Portrait of Tracy

I don't know if you're into the whole bass player thing. Probably not… I mean, who is, really? But I enjoy it, it's part of me now. So, I hope you're at least willing to tolerate it!

I've recently started teaching myself how to play the song Portrait of Tracy by Jaco Pastorius. I'm almost certainly jumping the gun. The song is considered by many to be one of the most technically challenging songs to play on the electric bass. A benchmark and a torture test. I'm not even two years into my musical journey, I really don't have any business attempting it yet. But, I do love a challenge.

To that end, I've taught myself the first 10 seconds or so of the song's 2:22 duration. It's going to be a very long time - likely years - before I can play all of it.

So, at the risk of getting down into the weeds, what makes the song such a challenge? In a word: harmonics. Much of the song is made up of both natural and artificial harmonics. These are played by lightly touching the strings in precisely the right spot while plucking. Unlike a normal note, if your finger is off by even the tiniest amount, the string will simply fail to ring.

Making it worse is that the song intersperses harmonics with regular notes, which require mashing the strings into the fretboard with a fair amount of force.

So… Alternating between firm and gentle touches all while maintaining perfect finger positioning? Sounds like my kind of challenge!

I want you to know that in my head, I am dedicating this effort to you. The song makes me think of you. I mean. Most songs do these days, lol. But this one… It's instrumental, no crooning lyrics about love, no vulnerability. And yet, it screams love to me, including all of its beauty… and, with a few discordant measures, all of its faults.

I hope you don't mind.