Vai songs - hardest to date?

[carlos seo]

Quote: from Cory Bottone on 2:30 pm on Aug. 3, 2001
Hey Carlos, I said the same exact thing about juice on a topic a long time ago. I can't play it either! It seems everyone here can but me! The hardest one I've came across is probably Fire Garden Suite (because of that end sweeping part) and Juice. But then again, I've never tried anything from P&W except FTLOG and Blue Powder.

Yes... "Juice" just kills me! But I won't try to figure it (again!) for a while...

From P&W, I can play "FTLOG", "Answers", "Sisters" (just some licks missing) and "I Would Love To".

Quote: from ripl3y on 7:47 pm on Aug. 3, 2001
I don't attempt many of his songs to be honest, I seem to have more joy with Joe's work.

But one I have spent a ridiculous amount of time on (so much so that it's now starting to annoy me) is Tender Surrender, basically because it is just the greatest tune I've ever heard.

Hey... I've also spent a lot of time on "Tender Surrender". But it does worth all the work... it's the greatest Vai song, in my opinion!

[Big Job]

'i think I play this song very well now, however just being able to do something doesn't make it easy'(jem7vwh)

You can play kill the guy with the ball? Yeah but you are right its different for everyone although once you've got a tune down it gets easier no matter what it is......One thing thats for sure its harder to play when you've just woken up....

[Devo]

how do you guys have the patience to go through a whole vai song and try to work out the rhythms???

trying to play 11 notes evenly over two beats just wrecks my head completely so I keep giving up?

I think this is because where my guitars are I cant play the cd so Im trying to imagine the song in my head.

does everyone here work from tab and cd simultaneously??

Steve

[Big Job]

This is not 'golden rule' to go by, but take it line by line and keep at it! It took me four hours to get the rythm to the intro of the 'attitude song' and a whole *******
lot longer to get the more complex rythms to 'kill the guy with the ball', in this instance it was a case of learning the notes down and then playing to cd untill the rythm was nailed.......which for some parts was harder that learning the single notes that make up the song. Thats why I found this the hardest piece to date - although the riddle is ment to be tough.....

[rosskoss]

Quote: from Devo on 3:10 pm on Aug. 4, 2001
how do you guys have the patience to go through a whole vai song and try to work out the rhythms???

trying to play 11 notes evenly over two beats just wrecks my head completely so I keep giving up?

I think this is because where my guitars are I cant play the cd so Im trying to imagine the song in my head.

does everyone here work from tab and cd simultaneously??

Steve

If you think Vai is hard,try playing some Dream Theater.Their songs are so complex(how on earth do they play A Change Of Season Live???) and it requires a lot of memory power to remember them.Try playing this small solo from Just Let Me Breathe-(copy and paste in notepad)


E||------------------|----11-13-9-------11-7--------14----------11-|
B||------------------|------------10-------------------------------|
G||------------------|---------------11------10-8------10-13-14----|
D||------------------|--9-------------------------9----------------|
A||------------------|---------------------------------------------|
E||------------------|---------------------------------------------|


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
--17-13----------19-14----13------------------|
----------------------------------------------|
--------16-14-------------------16/10-8-----8-|
--------------15-------16---------------9-7---|
-----------------------------14---------------|
----------------------------------------------|


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
----11-13-9-------11-7--------14----------11-|
------------10-------------------------------|
---------------11------10-8------10-13-14----|
--9-------------------------9----------------|
---------------------------------------------|
---------------------------------------------|


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
--------------------------------------------14-12-|
--15-14-12----------14-12-------17-12-------------|
-----------14-------------14-12-------14-12-------|
--------------16-14-------------------------------|
--------------------------------------------------|
--------------------------------------------------|


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
--------15-12-------17-12-------19-15-------21-17-|--19-21-19-17-17-19-17-15-|
--14-12-------14-12-------14-12-------17-15-------|--------------------------|
--------------------------------------------------|--------------------------|
--------------------------------------------------|--------------------------|
--------------------------------------------------|--------------------------|
--------------------------------------------------|--------------------------|


