Chords for Fretless Bass Lesson with ScottsBassLessons

[Ab] _ _ [Db] _ _ _ [Ab] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [F] _ Hey, Scott Devine here again, founder and creator of Scott's Bass Lessons, and today
I'm going to be giving you three killer tips about playing fretless bass. _ _ _ _
_ _ [Bb] _ _ [Gm] _ _ _ _
[Cm] _ _ [F] _ _ _ [Dm] _ _ [Gm] _
_ _ [Cm] _ _ [Db] _ _ [Fm] _ _
[G] _ [Bb] _ _ _ [Gm] _ _ [Ab] _ _
[Gm] _ _ [C] _ _ _ [Cm] _ _ [F] _
_ _ [Bb] So _ [Abm] _ [Eb] _ _
[A] _ _ _ [F] _ _ _ [Gm] _ [Abm] _
[Cm] _ _ [F] _ _ _ [Ab] _ [Gm] _ [Db] _
_ _ [Eb] _ _ [N] _ before I dive head on into these tips I'm going to give you today, that backing track
you just heard me playing over, that is completely free to download.
If you're watching it on YouTube, the link here below this video, and it'll take you
straight through to my website where you can download it.
And if you're watching this on scottsbasslessons.com, it's straight below this video.
So download it and get practicing.
So this is a fretless bass, and I've actually got something special to tell you about this
bass, but we'll leave that until the end of the video.
_ Fretless, what does it mean?
Well it means that it hasn't got any frets, which means _ _ _ _ _ there's absolutely no frets at
all, which gives it a really, really unique sound.
And this fretless bass for me is fantastic in many different styles of music, and in
fact at one point I used to play fretless exclusively.
In fact I didn't even own a fretted bass, and I used to turn up to some gigs and my
friends would be going, Scott, you're on a reading gig with a fretless.
I'd be like, ah, it's fine, it's good for me, you know.
But it really does give a unique sound, and for me I really like it in [C] ballads, I really
like it in jazz style music as well, because it gives you, when you're playing fretless,
you can actually shape the note. _ _ _ _ _ _
_ It gives you a different, not only a different feel, but a different control over the [N] note
than a standard fretted bass would.
I do love fretted bass as well though, you know, they're kind of like different beasts.
So my first bass tip _ is if you're thinking about tackling fretless bass, if you're thinking
about buying one, or you're thinking about that's something you want to look into, get
one with lines.
Now you can see here, _ instead of frets, I've got really thin maple veneers that mark where
the frets are.
Now a lot of fretless players don't have any lines, and from my experience they have more
tuning issues than people with lines.
Now I know aesthetically no lines looks fantastic, because it looks like an upright, yeah?
But the gag is that this isn't an upright, it's an electric bass, and that means intonation
wise, we're much more sensitive, because the scale length is shorter.
On an upright bass, you've kind of got a little bit of room for error, where because this
is a shorter scale length, you know, you've really got to be on the money.
So I really would recommend getting lines on your fretless bass, or if you're going
to buy one, check out some with lines on, because it'll just help you in so many different
ways, intonation wise, but also when you're improvising and playing, you'll be able to
sort of like _ _ _ _ [Db] _ _
_ visually_
[A] You visually, I'm a very visual player, and I see patterns wherever I play, and I really
recommend you get into that if you don't already, but what these lines do for me is they let
me sort of like visualize those patterns, because they're linked up with the frets,
whereas if I play_
Now I can play fretless bass with no lines, but the visualizations aren't as clear for
me, so I'd really, really recommend getting one with lines. _
_ _ _ _ My next tip is finger placement on the neck.
Now on a fretted bass, we play just behind the fret. _
On a fretless bass, we've got to play on the fret, on the line, where it would be.
That's where the intonation _ _ _
[Bm] _ _ _ [G] is going to be bang on in, you know?
And when you're doing this as well, you can also cross-reference_
This is [N] also a tip.
That's four tips.
You're also going to cross-reference with open strings.
So for instance, if I was in the key of D, and I [D] _ _ [G] [D] was_
_ I'm using the D string [E] _ [D] to _ _ _ [A] reference whether I'm in tune or not.
If I was_
I could do this with the A string.
_ _ _ [B] _ [A] _ _ _
[E] _ [A] _ _ _ _ [E] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [E] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [A] _ _ _ [N] Always reference against_
Obviously, well, I'm saying always reference against open strings.
You can't do that in a live situation sometimes, but just in your practice time when you're
doing this, really reference against them open strings, because it's going to, you know,
instantly tell you if you're in tune or not.
And also, it'll give you a good feel of how to get around the fingerboard and just help
your visualization of things as well.
I'm always keying into that visualization factor.
So yeah, finger placement on the lines, not behind them, and really listen out for that intonation.
I've heard of people playing in darkened rooms before, practicing their intonation on fretless,
so it's really important. _ _ _
_ _ _ Tip three is check out all the best fretless players.
That's the best way to get into anything.
So for instance, check out Gary Willis, who's one of my favorite fretless players.
Alain Caron, who's a French-Canadian guy, absolute monster.
He's a six-string player.
Jaco Pastorius.
Who else is there?
Pino Palladino, Mick Cahn.
You know, the list's kind of endless.
But really check out them guys that really specialize in fretless.
There's a few guys, like for instance the ones that I just mentioned, that specialize in fretless.
So you're really going to get a lot by checking them out, getting some records, and really
immersing yourself in that sound.
And then obviously trying to transcribe exactly what they're doing as well on the bass, so
you can get it in your own playing. _ _ _ _
_ So earlier I told you that I was going to tell you a bit more about this bass.
Well, this bass is actually made by Overwater Basses over here in the UK.
They're handmade basses, and this is the Scott Divine Signature.
This is kind of a new version of it.
We've been experimenting with maple necks.
My original _ signature bass had a wenge neck, but we just thought we'd experiment with some
different neck wood to see how that sort of affected the frequencies of the bass.
And I really like it.
Like on the fretted bass, I prefer the wenge necks.
But on the fretless basses, it really, [Eb] really makes it sing true.
You get like a _ really_
_ _ [F] _ [D] _
_ The notes sound almost [Dm] plummy.
_ [Gm] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [A] _
_ [G] _ [F] _ _ [B] _ _ _ _
_ _ [E] _ _ [D] _ _ _
[N] And the cool thing is that Overwater are having this kind of special sort of like celebration
of the release of this bass.
And for this special celebration, they're putting this crazy deal on.
But the only way you can find out about it is to hit the link below this video, and it'll
take you through to their website where you can find out exactly the specifications of
this bass and what that deal is. _ _ _ _
_ _ So as always, leave a comment below this video.
I'm really interested to hear what you think about fretless bass.
Is it something that you're thinking about doing?
Is it something that you're scared about doing because they've got no frets?
You shouldn't be, by the way.
If you are scared about playing fretless, don't.
It is a different animal, but it's not that challenging, and it's pretty easy to get into.
I really recommend if you want to, you go out and do that.
If you haven't subscribed to this channel yet, Scott Divine Bass Lessons, [Db] _ [Fm] make sure
you do because this is one of the fastest growing YouTube channels that's bass specific
on the internet.
And most importantly, scottsbasslessons.com.
If you haven't been there yet, go over there, check it out.
We've got a massive community.
They're helping each other out.
We've got a forum, new lessons all the time.
So go over there and subscribe because I will send you some free stuff too.
Other than that, take it easy and get in the shed. _
_ _ _ _ _ [Ab] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _