Learning Fretless

[nagal]

I hate to do it but I have to post the newbie question.

I have been playing guitar on and off for 20 some years and it just never took. A lot of it has to do with I wanted to learn bass from the beginning but thanks to my brother who had a guitar and lost interest in it after 6 months, I got to play guitar.

I am finally going to rectify this situation and learn to play bass and I want to start right off fretless.

I have always been a self-learner in all areas and this just being a hobby I am wanting to continue with that.

So I ask, what are some good books to get to help start me off in the right direction?

Thanks,

Michael

[ii7-V7]

I'm not too sure about books specific to Fretless, though I thought that Ed Friedland wrote a book specifically about fretless, as well as Hal Leonard....don't know where to find them. Check Amazon.

But, you could just use a standard Electric bass book and take a few extra precautions while learning.

One thing that I would do is to get a good chromatic tuner and play with the tuner on. Start in the first position and play a scale very, very, very slowly. Make sure that each note is in tune using the tuner. Learn the one scale very well until you can play it without intonation mistakes. Then move on to another scale, arpeggio, etc.

Also, you can play a scale, arpeggio, etc against a ringing string. In other words play your open E string and then play an E major scale against the ringing open string.

These are some ideas to get you started. Good Luck!

[ii7-V7]

I'm really surprised that this thread hasn't gotten more attention. I thought that maybe it was because there were a bunch of "learning fretless" threads already, but after conducting a search and combing through the first three or four pages I didn't really find a good "How to play fretless" thread. Perhaps I missed something. But, I'm still purprised that no one else commented.

Chad

[KeiBau]

I play a five string fretless as my main bass, have for nearly three years. I started on a fretted bass, but always seemed to have an interest in fretless. So, after three years on fretted, I just had to try fretless so ordered one. I wasn't sure if I would be able to play it, but the day it arrived I took it with me to rehearsal and haven't put it down since. No learning curve and, yes that surprised even me. Then, the more I thought about it, I began to attribute the ease to which I caught on to the fact that I played the trombone (slide, no keys or valves) from the age of ten through my first year in college. I was already accustomed to playing by hearing pitch changes. I realize that not everyone, probably most, will not have that same experience to fall back on, but that's just how it was with me. I'm really not even comfortable playing a fretted bass anymore, so much so that I wouldn't even want a lined fretless (unlined only). Anyway, I would agree with the following comments by ii7-V7 for a starting point. I'm not sure I can even add anything more to that as I'm not an instructor. Keep in mind that even beginning students learn to play instruments that don't have precise stops (frets in the case of stringed instruments) such as the violin, and oh yes, the slide trombone. None of what I'm saying is out of some sort of egotistical pride, I'm just sharing my experiences, however unique they might be. I have nothing against fretted or lined fretless instruments, nor anyone who plays them.

Originally Posted by ii7-V7

I'm not too sure about books specific to Fretless, though I thought that Ed Friedland wrote a book specifically about fretless, as well as Hal Leonard....don't know where to find them. Check Amazon.

But, you could just use a standard Electric bass book and take a few extra precautions while learning.

One thing that I would do is to get a good chromatic tuner and play with the tuner on. Start in the first position and play a scale very, very, very slowly. Make sure that each note is in tune using the tuner. Learn the one scale very well until you can play it without intonation mistakes. Then move on to another scale, arpeggio, etc.

Also, you can play a scale, arpeggio, etc against a ringing string. In other words play your open E string and then play an E major scale against the ringing open string.

These are some ideas to get you started. Good Luck!

[uethanian]

i started on fretless and have been playing for about a year. for me, i'm gonna put down my fretless, and go relearn everything on fretted to get my technique really solid. it seems like i was steadily improving but recently stopped...i'm just trying to say that (at least for me), i thought fretless was easier than fretted in the beginning, but once you start playing harder music it can be very frusterating.

[theshadow2001]

Don't bother with the tuner. It's a waste of time and doesn't really encourage hearing as much as you'd think.

Play scales against a drone note which sounds at the root. www.tunemybass.com by customizing the setup you can turn on sine waves and leave the mouse over the string you get a more or less constant fundamental note to play against. It's a quick and easy option.

You need to develop your ears to be able to hear whether your in tune or not. But if you only have good ears it's not much point if your hands keep missing the note. (you know your not in tune but it's too late once you've sounded the note.) The muscle memory starts to take over and you naturally move to the right spot (but you still have to listen)

Play along with CD's and other musicians it will all help develop correct intonation. You can record a piece with your guitar or a fretted bass if you have one and then play along with your fretless. Even windows media recorder is would suffice for doing this job

As was said open strings are a good reference for for notes. If for example you hit open g you can play C on the A string you can hear the two notes harmonize if your in the correct postion. They don't have to be used just to check notes that are the same as the open string. Learn to hear the intervals as well. Natural harmonics can help to pin point some notes as well.

As for a book I don't know if there's anything that covers solely fretless technique. The intonation will come with time and practice

Given your years of musical experience fretless should provide a challenge but will certainly be do able as well

[ryco]

I've been playing fretless for years starting in high school. I've never seen a book or lesson plan dedicated to fretless. So I Googled and found these:


http://emlink.net/Merchant2/merchant...ategory_Code=B
from Bunny Brunel's site
http://www.cyberschoolofbass.com/

Went to the Mel Bay site and found this:
http://www.melbay.com/product.asp?Pr...Search=keyword

Went to Hal Leonard's site and found
http://www.halleonard.com/item_detai...fretless+bass+

Or there's these online lessons from ActiveMusician.com
http://www.activemusician.com/How-To...tless--t13i120


The only reason I didn't respond to this thread earlier was I didn't have any info to offer. After 10 minutes of searching I found these.

Hope one of these looks interesting to the OP. peace

[Tomass]

+1 on the Fretless book by Chris Kringel. Ive bought this and its really helped my fretless playing. The book focuses on grooving and has songs that progress in difficulty and in technique.