A Fretless Bass Manifesto
with the intention of never giving it back.
Steve laughed and said I would probably
play fretless bass better than he did.
After a proper setup from Eric’s Guitar
Shop for my new acquisition, I decided
first to make sure I had good intonation.
A friend of mine had taken upright bass
bridge will get a sharper, midrange articula-
tion. The difference here between fretted
and fretless comes from how the two hands
manipulate the sound together. I like to
play near the bridge to make bass harmonic
slides pop or to make fast runs stand out. I
like to play close to the neck to get the fret-
BY JUAN ALDERETE
Juan Alderete de la Peña has been playing
bass for more than 30 years and has become
one of the most respected players in the industry. Best known for his work in The Mars Volta
and Racer X, Alderete’s recent project is Big
Sir, his duo with Lisa Papineau. He continues
to scour the internet in what little free time he
has to feed his addiction to stompboxes. For
more information, visit pedalsandeffects.com.
I knew Jaco was on to something very unique
and I was compelled to follow him and see
if I could offer a musical point of view that
hadn’t been fully investigated.
CHOPS: Intermediate
THEORY: Beginner
LESSON OVERVIEW:
• Understand the fundamental
skills needed to play
fretless bass.
• Develop exercises to improve
intonation and articulation.
• Learn how fretless and
fretted basses treat effects
differently.
Click here to see a
video clip of Juan
demonstrating the
techniques in this lesson.
After hearing the late, great Jaco Pastorious, I decided to develop my
fretless skills. I knew I had to get a fretless in my hands because there had to be
something within that instrument that Jaco
needed that wasn’t accessible in a fretted
bass. I was determined to find what this
fretless sound was all about.
Since meeting my bass teacher, Steve
Evans, in the early ’80s, I had known about
his stock 1970 Fender fretless P bass. He
lent it to me a few times, and I knew right
away I wanted it. The instrument seemed
to enhance itself. I would let a note sustain
and then move my finger very slightly. All
of a sudden, these nuances I wasn’t hear-
ing in fretted instruments rang out. I could
envision more music with this bass than
any other bass I had owned. Fifteen years
ago, I decided to borrow it one last time
lessons and he mentioned that his instruc-
tor would have him check the intonation
of fingered notes against an open string. I
took that advice and would check the open
strings against their respective notes as I
fingered them. For example, I’d play an E
on the third string and check it with the
open fourth string. Then, I moved that idea
around to major thirds, fifths and then all
the rest of the intervals. I can’t tell you how
fast my intonation came together. I would
have to say within months, I could stay in
tune with the open string notes and also in
band situations.
