Lorraine Posted January 8, 2015 Author Share Posted January 8, 2015 What a stupid thread who started this sh*t Honestly this forum is going SO downhillYour mother is calling you home for din-din. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorraine Posted January 8, 2015 Author Share Posted January 8, 2015 Maybe I ought to pick up a guitar and see what happens. Or sit down in front of a piano. :laughing guy: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorraine Posted January 8, 2015 Author Share Posted January 8, 2015 How did Alex learn all of this without ever having a guitar lesson or studying music? It's entirely possible, tons of musicians do it that way in all sorts of genres. Music has existed much longer than the study and notation of it after all. Generally the way to do that would be to spend lots and lots and lots of time listening to a variety of other players, whether they play your instrument or not, and learn to sound like they do. By picking up different ways of playing from a variety of other players one can then (hopefully) craft his or her own sound from pieces of others' sounds as well as one's own creative and innovative ideas and habits. Also, by learning to imitate other players, one's own skill level should increase greatly until one reaches the point where they feel a sense of freedom on the instrument to create and play whatever they like.But if they don't know scales or notes, how do they write it down? Generally they just memorize the places on the fingerboard. It's pretty obvious that all of the guys have more than a rudimentary knowledge of theory. Even their older songs were crafted in a way that the bass line would be in harmony with the guitar line rather than just playing the root notes. That was probably more Geddy than Alex but the way they intertwined would've been amazing for someone who knew nothing about music. So I have to believe they had more than a basic knowledge of what they were doing even back at the beginning. It's part of what made them better players than say someone like the guys in AC/DC for example. Not to cut AC/DC down, but they play more of a root-based bass line driven kind of music. (oh and Lorraine, the root note of a chord represents the name of the chord-C,D,E...etc)I thought I remembered Geddy saying in BTLS, or in another interview, that none of them had any real training, but maybe I am mistaken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lifeson90 Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Al's a unique artistic genius. up there with mozart, picasso, homer simpson, shakespeare, michelangelo, zinedine zidane, mohammad ali, elvis and leonardo etc. You can't even begin to explain where their sh*t comes from. We are privileged to exist in the same era as probably the most imaginative rock guitarist of all time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorraine Posted January 8, 2015 Author Share Posted January 8, 2015 I think what sets Alex apart is the fact that he doesn't have a ego. His goal is to craft an amazing song instead of trying to impress with shredding.You are right, he doesn't seem to have an ego at all. I find that amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorraine Posted January 8, 2015 Author Share Posted January 8, 2015 Al's a unique artistic genius. up there with mozart, picasso, homer simpson, shakespeare, michelangelo, zinedine zidane, mohammad ali, elvis and leonardo etc. You can't even begin to explain where their sh*t comes from. We are privileged to exist in the same era as probably the most imaginative rock guitarist of all time.How could you leave out Tiny Tim? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorraine Posted January 8, 2015 Author Share Posted January 8, 2015 Has anyone ever asked them what inspired their songs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lifeson90 Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 I just been listening to Grand Designs thinking 'where the f*cks that coming from?' Awesome track Ged harnesses him.keeps him in check. Ged is so obviously the genius composer. Al's the cutting edge that drives it in. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lifeson90 Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 I knew youd point out tiny tim i left that to you :) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorraine Posted January 8, 2015 Author Share Posted January 8, 2015 I knew youd point out tiny tim i left that to you :)Thank you. You are most considerate. Thoughtful too. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lifeson90 Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Emotion Detector - oh yeahh Thats where it is Funky rush groovy sh*t When ged gets control of Al it all happens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JARG Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 How did Alex learn all of this without ever having a guitar lesson or studying music? Like so many of us, he's mostly self-taught. He did take classical lessons early on, though...about a year's worth, if I recall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JARG Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Geddy said he is a very emotional person, and his playing shows that. Is that why his playing is able to touch others on an emotional level? Or would he be able to do that even if he wasn't putting himself into his playing? That's hard to say for sure, since different people like different things. Guitarists like Yngwie, John Petrucci or Nuno Bettencourt throw a bunch of notes out there and impress people with their speed but I don't think that's the same kind of emotional level that Alex brings out in people.Whoever Yngwie, Petrucci and Bettencourt are, I have no idea. I'm trying to remember if I ever encountered a guitarist who had the same affect on me but I do not recall any. Does Pink Floyd's guitarist do anything for you? He's like Alex in some ways.No. If you want to know the truth, I dislike Pink Floyd intensely. Always did. Even back when they first appeared. I always felt they were a rip-off of earlier bands. I don't care that you dislike floyd, a lot of their stuff puts me to sleep if I'm not in the mood for it or just plain sucks (I still love a great deal of their work), but who exactly do you think floyd ripped off? they were putting out records before any of the other prog groups Their early stuff is somewhat derivative of The Beatles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EagleMoon Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 (edited) How did Alex learn all of this without ever having a guitar lesson or studying music? It's entirely possible, tons of musicians do it that way in all sorts of genres. Music has existed much longer than the study and notation of it after all. Generally the way to do that