Moving to Fretless

[Frank Blank]

Instead of just watching my fretless Fender sitting in the rack gathering dust and periodically failing to sell it on here, I thought I might actually pick the damn thing up and play it. One of my very favourite bass players is Mick Karn, listening to his playing always made me very happy on one hand because he was such a unique and brilliant player but on the other hand it always left me thinking I would never be able to play a fretless like that... so why bother?

Which was, of course, a ridiculous thing to think because I should play like me and not just try and imitate such an original musician, however it has taken me decades to settle into playing bass and given the years I’ve wasted dabbling rather than really committing to it, it is no surprise that I’m not much of a player on a fretted bass and I assumed I’d be hopeless on fretless, every time I considered having a go I remembered Mick Karn and laughed at myself. I digress...

...so I did pick it up and came up with a bass line that I liked, albeit a bit pedestrian, and with my duo comrade we turned it into a song but I was still stuck in this stupid ‘Yes but it doesn’t sound like Mick Karn’ mode. I had to put the bass back in the rack and have a word in my shell-like. Of course it doesn’t sound like MK and nor should it, it should sound like me playing whatever instrument I choose to play. A couple of days later I picked it up again and I wrote a bass line like I write bass lines and I have to say I’m rather pleased with it. On Monday just gone we duly began building a new song around it.

Cutting to the chase after three paragraphs of waffle, I find myself rather enjoying the strange elastic-y freedom of the fretless, having actually tried quite hard rather than giving up the first time I missed a note, I find myself drawn to playing fretless in a way fretted bass never drew me. Anyone else on here moved to fretless and have any tips for a beginner fretless player? Any old hands with wisdom to impart? I’m playing a lined fretless and I’m trying not to look at my hand placements but I was one for looking on fretted too...

I could have just written Any advice for fretted player moving to fretless? Couldn’t I.

Edited May 9, 2018 by Frank Blank
Grammar correction

[ezbass]

I’ve always preferred fretless, but I still play fretted too and have 2 of each. One of the things I think is worthwhile when first getting into fretless is play all the tunes that you’d normally play on a bass fitted with speed bumps (  ) on your new, smooth best friend. This will teach you how to limit slides and mwah, except where it sounds appropriate, rather than just learning/writing tunes that have these sounds front and centre.

+1 for Mick Karn, a great player with quite a unique voice, accentuated by his choice instruments (Kramer and Wal) which are also distinctive. Check out other fretless players too: Pino (naturally); Tony Levin; Larry Klein; Gary Willis; Boz Burrell and there’s another bloke with long hair who played a defretted Jazz  . They may not all be for you, but each offer a different approach (other fretless players are available).

[BassBus]

I would just start by playing it as you play a fretted bass. That way you're playing familiar stuff and getting to know the instrument at the same time. Gradually with more confidence you'll find ways of developing your own voice.

[Frank Blank]

2 hours ago, ezbass said:

+1 for Mick Karn, a great player with quite a unique voice, accentuated by his choice instruments (Kramer and Wal) which are also distinctive. Check out other fretless players too: Pino (naturally); Tony Levin; Larry Klein; Gary Willis; Boz Burrell and there’s another bloke with long hair who played a defretted Jazz  . They may not all be for you, but each offer a different approach (other fretless players are available).

 

1 hour ago, BassBus said:

I would just start by playing it as you play a fretted bass. That way you're playing familiar stuff and getting to know the instrument at the same time. Gradually with more confidence you'll find ways of developing your own voice.

I will check these players out and thanks for the advice. I think I’m in trouble with Pino and Jaco because both leave me cold, which is odd. I have been doing exactly as you suggested and playing tunes I usually play on a fretted bass on the fretless and trying to steer away from the slides, glad to know I was doing something right!

[BassBus]

If you want someone with a unique voice of his own on fretless check out Kev Hopper. Loads of his stuff on YouTube.

[Kirky]

I've just bought a fretless bass (a Limelight) and I'm planning to gig it with my blues band on Friday (The Crown in Yeadon if anyone's nearby).  I've had one practice with the band and my approach is going to be just play what I normally play, to begin with, then see where the sounds take me.  I'm coping with the left hand ("fretting" hand) fine but the right hand is a bit unusual at the moment, its the first time I've played a Jazz bass and the RH position feels a little unusual to me.

[DaveFry]

Learn the melody ( in a key to suit your voice ) to Somewhere Over The Rainbow without looking at your hands . 

Finding one's voice on the instrument is like a wave that lifts up and carries forward .

[Frank Blank]

11 minutes ago, DaveFry said:

Learn the melody ( in a key to suit your voice ) to Somewhere Over The Rainbow without looking at your hands . 

Finding one's voice on the instrument is like a wave that lifts up and carries forward .

I’ll check this out when I get home, thanks! 

[Linus27]

Just play the fretless bass as if its a normal fretted bass. Don't think of it as a different instrument that must sound all slidey and mwah like. That is totally the wrong approach. It like picking up a trumpet and trying to make it sound like a trombone. The fretless bass has a similar but different voice to a fretted bass and this will come through when you play it but you still need to play it like a fretted bass. The key to being successful is having good technique and a good ear. Good technique is vital to ensure your fretting fingers are placed in the correct location and a good ear is vital to ensure when you are a little off you can adjust immediately. Everything else about playing fretless is the same as fretted so just pick it up and play through all the stuff you would normally on a fretted bass and after a while, you will hear your own voice come through.

