Henry - I was working in a record store when i was 21 and happened to pick this up after reading the album notes ( it was just released ) - when i heard this i was blown away.; but never had the time or patience to learn portrait of tracy a piece that has haunted me - fast forward 46 years and I'm able to learn this because of you. I cannot express how much i appreciate your ability to teach and talent. I'm a fairly capable player but life and work have dominated my time. Losing both my elderly parents last year finally told me it was time to pursue what i love most - the bass. Thank you for this help and inspiration.
@@henryjustin5029 I began to play years ago but Portrait has been my acheilia's heel. But an old man (lol) thank you for your talent. God Bless you Henry
At 5:00 - another way to play this harmonic if you don’t want to stretch so far is to press down the second fret and play the harmonic just at the bottom of the neck pickup (on a j bass). It’ll produce the same note.
Or the 6th fret on A string pressed, then rest your thumb right on the neck pickup or middle between the neck and bridge, the use the ring or middle finger to pluck behind it towards the bridge. You make a new neck spot for harmonics.
or even easier than any of these, do it on the E string with pressing the seventh fret and putting your pinky above the 11th fret. Works on anybass. I have fanned frets so my tiny hands could not do the stretch on the A string. Also this way the technique is the same and no need to use your right hand for other than plucking.
One other way is to finger the 18th fret but pop the string with the right hand, catching the string with the pinky side meat of your palm to make the harmonic. Like when Billy Gibbons does a squealy with a pick. Just done with the right hand while popping. If I do it the way you're doing it, that particular note (harmonic) is easier (for me) on a fretless. Thank you for this tutorial. I'm slowly working on it. You rule.
I've started learning bass literally few weeks ago and now I can play the first part of Tracy thanks to you. It was a pleasure to watch and learn from your tutorial. thx !!
Oh god that’s so hard. Jaco is genius. How could you know from nowhere that if you press second fret and pull your pinky to the sixth, it will make harmonic?.. In the time of Jaco there were not nor UA-cam or any similar educational platform I guess, how could he discover it?.. And it’s just one small peace of Portrait of Tracy! Thanks A LOT for the lesson, it’s so hard, but when it works, sounds as it should, under your hands, what a feeling it is! I started to play bass because of first hearing of Portrait of Tracy.
I thank you a lot for given me an hope! I will start to study with this your precious helping. Thank you for your explanation and for to be modest and patient.
hey Henry, you're an amazing teacher. in the min 4:50 when you talkiing about the D# harm. You can do it with your right hand. Tipping with the left in the second fret, putting the tip of the right hand index on the 6th fret, and hitting with the ring finger of the same hand (the natural harmonic technique that's used on clasical guitar) Grettings from Uruguay
@@henryjustin5029 I thank you. The harmonic works well for me, now I'm trying to play the rest of the composition as you play it😂😂😂 Gretting from this place of the planet
Thank you so much for this tutorial. I’m sure it helped beginner (or intermediate) bass players. It took me a long time to get that one harmonic. Good channels like yours are the ones that will succeed on UA-cam. -❤️ from Arizona
Thank you very very much❗️✨ For the first time, I learned how to do harmonics on the 3rd fret❗️♪ I don't understand English, but it was very helpful❗️🤗 Thank you so much‼️✨✨
I can't say for sure because I don't yet own a p, but a lot has to do usually with the way your bass is set up and what amp/amp settings you're using. Make sure to favor bridge pickup, tone, and bright/high frequencies.
I'm trying rn and it's really hard, you need to find where it rings best on ur bass. For mine it's just above the third fret and for the fourth it's just behind
my hands just aren't making that big stretch for the 2/6 harmonic, I've been getting around it by pinching with my plucking hand sort of over my neck pup, gets the same harmonic without the stretch
This is great! So much work you've put into playing this, let alone teaching it. I just recently found a piano transcription of it I am learning and it's interesting to note that the time signatures are somewhat different. I have to get this transcription w/the bass tabs. Where did you get your's? Great work and thank you for sharing your knowledge/abilities.
Thank you so much! I found mine at freshsheetmusic.com Not sure if it's still on there or not, but let me know if you find it. If not, contact me personally at hjgbinc@gmail.com and I'll send you it.
Hey Henry! I’m so confused onto how everybody is getting their bass to sound so light? I don’t understand how you’re playing 5 on E string but it sounds like you’re on 21, is there a special trick to the way you pluck it? Thanks!
