What song is your nemesis?

[Elahrairah]

You love the song, it means a lot to you to learn it, but you just can't get it no matter how long you work on it.


The solo is too fast,
The chord changes are odd and/or too quick,
There is no sheet music or tabs, making it very difficult,
You just can't get the tone right, no matter how you tweak it,
The artist is using a technique you haven't mastered or perhaps haven't even figured out yet,
Other


What is the top song you crave to learn but just can't and why? You probably just come up with shortcuts or cheats to come close because any song that means that much to you, you won't give up on. But maybe it has been years and you just can't do it....

For me there are many but for now, there are two, mostly because I cannot find sheet music (or tabs) and to force it out will take a long time. I must learn these tunes.

God Street Wine "Into the Sea"
See here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCjVG-gbxDc

fIREHOSE "Epoxy, For Example"
See here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=729PmfO95ZY

 

[gush]

I love interstate love song by STP but the descending chord progression in the verse has two chords I never play and it took me a LONG time to get it smooth.

We are learning FFDP version of bad co. I am struggling with the lead and can't find a breakdown of it on YouTube. They are tuned to B but we are doing it in C.I'm using D tuned guitar with drop C so I can use "D" position but still have my low pedal tone to bounce off of.

 

[DHW]

Crazy train...

 

[Bill SAS 513]

Intro Bass lines of Spirit of Radio... and Freewill, especially behind the Freewill guitar solo...never-ending "practice"!!!!!

 

[shinksma]

You love the song, it means a lot to you to learn it, but you just can't get it no matter how long you work on it.

All of them?

I guess I have a few songs down pat, at a relatively good level, but I'm always looking to improve. The simpler the song the more confident I have it right, but on the other hand I do a pretty darned good Comfortably Numb, complete solo a la Delicate Sound of Thunder version.

Right now I am struggling with the solo for Hotel California, especially the last chunk of the solo - I can play the three-note "arpeggios", but I can't play them as individual notes, I play them as true arpeggios, so the notes ring and blend - which is not how the original was played, as far as I can tell (and it isn't totally obvious due to the harmonized guitars). I've watched a couple of youtube videos, including one by Don Felder himself, and he plays it differently from the notations I had, and differently again from other youtube video-transcriptions, so I am currently confused as to which approach I should use (copying the original artist's technique isn't always an option for my short stubby fingers).

Beyond that: any John Mayer song. I really liked him when he first came out, especially the Room For Squares album, but I cannot copy his technique because he has monster hands compared to mine. And the simplifications I try to make just don't do the songs justice.

Growf. I feel like I should be practicing technique more. Instead I'm avoiding getting back to work by typing this up. I should bring a guitar into work for lunch/break times, even just a 10-min run through. Hmmm...

 

[timrocks311]

Most Dream Theater stuff. Really technical stuff. In particular I've been trying to play "Breaking All Illusions". It's really too difficult for my skill level but i love the song. I can get a lot of it but the tempo is way to fast for me at full speed and I can't do the fast runs John does.

I have been working on "Learning to Live" for a while and can get most of that now. It's another favorite of mine. I never thought I'd be able to but it's been a goal of mine to learn this song.

 

[JMintzer]

Cinnamon Girl, by Neil Young...

One day, I'll master the solo...

 

[kes7u]

I'm good, except for the ones where I have to push on the strings with my left hand, and either pick or strum the strings with my right hand. All of the others come fairly easily.

 

[ecalcagnino]

Lots of Opeth. Their playing techniques are just different enough from mine that it's a struggle to master. Plus a ton of crazy chord voicings.

 

[solacematt]

I don't really learn other people's music anymore to be honest. Kind of a rarity that I hear a song and I'm like, holy crap, i have to learn that. Just haven't heard anything that really got the sap rising like that in a long time. I will say the first band that did that for me is my all-time favorite band, Smashing Pumpkins. For the first five years I was playing I learned a handful of their songs but could never get them to sound right for some reason tonally. My sound was too clean. On top of that (this is pre-internet) the tabs that I had just didn't seem right at all. It wasn't until 2001 when I got my first PRS that all of a sudden I was able to nail the tone and then all of a sudden everything fell into place. I kid you not.
After that for a very long time the song was Lenny Kravitz "Circus." I still haven't found proper tabs or seen a video on youtube where someone plays that song right. Finally one day I was learning the Shinedown song "Crow and the Butterfly," and an odd chord shape used in that song (one that I use in one of my own bands songs) I picked wrong and all of a sudden I remembered that song and everything clicked. That was around 2 years ago.

 

[pjdude]

The beginning of Roundabout. Most of the beginning is easy, but those quick changing movements at the end are about impossible for me.

 

[mezzio]

Fade to Black... I can play 85% of it, but there are parts in the song that I still can't get down after 20 years of attempting it.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Cinnamon Girl, by Neil Young...

One day, I'll master the solo...

:tongue:

 

[Raven17]

Tender Surrender by Steve Vai

 

[epoch]

Baroness - Cockroach En Fleur

I'm just not strong and fast enough to pull off those quick acoustic runs.

 

[Brad737]

Let It Go from Frozen.

 

[CVS]

Just about any Larry Carlton song

 

[sleary]

The solo for Seek and Destroy by Metallica...
Blackened has been a learning experience as well... Still working on that one ....

Master of puppets and battery used to be too fast for me but I kept at them. Both are now just warmup lol

 

[sergiodeblanc]

F@ckin' Mediterranean Sundance/Rio Ancho ala Al and Paco! I can sing it though, so I got that going for me.

 

[John_D]

F@ckin' Mediterranean Sundance/Rio Ancho ala Al and Paco! I can sing it though, so I got that going for me.

Just starting to learn Return to Forevers' Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy, its sooo fast!! Working it out by ear too, thankfully timestretch exists :biggrin:
Quite enjoyed learning Contusion by Stevie Wonder last year, the guitarist has some ace chops.