How to Release Vibrato on the Double Bass — Part II

Letting go is the hardest part. In life and in vibrato, haha.

It seems like controlling the movement is what’s complex, because you have to follow a series of instructions about how wide the movement is, which part of the finger to use, and at what speed it moves.

But no, not at all.

It’s great when someone can tell you exactly what to do to make something work. Step 1, 2, 3 and boom! Done. You have it all figured out.

Why letting go of control is harder than controlling it

And even though we say we don’t want to be told what to do, in the end, life is easier when you have the path marked out.

Easier, but boring.

Letting go of control puts us in a vulnerable position, yes, but that’s where we allow ourselves to learn, change, receive and be free.

Once again, in life and in vibrato, haha.

The technique: gradually releasing with accents

So, let’s get to the point.

We don’t release it all at once—that creates the opposite effect: a lot of stiffness and tension. That’s how our body reacts when it doesn’t know what to expect.

So releasing is a process. Little by little.

The accent exercise to free the vibrato

I like to teach it with accents, because the accent makes you exaggerate. If you play 4 notes, for example, and the first one has an accent (in this case I mean a super exaggerated vibrato), the other 3 would just be a reaction, a free response.

It’s like telling your body:

• (1) THIS IS THE MOVEMENT → (2, 3, 4) and the rest is to relax…
• (1) REMEMBER WHERE IT COMES FROM → (2, 3, 4) and then let it go…
• (1) YOU CONTROL IT → (2, 3, 4) and you let them loose.

You control the forearm and allow yourself to release, leave the joints free so they can react to that movement.

How to practice: progression of 4, 6 and 8 beats

Let me show you with an exercise, you’ll find a video at the end.

The idea is that the accent is on beat 1 of every four, then on beat 1 of every 6, then on beat 1 of every 8.

Each time you’re lengthening that moment of releasing, and your body gets used to that freedom without responding with tension.

Freedom requires conscious practice

Being free is not easy, not in vibrato or in life. And if you don’t believe me, it’s because you’ve never been to therapy, hahaha.

If you want to go deeper into this technique and other ways to develop an expressive vibrato without tension, I have a complete course on conscious vibrato where we work on this in much more detail.