| Question Home |
Position:Home>Performing Arts> Fretless bass?Question:how exactly do these things work without frets? Please explain..? Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: how exactly do these things work without frets? Please explain..? Originally, stringed instruments of the lute family (anything with a body and a neck, like violins, ouds, banjos, and your bass) had no frets. You just push down on the string at the point where you want to stop it, and it plays the note. Frets were invented because they make hitting the precise note easier. Also, on instruments where you want to play more chords, it's almost impossible to form the chord pattern with your left hand and hit every string exactly right--frets stop the string at the proper point with a relatively larger margin of error for the fingering. So why do people want fretless basses? In the words of a bass player I once asked (before I played bass), "freedom". It's easier to play "blue" notes, to slide, to bend--and the tone is a little softer, more like a string bass than a Fender precision. Fretless is especially attractive to prog-jazz players who do lots of leads. I use to play the fretless bass guitar when I was a teenager...long time ago. LOL Now I learn the violin. Usually, there will be some dots up the side of the neck that indicate 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th and 12th "frets" just like a normal bass gutar. They are not visible from the front ; the player can see them from the top. But usually you just use your ears to tell you when you are on the note ; just like the violin which has no markings at all. I used to have a Fender fretless bass like this : http://cgi.ebay.com.au/FENDER-PRECISION-... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zUetbird... Check out Paul Simon's Gracelands album ; amazing fretless bass work by Bakithi Kumalo http://www.rootsworld.com/rw/feature/kum... Some instruments actually have "fret" marks on the fingerboard but I always found this to be confusing. With a fretted instrument the fingers go behind the frets but with a fretless instrument you must put your fingers exactly on the notes....not behind. The fretless bass has a wonderful unique sound : This bass has the fret markings on the fingerboard http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHfI47_Jn... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq6X1JlwF... |