Giants of Bass – Pino Palladino

‘Don’t Fret’ is an eighties pop track that was written to represent Pino Palladino’s fretless and effects work with artists such as Paul Young and Gary Numan. Like many of Pino’s lines from the era, much of this part is played in the middle, or upper registers of the instrument, with an octave pedal used to double the line in the lower register.

Although this video tutorial was filmed using a fretted bass, it was written to be played on a fretless (the original audio was recorded with a fretless). This is a very lyrical, melodic line that provides a lot of opportunity for individual expression. Many instances of vibrato are notated in the transcription, and if you’re playing a fretless bass with the recommended effects pedals, you’ll probably find that these decorations come naturally. You should also feel free to add your own decorations and put your own stamp on the line.

If you enjoy working through this piece, you might also find the following courses useful (Access to ALL of our courses is included in the subscription cost):

• Intermediate Level – Song Tutorials – Stevie Wonder ‘Sir Duke’
• Intermediate Level – Song Tutorials – Marvin Gaye ‘I Heard It Through the Grapevine’
• Intermediate Level – Giants of Bass – James Jamerson

Don’t forget to hit the Download Resources button above to get the PDF transcription and the audio files for this piece (available to subscribers only).

This course is 35 MINUTES long and contains the following videos, each of which can be selected from the video player above: