Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi, all. I've been fiddling about with my 360/12V64, and have always been curious how to play my favorite George riffs. Can anyone tell me how to play George's riffs (and solos?) to these great tracks:

1. If I Needed Someone (this has been one I've always wanted to play)
2. What You're Doing (number 2 in my list)
3. I Should Have Known Better
4. And Your Bird Can Sing
5. A Hard Day's Night
6. I Call Your Name
7. Anytime at All
8. Ticket to Ride

Also, what pickup settings should I use to nail the sound? What amp settings do I need? Does compression play a roll in it at all?

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

http://www.to-a-tee.tv/products/ If I Needed Someone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhSMpxfO ... L&index=44

What You're Doing
????

I Should Have Known Better (Vol 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGT_Yf0ISYQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IN5kOS7zrMk

And Your Bird Can Sing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4iUrl56 ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20-McvC8wTw

5. A Hard Day's Night (Vol 3)

6. I Call Your Name (Vol 1)

7. Anytime at All (Vol 3)

8. Ticket to Ride
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qchos6PTp0k

Another approach would be to put your own stamp on it. It's nice to sound exactly like George, but wouldn't you rather sound exactly like you?

But, here's an option: The Beatles Complete Scores, Hal Leonard. Transcribed by several Japanese Beatle experts. Not perfect, but if you have an ear, you'll spot the errors. Google it. There are plenty out there for less than I paid for mine.

FretlessOnly wrote:Another approach would be to put your own stamp on it. It's nice to sound exactly like George, but wouldn't you rather sound exactly like you?

Oh, I don't know.... In olden times the apprentice learned from the master. Later on when he had completed his apprenticeship, and had gone on to become a journeyman, then he could submit his masterpiece for consideration by the guild and be accepted as a master.

I think copying the masters, those we admire has a very valuable place in learning the craft, art, and science of guitar playing. The unfortunate part is becoming stuck at being a direct copy of the master, rather than internalizing the lessons learned from the master.

JimK

Agree with Jim. Even though I've played those songs since I was a kid (with a BIG gap of years between then and now), my "style" was non-existent. When I picked up the guitar again about 7 yrs ago, someone turned me on to the Rob Taylor "Beatles-To-A-Tee" vids, and they were complete eye openers. For one thing, it taught me that for all these years, I never really was LISTENING to what was being played. Yeah, I got the chords and the general idea, but what I was playing was nowhere near all the different things that went into even an early George solo. The best way I can describe it is that I played guitar like a person speaks a foreign language phonetically without really knowing what they're saying.

Learning the parts via "To-A-Tee" not only taught me to listen (now I can sus out parts even Rob hasn't tackled yet), but I also learned or improved techniques that I'd only flailed at before -- string bends, finger vibrato, how to actually play guitar parts BEYOND the 5th fret, and how to actually use a pick on the bass strings and simultaneaously pluck the high strings with your fingers (a la "All My Loving's" solo).

In short, I think that learning how a song you like and admire is REALLY played is good education for making your way to your own "style" -- whatever it may end up being. (I'm not here just to shill for "To-A-Tee" -- there are many good instructional vids out there. Roger McGuinn's video on 12-string is a good one, too.)

There are definitely two schools of thought on this idea, but I'm with the ones who think that learning by rote is a very good way to begin. Ya gotta crawl before you can run, if you ask me.

And one could make the argument that learning by rote is actually the more difficult of the two. The running as opposed to the crawling, as it were.

Here's my take on a couple Harrison riffs...pretty simple to play..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbvQdD0brts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9znj9CegCl4

Jon N.

Nice work Jon!

Thank ya! Not prefect but, a BLAST to play!

Jon

I've learned the main riffs to "What You're Doing" and "If I Needed Someone". Both are fun to play, but "What You're Doing" makes me not want to stop!