Steve Bailey comments on playing fretless in tune

[Fire-Starter]

I have heard quite a bit of discussion about fretless basses with lines to help with intonation. those without lines because who cares etc, but Steve gives a very interesting view about playing a fretless in tune, which in this case lines or no lines would not make a difference if you agree with his point, which I do to a degree. I am sure others will totally disagree altogether, but listen to the following and explain your position on this.

Listen to his comments at 2:00 til 2:40

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV0JvTITQf8

[Entwistle]

i think it made perfect sense.

[JtheJazzMan]

I agree, if you dont utilise the fact you have infinite divisions of pitch then youre missing out.

[fullrangebass]

I agree with Mr Bailey

[SpawnofHastur]

Well, that's what most of blues was about- getting the sheer expressive of music as much as possible using slightly out of tune notes. Robert Johnson was a master at that with his singing.

For me, that's THE number one reason I want a fretless- to get that melismatic expressiveness. That, and because I'm a big fan of Arabic music, where quarter tones are the norm.

[Darkstrike]

Very interesting indeed.

[DerHoggz]

I really want a fretless.
That makes perfect sense, more expressionistic.

Darkstrike, I though youe avatar was like a horse painting by indians..

[Darkstrike]

Originally Posted by DerHoggz

Darkstrike, I though youe avatar was like a horse painting by indians..

[spark_chaser]

+1 with Steve Bailey, I just wish it were as easy as he makes it look.....

[phxlbrmpf]

Was that Victor Vooten who was on stage with Steve (shown for a few seconds at like 1:43), slapping away on a jazz bass?

[DerHoggz]

Originally Posted by Darkstrike

I just looked at it for the first time, I usually just see it out of the corner of my eye, it kinda looks like a cave painting of a horse.

[spark_chaser]

Originally Posted by phxlbrmpf

Was that Victor Vooten who was on stage with Steve (shown for a few seconds at like 1:43), slapping away on a jazz bass?

probably it kinda looked like him but it was hard to tell. Those two like playing together "they go together like pees and carrots"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKXn-...eature=related

bass extremes is a great dvd!

[Darkstrike]

Originally Posted by DerHoggz

I just looked at it for the first time, I usually just see it out of the corner of my eye, it kinda looks like a cave painting of a horse.

Aha! I blurred my vision up a little, and I see it!

[phxlbrmpf]

Yeah I know Steve and Vic like to play as a duo, it's just that I've never seen Vic use anything Fender, ever. Maybe he's got a Fender sig model in the works too, who knows?

[Stealth]

As a very famous Macedonian jazz/fusion bassist, Bodan Arsovski, told me not two days ago (after I finally managed to catch him after one of his band's reunion shows), fretless can definitely be played by ear and there's nothing to fear about it - now I see Steve Bailey saying the virtually same thing, so if two grand masters of bass say it, they're probably both right.

First I moved to a sixer and I see it's my best move so far. Maybe there's hope for going fretless too?

[hbarcat]

I got the urge to play fretless shortly after joining TalkBass when I began to realize the possibilities of what it can do that a fretted bass can't. It's all about the expressiveness of smearing the sound up or down to reach the notes that are "in tune" and there are so many ways of achieving this with the most subtle movements of the fingers.

It's very much like the human voice singing. No famous singers are admired because they sing in perfect tune. They are admired because they use vibrato and pitch variation and other techniques to get the most out of a musical phrase. Think Frank Sinatra.

Steve Bailey is 100% right and he said it very well and very concisely.

I finished building my first fretless last month and I've been happily playing it since.

[Fire-Starter]

Originally Posted by Stealth

As a very famous Macedonian jazz/fusion bassist, Bodan Arsovski, told me not two days ago (after I finally managed to catch him after one of his band's reunion shows), fretless can definitely be played by ear and there's nothing to fear about it - now I see Steve Bailey saying the virtually same thing, so if two grand masters of bass say it, they're probably both right.

First I moved to a sixer and I see it's my best move so far. Maybe there's hope for going fretless too?

I wish I still had mine...

[ryco]

Originally Posted by spark_chaser

+1 with Steve Bailey, I just wish it were as easy as he makes it look.....

He makes it look easy because he has thousands of hours of playing time under his belt!

Reading music really helped in my learning to play fretless in tune. Pretty hard to be looking at your fretboard when your eyes are pretty much glued to a page. Really have to kick in the "ear factor" as far as getting your intonation in the ballpark.

It's a lot like singing and playing. I'm way better at playing bass than singing, so I put my playing on auto-pilot and concentrate more on singing. But definitely a large chunk of my awareness is still beamed on playing the lines.
Reading and playing fretless, most of my conscious effort is on reading the part, but the other huge chunk is focused on my intonation.

Closing your eyes or looking out into the audience is another way to deter your eyes from the fretboard and depend more on listening.

Hope this makes ANY sense!

WISH: Now I wish Fender would come out with a fretless 24 V!!!

[ElMon]

+1 to Steve's comments. Same reason that having fretlines on my basses doesn't work for me. The increased difficulty of that unlined expanse of board pays off mightily.

[Stickk]

I agree; That's why I love playing my fretless.