I'm not sure exactly what situation you're talking about, but just in general: pluck right next to the bridge, turn your bridge pickup all the way up and neck all the way down, and try to boost some highs on the amp and select any bright setting on the amp too if it's available.
On my amp I just set the highs a little higher and turned down the lows a tad, not much adjustment there. On the bass I turned the bridge pickup all the way up and the middle pickup all the way down with the tone all the way up. Hope that helps!
More specifically, does your bass have neck and bridge pickups? If so, try changing it to only your bridge pickups and turn up the treble on your amp. Lmk if anything changes!
@@henryjustin5029 I have a fender p bass. There is no changing the pickups. I’ve been experimenting with it and I’m getting it to sound better probably just a me thing
Well I know it can be slightly harder to get them to sound on a P rather than a jazz bass, but it can be done. Make sure the tone knob is cranked and really dig in on the bridge. Good luck!
I think I answered this in another comment, but all I did was turn my bridge pickup up to 100 and neck pickup to 0 with tone somewhere around 90-100. The bass is a Fender Squire Jazz bass made in Indonesia. It’s nothing special (250ish dollars), but I am able to get a decent sound out of it. Thanks for the comment!
Not a chance in hell my fingers will ever stretch far enough for that 6th fret harmonic! I've moved it over to the low E string as I can stretch from 7th to 11th fret. I miss the harmonic ringing out over the following low E, but it's an acceptable sacrifice in the grand scheme of things. Non-bass players would be none the wiser.
what you can do is press down the second fret with your left hand, and use your right hand finger to play the harmonic on the 18th fret, using your thumb to pluck. Octaves don't matter with harmonics, so it'll be the same note.
@@tnon4326 I'll give that a go. I did try that but by reaching over to the 6th fret with my right hand. I found tonally it wasn't very consistent, but that's partially because of my thumb nail (acoustic guitar). I'll give it a go at the 18th fret.
@@henryjustin5029 For sure dude. That's some king shit making this lesson. Such a beautiful song and you play and teach it well. Teaching is knowing! Cheers man I love you for making such concise and easy guide for this song
Henry - I was working in a record store when i was 21 and happened to pick this up after reading the album notes ( it was just released ) - when i heard this i was blown away.; but never had the time or patience to learn portrait of tracy a piece that has haunted me - fast forward 46 years and I'm able to learn this because of you. I cannot express how much i appreciate your ability to teach and talent. I'm a fairly capable player but life and work have dominated my time. Losing both my elderly parents last year finally told me it was time to pursue what i love most - the bass. Thank you for this help and inspiration.
What an incredible story, thank you for sharing! I am so excited you've picked the bass back up!
@@henryjustin5029 I began to play years ago but Portrait has been my acheilia's heel. But an old man (lol) thank you for your talent. God Bless you Henry
Lovely story. Inspiring.
talk clean, caring and polite teacher!!! full star rank
Such a hard piece, but you explain it very well! Thank you, buddy!
At 5:00 - another way to play this harmonic if you don’t want to stretch so far is to press down the second fret and play the harmonic just at the bottom of the neck pickup (on a j bass). It’ll produce the same note.
Nice! You learn something every day!
Or the 6th fret on A string pressed, then rest your thumb right on the neck pickup or middle between the neck and bridge, the use the ring or middle finger to pluck behind it towards the bridge. You make a new neck spot for harmonics.
or even easier than any of these, do it on the E string with pressing the seventh fret and putting your pinky above the 11th fret. Works on anybass. I have fanned frets so my tiny hands could not do the stretch on the A string. Also this way the technique is the same and no need to use your right hand for other than plucking.
One other way is to finger the 18th fret but pop the string with the right hand, catching the string with the pinky side meat of your palm to make the harmonic. Like when Billy Gibbons does a squealy with a pick. Just done with the right hand while popping.
If I do it the way you're doing it, that particular note (harmonic) is easier (for me) on a fretless.
Thank you for this tutorial. I'm slowly working on it. You rule.
VERY WELL DONE!! The fact that Jaco composed this so early in his career almost 50 years ago is ASTONISHING! #goat
I've started learning bass literally few weeks ago and now I can play the first part of Tracy thanks to you. It was a pleasure to watch and learn from your tutorial. thx !!
Hey man stumbled upon this, stellar playing, you are a really good teacher. Hope you keep making these you got a real knack for it
Thank you so much!
