Practising fretless with non A440 tracks?

[Maxra]

I'm new to fretless. If appreciate advice on whether it's good idea to practice by playing along to non A440 tracks. This seems like a bad idea for fretted basses, but on fretless only the open strings will be out of tune, and the fingerboard dots - well...

 

[StereoPlayer]

I'm new to fretless. If appreciate advice on whether it's good idea to practice by playing along to non A440 tracks. This seems like a bad idea for fretted basses, but on fretless only the open strings will be out of tune, and the fingerboard dots - well...

I re-tune my bass to practice something not tuned to A440.

 

[bholder]

I re-tune my bass to practice something not tuned to A440.

This. I rely on open strings being in tune way too much. Besides which, I've tried to do this a few times, and it's really hard. Or at least, I'm not very good at it. YMMV. But seems like wasted effort and complexity.

 

[ahbass2500]

I re-tune my bass to practice something not tuned to A440.

^This

Change the setting on your tuner and retune when you need to change. I played with groups that tuned A442 for years.

 

[Bonafide]

Play in tune, up to pitch whenever possible. It's just a good practice.

Speaking for myself, I always retune the track, not my bass. A basic program like Acoustica standard lets you fine tune or change keys, isolate tracks etc. Most DAWS as well.

I find my basses and my playing benefit from keeping with consistent tuning.

 

[Relsom]

I still have my cassette and CD decks with pitch controls. I haven't had to use them in a while, but if needed, I can burn a CD and adjust the pitch on that rather than retuning.

 

[micguy]

This is not a "bad" idea - it's a good way to get you to start playing with your ears, not your eyes. That's a very good thing on fretless.

 

[Bryan R. Tyler]

I played with groups that tuned A442 for years.

That sounds…annoying.

 

[InstantEctobass]

That sounds…annoying.

Why?

 

[JRA]

I always retune the track, not my bass.

i keep my axes tuned to A440 --- life is simpler that way for me. if i'm chasing down a rendition that somehow is 'in between the cracks', i'll adjust my fingerboard stops to quickly analyze the key, the changes, but for in-depth study: i'm changing and adjusting the track, not the ax.

 

[Bryan R. Tyler]

Why?

Because you’d need to retune and change your tuner settings anytime you either played with that band or were practicing material for them, and retune/change your tuner again anytime you played with any other musicians. All for (IMO) no real advantage by playing in 442.

 

[BassAgent]

I have an app called "Anytune" which can retune a track very precisely. I never ever retune my bass, always the track.

 

[micguy]

That sounds…annoying.

"A" has moved up in frequency over the years - it was all over the map, but usually lower until the 1800's when people started to standardize, and then it was 435 in most places for quite a while, but now it seems to be mostly 440.

Will it eventually move up further?Hard to say, but a lot of things have evolved over the years (violins, especially) to deal with higher tuning. If you're going to take electric guitars and move them up tuning wise, then Gibson is in a better place than fender - the shorter scale will help avoiding breaking high E strings.

 

[BassAgent]

, but now it seems to be mostly 440.

Except that almost all (symphony) orchestras use 442 these days.

 

[Thumpin6string]

Since fretless relies more on muscle memory than fretted, changing the tuning will just mess that up IMHO.

 

[Slevage]

Tune the bass to the tracks or tune the tracks (digitally) to A=440.

I could not imagine playing my DB or EUB without open strings.
Even an Eb chord contains a G.

 

[bassicmike]

... playing with your ears, not your eyes.

This.

I was recently gifted a cello and have been taking lessons. One cannot see the hand or the fingerboard in first position. Only thing to work with is the ears.

I can already sense that influencing my fretless playing in a positive way.

 

[getrhythm]

I don't re-tune. On a fretless, what could be easier?

 

[brianrost]

I'm new to fretless. If appreciate advice on whether it's good idea to practice by playing along to non A440 tracks.

There used to be cassette decks with speed controls that could fine tune the pitch. Most mid to high end turntables allow tuning the motor speed. Finally, it’s become a common feature in a number of software products, ranging from Amazing Slow Downer to AutoTune. I’m willing to tolerate a bit of tuning inaccuracy but there are times I will fine tune the recording.

As someone who played fretless for many years and also plays upright bass, when the tuning is off your muscle memory will have you seemingly playing out of tune. This is not good.

It’s up to you if you want to try to compensate while learning the song or just fix the tuning of the recording.

 

[Jeff Scott]

I'm new to fretless. .....the fingerboard dots - well...

Fingerboard dots? Next, you'll be saying there's all these parallel lines running down the fingerboard that keep getting closer and closer together...

Except that almost all (symphony) orchestras use 442 these days.

I didn't know that; the next time I go hear The Cleveland Orchestra (in a couple weeks) I'm a bringing my tuning fork with me.