Fingering for Portrait of Tracy?

[PKr]

Hello! I would first like to start off with some facts: No, I am not a Jaco fanatic, but I do greatly admire him and all his essence. No, I am not a starter looking for a tutorial. Yes, I already know the bulk of this song, I am just trying to fine-tune it, per say.

This thread pertains to the left hand fingering style one should use in Portrait of Tracy. The tab i am using is below and some notes at the end are artificial harmonics, but unmarked.


There are several parts in which the fingering gets confusing. One is here:

G|---[7]-------[7]---------|---[7]---------[7]---------|---[7]---------[7]---------||
D|---[5]-[7]---[5]---[7]---|---[5]---[7]---[5]---[7]---|---[5]---[7]---[5]---[7]---||
A|-------[5]---------[5]---|---------[5]---------[5]---|---------[5]---------[5]---||
E|-8---------8-----8-----8-|-7-----7-----7-----7-----7-|-6-----6-----6-----6-----6-||

G|---[7]---------[7]---------||
D|---[5]---[7]---[5]---[7]---||
A|---------[5]---------[5]---||
E|-7-----7-----7-----7-----7-||

G|---[5]---------[7]---------|---[7]---------[7]---------|---[7]---------[7]---------||
D|---[7]---[5]---[5]---[7]---|---[9]---[7]---[5]---[7]---|---[5]---[7]---[5]---[7]---||
A|---------[7]---------[5]---|---------[9]---------[5]---|---------[5]---------[5]---||
E|-8-----8-----8-----8-----8-|-7-----7-----7-----7-----7-|-6-----6-----6-----6-----6-||

G|---[7]-[5]--------[4]-----||
D|---[5]-[7]---[4]----------||
A|-6---------6--------------||
E|----------------------0-3-||

G|---[7]--6----[7]----6----|---[4]-------------3---|---[7]----6----[7]----6----|---[4]--------------3---||
D|---[5]-[4]---[5]---[4]---|---[5]---[4]---3---3---|---[5]---[4]---[5]---[4]---|---[5]---[4]---3----3---||
A|-------------------------|---------[5]---3-------|---------------------------|---------[5]---3--------||
E|-4---------4-----4-----0-|-3-----3-----3---3---0-|-4-----4-----4-----4-----0-|-3-----3-----3---3----0-||

G|---[7]----6----[7]----6----|---[4]-------------3---||
D|---[5]---[4]---[5]---[4]---|---[5]---[4]---3---3---||
A|---------------------------|---------[5]---3-------||
E|-4-----4-----4-----4-----0-|-3-----3-----3---3---0-||

G|---[7]----6----[7]----6----|
D|---[5]---[4]---[5]---[4]---|
A|---------------------------|
E|-4-----4-----4-----4-------|


And the other is here:

|---[4]--------3----------||
|---[5]-[4]----3--[3]-----||
|-3-----[5]--0-1--[3]-0-2-||
|--------3---------1------||


How should I go about fingering this? This video may help: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGpefHm5sdM.
Thank you for your help.

[labgnat]

is it possible to finger a portrait?

[WarwickWannaBe]

If you wanna learn to play the C in that song with all the harmonics right there at the first part of the tab you pasted then just bend the A on 7 and get C. I have short fingers and thats how I do it.

[big2277]

I think that your tabs a wrong and making it harder for you to figure out a good fingering. You have harmonics on 57 (dg sting) those are the same thing you could just play the 7th fret harmonic with your index or middle finger and use your thumb (coming around the top of the finger board) for the 8 7 6 (e string).
Let me know if that works for you.

[Mark Wilson]

Who's that hack in the video?
just kidding Alvaro!!!

To the OP, with the harmonics in the first bar, the harmonics being played are the same. I only play the 7th fret harmonic. No one has been able to tell the difference yet.

[Eric Perry]

Yep, the guy in that vid is one of TB's very own. Track him down and I'm sure he'll help. He's a great guy!

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

Originally Posted by Mark Wilson

Who's that hack in the video?
just kidding Alvaro!!!

Originally Posted by Eric618

Yep, the guy in that vid is one of TB's very own. Track him down and I'm sure he'll help. He's a great guy!

Hey, PKr! I checked your transcription and after some effort (tabs make me dizzy) I can tell you that only the first five bars are transcribed exactly as I play them. Honestly, I find very difficult to explain this stuff with words, specially because some harmonics aren't exactly over the frets, but at very specific spots in between. BTW, my version of your tab's last measure is very different. First, that tabbed version is different to the original (IIRC) and second, with the due respect to The Master, I prefer the chords I chose for the Bb and F roots (not easier to play. Just sound cooler to me).

Please give me a couple of days and I'll post a video of those specific sections with a close-up of my left hand playing them very slowly.

P.S.: The only artificial harmonics found in PoT are the famous 2-6 stretch and the equally (in)famous last chord.

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

Originally Posted by Alvaro Martín Gómez A.

Please give me a couple of days and I'll post a video of those specific sections with a close-up of my left hand playing them very slowly.

Well, here it is. Of course, it's just an explanation, so there are lots of mistakes and tryouts. The main problem here is that, since the fingers must be so curved to allow the harmonics to ring properly, it's difficult to see which string is being "fretted" (specially with ring and middle fingers on the D and G strings). Hope the strings' vibration helps, and hope this explanation helps anybody interested on learning how to play this magnificent piece of music.

[Eric Perry]

Tell me, how can you not love Alvaro?!?!?

Very cool man. Not many others on here would go through the trouble of doing that. Cheers!!!

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

Originally Posted by Eric618

Tell me, how can you not love Alvaro?!?!?

Very cool man. Not many others on here would go through the trouble of doing that. Cheers!!!

Trust me, it's not a problem for me, Eric. I wouldn't do it if it were, for sure. Thank you for your compliment!

[T-MOST]

Cool stuff.... very cool.

[GSRLessard14]

If I'm not mistaken, I remember reading in Jaco or somewhere that Portrait of Tracy contains no artificial harmonics.

[TheBassBetween]

GSR-- I don't think that's right, as if you watch Jaco perform it himself (via YouTube ), then you can see he frets 2 and hits the harmonic on 6.

Unless I've gone crazy .

[hateater2]

I am going to go ahead and not read any other posters and just say I play it with my pinky on C, ring and index on the G and D harmonics, then I shift around in a similar fashion. You need to experiment with different fingerings and just play what feels right for you. < runon sentence > As for the artificial harmonics, the double stopped harmonic where you finger B and E right below the octave and play the harmonic over G# and D# isn't too hard, and sounds better than I can do it any other way, and not too big of a stretch, but the one where you finger B on the A string and play the harmonic over D#, you can achieve the same exact harmonic by resting your thumb right in front of your plucking finger and play it that way< /end runon sentence >. You have to be fairly close to the bridge and it is a certain spot that you have to play it in, so just shift around until you hit the sweet spot.

[Etbass]

Originally Posted by GSRLessard14

If I'm not mistaken, I remember reading in Jaco or somewhere that Portrait of Tracy contains no artificial harmonics.

Yeah dude, he uses artificial harmonics to get that damned Eb during the theme, and then again on a physically impossible bar at 9th and harmonics at 13th played with the low E to get an Ema7b5. If you need help with the fingering, lucaspickford.com has some great transcriptions if you follow the links to transcriptions, and then bass. It has little guitar charts for where you put your fingers on the harmonics.