Can anyone here play YYZ note for note?

musicman5string · #1 03-08-2006, 12:42 PM

I used to know this tune and recently started re-learning it. It is really tough.....

anyone have luck with it?

Suckbird · #2 03-08-2006, 02:28 PM

note for note is not that difficult.. but to play it perfectly on time is ..

MikeyFingers · #3 03-08-2006, 02:43 PM

Nope. One big problem is that I never had a real book to work with, only internet tabs which are almost never accurate. I know it's not THAT hard, I'm sure that with an "official" book and some time I could play it pretty good.

Nino Valenti · #4 03-08-2006, 03:14 PM

I consider myself a good bassist but there are alot of thing in that song (and La Villa Strangato) that I can't get down. I really haven't had the time to sit down and learn it, thou cause I've been super busy but whenever I try to sit down and play along, there is alot of faking going on.

Bassmanbob · #5 03-08-2006, 04:07 PM

This is one tune I never thought I could do as a kid. I took some lessons a couple of years ago and broke some bad habits I had. Just recently, I've been wanting to get it on CD (I still have it on vinyl) just so I could see if I could master it. I have a great ear, so I know I can get all the notes, but I still don't know if I have the chops for it. Hopefully I'll report back in a couple of weeks in a positive manner.

JacksonsMen · #6 03-08-2006, 04:24 PM

THATS what that song is called, i downloaded the video months ago searching for bass solos and came across it, never knew the name of the song....

no i cannot play it note for note....i can sound close, but not note for note

rashbeep · #7 03-08-2006, 07:16 PM

nope i cant its very tricky for me, but timing i find really easy......

Larry99 · #8 03-08-2006, 07:29 PM

years ago I figured most of it out except for the break where Geddy solos alone w/the harmonics in the finish. I just didn't have the finger speed. Today, I think I could handle it if I put forth the effort but just don't have the time/interest to learn it all again. Great tune tho for sure and not an easy undertaking.

Earthday · #9 03-08-2006, 07:42 PM

I can "play" it, as in, there's no one section i can't do. But I dont consider myself able to play it completely because I would never trust ymself to play it on stage. I can't think of any one instance where i nailed the whole song in one playthrough. The timing isn't bad for me, but the speed is killer.

musicman5string · #10 03-08-2006, 08:37 PM

Years ago I learned it from a Guitar Player magazine, but couldn't play it note for note and not at tempo. Then as the years went by I would mess around with it just off the top of my head. As my chops got better I realized there are ALOT of nuances and little alterations I wasn't playing. So I bought the Rush bass transcription series book. I was a little embarressed at first because I've never used a transcription book for rock bass lines, but this tune, and alot of Rush tunes for that matter, are like learning Charlie Parker solos: very chops oriented, lots of notes, lots of chromatics.
At the moment can play it note for note much slower than recorded. At tempo, I'd fluff alot of the fills.

Damn you Geddy!

seequeue · #11 03-09-2006, 12:03 PM

my band plays it live from time to time. I struggle with it a bit live, but practicing it I nail it nearly perfectly every time.
Not note for note, but every one except a couple I do.
Also, for live shows, I usually improv a little bit anyways

**Mark Wilson** · #12 03-09-2006, 01:19 PM

I've got most of the chops down. I can play most of it note for note, but I make it my own. I don't like playing note for note.

-Mark

**cheezewiz** · #13 03-09-2006, 01:33 PM

Tim Cole plays it note for note on upright. Of course, he is a freak of nature.

trenken · #14 03-09-2006, 02:55 PM

I've got the whole thing pretty solid except, in the middle he does those 3 small bass solo's. I have the 1st and 3rd tight, but I don't know what's going on in that 2nd one (1:56). I kind of do. I can hear pretty well what's going on, but I never checked any tabs on it and never actually sat down to learn that part. Guess i'm too lazy sometimes but I think I can hack it if I try hard enough.

That one jazzy bass part in La Villa is something that I have sat down and spent some time on, and never got it down perfectly. I do plan to go back to that now that i've gotten better since the last time I tried to play that. I should check some tabs on it to get a better idea of whats going on there.

Herman · #15 03-09-2006, 03:28 PM

A couple of months ago, I finally decided to sit down and learn YYZ. I have one of the Rush songbooks that has note-for-note transriptions in standard notation. After about two weeks of working on it, I could get it note-for-note at tempo except for the second and third fills. I think if I really wanted to, I could spend some more time on it and get close to those two fills but they're pretty tough. After two weeks of working on it and getting it down pretty well, I decided to declare victory and move on to learning other new stuff.

musicman5string · #16 03-09-2006, 09:45 PM

Everyone who says they can "play it" but not note for note: That's not what I asked; either you can do it or not. There are a ton of tunes I can "play" that aren't note for note. This is either "yes, I nail it note for note at tempo" or "no".

Sorry, I'm just trying to get to the point of the question.

p.s. anyone who can I salute you.

tZer · #17 03-10-2006, 09:32 AM

I never could get that second solo down. It just never found it's way into my zone of understanding... The rest of the song is not that difficult, but for me that second solo (the heavily distorted, guitar-lick-sounding one...) always threw me for a loop.

So, in order not to offend the thread starter, my answer to the question; "Can anyone here play YYZ note for note?" is NO.

Herman · #18 03-10-2006, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by musicman5string

Everyone who says they can "play it" but not note for note: That's not what I asked; either you can do it or not. There are a ton of tunes I can "play" that aren't note for note. This is either "yes, I nail it note for note at tempo" or "no".

In that case, I woud like to offer the following retraction to my previous statement: "Although there are a ton of tunes that I can play note for note (at tempo), YYZ is not one of them. To be the most accurate in responding to the original posters inquiry, I must change my previous answer to 'No, I cannot play YYZ note for note'. I apologize if I have offended anyone on this board with this or any other statement I've previously made. Thank you for understanding and have a pleasant weekend."

musicman5string · #19 03-10-2006, 01:00 PM

msquared · #20 03-10-2006, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by musicman5string

Everyone who says they can "play it" but not note for note: That's not what I asked; either you can do it or not. There are a ton of tunes I can "play" that aren't note for note. This is either "yes, I nail it note for note at tempo" or "no".

This is an internet discussion board, not an audition.