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
--15-17-15-14-------------|--------------------------|
--------------------------|--------------------------|
--------------16-18-16-14-|--14-16-14-12-12-14-12-11-|
--------------------------|--------------------------|
--------------------------|--------------------------|
--------------------------|--------------------------|


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
--------------------------------------------------|
--------------------------------------------------|
--14-13-12-11-------------------------------------|
--------------14-13-12-11-------------12-13-14-15-|
--------------------------12-13-14-15-------------|
--------------------------------------------------|


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
--------------------------------|----------||
--------------------------------|----------||
--11----------------11-12-13----|----------||
-----15-14-13-14-15-------------|----------||
--------------------------------|----------||
--------------------------------|----------||

(Edited by rosskoss at 5:19 pm on Aug. 12, 2001)

[jem7vwh]

i suppose that's all well and good, but I do have two issues here.

1. *if you are goin to post tab, please format it with courier font, it looks much prettier then.

2. *there's plenty more complex music than Vai in terms of number of notes and the archaic form of the notes played. *The challenge for me is becoming as fluid and smooth as Vai. *Mastering 600 bars of robotic alternate picked hexatonic scales is not my idea of learning, it's memorization.

[Devo]

ahh yes DT is quite simple, all they use is 16ths and the odd 16th triplet hence everything is a sinch to learn if you got the picking.

I totally agree with 7vwh its all about the smoothness and what you can conjur out of the music.

I love DT though!!!! I just find it much much easier relative to SV

[rosskoss]

Quote: from Devo on 4:12 am on Aug. 13, 2001
ahh yes DT is quite simple, all they use is 16ths and the odd 16th triplet hence everything is a sinch to learn if you got the picking.

I totally agree with 7vwh its all about the smoothness and what you can conjur out of the music.

I love DT though!!!! I just find it much much easier relative to SV

Devo try playing that solo above.

[YngVaiTriani]

No one has mentioned Eugene's Trick Bag. I guess if you practice 5 - 6 hours a day for 4 or 5 days it gets pretty easy. That's what I had to do. It worked! Now all I have to do is play 20 minutes or so every day and it gets closer and closer to perfection. If I REALLY wanted to NAIL it cold ASAP then i'd just do one more 5 hour practice on it.

[jay ratkowski]

Sheesh, you people are all lightweights.

Eugene's Trick Bag? *Simple.

The Attitude Song? *Piece 'o' cake.

You want a really hard song?

Try playing "When I Was A Little Boy" *Now that takes skills.

[jem7vwh]

LOL

I would, but I'm blind.

[Devo]

yeah, and my hairy palms keep getting caught in the strings!!!

:rotf:

[Vai is God]

Actually, Dream Theater's strange time signatures aren't difficult at all. They do a lot of straight 8th/16th beats. So as long as you alternate pick you don't have to count a damn thing. You can just play the consecutive 8ths in 1 and up where you're supposed to be. Petrucci's solo's aren't that difficult, not easy either, but if you have a good grasp on alternate picking it's just memorizing. That's why I don't learn a whole lot of DT, it's just pure, boring, memorization. The solos that I do learn of John's I use as alternate picking excercises.

Don't get me wrong, though, Dream Theater is my favorite band BY FAR. But, I always say you know when you really like something when you can criticize it, recognize it's not perfect, and still like it!

[jay ratkowski]

I don't want to defend DT... but...

"it's just pure, boring, memorization."

If you're learning cover songs, ALL music can be looked at this way. *It's purely a matter of opinion.

Personally, I'd rather write music for the next Smurf's renunion movie than learn a Vai song, or any music that is structured around a guitar solo.

[MD]

Tender Surrender. Not because of technique, but because of feeling.
I am not Vai. I'll never play it correctly, because it's his song, too personal.
Actually I never play Vai's songs public for these reasons.