So this is a musing thread that I'm mostly writing to straighten out my thoughts.
I got a fretless Jazz 3 weeks ago, did a NBD post about it. I've not quite been playing it everyday, but pretty close. I'm working on exercises with Studybass, and usually I'll work through them fretted and, when they are going well, pick up the fretless and try it on that.
Why did I get a fretless? Partly for the challenge. Partly to see what kind of tonal options it offered, especially with slight deviations from the fretted notes for expressive purposes (or to try different temperment), glissando, a thumpy upright sound. And largely, because I know I need ear training, and that is certainly one way to train your ear.
Observations:
1) I LOVE the sound of fretless. No clank, no buzz, easy muting (I like my action very low, so muting can become fretting if I'm not careful, or just buzzy), a very clean and warm sound. Some of that may be the quality of the pickups, the flats vs. rounds, and so on. But it just sounds more musical to me--less hardware between me and the sound.
2) The con: intonation. Obviously I knew going it that would be an issue. I am getting better. I tend to be pretty good with the first two fingers and reliably sharp with the pinky. I can shift with more accuracy than I expected (like for 12-bar blues) but not as much accuracy as I need.
3) Stress level: It's actually kind of funny when I put down the fretless and pick up the fretted. It's like...taking off a loaded duty belt and putting on sweat pants, I guess. Very relaxing to not be straining to hear what I'm playing and making sure it's right. Just play and the notes are correct! If I'm reading something new I can focus on hitting the notes in a broad fuzzy sense and not trying to both pick a fingering and nail the pitch at the same time. But also the clank and the buzz come back.
The weirdest thing, for me, is that I can tell when a note is wrong, but I have trouble telling if I'm sharp or flat. I wind up looking most of the time (lined fingerboard). I'm off, but I don't know why. That really has to improve if I'm ever to play this with any kind of skill.
Anyway, I have to practice now.
I got a fretless Jazz 3 weeks ago, did a NBD post about it. I've not quite been playing it everyday, but pretty close. I'm working on exercises with Studybass, and usually I'll work through them fretted and, when they are going well, pick up the fretless and try it on that.
Why did I get a fretless? Partly for the challenge. Partly to see what kind of tonal options it offered, especially with slight deviations from the fretted notes for expressive purposes (or to try different temperment), glissando, a thumpy upright sound. And largely, because I know I need ear training, and that is certainly one way to train your ear.
Observations:
1) I LOVE the sound of fretless. No clank, no buzz, easy muting (I like my action very low, so muting can become fretting if I'm not careful, or just buzzy), a very clean and warm sound. Some of that may be the quality of the pickups, the flats vs. rounds, and so on. But it just sounds more musical to me--less hardware between me and the sound.
2) The con: intonation. Obviously I knew going it that would be an issue. I am getting better. I tend to be pretty good with the first two fingers and reliably sharp with the pinky. I can shift with more accuracy than I expected (like for 12-bar blues) but not as much accuracy as I need.
3) Stress level: It's actually kind of funny when I put down the fretless and pick up the fretted. It's like...taking off a loaded duty belt and putting on sweat pants, I guess. Very relaxing to not be straining to hear what I'm playing and making sure it's right. Just play and the notes are correct! If I'm reading something new I can focus on hitting the notes in a broad fuzzy sense and not trying to both pick a fingering and nail the pitch at the same time. But also the clank and the buzz come back.
The weirdest thing, for me, is that I can tell when a note is wrong, but I have trouble telling if I'm sharp or flat. I wind up looking most of the time (lined fingerboard). I'm off, but I don't know why. That really has to improve if I'm ever to play this with any kind of skill.
Anyway, I have to practice now.