This is one of the best tutorials on this piece that I've seen on YT. I really appreciate you posting this. Thank you.
Oh boy I found a precious gem on the internet!!!!
Most helpful tutorial I have seen on this song. Specifically because of the D# harmonic part 🤣. Thankfully I have huge hands.
Holy crap, this video deserves like a million more views. Thanks so much for the tutorial
You're a natural teacher
Thanks man!
Thank you, herny. Your explanation and your playing are great. You are very talented in music and teaching :)
Oh god that’s so hard. Jaco is genius. How could you know from nowhere that if you press second fret and pull your pinky to the sixth, it will make harmonic?.. In the time of Jaco there were not nor UA-cam or any similar educational platform I guess, how could he discover it?.. And it’s just one small peace of Portrait of Tracy! Thanks A LOT for the lesson, it’s so hard, but when it works, sounds as it should, under your hands, what a feeling it is! I started to play bass because of first hearing of Portrait of Tracy.
Very well explained, considering it can seem overwhelming at first. Thank you for sharing this @Henry !!! 👍🏼😎
I thank you a lot for given me an hope! I will start to study with this your precious helping. Thank you for your explanation and for to be modest and patient.
Your clear explanation is absolutely amazing ! Thank you for this video - and your bass playing is very 😘
hey Henry, you're an amazing teacher. in the min 4:50 when you talkiing about the D# harm. You can do it with your right hand. Tipping with the left in the second fret, putting the tip of the right hand index on the 6th fret, and hitting with the ring finger of the same hand (the natural harmonic technique that's used on clasical guitar) Grettings from Uruguay
Awesome! Great insight, thank you!
@@henryjustin5029 I thank you. The harmonic works well for me, now I'm trying to play the rest of the composition as you play it😂😂😂 Gretting from this place of the planet
Brother ,you are a legend .Best tutorial iv seen for this tune .
Explained really well, very helpful, keep up the good work man!
hey man, the algorithm picked you up. well deserved, this is a great video, you break it down very well. keep bassin'
Awesome! Thank you!
this is the best bass lesson i ever watch on you tube , thanks a lot henry !
Hey! Thank you so much! That's really cool for you to say that
Good job, Henry! Really helpfull stuff, although that D sharp harmonic is still extremely hard for me to pull off
Great video, thanks for sharing!
This man is a legend!
Great job, good clear instructions ! Much appreciated 👏🏾
You teached this hard amazing piece so good that it seemed easy
Thank you alot
Thank you so much for this tutorial. I’m sure it helped beginner (or intermediate) bass players. It took me a long time to get that one harmonic.
Good channels like yours are the ones that will succeed on UA-cam.
-❤️ from Arizona
Thanks for the kind words!
What a great video! Thank you man!
Excellent tutorial - thank you 😊
thanks for this tutorial!
Fantastic explanation of that cursed D# harp harmonic!!
Thank you so much and what a great tutorial.
Natural teacher
Thank you brother!
@@henryjustin5029 no sir, thank you
Thanks man! You’re a good teacher!
Waoo very elaborate...well don buddy
Thank you so much for learning me this! now i can play it like you! :))
thank you brother, you helped me a lot. hug from Brazil 👏👏 🎸🎸
You are amazing man
Thank youuuuu
you are a blessing
Nice job kid.. Glad to see young people pick up the slack 👍
dude youre next pastorius bro keep going like your videos bro
Thank you for your kind words man
Great musician ❤
Very clearly explained!
Keep it up dood. Great lesson!
that harp harmonic is the current bane of my existence
Haha, good luck!
Wow, I finally learn how to do harmonics in a correct way, thank you very much!
I'm so glad you could learn that!
Best video ever!!
this is awesome man!
Thank you very very much❗️✨
For the first time, I learned how to do harmonics on the 3rd fret❗️♪
I don't understand English, but it was very helpful❗️🤗
Thank you so much‼️✨✨
I’m so glad it could help!
Open e on the emaj9 to cmaj9 you do the shape then the 5th fret harmonic at the end it make the full chord
Can you only play this on a jazz bass, I can't get this harmonic sound out of my p bass
I can't say for sure because I don't yet own a p, but a lot has to do usually with the way your bass is set up and what amp/amp settings you're using. Make sure to favor bridge pickup, tone, and bright/high frequencies.
Great video man keep it up! I can't seem too get the third fret harmonic sound no matter where I try :( any ideas?
