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Iron Maiden's Steve Harris (Merged)
- Thread starter funkysurfer
- Start date
One of the greats. The first five Maiden albums were the best IMO. He must have bionic fingers or something. lolHe has certain signature "fills" but certainly never takes a solo in say Jeff Berlin way, soloing over the changes.
However a very overlooked song is Prodigal Son on the Killers album. A very melodic and captivating line in the intro and then some fantastic almost Rush like interplay between Harris and Clive Burr on drums. Its a ballad so tends to get overlooked, but some of Harris's finest melodic playing.
I played along with NOTB so many times in my youth. Harris was the man then I discovered Rush, Jeff Berlin and those Bruford albums and well we move on......
However a very overlooked song is Prodigal Son on the Killers album. A very melodic and captivating line in the intro and then some fantastic almost Rush like interplay between Harris and Clive Burr on drums. Its a ballad so tends to get overlooked, but some of Harris's finest melodic playing.
I played along with NOTB so many times in my youth. Harris was the man then I discovered Rush, Jeff Berlin and those Bruford albums and well we move on......
The_Ryst said:
The only one that I would call a real solo is the intro to "Blood on the worlds hands" from the album "The X-Factor".
It is good I would say. Otherwise I have always seen it as one of his strengths not to solo alot because he is the main writer for the band and could probably get his will through if he wanted to solo.
Just shows good craftsmanship in his songwriting.
leffe luffer said:The only one that I would call a real solo is the intro to "Blood on the worlds hands" from the album "The X-Factor".
It is good I would say. Otherwise I have always seen it as one of his strengths not to solo alot because he is the main writer for the band and could probably get his will through if he wanted to solo.
Just shows good craftsmanship in his songwriting.
yeah that Thing from the X-factor quite bizzare but brilliant.
harris rocks... does anyone know what kinda EQ settings he uses? i dont know how he can get that wicked bright clanky tone with a P bass and flats?
Regarding "how to play triplets" I've seen all the concert videos, and he definitely uses 2 plucking fingers not 3. Also, you can cheat and just play the first 2 notes of the 3 notes in the triplet since the third note usually corresponds to the downbeat and many non-musicians and even many musicians won't notice.
As an added bonus, here's the chords of every Steve Harris Maiden song: some combination of 1m 6 7 (usually Em C D, sometimes Em D C, occasionally throw a 5m in there like Phantom of the Opera Em Bm C D). Also, liberally use triplets and harmonize some guitar melodies. For lyrics: war/history; supernatural, occult, religious themes; dreams/nightmares; literature (esp science fiction). For vocal melodies: write notes just above the singer's range and use so many words that the singer cannot inhale. This will make it impossible to reproduce live and you, the mighty bass player mouthing but not singing the words, will always look better compared to the singer.
As an added bonus, here's the chords of every Steve Harris Maiden song: some combination of 1m 6 7 (usually Em C D, sometimes Em D C, occasionally throw a 5m in there like Phantom of the Opera Em Bm C D). Also, liberally use triplets and harmonize some guitar melodies. For lyrics: war/history; supernatural, occult, religious themes; dreams/nightmares; literature (esp science fiction). For vocal melodies: write notes just above the singer's range and use so many words that the singer cannot inhale. This will make it impossible to reproduce live and you, the mighty bass player mouthing but not singing the words, will always look better compared to the singer.
brake said:
A lot of his tone comes from his technique of plucking the strings so hard that they clank against the frets. A smaller part of it comes from the unusually bright flatwounds that he uses.
Maiden RULES!
I often play "Mariner" or "Clairvoyant" or "Heaven can Wait" during sound check. My emo bandmates frown. Soundmen buy me beer.
In high school I was in a band that played "Aces High", "Revelations", etc... Like Squire, Jaco or Geddy. You must admit Steve Harris has an immediately recognizable tone and style. How many bassists have that? That separates the men from the boys. You can go on all day about who is better than who.
I own a Fender Steve Harris P-Bass. I am a big Maiden Fan, but I really bought the Bass to replace my retired 1977 P-Bass. The Maiden Bass played very similar to my 77 P-Bass. I had a 78 P-Bass that the Maiden plays almost identically to. The Maiden bass rules, but actually doesn't inherently sound very Maiden-ish. My G&L did.
I love the Maiden-P bass. Only flaws: The fretwork aint great, the tuners are so-so, and I replaced to SD 1/4lb with an EMG. Now the bass does what a P-Bass does (James Jamerson tone).
