Songs you find tricky...but sound easy

Evo

Just in case anyone with teen spirit issues reads this, one important part which often gets missed is the open string hit between the Bb5 and the Ab5 (the 2nd and 3rd chords in the riff)

Make sure as you transition between those two chords, you hit a messy X000XX (or a X0000X, whatever you end up bashing is fine).

Hope this helps!

oktorockto

Loads of songs by The Who. Pinball Wizard for starters, Substitute, The Seeker, and Goin' Mobile. The solos in I Can't Explain are particularly hard to get to sound like the record, On Live at Leeds, Fortune Teller is very hard to get the feel of, Odorono, Tattoo, Who Are You,  Won't Get Fooled Again, Behind Blue Eyes. Lots of these sound fairly easy but either have some very unusual inversions and chords or are tricky to get the feel of right. 

vasselmeyer

Bit of a resurrection for this thread. We're having a bit of a personnel change which means our setlist can get updated a little. With a new member we're getting party bookings and, surprise surprise, there are requests for "Mr Brightside" and "Sex on Fire".

We're going to start rehearsing in January and I thought I'd get ahead of it. For Brightside, I'm just going to bung a capo on 4 and pick a string skipping pattern or just play it fingerstyle. No-one in the audience will know any difference.

Sex on Fire is doing my head in and it's the intro (of course) that's the problem. Although I know the song, I've never actually played it before. To me it sounds like it starts on 4 and then has another four bars. I reckon it has the potential for both me and the drummer to mess it up and it won't sound right.

I reckon I might be able to get away with throwing a bar of five in  for the fourth bar as in:

4123 4123 4123 41234 1234 1234 etc.

Anyone got anything that has helped them?

Rocker

Johnny B Goode. 

Danny1969

vasselmeyer said:

Bit of a resurrection for this thread. We're having a bit of a personnel change which means our setlist can get updated a little. With a new member we're getting party bookings and, surprise surprise, there are requests for "Mr Brightside" and "Sex on Fire".

We're going to start rehearsing in January and I thought I'd get ahead of it. For Brightside, I'm just going to bung a capo on 4 and pick a string skipping pattern or just play it fingerstyle. No-one in the audience will know any difference.

Sex on Fire is doing my head in and it's the intro (of course) that's the problem. Although I know the song, I've never actually played it before. To me it sounds like it starts on 4 and then has another four bars. I reckon it has the potential for both me and the drummer to mess it up and it won't sound right.

I reckon I might be able to get away with throwing a bar of five in  for the fourth bar as in:

4123 4123 4123 41234 1234 1234 etc.

Anyone got anything that has helped them?

Sex on fire starts on the "And" so 1 2 3 4 and your first note is between the 4 and the 1

I did a dep players guide to the parts 







And Brightside

Dr_Necessiter

Any one that involves me playing my guitar rather than my lead electric triangle.

Danny1969

The one I'm finding impossible to play with the correct swing is Van Halen's I'm the one  ..... have a go at the opening riff it's murder to get right 

CaseOfAce

vasselmeyer said:

Bit of a resurrection for this thread. We're having a bit of a personnel change which means our setlist can get updated a little. With a new member we're getting party bookings and, surprise surprise, there are requests for "Mr Brightside" and "Sex on Fire".

We're going to start rehearsing in January and I thought I'd get ahead of it. For Brightside, I'm just going to bung a capo on 4 and pick a string skipping pattern or just play it fingerstyle. No-one in the audience will know any difference.

Sex on Fire is doing my head in and it's the intro (of course) that's the problem. Although I know the song, I've never actually played it before. To me it sounds like it starts on 4 and then has another four bars. I reckon it has the potential for both me and the drummer to mess it up and it won't sound right.

I reckon I might be able to get away with throwing a bar of five in  for the fourth bar as in:

4123 4123 4123 41234 1234 1234 etc.

Anyone got anything that has helped them?

Sex On Fire intro ...I'm very fortunate to not struggle with that one... I just...play it.. if that makes sense - if I started thinking of it in 4123s beats etc.. I'd be totally lost..So I think with that one...just listen to it repeatedly and it'll come naturally?
The problem has been getting the drummer to come in correctly on it - and ... he just can't. Very frustrating - cos it's a great song.

