Improve Your Tuning & Intonation On Fretless Bass

Hey there, friends and neighbours. Here's a fantastic exercise for all you fretless bass players out there. It's an exercise I adapted from Turkish master guitarist Cenk Erdogan. I think you're going to enjoy it.

Cenk Erdogan on YouTube

Cenk Erdogan on Instagram

LET'S TAKE IT TO THE BASS!

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Improve Your Tuning & Intonation On Fretless Bass
#fretlessbass #basslesson #richbrownbass

[pizzicatoprod]

Once comfortable with exercise, try it with the lights out! Seriously. I started playing the bass in school, as a kid. Upright bass. I stood on a stool so I could reach the fretboard. For intonation practice my teacher told me to turn off the lights in the room and force myself to ~listen~ to what I was playing, not ~watch~ what I was playing. I thought he was crazy, but it worked for me. My key for playing fretless is listening/ear and muscle memory.

[oldeenglish]

74 yrs young bass player. Great video. Some beginners might not know that some basses like my Fender Jazz (made in Mexico) has "lines" where the frets would be. My tip whether it has frets or not .... learn to play bass in the dark! This will make you listen to pitch, tone, attitude, attack and create muscle memory. When I started playing bass in the 1960's many of my venues where seedy dark night clubs. I soon realized I had to play in the dark and listen to the band! Peace, Love to All.

[mipabass]

👍 Even you could not resist to add a sprinkle of vibrato on the last note of the sequence 😀

[marketguy]

Thanks so much Rich, both for the lesson and the intro to Cenk (yes he blows me away.)

[GERALDOuncleG]

My fretless bass is coming after tomorrow, i play fretted bass for 2 years just for fun, I loved your simple tips, and others as well from experiencies shared by other fellow bassists on this video's comments.

[Tonka-sb]

I just got my 4 string fretless yesterday and I can't wait to start my journey. Thank You so much Mr. Brown. I'm happy to be here. You are blessing. 🙏

[charleskleesattel]

After years of dealing with fretless bass I've discovered that while exercises like this are valuable, in reality, the biggest skill we need is to learn what 'in tune' sounds like, and to be able to match our pitch to some other musical sound. Rarely outside of personal practice will we need to play with no other pitches around us. So.... it is in our best interest to have backing tracks for some other kind of music to match our pitch to. Something as simple as a piano playing a major scale or a chord progress in iReal Pro, or a looper pedal. IMHO progress is faster when you learn to play with other sounds and match pitch.

[studioundo]

Hi Rich ; Thank you for your kind words buddy you made my day . When I heard the ideas about my music and when it comes from a qualified pro musician like you It is super motivating. Hope to meet in person and play as soon as possible

[petershaughnessy]

Thank you for the inviting and erudite lessons. I’m always inspired to pick up my bass.

[WCruttenden]

I love playing fretless and this exercise is really helpful. I'm off to check out Cenk Erdogan too.

[dondouglas]

Hi, I love your videos. I think when you say "playing the bass in tune" it sums everything up. I played a Gibson Wes (with fingers) until I switched to bass. I don't even know the names of the open strings but I trust my ear, so I thought I'd go straight to a Fretless Jazz Bass Relic. It seems risky but I've been playing for a year now and the experience couldn't have been better, I could improvise with the Wes, I can find the right note and it wasn't too difficult for me. I think you have to get rid of prejudices and a priori and just go with the flow. Your videos are calm and educational, that's it!!!

[garethonbass]

Such a good lesson - thank you so much Rich. I've found this exercise to be so helpful with intonation - it's like a laser focus for the ears. I kept working it with arpeggios in the same fashion, and then also in reverse, starting at B past the G harmonic on the G string and then going low. And it also works great on upright. A righteous exercise.

[witherwillowsounds]

More fretless stuff, please!

There's a lot of fretless vids, but not a lot of great ones.

[RomainMadar]

Hey! I have started to play fretless 5 month ago, and your video is super useful! Just subscribed😎! Cheers from France 🍻

[travthrabb]

Just purchased a fretless 6 string and there’s not many videos on those, but this is a great exercise I can still do. Very nice.

[kevmac]

Thanks, you're right about there not being a lot of fretless bass lessons.

[kenshorley]

"All you have to do is play the bass in tune. End of lesson!" 🤣 2:36

[-Bean]

Awesome video; I totally kove fretless bass. I have an acoustic and electric 4-string useing B-E-A-D arrangement... this is a brilliant excersice 😎

[russellf]

I am trying to be fluent on the fretless. I have a 6-string fretless and fretted (it's easier for me because my pinky finger is short) I needed this much!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ This is badass!!! Thank you and Cenk Erdogan!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[nickpicc]

Cenk is awesome, been following him for awhile.

Thanks for the lesson