I have a DVD of Edgar and I've seen him perform live with the dots on his fingerboard. He seems to like to watch his left hand on occasion without any fear showing on his face to my understanding.
But then again, you can find Youtube clips of Edgar playing his bass without dots and I've seen him playing a 5 stringer with the Lincoln Center Chamber Orchestra without dots...so it seems that music can be made both with and without them...even by the very same player.
Hmm, Edgar is also known to use bows as hackey sacks. Wait a minute what's going on here how can a guy use dots whenever he feels like and kick bows around and still make music people want to see and hear?!?
PS When I got my first bass, I put little masking tape diamonds on the side of my fingerboard so I could find the notes. I didn't know positions or how to find anything when I started, and I was playing in a group at the time wanting to take my James Jamerson addiction to the next level. I had to have the notes above all. Learning to find the notes on the upright by feel was something that I was taught by someone who knew how to do that...still trying to find them without looking LOL
