Mornats Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 (edited) I decided to set myself a challenge. Before the year is out (which gives me plenty of time) I want to be able to play YYZ and The Spirit of Radio (both by Rush but you know that yeah). These songs are currently beyond my ability at the moment which is why I set myself this challenge. I'd love to be able to play them live too (my guitarist is more confident in my abilities than me and wants to do YYZ anyway). So, I'd like some help from you lot! I'm looking for any resources that will help me along and learn how to play these two songs. At the moment I'm using the free version of Songsterr ([url="http://www.songsterr.com/a/wsa/rush-yyz-guitar-tab-s16981t0"]http://www.songsterr...ar-tab-s16981t0[/url] and [url="http://www.songsterr.com/a/wsa/rush-the-spirit-of-radio-guitar-tab-s17179t0"]http://www.songsterr...ar-tab-s17179t0[/url]) but I'm sure there are better ways. I can't read music (that's another challenge for another day) and tabs are meh to me. Handy sometimes but not something I want to get into the habit of using. I intend to memorise the songs rather than play along to notation anyway. Oh and I'm terrible at listening to a track and just working it out. I do need some help otherwise it'll be an ungodly mess. So what do you guys recommend? Any specific videos on YouTube (to save me from filtering out the dross)? Edited August 3, 2012 by Mornats Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowdowner Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 new trinity rock and pop grade 8 book (with playalong tracks) has YYZ (with playing notes) if I'm right... might help? http://trinityrock.trinitycollege.co.uk/instruments/bass/grade8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debwilliams Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 Well done on pushing your boundaries. I've got myself a great teacher who is going to troubleshoot stuff with me. We've decided that if there's something I want to work on be it an aspect of theory, technique, song etc he will help as and how I want. Is there anyone local that could help you in a similar way? Good luck and keep us posted. Deb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JakeBrownBass Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 (edited) . Edited January 19, 2013 by JakeBrownBass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mornats Posted August 3, 2012 Author Share Posted August 3, 2012 Thanks all, I spent a bit of time on the Trinity website looking at their stuff. I was pleased to see that Pink Floyd's Money is up there in Grade 4 as I've got that one under my belt already. It's tempting to take all of the grades as I think it would be a good exercise to go through them all. However, I like Deb's suggestion of getting myself a bass tutor. I've been recommended a local guy (Dave Savage whom I believe is a member on here) so I think I'll contact him and set up some lessons and let him know my goals. I've been toying with the idea of getting lessons anyway as I can get any bad habits ironed out, get some structure to my practicing and obviously learn a lot. A little off topic but I absolutely love Jake's Phonic Season Superstition cover. I think I'm accountable for half of your plays on Soundcloud for that one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkmeteor Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 Buy yourself the "Transcribe!" software, this is an awesome utility. I use it all the time. You can slow down a song file to any speed you want, set loops, change tuning. You can also write text that will move along the timeline of the sound file. What I do is slow down complex parts to tab it myself, slow enough to figure out what the hell is going on. Then I write a text tablature for that specific part, and I put it in the text section at the specific time. This makes for really easy practising of songs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mornats Posted August 3, 2012 Author Share Posted August 3, 2012 Transcribe looks interesting. I could possibly do that in Reaper too. The only problem is my ears aren't tuned to pick up which notes are which yet so it would only slow me down for now. But that's yet another challenge for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Bajo Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Check out Youtube to see how others play it, some even break it down for you. Also you can get bass only tracks to help you pick out the notes.. Finally get a slowdowner, BestPractice is a decent one Spirit of radio is really only difficult on that run, once you've locked in with the drums its pretty easy. YYZ is hard, but again once you internalize the groove it kind of falls into place Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-bbb Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 if you go through the last few pages of the 'lets see some vid of you playing' thread on here there is a YYZ cover (sorry cant remember who posted it) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basexperience Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Wow, good luck there mate. I was sort of shamed into learning those tracks by a good friend at Uni who presented Moving Pictures (and later permanent waves) to me saying "you can play more than Iron Maiden, Andy". I've never regretted it, and still run through moving pictures to this day, it's beautiful music for bass. I did it all to tapes though, this was back in 1989!.. My only advice would be to do what I always do - learn the intro slavishly (spirit of radio's damn tricky!) get the hang of the main parts, then concentrate on the little fills and embellishments, like the small drum/bass call-return fills in YYZ. Great music. Have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-bbb Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 oh and this one... a few 'very very very minor indiscretions' that only people with 'magic ears' might spot, but a superbly played cover and a good one to watch if you want to try and figure it out yourself [url="http://youtu.be/fZmP4FngzHA"]http://youtu.be/fZmP4FngzHA[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jellyfish Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Found this recently, maybe it'll be of use to you! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_pJT1Ah8CM&list=UU0jC0_-39GTyFSMpsg1IC1Q&index=9&feature=plcp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pietruszka Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 YYZ is a great track to play, a really good challenge to. I played that in my mates band for his drum recital, I didn't get all the notes in, ie It wasn't exactly as it is on the record. Learn it in sections, if I'm not mistaken it has 3 sections. The drummer I played it for put me on to a wiki article about it which helps get a better understanding of the track. The intro is actually morse code for YYZ (._.. ._.. .._ _) but played in 10/8 (IIRC). Learn it in sections and you'll be fine! Let us know how you get on. Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerstodge Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Good luck with yyz matey, ive been playing 102 years and i still can't play it to speed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mornats Posted August 5, 2012 Author Share Posted August 5, 2012 It's certainly going to be a challenge! Although I did manage to find a midi file for the song so I popped it into Reaper, threw some drums, bass, guitar and strings on it via Kontakt and EZDrummer and I now have a version I can speed up and slow down without it sounding weird. Perfect! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottomE Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Mornats i have heard you playing on the Soundcloud group. You can handle this sh*t its a piece of p*Ss Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mornats Posted August 6, 2012 Author Share Posted August 6, 2012 Cheers mate, a very nice compliment I'm getting the main riff down ok now, still working through it fairly slowly but I'll slowly increase the speed. It's speed playing that I'm weakest at so this could be a good trainer for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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