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phlaaps
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From Phlaaps' message I reckon I am a similarly gifted guitarist wink.gif & never really made it past working out, then playing for the next 30 years, Broons Bane & The Trees. Freewill is also OK until I get to the solo, then I have to start whistling. A few weeks ago while jamming with various friends, we had a go at Leave That Thing Alone, which I found to be achievable (I can't actually play Alex's solo yet but maybe I'll get there one day !).

 

Also, in the past week I have found footage on You Tube by someone called Blobblob22 of a lot of Rush done on Acoustic guitar, & the chords sound pretty accurate with suspended 4ths & 2nds often appearing instead of straight G5, A5 etc. Here the link to one of his videos...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX6x0tQMM8g&feature=related

 

In many ways I am not really bothered that I can rarely manage an Alex solo, as it is his chord work which sets him apart from virtually every other guitarist in the universe, & when I manage to get the chords to any Rush song sounding right, to quote Geddy, that's beauty eh!

 

...and I may as well be the first in this current thread to say that Alex is without question still the most underrated guitarist in the most unheard of band on the planet !

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I improved much my bass playing when I started to listen Rush. At the beginning I was trying to pick up Geddy's stuff, later I was able to play much of the things. I did "Leave that thing alone" with a cover band, also "Alien shore", "YYZ", "Tom Sawyer", "Animate"...of course I don't sing. I actually sing backing vocals but can't do it with playing the bass at the same time. Geddy is a genious...I am not laugh.gif

 

Right now I work with my own band, doing our music, but I always love to have some fun picking up some Rush songs, or playing the ones I already know. Of course I don't know if I play them right the same way, I never used notes or tabs, I just play what I hear.

 

My favorite one? YYZ! GeddyFinal.gif

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If you are playing what you are hearing then you are probably right. A bit like in the film "Girl With A Pearl Earring", when Vermeer asks Grete what colour the clouds are, she says White, then she looks harder & sees blues & greens & pinks etc within the "whiteness", so if you are REALLY listening (& I'm sure you are), & are playing what you hear, then you are probably right.
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In terms of bass playing, my favourite bass line to play is definitely Circumstances, which I worked out on guitar then transferred to bass (I played guitar for over 30 years before starting to play bass - I don't know why I waited all that time, maybe because one of my best mates played bass & we didn't need another bass player? - but I wish I had started years ago).
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Over the years of playing guitar (almost 12), iv'e developed a knack for being able to learn songs by ear pretty quickly. A few months ago, i taught myself how to play The Camera Eye...and it took me maybe an hour and a half to learn. Solo included. And for me, when it comes to solos, once i figure out the first few notes, i can pick up on the rest on my own. My ears have just been naturally trained that way.
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For whatever reason, I am able to play any Rush tune on bass that I want to. Always worked that way. Learning to play wasn't tough at all for me. It's like it was meant to be.

I play a bit of guitar and always like to play Broons Bane. I have trouble in some spots but it's a nice beginners classical guitar piece. It sounds nice too. Play that for someone and they will think you are some outstanding guitarist!

 

I like to play Hemispheres and the live version of 2112 from 1980 among a BUNCH of other stuff.

 

Whatever I feel like playing, I play.

Whenever I want to.

 

I wish everything in life went that way and was so easy.

 

Not so.

 

Too bad.

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QUOTE (ALifeson85 @ Jun 2 2011, 01:50 PM)
Over the years of playing guitar (almost 12), iv'e developed a knack for being able to learn songs by ear pretty quickly. A few months ago, i taught myself how to play The Camera Eye...and it took me maybe an hour and a half to learn. Solo included. And for me, when it comes to solos, once i figure out the first few notes, i can pick up on the rest on my own. My ears have just been naturally trained that way.

Over the past 36 years of guitar playing I have developed the knack of NOT being able to play most of what I am trying to play, so much so that I am almost perfect at it wink.gif

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For me, it's extremely difficult for me to pick things up by ear. Very rarely do I try just because of time, work, family and all that good stuff. Personally, I have a good library of tab books. I know it's not the same thing but I can look at a tab for less than a minute and pretty much map out the entire song. Lifeson was an early inspiration for me when I started playing. The first chord progression I remember playing was the A sus2 -A sus4 - A for Closer to the Heart. The tab books I have are Permanent Waves, MP, P/G, Roll The Bones, CP, T4E, S&A and the Anthology.