I used stainless flats for a while because one of my bands mates frown on trebly bass tones. The flats don't necessarily dull your overall tone, but minimize fret noise while sliding between notes. This worked overall, but as the flats got dull, i was constantly having to re-arrange my amp's EQ. I found a better remedy. I have changed back to regular stings and sometimes stainless. I prefer to keep my bass as bright as possible (new strings, low action, tone up, active pick up) and use my amp's EQ to control the bite or harshness, and use my hands to control the attack. This works better than having a "dead" sounding bass, and trying to liven it up. you can't shine a turd.
Steve Harris obviously plays with a lot of treble. The flats kill the slide noise (gliss) not the attack noise. Without the flats we would hear tons of "screech". His tone is all usuing treble and finger attack. also he used an Ibanez musician with a P-J set-up for a lot of stuff. this nails his tone much easier than a P-Bass.
MM
I often play "Mariner" or "Clairvoyant" or "Heaven can Wait" during sound check. My emo bandmates frown. Soundmen buy me beer.
In high school I was in a band that played "Aces High", "Revelations", etc... Like Squire, Jaco or Geddy. You must admit Steve Harris has an immediately recognizable tone and style. How many bassists have that? That separates the men from the boys. You can go on all day about who is better than who.
I own a Fender Steve Harris P-Bass. I am a big Maiden Fan, but I really bought the Bass to replace my retired 1977 P-Bass. The Maiden Bass played very similar to my 77 P-Bass. I had a 78 P-Bass that the Maiden plays almost identically to. The Maiden bass rules, but actually doesn't inherently sound very Maiden-ish. My G&L did.
I love the Maiden-P bass. Only flaws: The fretwork aint great, the tuners are so-so, and I replaced to SD 1/4lb with an EMG. Now the bass does what a P-Bass does (James Jamerson tone).
I used stainless flats for a while because one of my bands mates frown on trebly bass tones. The flats don't necessarily dull your overall tone, but minimize fret noise while sliding between notes. This worked overall, but as the flats got dull, i was constantly having to re-arrange my amp's EQ. I found a better remedy. I have changed back to regular stings and sometimes stainless. I prefer to keep my bass as bright as possible (new strings, low action, tone up, active pick up) and use my amp's EQ to control the bite or harshness, and use my hands to control the attack. This works better than having a "dead" sounding bass, and trying to liven it up. you can't shine a turd.
Steve Harris obviously plays with a lot of treble. The flats kill the slide noise (gliss) not the attack noise. Without the flats we would hear tons of "screech". His tone is all usuing treble and finger attack. also he used an Ibanez musician with a P-J set-up for a lot of stuff. this nails his tone much easier than a P-Bass.
MM
I can sum this forum up with three simple yet powerful words.....
STEVE IS GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
While 99% of bass players out there are satisfied bouncing around on the root notes, Steve made the bass to be a main instrument. I played guitar for 15 years, and recently changed to bass.
I am proud & honored to say Steve Harris, who I truly view as a "God", has been a major influence on my playing style.
STEVE IS GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
While 99% of bass players out there are satisfied bouncing around on the root notes, Steve made the bass to be a main instrument. I played guitar for 15 years, and recently changed to bass.
I am proud & honored to say Steve Harris, who I truly view as a "God", has been a major influence on my playing style.
Well, of course from my screen name, one could guess Steve Harris is my choice for best bassist. However, being a BRAND NEW player I am sure the likes of Billy Sheehan and lots of the jazz guys are going to further blow me away down the line. Metal is my first love and it will be hard to top Stevie though...
jagerm32 said:
geezer butler made the bass a main instrument in my opinion...and that was 10 ish years before harris
Steve Harris is a awesome bassist and songwritter. I remember being turned on to Killers for the first time. The sound of his bass and the tasteful bass lines blew me away. I hadnt started playing bass yet, I played the drums. After hearing the album, that was all it took to become a hardcore Maiden fan. He will always inspire me, and from what I hear is a cool person to hang with. I see Nicko in my neighborhood every once and a while (always has a nice thing to say) too.
I think it would be cool to know if any of these bassists belong to this forum and if they read what we have to say about them and contribute under an alias name. I am sure they do.
I think it would be cool to know if any of these bassists belong to this forum and if they read what we have to say about them and contribute under an alias name. I am sure they do.
Grug said:Entwistle and mcartney made the bass a main instrument, then geezer, then steve, then cliff (and that wasnt just main, that was lead bass)
I think Chris Squire is in there, too.
I have the Rock in rio DVD and it's awesome a credit to all his hardwork even if he had to put up with Thundersticks 
If you have that documentary DVD you know what I'm talkin about
If you have that documentary DVD you know what I'm talkin about
