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Guitarists - what is the most FUN song to play?


mrvander
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yyz, cygnus x-1 book ii and xanadu in that order. I go back to the late 70s early 80s heyday when Alex did alot of unconventional chords...challenging to figure them out by ear when all you could do is drop the needle and play 20 seconds at a time over and over.

 

You kids and your internet tabs have it way too easy these days. :codger:

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yyz, cygnus x-1 book ii and xanadu in that order. I go back to the late 70s early 80s heyday when Alex did alot of unconventional chords...challenging to figure them out by ear when all you could do is drop the needle and play 20 seconds at a time over and over.

 

You kids and your internet tabs have it way too easy these days. :codger:

....or fast forwarding and rewinding a cassette!!!!!!!!!!!!
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"La Villa Strangiato" - i LOVE playing that slow-building solo...and then just going absolutely nuts during the last part of the solo.

 

"Limelight" - I see now why Alex has always favored this song, and especially the solo. Just very fun and groovy.

 

"The Analog Kid" - even though I don't have the solo down quite at 100%, i love the intensity of it. And it has one of my all-time favorite verse / chorus changes.

 

"Natural Science" - the 'Hyperspace' section. 'Nuff said.

 

"Driven" - LOVE that main riff! :haz:

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Opening riff to Spirit of Radio. I tried to teach myself that back in my guitar playing days and not only was it fun it was really hard too lol

 

I still don't have this to this day. I gave up a long time ago on this riff and never revisited it. I "cheat" when I do play it - non-guitarist/non-rush fans can't tell the difference, but it's not right. I should tackle this again someday.

 

If I recall, I couldn't quite get the picking right to hit that open E after the fretted D and have it sound smooth.

 

I still can't play it either. I'm guessing it is a mental thing as I haven't tried to figure it out in probably 10 years. I don't think I ever got close either. Another reason is that we've all heard the song a million times and I'd rather focus my efforts on other tunes.

 

Here, let Alex show you how to play it...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hc209Q9m6x8

 

My personal favorite is the solo in No~One at the Bridge as it was the first guitar solo I learned to play. :)

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Cinderella Man. It's really easy to play and the outro is always really fun.

 

I love to crank out What You're Doing. Not very hard, but fun to play, and it kicks with the whole band. Animate is another I enjoy playing.

 

The duel Guitar/ bass part rocks

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Xanadu is really fun to play, lots of great changes and the main riff is very melodic and fun to play

 

Far Cry is one of the first "harder" tunes I learned by ear back in 2007 when I had only been playing guitar for a year or so and I always love to crank it out (althought I do add my own solo during the "feedback solo that Alex does, he should have done something crazy there lol)

 

2112 in full is a great journey and fun do all the way through, there are so many different changes that you will never get bored jamming on it for the full song duration. Same with Natural Science

 

 

And Hope is something I love to play on my 12-string although I don't play it much because I can be too lazy and don't want to re-tune all the strings to get that open tuning haha

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Opening riff to Spirit of Radio. I tried to teach myself that back in my guitar playing days and not only was it fun it was really hard too lol

 

I still don't have this to this day. I gave up a long time ago on this riff and never revisited it. I "cheat" when I do play it - non-guitarist/non-rush fans can't tell the difference, but it's not right. I should tackle this again someday.

 

If I recall, I couldn't quite get the picking right to hit that open E after the fretted D and have it sound smooth.

 

I still can't play it either. I'm guessing it is a mental thing as I haven't tried to figure it out in probably 10 years. I don't think I ever got close either. Another reason is that we've all heard the song a million times and I'd rather focus my efforts on other tunes.

 

Here, let Alex show you how to play it...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hc209Q9m6x8

 

My personal favorite is the solo in No~One at the Bridge as it was the first guitar solo I learned to play. :)

 

Holy crap! You mean I've been playing this RIGHT all these years? I always thought there was an open E after the each D note. Stupid guitar Player magazine from the 80's - I think I've believed this for over 20 years now and always thought I was cheating by playing it exactly as Alex show in this clip. Whoda thunk!

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i am no guitarist (i attempt to play rush songs ;-) but my fav one to play is a coin toss between the analog kid and the big money.

 

the analog kid because i just love the tune (i don't play it anything like as well/exact as alex) but i bluster my way through it (and attempt my own version of his solo on different stages version.

 

the big money i love also,as it was the video to it that first got me into the band.i feel that it is the rush track i can play best also.

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Opening riff to Spirit of Radio. I tried to teach myself that back in my guitar playing days and not only was it fun it was really hard too lol

 

I still don't have this to this day. I gave up a long time ago on this riff and never revisited it. I "cheat" when I do play it - non-guitarist/non-rush fans can't tell the difference, but it's not right. I should tackle this again someday.

 

If I recall, I couldn't quite get the picking right to hit that open E after the fretted D and have it sound smooth.

 

I still can't play it either. I'm guessing it is a mental thing as I haven't tried to figure it out in probably 10 years. I don't think I ever got close either. Another reason is that we've all heard the song a million times and I'd rather focus my efforts on other tunes.

 

Here, let Alex show you how to play it...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hc209Q9m6x8

 

My personal favorite is the solo in No~One at the Bridge as it was the first guitar solo I learned to play. :)

 

Holy crap! You mean I've been playing this RIGHT all these years? I always thought there was an open E after the each D note. Stupid guitar Player magazine from the 80's - I think I've believed this for over 20 years now and always thought I was cheating by playing it exactly as Alex show in this clip. Whoda thunk!

 

What's sick is that it really isn't that hard to play, which makes this riff all the awesome that it is! I really appreciate that Alex put this video out there, and that this clip is still up...EVERY transcript or tab of this I've ever seen is WRONG, LOL!

