FINDING NOTES ON
THE UNFRETTED NECK
With an unfretted string instrument, you can put your fingers anyplace
you want on the strings and the result may or may not be a note in
western music that is available on a keyboard.
To play in tune, you can try several things that should help:
Learn the chromatic scale like the back of your hand, as follows:
C
C#(=D-flat)
D
D#(=E-flat)
E
F
F#(=G-flat)
G
G#(=A-flat)
A
A#(=B-flat)
B
C again.
I've tried to think of an analogy. Finding these notes is pretty
easy if you have perfect pitch. It's still somewhat easy if you
have good relative pitch so you can compare the note you are playing to
notes you already played. But if you know the chromatic scale,
and if you know what the open strings are, you can use it to navigate
your way up the string. If you don't know the chromatic scale,
it's like an airplane pilot trying to fly at night over unlit terrain
in a fog and with no compass, no GPS, and under a cloudy sky and with
no map. At least, if you know what the open strings are and know
the chromatic scale, you have towns illuminated and you have your map.
Also, as you are training your ear, you can work with a keyboard, even
a used one off of ebay or somewhere, so long as it plays in tune.
Play the note you want on the keyboard (or have someone else do that)
and then find the note on your instrument.
You can also compare the note you are playing with other open strings
on your instrument, assuming it's in tune. On a violin, if you
are trying to play a D, E, G, or A, you can compare that to one of the
open strings on the instrument.
If you know how to hear when intervals are in tune (like hearing a
perfect fifth, or perfect fourth) then you can make comparisons there
also, if you know that the note you are wanting to play is a perfect
fifth or fourth away from one of the open strings on your instrument.
So, basically, you are not lost without frets, but you need to find
ways to navigate throuth the fog, overcast, poor lighting, and lack of
any GPS.
Note.... a good chromatic electronic tuner for $30 makes a great
musical GPS. Play a note into the tuner and it will tell you what
note you are playing and how far off pitch, low or high, you currently
are.
Also, get your hands on the fretted equivalent of your unfretted
instrument for awhile, even if it's just to hold it for ten minutes at
the music store. They won't mind too much, because you might buy
one there sometime. Find out how far your fingers need to be to
play consecutive frets at various points along the neck. And on
short necked instruments, check the same thing for two-fret sintervals.