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Can anyone here play YYZ note for note?

#121
I actually had a more difficult time learning the note-for-note intro to "Spirit of Radio" than I did "YYZ". Even so, I almost always hit a clam or two when we used to play it live. Perhaps one time in ten would I play it correctly, but more importantly, we would always nail the key passages & convey the spirit and essence of the song.
One thing about playing "YYZ" at a gig vs. playing songs like "Limelight", "Tom Sawyer" or "Freewill" - "YYZ" is guaranteed to please any Rush fan in the audience, while simultaneously clearing the dance floor.....
 
#122
grendle said:
there was a point in time at the end of high school, I learned everything from hemispheres to presto note for note. Probably the best thing i ever did to further my playing.....
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+ 1000

For me, it was everything from the 1st Rush album through Signals. That, and I woodshedded a ton of songs from Iron Maiden, Talas, Savatage and Queensryche. Digging deeply into those albums and players was a huge influence on my development as a player.
 
#124
Two summers ago, I would occasionally go and pop in one of my (Then nearly complete) collection of Rush albums, and just play it through. I hadn't played most of them before, although I'd listened to them all a million times. After playing a lot of the ones that I DID know, I was able to get quite a bit of the new ones on the first try. not perfect, but I never got completely lost. I've pretty much gotten Geddy's idiosyncrasies down.

Test for Echo was Annoying, though, because half of the songs are in Drop D, and I'd have to keep retuning my E whenever I got to one. :P
 
#125
On the isolated bass recording by Geddy posted earlier it sounds like obvious punch ins on those little solo runs in the middle of the song to me. To those guys who have posted their own attempts at it - very impressive!
 
#126
I never bothered to learn YYZ except for the first couple of riffs, so I resolved after seeing this thread earlier this week to learn it. Never did it, though. It's like, "OK, I can play YYZ. Now I can go to NAMM."

:D
 
#130
I don't know why people gave the OP a hard time about only wanting people who can play it note-for-note to respond. I mean, everyone with a bass can "kind of" play it, or "get through it, but not at tempo". I'm also very curious as to who can ACTUALLY play it, not people who can fake their way through it.
 
#131
I have never heard Geddy play it exactly note-for-note in live setting. As other have pointed out, some parts sound like punch ins. I vaguely recall Rush talking about how, on Moving Pictures, they would piece together the "magical moments". Nothing wrong with that! It turned out a great album. Multiple tracks, takes and overdubs are part of the recording process.

To try and duplicate that studio product live ... well ... that's a big challenge and my hats off to anyone who can do it fluidly. I have gotten close, but don't have the dedication to get that last 5% smoothed out. I'm sure that describes many of us. :D
 
#133
vishuddha said:
I don't know why people gave the OP a hard time about only wanting people who can play it note-for-note to respond. I mean, everyone with a bass can "kind of" play it, or "get through it, but not at tempo". I'm also very curious as to who can ACTUALLY play it, not people who can fake their way through it.
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+1

I could fake my way through it at tempo when I was younger, but I could never do it note for note (especially one of the solo passages in particular). That said, I definitely could get through the song and convince most people that I knew it more that I really did.
 
#137
It can give me fits at once in awhile but I'd say I probably get it 98% down most times.
I've been playing it since 1982, so thirty years now..
The second solo and the final lick are still the hardest for me to get exact.
Like anything, practice makes (close to) perfect.
I like the version on Exit...Stage Left. Geddy's best Fender Jazz tone EVER!
 

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