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Songs with repetitive octave riffs
- Thread starter fretlessman71
- Start date
In the summer of 1980 I was in a Pizza Hut in Johnson City, TN for the all you can eat lunch buffet. Funkytown (then a new song) was on the jukebox, I forget how much money I put in (jukeboxes were cheaper then...10-25 cents per play) and selected the song multiple times. After about the fourth play, the manager unplugged the jukebox. Oh yeah, I hated Funkytown the first time I heard it and still hate it. I just have a sick sense of humor.
BTW Hard to believe but as I drove into Johnson City, "New York New York" by Sinatra came on my car radio. Yes, folks, that song, "Funkytown", "Time For Me To Fly" by REO Speedwagon and "Whip It" by Devo were all in the top 40 at the same time. How times change.
I need a hero... ugh... kicked my butt at a gig last year.... fast, and the bass line was almost all fast octaves haha
That Rod Stewart song should have been in the arm killer thread. I've played my share of disco, but I could never find a right hand position that worked without cramping!
I did the same thing in a country bar that was in a town where we were hose . They had a new jukebox full of nothing but really old country songs and, for some odd reason, The Addams Groove by MC Hammer. The new jukebox had a sub-woofer that was probably cranked in an attempt to weasel some bass out of those old country recordings. That thing came alive with the Hammer song and rattle glasses. I was drunk and did the same thing you did. By about the third play, I was probably about to get my a$$ beaten, before my sound guy dragged me out of there. Ah, good times. Good times.
I started gigging in the late 70's, just when Disco was everywhere. I landed in a great band with far more experienced players, and we played Stewart's 'D'Ya Think I'm Sexy', which they would stretch with longer solos to keep 'em dancing.
I'd only been playing about 18 months, and my hands were still forming. After 5 minutes plus of playing the late Phil Chen's bounding octaves part, my left hand would start to cramp ! ! ! It wasn't bad enough he'd left The Faces and his blues-shouter days, now he's a peroxide-bottle blond lounge lizard that's trying to kill me . . .
So, I'd suggest that song and any number of Disco hits from those days which had lots of eighth-note octave parts, and definitely Zeppelin's 'Immigrant Song' and 'The Wanton Song', which is a real workout with that riff hammered by JPJ and Page.
If you listen close to things like 'Car Wash', you'll hear a slide into these things, which is simply a fret below the note you want slid up to it.
I'd only been playing about 18 months, and my hands were still forming. After 5 minutes plus of playing the late Phil Chen's bounding octaves part, my left hand would start to cramp ! ! ! It wasn't bad enough he'd left The Faces and his blues-shouter days, now he's a peroxide-bottle blond lounge lizard that's trying to kill me . . .
So, I'd suggest that song and any number of Disco hits from those days which had lots of eighth-note octave parts, and definitely Zeppelin's 'Immigrant Song' and 'The Wanton Song', which is a real workout with that riff hammered by JPJ and Page.
If you listen close to things like 'Car Wash', you'll hear a slide into these things, which is simply a fret below the note you want slid up to it.
I started with Sweet Harmony by the Beloved.
Not too fast so a good one to start with. When it feels easy you can progress to something faster.
Not too fast so a good one to start with. When it feels easy you can progress to something faster.
Actually - the best repetitive Pink Floyd riff is, of course, Money, in 7/4 time: so you practice the riff and the unconventional timing together.
Steppin' Out - Joe Jackson. The entire bass track is eighth-note octaves, at a fairly fast tempo.
Everything ABBA! If you can read standard notation well, find a theatre group that is doing Mamma Mia and get involved in the pit. It is a fun show to play, but many of the lines are deceptively hard. I had to sight read it one time, thankfully it was only a rehearsal I was subbing for, and it was really challenging! Lots and lots of octave licks. I’ve never been a big ABBA fan, but now after having played a few productions of Mamma Mia, I have a much greater appreciation of their music.
That whole album got some great octave lines. Ironically, they're a big part of the punk feel. I been using the technique to fatten up root pounding bass ever since.
