Tape on Fretless strings

[CDRhom]

I'm new to playing fretless bass. Although my fingers do a good job of hitting about the right spot through muscle (stretch?) memory, my ear tells me I'm off in a few places.

My bass teacher suggested that after tuning my fretless I work my way down the neck with the tuner and put a small piece of tape on the strings where the whole note is.

I'm not sure if this is training wheel genius or cheating. Any thoughts?

[M0ses]

If your ears are telling you you're off, where's the problem? That's exactly what you want. Now you just need to keep practicing.

[line6man]

Your teacher told you to put tape on the strings!?
Won't that definitely dampen the sustain and make it difficult to play?

Are you sure he didn't tell you to put tape on the fingerboard like people do with violins when they first learn to play?

[christw]

Psh, tape... If you know it's slightly off, correct it with your fingers. Once you can recognize slight pitch alterations and correct for them on the fly, you'll be golden!

[groooooove]

instead of thinking your some kind of weakling-failure, i'd just put the tape on the *fretboard* not the strings, and if it helps, keep it. if not, take it off.

[brendanbassist]

Originally Posted by M0ses

If your ears are telling you you're off, where's the problem? That's exactly what you want. Now you just need to keep practicing.

I agree 100%. The key to learning a fretless is to play with your ears, not your eyes. The tape seems like a counter-productive idea. I've watched some videos of Steve Bailey talking about intonation where he said he would practice in a pitch black room so he couldn't look at his hands.

(In the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that I my intonation still needs work and that I predominantly play fretted basses)

[CDRhom]

Thanks for the insight. He said "strings" but looking at your comments he probably meant "fingerboard", one of those you-know-what-I-meant moments we all have.

I not usually off by more than a fraction of a finger (just a little roll to the side will fix it), so think I will opt for the playing with my ears. I don't want to be feeling for tape, when I should be feeling the groove.

[MrLenny1]

Here is a practice tip.
Play a major scale on one string only.
Say, open E then f sharp, then bring your hand back to the nut, then G sharp, then back to down to the nut etc.
Fretless is tough. You have to play every day to keep it up.
Good luck & Practice,Practice, Practice.

[brentonkim]

Originally Posted by CDRhom

Thanks for the insight. He said "strings" but looking at your comments he probably meant "fingerboard", one of those you-know-what-I-meant moments we all have.

I not usually off by more than a fraction of a finger (just a little roll to the side will fix it), so think I will opt for the playing with my ears. I don't want to be feeling for tape, when I should be feeling the groove.

I don't find this a problem really,
I mean, beginners in orchestra put tape on the neck of the cellos, violins, basses, etc. until they get a feel of where it should be.
You eventually will get used to playing without checking for the tape, and then you can just take them off.