would be to spend lots and lots and lots of time listening to a variety of other players, whether they play your instrument or not, and learn to sound like they do. By picking up different ways of playing from a variety of other players one can then (hopefully) craft his or her own sound from pieces of others' sounds as well as one's own creative and innovative ideas and habits. Also, by learning to imitate other players, one's own skill level should increase greatly until one reaches the point where they feel a sense of freedom on the instrument to create and play whatever they like.But if they don't know scales or notes, how do they write it down? Generally they just memorize the places on the fingerboard. It's pretty obvious that all of the guys have more than a rudimentary knowledge of theory. Even their older songs were crafted in a way that the bass line would be in harmony with the guitar line rather than just playing the root notes. That was probably more Geddy than Alex but the way they intertwined would've been amazing for someone who knew nothing about music. So I have to believe they had more than a basic knowledge of what they were doing even back at the beginning. It's part of what made them better players than say someone like the guys in AC/DC for example. Not to cut AC/DC down, but they play more of a root-based bass line driven kind of music. (oh and Lorraine, the root note of a chord represents the name of the chord-C,D,E...etc)I thought I remembered Geddy saying in BTLS, or in another interview, that none of them had any real training, but maybe I am mistaken. Maybe they hadn't at the time or maybe what they knew wasn't what he considered "real training." Edited January 8, 2015 by EagleMoon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grasbo Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Jeez,just got back from band practice and this thread has exploded.Ok the simplest way i say to any one who asks me whats a riff, i go da,da,dah,etc(Smoke on the Water).Both PerW and MP had odd time signatures.Limelight may seem simple but it is all over the place time wise.Where us musicians get inspiration and 'how do we do it' its like an artist with a blank canvas,a carpenter with a pile of timber and nails building a new shed or a computer programmer creating a new website.Most of us musicians start off with the basics froma teacher or a book then if we have'got it'we fly the coop and we create.At 52 i am still learning things from other musicians(today i created a new bass riff for one of our songs).Yes some of us a more creative than others.As mentioned Ac/DC are basic rawk,nothing wrong with that,thats their bag,Rushwent a tad further.went Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grasbo Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 I had basic guitar training from a brilliant guitarist here in Hobart, Tasmania(met up with him recently,he is in70s,after 40 years)who said to me one day ,you are on your own,either join a pub rock band and play covers,or do your own thing.I wish i had done the latter . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toymaker Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 One of my favorite Lifeson bits is the part just before the solo in the trees. He is fretting a three note pattern on the D string and also sounding the open G and B strings. It's not an intuitive right-hand thing, either. It's a sweet pattern. He has loads of distinctive parts like that. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grasbo Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 One of my favorite Lifeson bits is the part just before the solo in the trees. He is fretting a three note pattern on the D string and also sounding the open G and B strings. It's not an intuitive right-hand thing, either. It's a sweet pattern. He has loads of distinctive parts like that.Yes,deceptively simple but unique,thats why Alex is agreat player.Rush has the reputation of being a musos band and rightly so but when Alex's playing can move Lorraine and other non musos thats something special. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanadu Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 As a guitar student, I would always want my teacher to work out Rush songs with me, and let's just say that it would take him longer to figure out the exact chords Alex was playing than virtually anything else I'd ask to learn, and that he uses a lot of "inverted" chords. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MMCXII Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 (edited) his early playing was simpler as Grasbo stated on page one, but even back then his playing was emotive! I'm just creating a reason to drop my favorite solo in here lol. Enjoy :)http://youtube.com/watch?v=l6xtAx9RYdA Edited January 8, 2015 by MMCXII 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grasbo Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Yep those inverted and suspended chords .Don't forget he owns that chord at the end of Cygnus x1,Cygnus,Bringer of Balance and of course Far Cry.Bastard!!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babycat Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 I'd say Alex's parts are complicated. La Villa Strangiato is an example. As soon as he zooms right off the back of the flamenco style intro, then bam! I'm lost! :o I've no idea where he is! :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JARG Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 I'd say Alex's parts are complicated. La Villa Strangiato is an example. As soon as he zooms right off the back of the flamenco style intro, then bam! I'm lost! :o I've no idea where he is! :P You mean the arpeggiated bit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babycat Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 I'd say Alex's parts are complicated. La Villa Strangiato is an example. As soon as he zooms right off the back of the flamenco style intro, then bam! I'm lost! :o I've no idea where he is! :P You mean the arpeggiated bit? I think so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LedRush Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Here's an example of another nutty one, and it's not a Rush song- the Allman Brothers tune Whipping Post is in 11/4. If you listen to the bass guitar that opens that song and count it out (rather quickly), you can pick up on that. Just a digression, since we're talking about time signatures. Carry on... Wow...I've listened that songs many times and never thought to even count it. OK, I just youtubed it. I have an easier time counting it 1-2-3/1-2-3/1-2-3/1-2, but that does add up to 11/4. Cool! That's always how I counted it...never thought to add it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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