BASS EXPO 2014: For the most part the bass guitar is not a solo instrument, but players like Stanley Clarke and Jaco Pastorius, and more recently, Victor Wooten and Michael Manring, have carved a niche for themselves in that regard.
The use of harmonics is a good way of getting round the limited range of the instrument - two and a half to three octaves compared with the guitar's four or the piano's seven!
Tunes like Jaco's Portrait Of Tracy really make the most of harmonics whilst Stanley Clarke's School Days uses more double-stops (two fretted notes played at once). This solo piece can be stripped into distinct sections each with its own central technique.
This lesson has been taken from the Guitar Techniques Play Guitar Now: Bass bookazine and features an extended example of how you can incorporate harmonics into your playing.
