Simple songs that are not so simple

New Tricks

Platinum Member
I usually think I can just sit down and play any normal radio pop song just from hearing it on the radio a couple times but yesterday, I got schooled.

Somebody wants me to play John Mayer's "No Such Thing" next week. I said, "no problem" thinking all I had to do was listen to it a couple times. It's a nice tune and I've heard it before.

Crap.

The basic parts are simple enough and it's right there in the grove I like to play and listen to. It's nothing overly complex but damn if it didn't take me 50 times to get the subtle changes down.

Two times, I swear he comes into a measure 1/64 early (like the beginning of the drum part) just to mess with me. It would sound fine without that little touch but I decided to fight with it for an hour, just because.

Also, although it's laid out in typical verse chorus bridge fashion, the meter of the lyrics made it more difficult for me to follow than less sophisticated music.

I think I'm into it about 3 hours now :) I thought drums are supposed to be easy.
 
I was actually told that the drums are one of the hardest to learn. After just my second lesson(third lesson is on Tuesday), and trying to get my two left hands and two right feet to work together, I am starting to believe it.
 
I didn't know the song by name, but once I heard it I recognized it. I never listened closely before, but that has some tasty and deceptively simple sounding drumming on it. Awesome groove. I hope to spend some time on it myself. I pick up songs quickly, but I can see needing to devote several hours to that. Maybe more.

Great stuff!
 
Here's a much different take on "No Such Thing." Keith Carlock on drums. Of course he works his own magic on it, but a lot of the little things from the studio version are no longer there. It's a cool interpretation that shows how much you can do with a "simple" song.

http://youtu.be/Gm55rHqgPo4
 
Cool song. I had forgotten all about that one. It's definitely a song I'd have to sit down with for awhile and learn. There's a lot to remember with the different beat changes, but nothing is out of reach. I hear that intro you're talking about. it sounds like he comes in with a bark on the hi-hats right before the downbeat.
 
I had no idea Keith played with JM. I really like his take on, what I've always thought, was a great song.
 
I usually think I can just sit down and play any normal radio pop song just from hearing it on the radio a couple times but yesterday, I got schooled.

Somebody wants me to play John Mayer's "No Such Thing" next week. I said, "no problem" thinking all I had to do was listen to it a couple times. It's a nice tune and I've heard it before.

Crap.

The basic parts are simple enough and it's right there in the grove I like to play and listen to. It's nothing overly complex but damn if it didn't take me 50 times to get the subtle changes down.

Two times, I swear he comes into a measure 1/64 early (like the beginning of the drum part) just to mess with me. It would sound fine without that little touch but I decided to fight with it for an hour, just because.

Also, although it's laid out in typical verse chorus bridge fashion, the meter of the lyrics made it more difficult for me to follow than less sophisticated music.

I think I'm into it about 3 hours now :) I thought drums are supposed to be easy.

Most that take up the instrument,feel that way after a time,or sooner than they think

Drums ARE easy at first..a simple 4 on the floor,can be learned sometimes in hours,and a fill here and there takes a little more time to learn, and soon, you can fudge lots of "simple" rock tunes.

Then ...you hit a wall,and everything that's not the above,becomes more difficult.

Feel ,is the hardest thing to develop,and Steve Jordan and Keith Carlock,have that in spades...which is why they work with Mayer so much.

Steve B
 
Katatonia's newer stuff. To me it always sounded simple, but took me a lot longer than expected to learn a lot of their stuff.
 
Shoot To Thrill AC DC not so easy as it sounds
 
A lot of stuff Ringo did would qualify
 
Barracuda by Heart. Mike Derosiers (spelling?). At first it sounds like a great straight ahead driving rock groove. However, the feel and little things he adds are just not easy to duplicate.
 
A lot of stuff Ringo did would qualify
Exactly what I was thinking. A lot of The Beatles' stuff is easy enough to play but if you really want to nail the parts and the feel of Ringo, you have to do your homework.
 
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