Riffs, phrases and/or songs to practice for intonation

[Daf57]

Hi all,

Thanks again for all the great advice on my fretless question - Fretless as a first and only?

I should have it on Wednesday and let the learning begin!

I was wondering if you guys/gals would throw out some bass riffs or songs (short preferably at first) that I can get the tabs for and practice playing in tune. Some familiar tunes would help deciding if I'm hitting the sweet spots or not.

Some that I thought of were...
Theme from Barney Miller (anyone old enough to remember that one!)
Heard it Through the Grapevine - nice and short and very recognizable...
Pink Floyd - Money (I could also learn to count 5/4)
Portrait Of Tracy - Jaco ... Just Kidding!!

Thanks!

[Daf57]

...or not.

Maybe the ones I listed will be sufficient for the time being.

[PaulStone]

I'm not sure how basic how are looking for, but I'll go ahead and suggest Michael Jackson.

Beat It, Billy Jean, Smooth Criminal, and Thriller all have simple, easy to play yet fun riffs that you will instantly recognize when you get them right.

[JTE]

ANYTHING is good. Do NOT limit yourself to bass lines, but practice melodies too. Also, playing phrases, licks, lines, whatever that you already know cold will help because you won't have to be thinking about what notes you're seeking, but only about getting them in tune.

Also work out arpeggios and use open strings as references to check your intonation. For example, play the open E string, and while it's ringing, play an E arpeggio over as many octaves as possible on the other three strings.

John

[mambo4]

Originally Posted by Daf57

Pink Floyd - Money (I could also learn to count 5/4)

good luck with that. It's in 7/4.

I would seriously recommend lullabies a nursery rhyme tunes that you already know by ear:
happy birthday, twinkle twinkle little star, itsy bitsy spider, etc.

because 1.) you know how they should sound already
and more importantly 2.) they are usually based on major scales without alterations, chromatics or blue notes.
sing 'em first, then play 'em.

[Daf57]

Okay - good! Thanks. Good suggestions on MJ, lullabies and such and using open strings as reference.

Right - 7/4 ... doh!

Thanks!