_Frustrated, Incorporated
When No One Recognizes The Song You're Playing
Let me paint the scene:
You’re at a house party having a good time when suddenly that acoustic guitar that seems to materialize out of nowhere, finds it’s way into your hands. Before you know it, a friend mentions that you play and everyone takes notice as you begin to awkwardly think of a song. Finally, you break into your best performance only to have everyone stumped to identify it. “It’s “Let It Be” you say….come on…” Awkward scratches and reactions…”ohhhh…really? Play it again real quick…..ohhh yeahh NOW i see it….kinda..”
Unless you’re one of those quick draws that always has an arsenal of riffs to bust out ala-Robocop Leg-Gun style, it’s a common issue for guitarists and quite an embarrassing one at that.
Why does this happen? How can one NOT be able to identify such a classic as “Let It Be”?! That’s insane! Take it easy there, super fan…..let’s take a closer look….
Most songs played on guitar are accompaniments that leave it hard to identify without the vocal melody line. In other instances, the song is performed on a different instrument, such as a piano, as in this particular example.
“Well a C chord’s a C Chord!” you may say. And yes, mostly….but it doesn’t always register that way to a listener, especially a non-guitar player.
It can be frustrating, especially as a teacher, when you’re trying to show a part to a student and they look at you like you’re playing something out of a Tales From Crypt Theme Song Remix Album (unless you actually ARE, then that can be bad). It’s not until you sing a few lines of the melody, that you are able to successfully demonstrate the piece.
Even more interesting, is the fact that even immensely popular songs do not always have memorable guitar parts. For example, most people will not recognize the verse riff from Weezer’s “Buddy Holly”, while the song itself is huge. But sing the chorus, however, and they’ll be singing with you in .0002 seconds. Even the beloved “Stairway To Heaven” will fail to turn heads from time to time. Yes, yes, I shed a tear with you, sir.
So what if you’re not teaching and you just want to be able to pick up the guitar and have people identify what you play and give you some props for knowing songs? My Magic 8 ball says you have 3 options….
1.) Learn a bunch of very difficult classical pieces, such as “Fur Elise” by Beethoven, which is an awesome choice BTW, and I do recommend learning it. Major props for that. If you aren’t that disciplined, though, have no fear….you can always….
2.) Learn popular theme songs or children’s classics such as “It’s A Small World” or the theme song from “The Office”. Both are easy to identify even if one has never seen an episode of the latter. I am an example of this, as I overheard a keyboardist play it once and knew it immediately, though had never watched an episode up until that point.
3.) Learn some easily-identifiable riffs to have on-hand in this case. Check out my Tabs & Riffs Section
Keep in mind there’s always exceptions, but here’s 3 riffs with tab links to get you started. There is always a chance someone just doesn’t know music and has been living in a cave and will be returning there shortly, so don’t pay no mind to that; you can know you still played a riff MOST people know…..and you met a cave person, right?
ALSO keep in mind, you may not necessarily LIKE these songs, they are just suggestions of some riffs I’ll play when completely stumped and thinking that the last 15 years that I’ve spent learning the guitar amount to nothing in this moment, when I can’t play even a few notes of a song for this girl in front of me, to show her I actually can in fact, play the guitar. Frustrating, people. Frustrating.
Onto the songs:
1.) “Hey There, Delilah” - Plain White T’s
- Already thinking of the riff right? Yes, very, very, easy to remember this one.
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/p/plain_white_ts/hey_there_delilah_ver2_tab.htm
2.) “What It’s Like” - Everlast
- PERFECT example of not liking a song people know very well. I really DON”T like this song, but everyone knows the riff. Perhaps there’s a link between very, very, very, popular music and it being disliked after awhile? NAH that would NEVER make sense….
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/e/everlast/what_its_like_ver2_tab.htm
3.) “Slide” - Goo Goo Dolls
- Yes, I have to throw one of my favorite bands in here, but not because I’m biased, this is just another very well-known riff! And unlike the last one, most people will actually welcome hearing it!
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/g/goo_goo_dolls/slide_ver3_tab.htm
Now as you may or may not know, most of the Goo’s tunings are odd and this one is no stranger to a weird tuning. However, to avoid retuning the whole guitar and risk busting a string and looking like a jack, here’s a version in standard tuning to bust it out on the spot…..
