloist’s, not your teacher’s, not a recording’s. Yours.
• You feel that music is more than playing the right notes. You want to tell stories with your instrument.

 

Ready to use your vibrato as a tool of expression?