Yes - getting a player's feel or even tone nailed can be part of what makes playing it difficult.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
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 free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Whats the hardest song you play?
- Thread starter Tituscrow
- Start date
Yes - getting a player's feel or even tone nailed can be part of what makes playing it difficult.
ok i gotta be the grinch here and say i think a lot of these songs arent being played in a live band setting , but more of a bedroom setting . theres a huge difference in pulling off some hard material on stage during a 4 hour show , standing up all night (not sitting on the corner of your bed ) , trying to play the hard stuff during your last 45 min set after you are getting tired (esp me i have carpal ts) , and not playing along to the original track . not trying to say any of you arent good players or great players , but there is a difference in playing for 30 minutes here and there and pulling off a tough tune or playing all night and doing it ....
for the record, i was talking about playing with my cover band, which does 3 hour live sets. That's the only time my hand would cramp.
me too , normally 4 hour shows and some 5 hr shows . esp if i have a repetive riff later on in the night , my left hand and forearm will cramp . im not a great bassist by any means compared to a lot of these guys on here . but i have been good enough to play in bands for over 15 years .
its like ive seen singers that can sing one hard song and then be spent , its the good singers that can do it all night and still pull off hard tunes later on in the show ... thats what i meant by my post . and like i said no offense to anyone NOT in a band , but there is a difference in the comforts of home and the rigors of gigs ....
Are you comparing yourselves to a starting pitcher in MLB? Do you need a relief bass player 
toward the end of the evening?
toward the end of the evening?
It's hard to pick one with all those songs that have Pete Wentz playing on them....LOL
Mine, in all seriousness, is either POW by Larry Graham or H. by Tool
Mine, in all seriousness, is either POW by Larry Graham or H. by Tool
I sing (lead) & play bass, so almost everything starts off as a challenge. Among the tougher songs are, "Lessons in Love" (Level 42), "Rio" (Duran Duran), "Spirits in the Material World" (The Police), & "Come Together" (The Beatles). The challenges come from sequencing the bass & singing, and holding the groove at the same time. When it works, I feel great. When it doesn't, my ego takes a beating 
"More Love" by Victor Wooten. For as small as he is, he must have bigger hands proportionately because I'm taller but with small hands so the chorus section is a brutal reach for me, hehe.
Nick901 said:Are you comparing yourselves to a starting pitcher in MLB? Do you need a relief bass player
Not unless we get bought too many jäger bombs ! Lol
Great point. I find 12 bar blues to be really hard to do for any time that's over 20 minutes, but I can get by and do a set fully of Rush and Yes songs back to back and be perfectly fine.
Jarrod also hit another point. I can (more like could) do a number of Victor Wooten songs in the bedroom and could record them well enough, but as soon as I was in a live setting I would fumble and make stupid mistakes.
Are you comparing yourselves to a starting pitcher in MLB? Do you need a relief bass player
I wish that were possible.
Set 1 - Wheee. Fun, but a little slow to get going. No one is dancing yet, and you and the band are getting warmed up.
Set 2 & 3 - WOO HOO! That's where the fun is. Everybody is dancing and getting drunk! Best songs in these set. These are the money sets!
Set 4 - ug. Everybody is wrapping it up... closing time is 2:00a in Phoenix, a lot of people split before then. Energy starts to dwindle and you start to think of load out, the drive home, and then the second load out. oooof. Then you have someone wasted biker call out some ridiculous song that you know is gonna hurt! Really? Master of Puppets at 1:40 am? And the singer says OK. Super. Cause the know the drummer is gonna warp speed the damn thing. For the love of Cliff Burton...
I hate Set 4. There, I said it.
mmm I do not usually have trouble learning songs, but "chick corea - got a match" was a little trickier
Left Hand- Dazed and Confused bridge (he does these weird E- E sus 2 fingerings and uses these weird arpeggios)
Right Hand- a lot of live john entwistle stuff. i cnat really produce his percussive finger slaps too well, but his are just phenomenal.
Im throwing YYZ and Freewill andTom Sawyer because i sing and play bass, and taking time to hit the high notes and still hold down the lines is pretty damn hard
Right Hand- a lot of live john entwistle stuff. i cnat really produce his percussive finger slaps too well, but his are just phenomenal.
Im throwing YYZ and Freewill andTom Sawyer because i sing and play bass, and taking time to hit the high notes and still hold down the lines is pretty damn hard
Has anyone said Sweet Home Alabama?
I mentioned that I heard a group of individuals actually practicing this; the response was that rehearsing the song is somewhat like rehearsing the steps associated with tying your shoe...
I mentioned that I heard a group of individuals actually practicing this; the response was that rehearsing the song is somewhat like rehearsing the steps associated with tying your shoe...
I think I mentioned that one, it's just so damn fast on the left hand. All of that Death Magnetic stuff makes me feel Rob Trujillo is really underrated.
I sing (lead) & play bass, so almost everything starts off as a challenge. Among the tougher songs are, "Lessons in Love" (Level 42), "Rio" (Duran Duran), "Spirits in the Material World" (The Police), & "Come Together" (The Beatles). The challenges come from sequencing the bass & singing, and holding the groove at the same time. When it works, I feel great. When it doesn't, my ego takes a beating
I can't even imagine trying to sing and play Rio at the same time. I can easily sing it, but just playing it without singing is difficult enough. The Police are also notoriously hard to sing and play at the same time. Rush is much more difficult to play, but much easier to sing and play because Geddy is singing the same notes he is playing. I don't consider Sting a virtuoso player, but he has great technique and is very solid, but to sing and play Police songs, it seems you have to think of 2 entirely different things at the same time because what he is singing is totally different from what he is playing.
i remember being a kid and being asked that question all the time.
not going to lie, i laughed when i read the title..
to try and give a legitimate answer, a year or so ago i performed beethoven's pastoral symphony with a college orchestra. i've done plenty or orchestral playing; but that was unreal how intense those bass parts can be.
not going to lie, i laughed when i read the title..
to try and give a legitimate answer, a year or so ago i performed beethoven's pastoral symphony with a college orchestra. i've done plenty or orchestral playing; but that was unreal how intense those bass parts can be.
