marcus bell Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 right ive been playing years on fretted but have just got a squier jazz bass modified fretless so need a little list of tunes with fretless bass on to learn, just keep in mind that i am a beginner on fretless so dont go saying jaco= havona, or jeff scmidt, micheal manring e.t.c. thanks, look forward to hearing these suggestions x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
endorka Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 "As the world falls down" from Labyrinth, by David Bowie. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VppuD1St8Ec"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VppuD1St8Ec[/url] Just about anything by Talk Talk! Jennifer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bass_In_Yer_Face Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 Anything by the mighty Mick Karn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martthebass Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 +1 above on Talk Talk. Today and It's my life are fairly easy to cut your fretless teeth on. Also worth trying: Will you? - Hazel O'Connor (nice slow one to develop some 'feel') Black Velvet - Melissa Etheridge Love Cats - The Cure Badge - Cream Feel like making love - Bad Company Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martthebass Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 [quote name='Bass_In_Yer_Face' post='631607' date='Oct 20 2009, 06:12 PM']Anything by the mighty Mick Karn[/quote] If you don't mind picking it out note for note Anyone done tab for Mick's stuff? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 (edited) I tried to play 'fretless lines' for months with no luck. Then I took my fretless to a rehearsal and simply played my usual fretted lines albeit without frets. That's how I learned fretless technique and intonation. Haven't looked back (or used frets) since. Good luck Chris Edited October 20, 2009 by Beedster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 Should add it took more than the one rehearsal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bay Splayer Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 anything from the two paul young albums...... no parlez the secret of association especially....wherever i lay my hat all by the legend that is pino palladino Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faithless Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 What's wrong with playing 'fretted' basslines on fretless, mate? I don't see much difference.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Higgie Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 [quote name='Bay Splayer' post='631636' date='Oct 20 2009, 06:37 PM']anything from the two paul young albums...... no parlez the secret of association especially....wherever i lay my hat all by the legend that is pino palladino[/quote] Get the OC-2 out and have a go at "I'm gonna tear your playhouse down" Not easy...but what a great bassline! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattM Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 As someone who's recently got their first fretless after 25 years of playing fretted, by all means learns yer classic Pino and Mick Karn lines (would also recommend Sledgehammer by Peter Gabriel) but mucho fun is to be had playing your standard lines with wee fretless bits of improv in there. Brown Eyed Girl and Good Times have never been so interesting... Another great exercise is to practise sliding intervals like fourths and octaves on the neck to nail your intonation and muscle memory - its actually not as difficult as you think if you've played fretted for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jobiebass Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 [quote name='endorka' post='631604' date='Oct 20 2009, 06:09 PM']"As the world falls down" from Labyrinth, by David Bowie. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VppuD1St8Ec"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VppuD1St8Ec[/url] Just about anything by Talk Talk! Jennifer[/quote] Any chnace you have a tab or preferably guitar pro tab for that Bowie song? I grew up on Labyrinth. Its one of my fav films. Plus I have a fretless bass thats not getting any use. haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottomEndian Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 [quote name='endorka' post='631604' date='Oct 20 2009, 06:09 PM']"As the world falls down" from Labyrinth, by David Bowie.[/quote] Love it. Love it. Love it. Aaaah, nostalgia... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 [quote name='Faithless' post='631637' date='Oct 20 2009, 06:39 PM']What's wrong with playing 'fretted' basslines on fretless, mate? I don't see much difference..[/quote] None at all, but I suspect that a lot of people see fretless as a solo instrument and in doing so have unrealsitically high expectations when they first start playing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
velvetkevorkian Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 [quote name='Beedster' post='631614' date='Oct 20 2009, 06:20 PM']I tried to play 'fretless lines' for months with no luck. Then I took my fretless to a rehearsal and simply played my usual fretted lines albeit with frets. That's how I learned fretless technique and intonation. Haven't looked back (or used frets) since. Good luck Chris[/quote] +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duarte Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 Try anything done by Paul Simon (or at least the entire 'Graceland' album) but most of his tunes have excellent fretless basslines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 [quote name='Bass_In_Yer_Face' post='631607' date='Oct 20 2009, 06:12 PM']Anything by the mighty Mick Karn[/quote] +1, especially tribal dawn, IMHO the best fretless bassline ever (which I must get round to learning myself one day) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duarte Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 Tribal dawn is fantastic, and really not that difficult to work out. It's a good'un fo' sho'! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
endorka Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 (edited) [quote name='Jobiebass' post='631653' date='Oct 20 2009, 06:52 PM']Any chnace you have a tab or preferably guitar pro tab for that Bowie song?[/quote] Labyrinth is indeed a great film :-) I don't have a tab forit, but it's not too hard to work it out by ear - the verse & chorus are mostly based around the use of tenths. Jennifer Edited October 20, 2009 by endorka Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jude_b Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 A few suggestions: Ideal World - The Christians: not that keen on the song but this has a really nice fretless solo towards the end, which isn't too difficult to work out by ear. A Remark You Made - Weather Report: I realise this is a Jaco bassline, but he uses chords in an interesting way and there is also a nice melody line in there. On the Turning Away - Pink Floyd: I'm really only familiar with the Guy Pratt/live version on Delicate Sound of Thunder - the bassline on the verse when the bass comes in is really lovely. I agree that anything by Pino is worth working on and that Graceland by Paul Simon has some of my favourite fretless playing on it. Particularly in the sense that the playing fits the music so well. The bassline from Ramble On by Led Zep also works well on a fretless. River People by Weather Report (sorry, Jaco again) is also a good exercise in octaves and the closing groove is brilliant. Hope this helps. Going by the age of some of this stuff, it seems that the fretless has really gone out of fashion - I can't think of much recent material where a fretless is used. Oh, and if you can endure it, I seem to remember that The Lady in Red by Chris de Burgh also has a good fretless line on it - on second thoughts, I think that may be taking suffering for your art a little far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctor_of_the_bass Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 Some good suggestions - try `Ku Ku Kurama' on the `No Parlez' album by Paul Young - Pino is a good influence for any fretless player. You'd like that tune Marcus as its mostly slapped! When playing fretted bass, make sure your left hand fingertips are just behind the fret(s) in question - this will help your intonation when you play fretless! Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcus bell Posted October 21, 2009 Author Share Posted October 21, 2009 thanks for the suggestions so far... So far ive played on fretless these lines. Let me know what you think? Havona- weather report (incomplete but the main line and a few runs are down) teen town- weather report (already knew the slapped version by marcus miller, so was an easy transfer) its my life- talk talk the smiths- this charming man, heaven knows im miserable now. Level 42- seven years incognito- colibri jaco: bits of potrait of tracy, contiunuum e.t.c. i realize some of these are hard but i thought i better push myself instead of sticking to the easy stuff plus i have a lined fretless so its easy really... Any more suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctor_of_the_bass Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Try `My New Career' by Japan! Mick Karn at his best! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevB Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 (edited) 'Hey You' from Floyd's The Wall. Not much to it but I think fretless basslines work best when they are relatively sparse. And check out some of Kate Bush's older material, think it's John Giblin playing on those. Edited October 21, 2009 by KevB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 +1 for 'A Remark You Made'. There is actually nothing hard about it but it sounds like a fretless is supposed to and is playable by anyone who can hold a bass (unlike Portrait of Tracy' ). There are also charts available on the net. Also 'This Must Be Love' off Phil Collins' 'Face Value' cd. Alphonso Johnson at his coolest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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