According to professional opera singer David Jones, vocal wobble refers to an undesirable vibrato, wherein the oscillation of the voice is slow, and the pitches a singer hits are wide or far part from one another. In comparison, the vibrato a singer should employ, when the piece calls for it, features rapid oscillations and minimal pitch variations. Vocal wobbling often occurs unintentionally with bass singers, especially when trying to reach higher notes, and can be the result of several factors. One possible solution for remedying the problem is to keep your tongue arched, and the tip of it pressed down behind your bottom gums while holding notes. This will help focus or channel the sound out of your mouth, so it does not resonate unnecessarily within it. Another tip is to practice by singing an “u” sound starting at high pitch and then working down to a lower one. This will help you recognize where you start to wobble, so you can adjust your approach.
Incorrect breathing is one culprit that can lead to vocal wobble, but it can also lead to more general problems, such as poor pitch. According to A Approach, a website that offers singing lessons and tips, bass singers commonly have problems with controlling their breath pressure, or the amount of force with which they intake and expel air from their bodies. A good tip for avoiding this type of overbreathing is to concentrate your breathing in your lower abdomen, as opposed to directly beneath your ribcage. This is because when you take in big gasps of air centered below your ribcage, it causes a gag reflex, and your tongue interferes with the sound as you release it.
Barbershop bass-singing champion Bill Meyers recommends that bass singers sing with full face, or open vowels. This entails keeping your mouth and your throat open wide, and belting or forcing out the notes with a massive amount of pressure. The singing style produces that characteristic booming quality that bass voices have, and is void of nasal resonance.