Most challening fingerstyle songs

[Chrisk-K]

No other songs would kill your hands more than Maiden's "Caught Somewhere in Time." I can play "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" from the beginning to the end without taking a break However, I can not play the verse and chorus of "Caught Somewhere in Time" for more than 1 minute.

 

[raymondl3]

The ones that kill me aren't the fast technical tunes, but rather the tunes with a single, repeating bass figure that I play over and over again for an entire 4 to 10 minute period. Chameleon is like that, also a Diggable Planets tune called "Pacifics" that we sometimes do. There's nothing challenging about the lick, but playing it over and over and over and over again makes my left hand want to fall off of my arm.

I've played some like that...like "Funky Good Time" in F on a 4-string for 5 minutes while the singer talks to the audience.

 

[raymondl3]

Ok, I have to ask. How does the bassist get that tone in 'Stratus'? That tone is sooo good! Is he using some kind of compression?

The original bassist was Lee Sklar. He might have played his famous modded P-Bass with P-P pickup configuration. There's probably a classic 70's studio compressor in there too.

 

[Valerus]

No other songs would kill your hands more than Maiden's "Caught Somewhere in Time." I can play "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" from the beginning to the end without taking a break However, I can not play the verse and chorus of "Caught Somewhere in Time" for more than 1 minute.

no joke. i stopped trying that track.

 

[raymondl3]

Gotta Match? - Chick Corea
Freedom Jazz Dance (melody)
Donna Lee (melody)
Not Ethiopia - Brecker Brothers (melody)
Teen Town - Jaco
Havona - Jaco
Endangered Species - Wayne Shorter

 

[Eater_of_Birds]

damn that reggie young clip is crazy. not just the bass either.

lol just saw hammer smashed face, Alex Webster is a machine. hes why i started out trying to use 3 fingers over 2. i cant even comprehend 4 though...

 

[Chrisk-K]

I also nominate "Dance, dance, dance" by Chic, especially a live version. Bernard plays an F octave galloping pattern throughout the song for like 8 minutes. My left hand gets numb after 2-3 minutes.

 

[StingrayVB]

This.


easily one of my favorite bass lines ever.

 

[Buxtehude]

Learning to cleanly play Talkin' Loud from Incognito is currently whippin' several aspects of my playing.

Me too. Had to read it for a gig and the chorus is a killer. Verse not too bad but all quick and busy

 

[anonymous122511]

What Is Hip? by Tower Of Power.
Maybe doesn't sound like there's much going on but sit down after lunch to cop this line and you'll realize pretty quickly it's gonna be a long afternoon.

 

[Buxtehude]

I loved playing 'What is Hip' in my high school jazz band. Awesome song!

and tiring if you have to rehearse it more than 3-4 times in a row.

 

[Melik]

Endangered Species + anything else from Atlantis and High Life albums. Also I would recommend something by AWB, it may not be something you're looking for under the title "Most challenging fingerstyle songs" but they're hard to play funky!

 

[Eater_of_Birds]

This.


easily one of my favorite bass lines ever.

this, keep forgetting the guys name cause of its difficult spelling, crazy bass. the solo in ''Orbital Elements'' is extremely cool as well.

 

[eddododo]

marcus's take on what is hip is much easier to play than Tower of Powers original bassline

(its not a marcus song)


and donna lee was written by miles davis, little known fact

 

[austentaciousC]

marcus's take on what is hip is much easier to play than Tower of Powers original bassline

(its not a marcus song)


and donna lee was written by miles davis, little known fact

Is it easier because its faster? Thats the case for me, i learned the miller version first and the original is painful to play

 

[turbo2256b]

How about Almost anything Jaco

This guy gives me the most trouble.. Might have a lot to do with the fact I dont have a fretless yet.

 

[ZackariaMessiah]

This guy gives me the most trouble.. Might have a lot to do with the fact I dont have a fretless yet.

But how can the fact that you don't yet own a fretless make the fingerplaying harder? If you're not used to playing fretless it will probably be harder to play than a fretted. Maybe you just meant the sound, but since we're talking about finger-picking I assumed that was what you meant.

However you can get a jaco-sound without a fretted with some mid-range, a bit of treble and bass and stuff. And good fingerpicking, of course. (I'm a Swede, and I'm not that good at music sound-terms and effects in English, so if I just made a fool of myself it's because of that...)

 

[raymondl3]

What Is Hip? by Tower Of Power.
Maybe doesn't sound like there's much going on but sit down after lunch to cop this line and you'll realize pretty quickly it's gonna be a long afternoon.

I got to see them last year and could hear absolutely zero bass. What a disappointment. Thanks sound guy!

 

[raymondl3]

But how can the fact that you don't yet own a fretless make the fingerplaying harder? If you're not used to playing fretless it will probably be harder to play than a fretted. Maybe you just meant the sound, but since we're talking about finger-picking I assumed that was what you meant.

However you can get a jaco-sound without a fretted with some mid-range, a bit of treble and bass and stuff. And good fingerpicking, of course. (I'm a Swede, and I'm not that good at music sound-terms and effects in English, so if I just made a fool of myself it's because of that...)

No excuse. I went to school with you Swedes at MI and you spoke better English than I did!

 

[turbo2256b]

Mostly the sound. Did he use any effects?