[Frank Blank]

2 minutes ago, Linus27 said:

Just play the fretless bass as if its a normal fretted bass. Don't think of it as a different instrument that must sound all slidey and mwah like. That is totally the wrong approach. It like picking up a trumpet and trying to make it sound like a trombone. The fretless bass has a similar but different voice to a fretted bass and this will come through when you play it but you still need to play it like a fretted bass. The key to being successful is having good technique and a good ear. Good technique is vital to ensure your fretting fingers are placed in the correct location and a good ear is vital to ensure when you are a little off you can adjust immediately. Everything else about playing fretless is the same as fretted so just pick it up and play through all the stuff you would normally on a fretted bass and after a while, you will hear your own voice come through.

This seems to be the constant throughout everyone’s advice, luckily I was doing just that, so hearing it from everyone gives me confidence. Because I learned to play by ear I am already naturally adjusting when my intonation is off. I am playing through our songs using the fretless but just as if it were fretted and even when I’m experimenting new stuff on the fretless I am concentrating on my style rather than sliding everything. I’m finding the ‘less is more’ approach definitely works in as much as if you don’t force the bass to do the fretless thing you end up with a lovely sound.

[BreadBin]

Alternatively - string it with really light gauge roundwounds and bwwangg like a mofo! 

[Frank Blank]

3 minutes ago, BreadBin said:

Alternatively - string it with really light gauge roundwounds and bwwangg like a mofo! 

Ha ha. I might do just that with the old bass when I get a new fretless.

[TKenrick]

On 5/9/2018 at 18:34, Frank Blank said:

I think I’m in trouble with Pino and Jaco because both leave me cold, which is odd.

 

This could actually be considered a huge advantage over most who pick it up seeking to emulate those guys...

On a practical level, playing long notes at a really slow tempo with a fixed pitch drone is great for developing intonation.

[Frank Blank]

12 minutes ago, TKenrick said:

This could actually be considered a huge advantage over most who pick it up seeking to emulate those guys...

On a practical level, playing long notes at a really slow tempo with a fixed pitch drone is great for developing intonation.

Forgive my ignorance but could you explain the last bit in a bit more detail? I mean I understand the essence of what you are saying but do you mean playing long notes in the same key as the fixed pitch? Or some variant?

I think when I was younger I would have simply tried to emulate Mick Karn but now I’m simply trying to find my own voice using fretless. I will forever, no doubt, be influenced by his playing but I play in a wholly different genre and, more to the point, I am not him.

[mentalextra]

On 5/9/2018 at 18:34, Frank Blank said:

 

 I think I’m in trouble with Pino and Jaco because both leave me cold,

Just to mix it up a bit, Tony Franklin? Not that I'm a particular fan but he usually gets forgotten with these fretless threads

[Frank Blank]

6 minutes ago, mentalextra said:

Just to mix it up a bit, Tony Franklin? Not that I'm a particular fan but he usually gets forgotten with these fretless threads

Tony Franklin, as in Whitesnake?

[mentalextra]

13 minutes ago, Frank Blank said:

Tony Franklin, as in Whitesnake?

Yes. Google Tony Franklin fretless and your PC will melt

His signature Fender fretless is the only one that could actually tempt me

Edited May 10, 2018 by mentalextra

[Frank Blank]

1 minute ago, mentalextra said:

Yes. Google Tony Franklin fretless and your PC will melt

I may be a talentless vagabond Sir but I do have standards 

[Frank Blank]

17 minutes ago, mentalextra said:

Yes. Google Tony Franklin fretless and your PC will melt

His signature Fender fretless is the only one that could actually tempt me

I’m actually digging him, I wasn’t at first but I’m warming to his videos.

[mentalextra]

Just now, Frank Blank said:

I’m actually digging him, I wasn’t at first but I’m warming to his videos.

He doesn't get a lot of mentions on here for some reason. He's got a different style to the usual culprits mentioned above. Plus he 'digs in'

[Frank Blank]

Just now, mentalextra said:

He doesn't get a lot of mentions on here for some reason. He's got a different style to the usual culprits mentioned above. Plus he 'digs in'

Despite being an almost complete novice on a fretless I nearly went all snob about him when I need to do exactly the opposite and be open to all things fretless. I actually think this has been a really good exercise in not instantly going up my own a***. Cheers.

[TKenrick]

1 hour ago, Frank Blank said:

Forgive my ignorance but could you explain the last bit in a bit more detail? I mean I understand the essence of what you are saying but do you mean playing long notes in the same key as the fixed pitch? Or some variant?

 

That's pretty much all there is to it - I use this all the time to work on upright intonation, but there's no reason why it can't work on fretless.

Generate a fixed pitch (I use a plain synth sound in garageband) and take that note as your key centre, then work on playing the major scale in that key all over the instrument. Some degrees of the scale will be easier to judge your intonation on than others... half notes/minims at 40bpm is a pretty good place to start.

Edited May 10, 2018 by TKenrick

[Frank Blank]

2 minutes ago, TKenrick said:

That's pretty much all there is to it - I use this all the time to work on upright intonation, but there's no reason why it can't work on fretless.

Generate a fixed pitch (I use a plain synth sound in garageband) and take that note as your key centre, then work on playing the major scale in that key all over the instrument. Some degrees of the scale will be easier to judge your intonation on than others... half notes/minims at 40bpm is a pretty good place to start.

Thanks so much for this. My bass tutor has sent me some files of drones in various pitches to play scales along with, I’ll get to it! Thanks again.