Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

This topic may very well have been brought up before, but then, what topic hasn't. Each of us on this forum was drawn to play the guitar/bass for different reasons. We all likely recall the very first guitar or bass we acquired, but do you recall the very first song you learned to play from top to bottom. Mine was 'Gloria'. (Three chords, which at the time, might as well have been Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D as far as I was concerned). What was your first? And what is the one song you considered to be the toughest you've ever had to accomplish? I think my toughest is all the ones I haven't learned yet.

The 1st song I knew completely start to finish was Black Sabbath (by Black Sabbath). The hardest......hmmmm, that's a tough one. there are plenty that some people would consider "easy" but because the style was so different from mine were tough to nail down (most Steve Harris stuff is completely opposite of my style).

Probably the hardest to completely nail was Anesthesia/Pulling Teeth by Cliff Burton (Metallica). The physical playing/timing wasn't the hard part......I was somewhat obsessed with getting all of the nuances and character (scrapes/overtones/bizarre noises) so I put lots of time into it. Funny thing is that after I had it "mastered" I ended up changing things around if I ever played it live.

Pretty much when I learn songs now I just get the basics and anything "special" then I just play it with my style and no longer obsess on getting it perfect. "Close enough" is my motto.

Peter Gunn

Brian, 'close enough' has found its way into my playing on occasion. I just call it 'that'll do'.

buzfluhart wrote:...do you recall the very first song you learned to play from top to bottom.

"Blowin' in the Wind" was the first song I learned to play 38 years ago this Christmas Day.

buzfluhart wrote: And what is the one song you considered to be the toughest you've ever had to accomplish?

It would be a toss-up between "St. Louis Tickle" and "Black and White Rag" I never did master either one.

JimK

First was Spirit of Radio.

Hardest (and as of yet not one bit completed) was Close To The Edge.

Good thread.....

My first was "Hey Joe" - Hendrix. The hardest was the Donna Lee melody. Worst part was, even after I learned to put all of those notes together, it still didn't sound like Jaco.

"Come Together" the Aerosmith version.

First song - Tom Dooley, an old folk song recorded by The Kingston Trio

Hardest song - Eight Miles High - still working on it

Unbelievable, but true, the first song I mastered and performed publicly was (coughs) Glen Campbell's "Rhinestone Cowboy"

The hardest was Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Stang Swang".

First song was 'I Just Wanna Have Something to Do' by the Ramones.
First guitar solo was 'Police & Thieves' by the Clash.
All the songs I play are pretty straightforward, and I don't really play anything note for note the same as the original. I rarely play anything the same way twice in a row. I'm a total hack!

1st: "Talk About the Passion" by REM

hardest: all of side 2 of Foxtrot by Genesis (Horizon's and Supper's Ready)

"Aloha Steve and Danno" by Radio Birdman.

Most difficult so far "All of a Sudden" by XTC

buzfluhart wrote:... do you recall the very first song you learned to play from top to bottom...

I'm still working on it!