Can you give me a time stamp?
I'm trying rn and it's really hard, you need to find where it rings best on ur bass. For mine it's just above the third fret and for the fourth it's just behind
my hands just aren't making that big stretch for the 2/6 harmonic, I've been getting around it by pinching with my plucking hand sort of over my neck pup, gets the same harmonic without the stretch
Great stuff man
This is great! So much work you've put into playing this, let alone teaching it. I just recently found a piano transcription of it I am learning and it's interesting to note that the time signatures are somewhat different. I have to get this transcription w/the bass tabs. Where did you get your's? Great work and thank you for sharing your knowledge/abilities.
Thank you so much! I found mine at freshsheetmusic.com
Not sure if it's still on there or not, but let me know if you find it. If not, contact me personally at hjgbinc@gmail.com and I'll send you it.
how does ur bass sound like rhat
Thanks
I’m watching this like I can even read music ..🤦🏽♀️😂😂
What song would you like to see a tutorial on next?
Hey Henry! I’m so confused onto how everybody is getting their bass to sound so light? I don’t understand how you’re playing 5 on E string but it sounds like you’re on 21, is there a special trick to the way you pluck it? Thanks!
I'm not sure exactly what situation you're talking about, but just in general: pluck right next to the bridge, turn your bridge pickup all the way up and neck all the way down, and try to boost some highs on the amp and select any bright setting on the amp too if it's available.
Excellent tutorial man! And nice sound! How do you set the tone on your J bass? Thanks!
On my amp I just set the highs a little higher and turned down the lows a tad, not much adjustment there. On the bass I turned the bridge pickup all the way up and the middle pickup all the way down with the tone all the way up. Hope that helps!
@@henryjustin5029 thanks!🙏
Love t-short swap)
Hi, where could I get the sheet music please?
I got mine from freshsheetmusic.com
Many thanks. ;)
👍
90% of my harmonics aren’t coming out. Some frets are perfectly fine but others just have no sounds
What kind of bass do you have?
More specifically, does your bass have neck and bridge pickups? If so, try changing it to only your bridge pickups and turn up the treble on your amp. Lmk if anything changes!
@@henryjustin5029 I have a fender p bass. There is no changing the pickups. I’ve been experimenting with it and I’m getting it to sound better probably just a me thing
Well I know it can be slightly harder to get them to sound on a P rather than a jazz bass, but it can be done. Make sure the tone knob is cranked and really dig in on the bridge. Good luck!
2:06 harmonic series, different notes on same length of string? Hm
Boss!
E A D G your bass tunning in the video?
Yes, I am in standard EADG tuning throughout both parts. Thanks for the question!
whoa how does your bass sound like that
I think I answered this in another comment, but all I did was turn my bridge pickup up to 100 and neck pickup to 0 with tone somewhere around 90-100. The bass is a Fender Squire Jazz bass made in Indonesia. It’s nothing special (250ish dollars), but I am able to get a decent sound out of it. Thanks for the comment!
@@henryjustin5029 ohh cool thanks sm!!!
Not a chance in hell my fingers will ever stretch far enough for that 6th fret harmonic!
I've moved it over to the low E string as I can stretch from 7th to 11th fret. I miss the harmonic ringing out over the following low E, but it's an acceptable sacrifice in the grand scheme of things. Non-bass players would be none the wiser.
Hey, whatever works works. It’s definitely a challenge and is really difficult to get the hanging ring as you mentioned. Thanks for commenting!
what you can do is press down the second fret with your left hand, and use your right hand finger to play the harmonic on the 18th fret, using your thumb to pluck. Octaves don't matter with harmonics, so it'll be the same note.
@@tnon4326 I'll give that a go. I did try that but by reaching over to the 6th fret with my right hand. I found tonally it wasn't very consistent, but that's partially because of my thumb nail (acoustic guitar). I'll give it a go at the 18th fret.
11:28 my bass literally can not make that sound lmao
Awesome but please get rid of the cards as they block the entire screen at the end lol
Oh! Thanks for letting me know, will do.
@@henryjustin5029 For sure dude. That's some king shit making this lesson. Such a beautiful song and you play and teach it well. Teaching is knowing! Cheers man I love you for making such concise and easy guide for this song
Where can I find the PDF sheet music you have ?
Freshsheetmusic.com should have it, if not I’m sure there are other sites that have it.