A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR STUDYING BASSIST JOHN PATITUCCI'S PERFORMANCE OF “LIKE SOMEONE IN LOVE”

Abstract

Jazz pedagogy has always been associated with learning by ear. In fact, it is common for inexperienced jazz musicians to listen carefully to jazz masters and try to imitate them before experimenting on their instruments. However, as jazz education gained popularity, this approach spread beyond imitating previous performances on an instrument to transcribing performances in traditional notation. Unlike other transcription research, which provides the result through musical analysis, this study delivered three musical exercises– two-feels, walking basslines, and solo-that can be used for additional practice to gain a greater practical understanding of Patitucci's musical approach. By working on these bass exercises, jazz Bass players can become more proficient in Patitucci’s performance methods. The research method consists of three major strands: (1) transcribing the bass solo and accompaniment lines of John Patitucci’s live performance of “Like Someone in Love,” (2) providing a comprehensive musical analysis of Patitucci’s performance, and (3) create bass exercises drawn from a musical analysis of John Patitucci’s performance. The researcher transcribed John Patitucci and Chuck Loeb’s rendition of “Like Someone in Love” on ArtistWorks, a professional online music learning platform. The bass transcription of this research consists of 162 bars (5 choruses). As a result, the comprehensive musical analysis reveals several of Patitucci’s musical techniques, such as the use of slide notes, the chromatic approach, the rootless technique, and double-time during this performance. The research approach of this study can be used by jazz performers and educators who wish to integrate musical knowledge drawn from the transcription process into musical exercise.