Yikes! Portrait of Tracy

[Osama_Spears]

Alright,so I've been trying to get PoT down lately and I thought I'd record it and post it to get as much (respectable) comments as possible. I know my technique needs mucho work(whoever said Jaco's lines were easy?) and my timing is off,but i'm proud I got it down this far - such a great song.

Anyways,yeah. Feel free to give me your .02 on it. I am all for constructive criticism,however some things would be best left un...typed,so please approach this respectfully.


Thank you for your time.

http://s49.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1...M0OAUEUCLPY5M8

[Bardolph]

One thing I noticed in the beginning- make sure you listen to how long Jaco is sustaining the notes. You cut some of them off while playing other notes, particularly the fretted C and G.

[Juneau]

This song is deffinantly tricky. You might try a lighter touch too. It seems like your really plucking the strings hard to get the harmonics to ring out, and it shows. Of course the timing is a bit off, but you know that, and trust me, I understand hehe. But yeah, turn your bridge pickup up, and play nearer the bridge, but without as much attack on the strings. See if that helps soften up some of the harmonics. Also, everyone seems to say what I said above about where to get them to ring best, but on my bass, I tend to use my pickups in series, both on, and play between them, and get just as nice harmonics, but with a warmer sound to them.

[SundanceChile]

Wow, that was a lot better then i was expecting. Congrats on just getting the song down. Jaco's lines are not for the faint of heart, but aside from timing, just taking care of little things like holding the sustain and your right hand technique will make a world of difference.

[Osama_Spears]

thanks alot guys! my strings are dead as hell and i was playing through a 12 watt practice amp,so finding a decent tone that'd allow me to play with a softer touch was somewhat out of the question. When i play it with my rig (2x10 Avatar) I do get better a better sound which allows me to use a lighter touch. I just find that my greatest difficulty is "missing" a harmonic,like almost making it sound like half-mute/half-harmonic,guess I just gotta practice it slower,and take my time with the technique.

[ras1983]

i decided to attempt learning it today. i got on to do a search on TB and luckily this recent thread was around.

any tips? this song is definately the hardest i have EVER come across. he just changes harmonics too fast and there are so many notes that i have to keep up with at the one time.

Osama_Spears; you'ra WAAAAAAAAAAAAAY ahead of me mate. good job so far.

[heath_the_great]

i played this for my hsc a few years ago, my music teacher said to me "try not to be jaco and play his lines, but interpret them"...so i did play it closely, but more freely than the recording, slightly slower, or faster in spots and tried to make it more fluent (than how i was playing it) i mean, some people go yada yada yada should be exact show respect yada yada yada....but that would make it boring and unevolving, pieces like this should be adapted to the individual, help it evolve and show how extraordinary a single peice of music can be....live marcus millers version, and brian brombergs version is way hot, played on an upright...

/rant

[SundanceChile]

Originally Posted by heath_the_great

i played this for my hsc a few years ago, my music teacher said to me "try not to be jaco and play his lines, but interpret them"...so i did play it closely, but more freely than the recording, slightly slower, or faster in spots and tried to make it more fluent (than how i was playing it) i mean, some people go yada yada yada should be exact show respect yada yada yada....but that would make it boring and unevolving, pieces like this should be adapted to the individual, help it evolve and show how extraordinary a single peice of music can be....live marcus millers version, and brian brombergs version is way hot, played on an upright...

/rant

Jaco never played his songs the same way twice. Listen to some of the live stuff, or go watch the PoT video on Basslobster.
http://www.basslobster.com/videos/ja..._of_tracy.html
In a way, improv truly is the soul of jazz.

[Sippy]

Originally Posted by FretlessFreak

Jaco never played his songs the same way twice. Listen to some of the live stuff, or go watch the PoT video on Basslobster.
http://www.basslobster.com/videos/ja..._of_tracy.html
In a way, improv truly is the soul of jazz.

I was just about to say this.. Being the owner of a TON of Jaco recordings, I can tell you on his live performances he never played the same song the same way twice. He'd do exactly what FretlessFreak is talking about. I think that's what made him what he was. He can improvise on a split decision. Check out his stuff with Birelli Lagrene (KILL GUITARIST!) in Italy back in '86. You'll understand exactly what we're was talking about. Jaco evolved his music for the current situation. Great great musician.

[Osama_Spears]

Originally Posted by AerospaceGuy

Great great musician.

why thank you