What Iron Maiden songs to learn?

[fetfet]

I reiterate my point:

Ides of March into Wrathchild, and Powerslave are IME the easiest Iron Maiden Songs.

 

[jimmyjammer]

Hey, good choice. I learnt most of my early bass stuff by getting into Maiden, playing the cassette (yeah, I know, old huh) back and forward, working it out on the fretboard, over and over...

Here are the ones I reckon you should try to learn (they each do different things, speed on one string, switching between strings, fast runs, stretching)-

Wrathchild- this one is great for right hand speed

The Trooper- ah, the famous 'Harris gallop'; if you can do the triplet rhthym as fast as Steve _ with only two fingers _ for an extended period... go for it!

Rime of the Ancient Mariner- This one has it all; right hand speed, atmospherics... and a bird. Extra points if you can get the boat creaking noise with your bass.

Invaders- This is a mad blur of box runs... remember, to do this right you have to put your foot up on a box/chair/small dog and point the headstock at whoever comes into the practice space.

The Prisoner- Unison runs with the guitars, very very rockin'

Running Free or Killers- old skool Steve, fast and ridiculously hard to play when running around on stage in spandex dodging a 18-foot zombie.

Good luck...

 

[Colonel_Claypoo]

hell, every maiden song is great, just don't dare to play live stuff from the x-factor and virtual xi era (setlist, not neccesarily songs off these two albums) - those gallops are just insanely fast for two fingers

 

[Psychotic_Hell]

Wasted Years was my band warm up for ageeeeeeeeees. It is fun yet awesome.

 

[spade2you]

IMHO, everything other than Wrathchild and Phantom of the Opera aren't particularly difficult, for me anyway.

One trick I've used is to have lower action so I can get that sound without having to overwork my right hand. If you play with medium to high action, you really gotta hit the heck out of the string to get that sound. Slowly work up your galloping triplets by hitting with your ring, middle, then index finger (repeat, obviously). Make sure you build up your tempo gradually and evenly.

 

[duckbutter]

To Tame A Land

 

[remo]

To Tame A Land

I read this was Steve's favorite song... I love playing "Stranger In A Strange Land".. love the little bass solo interlude before the guitar solo..

 

[MtManiac]

IMHO, everything other than Wrathchild and Phantom of the Opera aren't particularly difficult, for me anyway.

Funny, for me those are the two that I have practiced the most and I can play start to finish - when I was younger, about 20 years ago, I could play them at album speed, I haven't tried that lately though, I doubt I could do it now.

Innocent Exile I always found challenging, but I love that bass intro, and especially love it when he plays the same part again later in the song while Dianno screams "Yeaaaahhh!"

 

[llacnayr]

Learn the song 'The Trooper', but instead of using 2 fingers, use 3 for the galloup part. Getting your ring finger active is pretty important for playing Iron Maiden

 

[Geddyfleaharris]

The Clarivoyant, off of Seventh Son of a Seventh Son.

Actually I was going to say the entire 7th Son CD. Steve has some great lines and fills all through the CD. I love his tone but it shines even more for me on 7th Son.

 

[Montsegour]

Don't know what's easy for you, but i'd recommend these :
Transylvania, Genghis Khan..
Simple, and nice for warmups ( ofc the trooper beside )
If they aint easy 4 you, get them anyway, progress =)

 

[Montsegour]

Learn the song 'The Trooper', but instead of using 2 fingers, use 3 for the galloup part. Getting your ring finger active is pretty important for playing Iron Maiden

Steve plays with 2 fingers.. I don't know what conspiracy made everyone think he uses 3..

 

[Andy Brown]

All tunes from Killers, Number of the Beast, Piece of Mind and Powerslave would be a good start. They really helped build up my stamina... playing that is.

 

[MtManiac]

Steve plays with 2 fingers.. I don't know what conspiracy made everyone think he uses 3..

I always played Maiden with two fingers - it looks like Steve uses three because his ring finger floats beside his midde finger, but I remember him stating in an interview that he uses two fingers.

 

[birdxofxprey]

Brave New world is my favorite Maiden album, especially "Blood Brothers" and "The Thin Line Between Love and Hate." These tunes have a unique combination of traits in that they are hard-hitting and also quite moving emotionally.

While there's a fair amount of "gallopping" in this album, the two songs mentioned are not all that tough.

 

[spade2you]

Funny, for me those are the two that I have practiced the most and I can play start to finish - when I was younger, about 20 years ago, I could play them at album speed, I haven't tried that lately though, I doubt I could do it now.

Innocent Exile I always found challenging, but I love that bass intro, and especially love it when he plays the same part again later in the song while Dianno screams "Yeaaaahhh!"

I don't really find 'em difficult, but hearing them from other players, it seems that those are the easiest to butcher. Those two require some interesting fingering and articulation where it's required to have the parts down at slower speeds before picking up the pace. Whenever I'd hear the locals, it was clear that this wasn't done when I was hearing flubs and slurred notes.

Steve plays with 2 fingers.. I don't know what conspiracy made everyone think he uses 3..

Really? Never bothered to look that up, but the 3 finger gallup makes the parts obscenely easy.

 

[low-endz]

The Trooper was easy for me and very popular with my bandmates & everyone else for that matter.


I want to learn Genghis Khan by the end of the week, I wish the rest of my band was eager to follow me in this.

 

[llacnayr]

Steve plays with 2 fingers.. I don't know what conspiracy made everyone think he uses 3..

Oh, my bad. I think I just like the sound of 3 fingers instead of two when gallouping.
Steve Harris is the man

 

[bobunit]

Really? Never bothered to look that up, but the 3 finger gallup makes the parts obscenely easy.

IMO, it really doesn't matter what technique you use as long as it accomplishes what you are after. I use two fingers.

 

[Scott in Dallas]

The Duellists.