 

I've been able to play a lot of their tunes. Love playing Where's My Thing and Leave That Thing Alone as well as La Villa Strangiato

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QUOTE (ALifeson85 @ Jun 2 2011, 07:50 AM)
Over the years of playing guitar (almost 12), iv'e developed a knack for being able to learn songs by ear pretty quickly. A few months ago, i taught myself how to play The Camera Eye...and it took me maybe an hour and a half to learn. Solo included. And for me, when it comes to solos, once i figure out the first few notes, i can pick up on the rest on my own. My ears have just been naturally trained that way.

you bastard.user posted image

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I've been playing the guitar for 31 years. Most of that time has been sent playing Rush songs with varying degrees of success. Some songs sounded better when I was 20, others I can play better now.

 

Just today , I ordered the Alex Lifeson Les Paul Axcess from Gibson, should have it in about a week, so hopefully it will inspire me to "get my Alex on" a bit better.

 

I agree wit what has been said, been saying it for years myself...Alex is one of the most underrated guitarists alive...guess it's hard when you are in a band with Geddy Lee and Neil Peart to get the credit you deserve as a musician.

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I'm an "old fart" drummer...way back, I could never find a "set" teacher that would keep me interested so I relied upon albums (ANY album) to get my set chops working. I played to The Monkees, and the Beatles, the Beach Boys, whatever I could find...when I got my first Rush album (ATWAS) in 1976 I of course started playing to it...not even CLOSE to what Neil was playing at first, (not to mention I only had a little 5 piece kit with 2 cymbals and hi hats) but it was the rhythms that I was working on....the ride patterns, the phrasing and just starting and finishing on time...as I grew as a drummer I added more parts to my kit, and kept at it, but picked up other influences as I went on...I was never into the "I need to learn every note Neil played before I DIE" attitude, like I seen people mention here from time to time, I WASN'T aiming to be "Neil Peart", but I was aiming to be ME and took a little from everyone....the fact that I was able to put Moving Pictures in the player and play straight through as close as I can, was more of an exercise program than a "need to learn this" attitude...after a while, I created a Rush tape that started with Lakeside Park, and ended with LaVilla and YYZ as my "warm up routine" then went on to other stuff.

 

20 years later, I don't have the time for a 45-60 minute work out on my drums, so I usually just sit down and play whatever I feel..occasionally putting in a cassette of something to just play along with...

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QUOTE (phlaaps @ Jun 5 2011, 04:12 AM)
QUOTE (Mr. Krinkle @ Jun 4 2011, 04:16 PM)
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=66TJP&aq=f

First prize goes to you Mr.Krinkle!

 

Sh.it hot!!

I don't play for prizes.

I just hope that you Rush fans enjoy the jams.

 

It's for all of you.

Edited by Mr. Krinkle
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I am multi-instrumentalist but have played most of Rush's discography on drums. The absolute best way to learn a Rush song is like any other contemporary piece of non dictated music, and that is to listen to the song over and over and be able to sing(or tap in my case) your part almost note for note first with the music, then without. That way it's in your head, then when you practice with tab/music or by ear(or both) you will have a head start.

 

Step 1. learn the basics(basic drum groove/bass-guitar riffs.)

Step 2. Then apply advanced things(rhythmic/melodic fills around those grooves-riffs.)

Step 3. Then apply the hard stuff(specific detailed articulation/phrasing/style/solos/time signature stuff)

 

The 3rd step is the absolute hardest but most rewarding. I can play a lot of Rush songs note for note with a lot of attention to detail but to land it in the pocket like Neil does on the record(and amazingly consistent live) is....VERY rare. That's what makes it the most fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Rush was certainly the reason for me wanting to pick up a guitar and learn to play.

 

I got myself a Hal Leonard book which taught me the basics. I already had the Rush Complete Volume I (Rush - Hemishpheres) and Volume II (PeW - PoW) songbooks. I got them for the lyrics and the fact that I might actually be able to learn the guitar some day.

