Customer comments on this Youngstown Ohio Book
It surely isn't "step by step"...
First thing that I find irritating is that the only song fully transcribed is "Portrait of Tracy", but this can be forgived since the aim of the book is to get the techniques Jaco used. But then, on "Portrait of Tracy" there is just transcription (accurate, though) but there is no in-depth approach to techniques which are VERY hard to apply.
If you want to continue studying Jaco stuff, I recommend this book to start with and later get something that's more into transcriptions
Accurate, but where's the meat?!
Is the notation and tab accurate? Yup, but who cares, there's a million tab sites you can get that from. What I was hopping for was a break down on his right hand positioning and technique as well as his left hand. On tunes like Portrait of Tracy, where there are multiple lines going on at once, technique is very important. All of Towey's Commentary seemed bent on deifying Jaco. That's useless, Jaco's music Deify's itself. Give me adaquate information on how to place my hands in order to play the material!
Good Instuctional
Okay, first--you have to have skills needed to not only read music and tab, but the dexterity and articulation needed to tackle material other than the most basic rock lines. Secondly, you will need the CD's or source material needed to pick up on the nuances that Jaco employs through dynamics, touch and feeling. Thirdly -- you will need time. Acquaint yourself with the music then start hitting the book. Not wanting to play anything note for note like some sort of automotron, I choose rather to go for the feel. Afterall, can one really achieve each individual percussive attack or note? I hope not! If you can then buy an old beater Fender Fretless, drop in .9mf Cap, make sure the pickups supply the necessary Low, Mids and Trebs... change your roto-sounds weekly pick up an acoustic 360 amp and go for it. If not... go for the feel. The selections are good and cover a wide range of material and styles. It is enjoyable to get inside the music a bit.
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