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- Anybody else play a fretless bass?
Anybody else play a fretless bass?
Just wondering about how much it matters to be perfectly in tune with every note you play? I can get near enough on say the C at the 3rd fret(or where the fret would be)but its not perfect all the time..
How much does it matter anyway? who would sit there with a tuner and pickover every note they play? “Hmm that D was slightly sharp” & so on, it seems a bit anally retentive and takes half the fun away right?
Or am I totally wrong & every note Must Be perfect?
Every note must be perfect, check out Jaco Pastorius from Weather Report. If every note didnt have to be perfect i'd be a virtuoso. Vibrato is also important on a fretless, quickly wobble your fretting finger backwards and forewards along the length of the string
Also check out Pino Palladino
I think it depends on the genre of music you're playing and how featured the bass is in the sound mix.
But because the bass is the glue of a song, you should strive for perfection.
That way if the song sounds like garbage you can blame it on the lead guitar.
Nothing stands out more than a bum bass note
http://www.notreble.com/buzz/2012/04/04/a-guide-to-making-the-switch-fretless-bass/some interesting comments on this article…
Quote:
Don’t worry too much about being in tune perfectly, every second of the song.
Kai Eckhardt once told me that his intonation improved greatly when he realized that a fretless could be used more like a human voice (with inflection and variation of pitch). Once he “allowed” himself to slide in and out of notes a little bit, his intonation actually improved because he now heard the slight variations as inflection, rather than “just plain wrong”.
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