Sight reading on fretless and EUBs

[md54]

Are there any players out there who can actually read high register stuff on fretless or EUB? That is without looking at fingers and fret board. I've given up and just use a fretted bass now. I just wondered if anyone has mastered this and how they managed it.

Thanks

[Hellzero]

You won't like the answer : 10 years of practice at least 8 hours a day or perfect pitch. No other solution.

[Burns-bass]

6 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

You won't like the answer : 10 years of practice at least 8 hours a day or perfect pitch. No other solution.

Nonsense. You don’t need to practice that much, in fact studies have shown that about 2 hours per day is about the optimum, beyond that it’s not really helping you much. (There are obviously going to be exceptions to that, Coltrane for one!)

But yes, it’s just practice and more practice. 

[Hellzero]

Practice is the key to the muscles memory, and here we are talking fretless instruments which require years of practice for the played note to be perfect. Ask a classical violin, cello, double bass, aso, player how many years it took them to play perfectly in tune all over their fretboard... 

Last year my wife and I saw and heard the great cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras playing many notes out of tune during a quartet concert where he played a solo piece. He noticed it, but kept on playing and went away very soon after this part. The funniest thing is that people at the venue applauded massively proving that they have no ears at all, but where there because it was the place to be that evening. Scary.

[mybass]

Practise as much as you want to!

[paul_c2]

Firstly, my usual caveat on how to define "sight reading". Sight reading is different from (mere) reading, in that its the first time you've played that piece of music. If its the 2nd time, then its not sight reading!

Secondly, I'm not sure what you necessarily call "high end" - 10th position?

Given the above, then the answer is YES. Its harder than with fretted bass, but its certainly possible. You need to be comfortable with not only reading music but sufficiently relaxed/good that you can know where you are, look away then look back again and "find" your place again without getting lost. Because, on a bass, the neck is so indistinct that you need to occasionally glance, when doing big shifts. You can listen, and do short shifts, and not need to look but the best/most practical way is a combination of choosing the positions right (ie if there's notes which can be played on open string, use them as a "reference point" for the pitch; or just know you're positions sufficiently well that you can keep in position and not be all over the place all the time), listening to your own intonation and the experience of knowing where to put your left hand - which is relatively easy if you're in a fixed position, a bit harder with short shifts (but entirely possible) and much harder with big shifts (but still possible, but be prepared to have a quick look, or correct the intonation PDQ as needs be).

[Guest]

Simandl method has you read shifting positions. It starts with a semitones and end up at an octave in the one string (or maybe even more, can quite remember). It’s a great exercise for muscle memory and you can over time ‘feel’ the shifts - but it’s a lot easier if you stay on just the one instrument as it does feel different on different basses, even with the same scale length. This takes care of the shifting bit; treat the learning to read and the playing without looking separately and then being them together.

it just goes to show how superb string instrument players are - they play an unmarked fretless from day one!

[md54]

Thanks. I'll stick to my fretted. I'm not a big fretless fan anyway.

Edited March 28, 2019 by md54