Brightside - I capo on the 4th fret - the intro just doesn't sound "right" - but .. close enough for rock and roll. To get "that" riff right you have to play it around 16th fret (and a semi tone down tuned guitar if you are playing along to the record). 
I did play it initially the "correct" way together with that 5 fret stretch in the verse - but figured the tendonitis just wasn't worth the aggro.

Johnny B. Goode - that intro took a bit of practice - the double stop duh duh da's are repeated 3 times... once I figured that out it was easy.. and the drummer knew where to hit the snare on it... I still don't play the Chuck solo in it note for note... It's impro in Bb blues pentatonic / major third time on that one for me....

HAL9000

Rocker said:

Johnny B Goode. 

Yup. Trickier than you’d think. I usually play the first four bars á la Chuck Berry, then do my own thing from the Eb onwards.

stufisher

I'm embarrassed to say that since I recently acquired my Gretsch I've been struggling to emulate Mike Nesmith's accurate picking.

Last train to Clarksville is my fave Monkees track and I'm torn between finger picking and flat picking ... my guitar is fab but sadly my capability isn't.

Could be the upbeat tempo as I'm a crusty but if anyone has any tips to help me nail it then I'd be very happy.

vasselmeyer

@Danny1969 I had completely forgotten you had done that Sex on Fire guide. I reckon that will help me crack it.

I'm happy with Brightside. I can do it with a capo on 4 or even drop the high E to Eb and play it right up the dusty end, but the timing on Sex on Fire was messing me up.

With you on the VH track though. The only person I've seen who can get close to the feel of the original is Phil X.

digitalkettle

stufisher said:

I'm embarrassed to say that since I recently acquired my Gretsch I've been struggling to emulate Mike Nesmith's accurate picking.

Last train to Clarksville is my fave Monkees track and I'm torn between finger picking and flat picking ... my guitar is fab but sadly my capability isn't.

Could be the upbeat tempo as I'm a crusty but if anyone has any tips to help me nail it then I'd be very happy.

‘…Clarksville’ featured Louis Shelton on electric guitar.

stufisher

Does that make it any easier or harder? I've just been referencing the YT vid  

stufisher

Thanks @digitalkettle I felt so ignorant of Mr Shelton that it forced me to read up on him:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Shelton

I love the knowledge base in this forum   ... Wiz awarded!

digitalkettle

stufisher said:

Does that make it any easier or harder? I've just been referencing the YT vid  

a. it’s better to curse the right guy
b. Louis was a top-flight ‘wrecking crew’ member…so you’re aiming high

digitalkettle

Which bit is causing trouble @stufisher ?

Is it the main riff or the high bit that comes in around 1:38?

stufisher

Just the main riff ... I've got the G and F chord inversions and picking those fine.

I think it's as much clumsiness and lack of concentration with me and that main riff ... if I flat pick I struggle to control attack and if I finger pick I dumb the crispness of the notes with my skin damping the strings a little, although I can actually control the pace and accuracy better. 

I haven't yet tried hybrid picking which I can do for some other stuff but generally I'm just a novice at most things so I guess it'll come down to putting in the practice ... like it always does.

I do feel better about the fact that it is tougher than I previously understood it to be ... maybe other folks have found it tougher too.

Any tips?

digitalkettle

stufisher said:

...
Any tips?

Not really...it's a bugger

Classic cross-picking problem:

• every note on a different string
• alternate pick strokes
• three string arps mean that, every time you meet a different string, you've changed direction

The only thing that might help, as obvious as it sounds, is observing the way your pick moves: you always need to escape the plane of the strings so it actually moves in a small arc...a 'double-escape' motion.

stufisher

OK ... ta muchly ... I'll give it a try and put in the practice  

Woodenhead

Earlier I heard Thinking of You by Sister Sledge on the radio, got home and tried it and it's way trickier than I expected. I'm guessing Nile Rodgers has a lot of riffs that sound easy to play but aren't.

Not really my style but the technique reminded me of RHCP's Can't Stop, another one that sounds easy to play but far from it, lots of left hand muting and keeping your strumming hand relaxed and consistent.