 

With a few chords under my belt, I was confident that I would be the 2nd coming of Lerxst. That idea quickly went to shit. Boy was I in over my head.

 

Then I started college and mellowed out somewhat in my musical tastes (Allman Brothers, Grateful Dead). Those songs were certainly easier to play and I started to develop confidence and with that, you play and practice more and more.

 

A few years later, the internet became mainstream and tablature became very easy to get (bye-bye subscriptions to Guitar World and Guitar For The Practicing Musician). I was never one to pick up stuff by ear, so this was like the holy grail to me.

 

 

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Been playing guitar and writing music since I was 11 years old. Alex was no doubt my inspiration to start on that journey.

 

I spent hours every day learning Exit Stage Left front to back. And there was a time I knew it almost note for note (age 22 is when I finally mastered most of it after starting it at age 16) 6 years it took between playing in various bands and doing mainly original music. So Exit Stage Left served as my guitar course and lessons. I strictly play by ear and never had a formal lesson.

 

I was never a huge covers guitarist. I always and still only play in original projects. I just never found any thrill playing covers. Yeah we would do the occasional covers from Rush and Floyd and Zeppelin but that was usually a song here and there.

 

I found Alex to one of the most challenging guitar players mainly because of his diverse and unusual chord structures which of course heavily influenced my own playing. Also some of his solos are doozies. Such great emotive pharsing and I always felt I had to nail that aspect or it was not worth playing. I will not disrespect a great guitar solo by any means.

 

I love playing Rush covers...that is about it (as far as covers go). Everything else is about creating my own voice on the guitar. Rush, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and now Porcupine Tree have had a profund influence on how I approach playing and writing rock music.

 

I would say my favorite Rush songs to this day (that I still know note for note) to play are:

 

 

Limelight

The Spirit of Radio

Tom Sawyer

La Villa Strangiato

Entre Nous

Subdivisions

The Trees

Xanadu

Red Barchetta

Anthem

Working Man

Jacobs Ladder (need to go back and re learn some solo sections)

 

I have been jamming with my 6 year old son (who is an aspiring drummer!) the various Rush concerts on Blue Ray and DVD and we have a blast rocking out. I still know large chunks of other tunes. Then it's quite funy as sit down after we are done and start to noodle and try to learn it all over again.

 

 

Great times.

Edited by Todem
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QUOTE (Todem @ Jun 7 2011, 08:30 AM)
Been playing guitar and writing music since I was 11 years old. Alex was no doubt my inspiration to start on that journey.

I spent hours every day learning Exit Stage Left front to back. And there was a time I knew it almost note for note (age 22 is when I finally mastered most of it after starting it at age 16) 6 years it took between playing in various bands and doing mainly original music. So Exit Stage Left served as my guitar course and lessons. I strictly play by ear and never had a formal lesson.

I was never a huge covers guitarist. I always and still only play in original projects. I just never found any thrill playing covers. Yeah we would do the occasional covers from Rush and Floyd and Zeppelin but that was usually a song here and there.

I found Alex to one of the most challenging guitar players mainly because of his diverse and unusual chord structures which of course heavily influenced my own playing. Also some of his solos are doozies. Such great emotive pharsing and I always felt I had to nail that aspect or it was not worth playing. I will not disrespect a great guitar solo by any means.

I love playing Rush covers...that is about it (as far as covers go). Everything else is about creating my own voice on the guitar. Rush, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and now Porcupine Tree have had a profund influence on how I approach playing and writing rock music.

I would say my favorite Rush songs to this day (that I still know note for note) to play are:


Limelight
The Spirit of Radio
Tom Sawyer
La Villa Strangiato
Entre Nous
Subdivisions
The Trees
Xanadu
Red Barchetta
Anthem
Working Man
Jacobs Ladder (need to go back and re learn some solo sections)

I have been jamming with my 6 year old son (who is an aspireing drummer!) the various Rush concerts on Blue Ray and DVD and we have a blast rocking out. I still know large chunks of other tunes. Then it's quite funy as sit down after we are done and start to noodle and try to learn it all over again.


Great times.

The joy of having kids.

 

smile.gif

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