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Opening riff to Spirit of Radio. I tried to teach myself that back in my guitar playing days and not only was it fun it was really hard too lol

 

I still don't have this to this day. I gave up a long time ago on this riff and never revisited it. I "cheat" when I do play it - non-guitarist/non-rush fans can't tell the difference, but it's not right. I should tackle this again someday.

 

If I recall, I couldn't quite get the picking right to hit that open E after the fretted D and have it sound smooth.

 

Yeah, I know what you mean! I could never quite get it down either. A lot of people "cheat" on it, I have found, though. The actual lick goes like this:

 

http://i39.tinypic.com/2rxf86s.jpg

 

 

But, so many people, including me, play it like this:

 

http://i41.tinypic.com/5460sn.jpg

 

 

One day, I'll get it!

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Opening riff to Spirit of Radio. I tried to teach myself that back in my guitar playing days and not only was it fun it was really hard too lol

 

I still don't have this to this day. I gave up a long time ago on this riff and never revisited it. I "cheat" when I do play it - non-guitarist/non-rush fans can't tell the difference, but it's not right. I should tackle this again someday.

 

If I recall, I couldn't quite get the picking right to hit that open E after the fretted D and have it sound smooth.

 

Yeah, I know what you mean! I could never quite get it down either. A lot of people "cheat" on it, I have found, though. The actual lick goes like this:

 

http://i39.tinypic.com/2rxf86s.jpg

 

 

But, so many people, including me, play it like this:

 

http://i41.tinypic.com/5460sn.jpg

 

 

One day, I'll get it!

 

That's just it, the first one is what I thought it always was, but according to Alex himself in that video - that is not what he is playing. He never hits that open E (or open B) at the end of each quarter phrase.

 

BUT (a big but) - that is just a "teaser" video. Perhaps he builds on the "lesson" until he shows you the full phrase. Anyone see this video in it's entirety? Can you solve this question? I hate to spend $6 just to learn that the tabs have been right all these years for a song I'm frankly not all that interested in playing anymore...

Edited by mrvander
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Opening riff to Spirit of Radio. I tried to teach myself that back in my guitar playing days and not only was it fun it was really hard too lol

 

I still don't have this to this day. I gave up a long time ago on this riff and never revisited it. I "cheat" when I do play it - non-guitarist/non-rush fans can't tell the difference, but it's not right. I should tackle this again someday.

 

If I recall, I couldn't quite get the picking right to hit that open E after the fretted D and have it sound smooth.

 

Yeah, I know what you mean! I could never quite get it down either. A lot of people "cheat" on it, I have found, though. The actual lick goes like this:

 

http://i39.tinypic.com/2rxf86s.jpg

 

 

But, so many people, including me, play it like this:

 

http://i41.tinypic.com/5460sn.jpg

 

 

One day, I'll get it!

 

By the way, what tab software are you using to get those screenshots from?

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Opening riff to Spirit of Radio. I tried to teach myself that back in my guitar playing days and not only was it fun it was really hard too lol

 

I still don't have this to this day. I gave up a long time ago on this riff and never revisited it. I "cheat" when I do play it - non-guitarist/non-rush fans can't tell the difference, but it's not right. I should tackle this again someday.

 

If I recall, I couldn't quite get the picking right to hit that open E after the fretted D and have it sound smooth.

 

Yeah, I know what you mean! I could never quite get it down either. A lot of people "cheat" on it, I have found, though. The actual lick goes like this:

 

http://i39.tinypic.com/2rxf86s.jpg

 

 

But, so many people, including me, play it like this:

 

http://i41.tinypic.com/5460sn.jpg

 

 

One day, I'll get it!

 

That's just it, the first one is what I thought it always was, but according to Alex himself in that video - that is not what he is playing. He never hits that open E (or open B) at the end of each quarter phrase.

 

BUT (a big but) - that is just a "teaser" video. Perhaps he builds on the "lesson" until he shows you the full phrase. Anyone see this video in it's entirety? Can you solve this question? I hate to spend $6 just to learn that the tabs have been right all these years for a song I'm frankly not all that interested in playing anymore...

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e372/biffmalibu01012/sortab.jpg

This is a screenshot from the video. You're right he plays it slow without all the open Es (in parans) but then gets it up to speed and I'm pretty sure he's playing the tab.

Edited by hunter
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Yeah, I know what you mean! I could never quite get it down either. A lot of people "cheat" on it, I have found, though. The actual lick goes like this:

 

http://i39.tinypic.com/2rxf86s.jpg

 

 

But, so many people, including me, play it like this:

 

http://i41.tinypic.com/5460sn.jpg

 

 

One day, I'll get it!

 

By the way, what tab software are you using to get those screenshots from?

 

Guitar Pro. :yes:

 

 

 

 

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e372/biffmalibu01012/sortab.jpg

This is a screenshot from the video. You're right he plays it slow without all the open Es (in parans) but then gets it up to speed and I'm pretty sure he's playing the tab.

Oh, cool! All right. Yeah, after listening to the song a lot, it sounds like those open Es are there for sure. They do sound quieter than the rest of the notes in that phrase, which has me thinking about the parentheses... Does he perhaps hit those open Es with one of his fingers?

Edited by Show Don't Tell
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http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e372/biffmalibu01012/sortab.jpg

This is a screenshot from the video. You're right he plays it slow without all the open Es (in parans) but then gets it up to speed and I'm pretty sure he's playing the tab.

 

Thanks for that. All those open notes are in parentheses - which means they are incidentals, accidentals, or ghost notes (depending on who you talk to) but essentially all mean the same thing - they aren't really "played" or if they are, they're played much softer than the surrounding notes. Knowing Alex's style, I'd venture to say he just let's those open E's ring out from the pull-offs (hence the ghost notes).

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