The "Songs which are more difficult than they sound" thread

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BucketBucket Frets: 7751
edited October 2013 in Technique
Apart from the obvious Mr Brightside, there's the intro to this old track, which I've been trying to learn since my dad showed me the song - it caught my ear. It's a really good song.


Now, on a standard-tuned guitar that jangly 12-string intro requires you to be capo'd at the 6th fret, which means that my long spidery fingers are cramped right up together so it's rather uncomfortable. Ah well, I'll get there...

So, over to you... what songs have you been surprised by before, when you tried to learn them and found them much more difficult than you were expecting?
- "I'm going to write a very stiff letter. A VERY stiff letter. On cardboard."
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  • vizviz Frets: 10647
    Design for life by the MSP
    Roland said: Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.
    Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
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  • The opening riff to "Burn" by Deep Purple when played correctly is harder than it sounds. I have long fingers so I use that for the bass note rather than the thumb which I find more difficult.

    Here is 3 Jacko songs where the songs aren't too difficult to learn but the Funky Guitar solos are a lot more challenging than they sound.

    1) Billie Jean

    2) Smooth Criminal (This one in particular to get it spot on)

    3) Wanna Be Startin' Something

    More

    Malcolm McLaren - Double Dutch: Great Guitar Line that sounds easier than it actually is

    The Smiths - What Difference Does It Make(Picking Riff)  I find that takes some sustained practice or I lose it.

    Blur - There's No Other Way. Have to concentrate hard for this song.

    Jeff Buckley - Grace (Picking Riff)

    I think all these were considerably harder to play than I first thought.

     

     

     

    B-)
    Only a Fool Would Say That.
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  • mike_lmike_l Frets: 5700
    most iron maiden songs are harder than they sound. Same with queensryche.

    Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21) 

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  • mudslide73mudslide73 Frets: 3049
    A lot of new wave stuff is deceptively hard.. simple chord sequences but clever arrangements. My Sharona and Pump it Up spring to mind (short and long verses, swapping chords over for just one sequence etc).
    "A city star won’t shine too far"


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  • A lot of new wave stuff is deceptively hard.. simple chord sequences but clever arrangements. My Sharona and Pump it Up spring to mind (short and long verses, swapping chords over for just one sequence etc).

    True. In "My Sharona" though, I think my main hurdle is the fast part of the solo :-B
    Only a Fool Would Say That.
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  • nickpnickp Frets: 183
    sex on fire?

    Is it just me or do others struggle with getting the intro right on Sex on Fire?

    I have seen a few bands (in fact most of em) play it wrong.

    We had to work quite hard to get it right on the nail.  and all I'm doing is chopping away at a chord onna offbeat :(  Mind you it helps if I play the right chord unlike Friday (doh!); not that the audience noticed


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  • stickyfiddlestickyfiddle Frets: 26753
    I've never seen a band get it exactly right (not that I see many cover bands).

    With my old lot we got around it by having the drums start to build some vibe, then I'd hit the intro after a few bars
    The Assumptions - UAE party band for all your rock & soul desires
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  • mike_l said:
    most iron maiden songs are harder than they sound. Same with queensryche.
    I never thought QR songs sounded easy...
    <space for hire>
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  • vizviz Frets: 10647
    edited October 2013
    Burn is absolute classic Richie Blackmore technique - 4th and 5th (or 5th and 6th) strings, played half-barred with the 2nd and 3rd fingers or just the first finger, same as virtually every rainbow song and many deep purple ones :) - love his style
    Roland said: Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.
    Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
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  • mike_lmike_l Frets: 5700
    mike_l said:
    most iron maiden songs are harder than they sound. Same with queensryche.
    I never thought QR songs sounded easy...

    Queen of the Ryche, a straight forward rock song, much harder to play than it sounds.

    Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21) 

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  • EricTheWearyEricTheWeary Frets: 16253
    A lot of new wave stuff is deceptively hard.. simple chord sequences but clever arrangements. My Sharona and Pump it Up spring to mind (short and long verses, swapping chords over for just one sequence etc).
    just doing a few things like Clash and Sex Pistols and Dr Feelgood covers where you can get the basics in about 30 seconds but the arrangements are never straightforward ( although not necessarily clever) with extra lines in second choruses and stuff. So more of a memory test than a technique one.
    And when I did some Madness songs - no ska song uses more than 3 chords but Madness obviously got bored with that formula and started throwing whole chord dictionaries into the pot.
    Tipton is a small fishing village in the borough of Sandwell. 
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  • vizviz Frets: 10647
    That's like queen. The structure for killer queen has so many trip-up points it's a nightmare.
    Roland said: Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.
    Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
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  • Danny1969Danny1969 Frets: 10357

    Under the bridge, RHCP, the intros a bitch to get right

    Brown eyed girl, easy enough but so easy to screw up the intro when your on your own :)

    For sex on fire it's the drummers who generally get it wrong in my experience 

    A lot of the U2 stuff is harder than it looks, I see a lot of cover bands simplify stuff like Vertigo, Pride and such
    www.2020studios.co.uk 
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  • RockerRocker Frets: 4947
    The Boxer (Simon and Garfunkel) intro. Never got remotely close
    Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. [Albert Einstein]

    Nil Satis Nisi Optimum

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  • Rocker said:
    The Boxer (Simon and Garfunkel) intro. Never got remotely close
    while on the subject of acoustic music, I'd say 99% of James Taylor's guitar parts are hellishly difficult to play and get the same feel as him.
    "Working" software has only unobserved bugs. (Parroty Error: Pieces of Nine! Pieces of Nine!)
    Seriously: If you value it, take/fetch it yourself
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  • hywelghywelg Frets: 4302
    nickp said:
    sex on fire?

    Is it just me or do others struggle with getting the intro right on Sex on Fire?

    I have seen a few bands (in fact most of em) play it wrong.

    We had to work quite hard to get it right on the nail.  and all I'm doing is chopping away at a chord onna offbeat :(  Mind you it helps if I play the right chord unlike Friday (doh!); not that the audience noticed


    I agree I've never seen a cover band get it right. However I do think we do it right ;) The rhythmn changes on beat 3 of bar 3 (if the first unacompanied guitar is two bars long, then drums in on bar 3)  and after that it aligns with the drums, which are also playing an off beat thing which I can't explain. For a long time I thought the guitar part changed when the drums came in and we never managed to get it to gel, but then I twigged it was a later.
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  • mudslide73mudslide73 Frets: 3049
    I heard SOF in the chippy once and our version isn't even close. I play the off beat stuff and I've taken to coming in late because it was throwing everyone else off.
    "A city star won’t shine too far"


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  • equalsqlequalsql Frets: 6084
    Rocker said:
    The Boxer (Simon and Garfunkel) intro. Never got remotely close
    And not forgetting ' So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright' off the same album..that can be a pig.
    (pronounced: equal-sequel)   "I suffered for my art.. now it's your turn"
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  • My Name is Jonas.  

    It's one of the only songs that just eludes me completely that I feel like should definitely be within my ability...
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  • Can I add "Bark at the Moon" to this? I suggested it as one of our band's covers, and now I'm regretting it. Big time.
    <space for hire>
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