Hardest song to play is.....

[marinald]

Well, I dabble on the guitar and was curious as to what Smith song do you
fellow guitar players have a hard time performing. I thought back to the
old house would be difficult but I mastered that one pretty well I must
say. I do have a hard time with Barbarism. I'm definitely lacking in
the finger speed department.
Also, I don't play bass but was curious how difficult is it to
duplicate Andy Rourke. I think that the bass line to Heaven Knows sounds
pretty hard. Later....

[Matthew Tateishi]

Well, IMHO, the hardest song to play is (drumroll please):

"William It Was Really Nothing"

Rhythmically, I think this song is pretty damn difficult. More difficult than "Barbarism..." More difficult
than "Bigmouth Strikes Again" (and that was no piece of cake, let me tell you). As far as melodic lead lines, I
think "Ask" or "Some Girls..." was pretty tough to get a handle on. "Ask" in particular requires your left hand
to do some pretty tricky things.

I just have one word to say about Andy Rourke's basslines: AWESOME. The only bass player whose lines are as
melodically interesting as the guitar parts. They're certainly more difficult than, say, U2 basslines, but I
wouldn't say they were as difficult as the guitar riff to "What Difference Does It Make." They sure are fun to
play, though.

--Matt

[William Cochran]

In article <4k1277$9...@news2.acs.oakland.edu>,

mari...@saturn.acs.oakland.edu (marinald) wrote:
>
>Well, I dabble on the guitar and was curious as to what Smith song do you
>fellow guitar players have a hard time performing. I thought back to the
>old house would be difficult but I mastered that one pretty well I must
>say. I do have a hard time with Barbarism. I'm definitely lacking in
>the finger speed department.
> Also, I don't play bass but was curious how difficult is it to
>duplicate Andy Rourke. I think that the bass line to Heaven Knows sounds
>pretty hard. Later....

Headmaster Ritual is impossible for me to figure out on guitar and exceedingly
difficult on bass--a lot of changes and a strange flow to the song. I have
the "official" `Strangeways...' songbook and `Stop Me' makes no sense with the
chords they give you--it's a toughie too.
Incidently, I think Andy and Mike are one of the most underrated rythm
sections in music history. See you... (Hope this worked, it's my first post)
-Bill C in SB

[Ali Awan]

William Cochran (coc...@west.net) wrote:
: In article <4k1277$9...@news2.acs.oakland.edu>,

[Ali Awan]

For me the hardest song to play is Still Ill.

Hey I'd be interested if the guy who figured out Back To The Old House could
send me the chords or tab.

I agree that Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce were grossly underrated.

Ali

[Sonny Coccera]

coc...@west.net (William Cochran) wrote:

>Headmaster Ritual is impossible for me to figure out on guitar and exceedingly
>difficult on bass--a lot of changes and a strange flow to the song. I have
>the "official" `Strangeways...' songbook and `Stop Me' makes no sense with the
>chords they give you--it's a toughie too.
> Incidently, I think Andy and Mike are one of the most underrated rythm
>sections in music history. See you... (Hope this worked, it's my first post)
> -Bill C in SB

I figured out the bass on Headmaster Ritual. It is all over the
place. It seems like none of those Smiths songbooks are correct.
First of all they print it in piano notation which makes it hard to
use for guitar and bass players alike. And the chord voicings 9 times
out of 10 are incorrect. It seems like everything has to be figured
out by ear.

It'd be nice if the publishers would reprint with correct chords and
fingerings. I haven't even tried to figure out the guitar!

Sonny
ej5...@goodnet.com

[casey singleton]

have you checked out the louder than bombs guitar TAB (!!) book. i just
got my copy a few days ago and it is fantastic. because i've worked every
night up until now (and am breaking from a paper) i have yet to use it
that much, but from what i've looked at it was a $35.00 well spent. look
for it at your local sheet music retailer. i had to special order mine
and got it in about ten days. if you are interested, i'll send you
publisher's info, ISBN number, etc. etc.
take care and good luck!!
casey

[Thomas W. Florian]

Personally it would have to be "This Charming Man" I could never quite
get the melody. Two that I would of said a few years back would have
been "Girl Afraid" and "Still Ill", I have since got those two to where
I'm happy with my interpretations. Trying to capture Johnny's style has
really improved my own songwriting ie. melody, chord progressions., He
is still the most influential and challenging guitarist I have listened
to.

Thomas W. Florian

"It's all so calculated, she's got a calculater.
She's my soft touch typewriter, I'm the great dictator." The King

[phi...@maires.co.uk]

awa...@iscssun.uni.edu (Ali Awan) wrote:

>William Cochran (coc...@west.net) wrote:
>: In article <4k1277$9...@news2.acs.oakland.edu>,
>: mari...@saturn.acs.oakland.edu (marinald) wrote:
>: >
>: >Well, I dabble on the guitar and was curious as to what Smith song do you
>: >fellow guitar players have a hard time performing. I thought back to the
>: >old house would be difficult but I mastered that one pretty well I must
>: >say. I do have a hard time with Barbarism. I'm definitely lacking in
>: >the finger speed department.
>: > Also, I don't play bass but was curious how difficult is it to
>: >duplicate Andy Rourke. I think that the bass line to Heaven Knows sounds
>: >pretty hard. Later....

>: Headmaster Ritual is impossible for me to figure out on guitar and exceedingly

>: difficult on bass--a lot of changes and a strange flow to the song. I have
>: the "official" `Strangeways...' songbook and `Stop Me' makes no sense with the
>: chords they give you--it's a toughie too.
>: Incidently, I think Andy and Mike are one of the most underrated rythm
>: sections in music history. See you... (Hope this worked, it's my first post)
>: -Bill C in SB

try "Girl afraid" - it's a killer !!!

[LLivermore]

>Personally it would have to be "This Charming Man" I could never quite
>get the melody

Well, being only an idiot rhythm guitarist myself, I haven't even come
close to playing that one, but our lead guitarist, bassist and drummer
have got it down picture perfect. Now as soon as I can master the
vocals...

[Adam Schaffer]

"Headmaster Ritual" seems about as hard as "Well I Wonder" to figure out
for me. I think it's because there's two guitars playing two different
chords during Moz's "Well I wonnnnnder..." part.

William Cochran (coc...@west.net) wrote:

: Headmaster Ritual is impossible for me to figure out on guitar and exceedingly
: difficult on bass--a lot of changes and a strange flow to the song. I have
: the "official" `Strangeways...' songbook and `Stop Me' makes no sense with the
: chords they give you--it's a toughie too.

STOP ME IF YOU THINK YOU'VE HEARD THIS ONE BEFORE
Marr/Morrissey

HUGE TIP: Use a capo on the 3rd fret for "Stop Me...".
(all open notes on the third fret are indicated with zeros [0])

The chords during the verses are

X03330
X03000
X32013
X54035

then the bridge goes

133210
X02210 Cm
X02230
X02210
X02200
133210

then...

XXX21X
XXX43X
XXX21X
XXX43X
XXX54X

then back to the verses

and at the end it goes:

X98676 (like a C barre chord) A
X76454 (like a C barre chord) G
X76750 G7

c'mon, that wasn't so hard, now was it?

Adam

[J-P Stacey]

Most of the songs have a certain degree of difficulty playing live seeing
as Johnny Marr plays half a dozen guitar parts on the studio tracks and
overlays them all...

Anyone got half a dozen guitars and very nimble fingers?

J-P

A heartless hand on my shoulder, a push and it's over