• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join freeLog in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Whats the hardest song you play?

Just remembered our catastrophic attempt at the Dead Kennedys 'Ill In The Head'.

Think if I had a time machine and could witness ANY event in history, I'd go back and record myself playing it right through for the one and only time alone in my room, then return to the present day and show my bandmates, who don't believe I've ever done it!
 
Without a doubt Portrait of Tracy, Kuru/Speak Like A Child, Teen Town, etc. But honestly Kuru is all stamina and pure plucking speed, Tracy has that ridiculous sixth fret harmonic stretch, and Teen Town has some real tough passages.

Other than that, I always thought Digital Man was much harder than YYZ, same goes for the Analog Kid. The head from Donna Lee has always been something I've never been able to play, however, maybe this thread should be called "Songs I could never learn", could be interesting :)
 
I don't necessarily try to learn "chops" stuff; I like to learn guitar, piano, vocal, and orchestra and symphonic themes by ear. David Gilmore's parts on "Echoes" and solo arrangements of other pop songs from the Beatles and Queen and the classical and jazz literature (I'm learning and transposing the F Clef Real Book for mandolin right now, chords and themes). I'm a better all around musician, composer and arranger because of this. I'm not Jaco, and I'm not trying to be. I'm a musician, not a bass player, and that's what separates me from the bass-centric approach that a lot of people take to the instrument.
 
There's a guy on YT who does it really well. I am definitely not a fan of DD or any of that genre of music, but that is a cool *** bass line. Ghost notes are perfect. JT is bad ***.


I can't find the video I was talking about ( It's been a year or so since I was checking it out), but I did find this one again. Not perfect, but she sure is fun to watch. :)



‪Rio Bass Cover‬‏ - YouTube

The video you are PROBABLY looking for is ZUMA!
‪Duran Duran - Rio - bass lesson‬‏ - YouTube
He's the only person I've seen on YT that has got those ghost notes DOWN!
 
Ok is the original question supposed to mean whats the hardest song you play in public as part of a setlist for a band, or the hardest song you learned to play at some point in your life?

There is a difference, as part of my band I would say its a tie between Sweet Child O Mine, Carry on our wayward son, and Spirit of Radio. None of them is hard to play on their own, but those are the hardest in our classic rock cover band setlist. I embellish other songs and can make them as hard as I want to.
 
In the Tony Island band I played in from 1996-2001, there was a song called "Turpentine" (original piece) that had a cool unison figure that you could not do in your sleep. I still play it to this day (became a song I used to test fretted basses with).

For fretless, I occasionally take a stab at Brand X's "Ghost of The Mayfield Lodge", that is NOT an easy piece, especially that middle section!
 
I can make anything look really hard. It's what I do best.

And it's always my fault when the band stops playing.

Sometimes the band doesn't even start until I've messed up. Every now and again, the fail is so epic they even hold up scorecards (points based in difficulty, execution, and hilarity factor).