There are many, many ,more….just do a search on a billboard chart or use your brain…you’ll find some more! Good luck, you life of the party, you.
You’re at a house party having a good time when suddenly that acoustic guitar that seems to materialize out of nowhere, finds it’s way into your hands. Before you know it, a friend mentions that you play and everyone takes notice as you begin to awkwardly think of a song. Finally, you break into your best performance only to have everyone stumped to identify it. “It’s “Let It Be” you say….come on…” Awkward scratches and reactions…”ohhhh…really? Play it again real quick…..ohhh yeahh NOW i see it….kinda..”
Unless you’re one of those quick draws that always has an arsenal of riffs to bust out ala-Robocop Leg-Gun style, it’s a common issue for guitarists and quite an embarrassing one at that.
Why does this happen? How can one NOT be able to identify such a classic as “Let It Be”?! That’s insane! Take it easy there, super fan…..let’s take a closer look….
Most songs played on guitar are accompaniments that leave it hard to identify without the vocal melody line. In other instances, the song is performed on a different instrument, such as a piano, as in this particular example.
“Well a C chord’s a C Chord!” you may say. And yes, mostly….but it doesn’t always register that way to a listener, especially a non-guitar player.
It can be frustrating, especially as a teacher, when you’re trying to show a part to a student and they look at you like you’re playing something out of a Tales From Crypt Theme Song Remix Album (unless you actually ARE, then that can be bad). It’s not until you sing a few lines of the melody, that you are able to successfully demonstrate the piece.
Even more interesting, is the fact that even immensely popular songs do not always have memorable guitar parts. For example, most people will not recognize the verse riff from Weezer’s “Buddy Holly”, while the song itself is huge. But sing the chorus, however, and they’ll be singing with you in .0002 seconds. Even the beloved “Stairway To Heaven” will fail to turn heads from time to time. Yes, yes, I shed a tear with you, sir.
So what if you’re not teaching and you just want to be able to pick up the guitar and have people identify what you play and give you some props for knowing songs? My Magic 8 ball says you have 3 options….
1.) Learn a bunch of very difficult classical pieces, such as “Fur Elise” by Beethoven, which is an awesome choice BTW, and I do recommend learning it. Major props for that. If you aren’t that disciplined, though, have no fear….you can always….
2.) Learn popular theme songs or children’s classics such as “It’s A Small World” or the theme song from “The Office”. Both are easy to identify even if one has never seen an episode of the latter. I am an example of this, as I overheard a keyboardist play it once and knew it immediately, though had never watched an episode up until that point.
3.) Learn some easily-identifiable riffs to have on-hand in this case. Check out my Tabs & Riffs Section
Keep in mind there’s always exceptions, but here’s 3 riffs with tab links to get you started. There is always a chance someone just doesn’t know music and has been living in a cave and will be returning there shortly, so don’t pay no mind to that; you can know you still played a riff MOST people know…..and you met a cave person, right?
ALSO keep in mind, you may not necessarily LIKE these songs, they are just suggestions of some riffs I’ll play when completely stumped and thinking that the last 15 years that I’ve spent learning the guitar amount to nothing in this moment, when I can’t play even a few notes of a song for this girl in front of me, to show her I actually can in fact, play the guitar. Frustrating, people. Frustrating.
Onto the songs:
1.) “Hey There, Delilah” - Plain White T’s
- Already thinking of the riff right? Yes, very, very, easy to remember this one.
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/p/plain_white_ts/hey_there_delilah_ver2_tab.htm
2.) “What It’s Like” - Everlast
- PERFECT example of not liking a song people know very well. I really DON”T like this song, but everyone knows the riff. Perhaps there’s a link between very, very, very, popular music and it being disliked after awhile? NAH that would NEVER make sense….
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/e/everlast/what_its_like_ver2_tab.htm
3.) “Slide” - Goo Goo Dolls
- Yes, I have to throw one of my favorite bands in here, but not because I’m biased, this is just another very well-known riff! And unlike the last one, most people will actually welcome hearing it!
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/g/goo_goo_dolls/slide_ver3_tab.htm
Now as you may or may not know, most of the Goo’s tunings are odd and this one is no stranger to a weird tuning. However, to avoid retuning the whole guitar and risk busting a string and looking like a jack, here’s a version in standard tuning to bust it out on the spot…..
There are many, many ,more….just do a search on a billboard chart or use your brain…you’ll find some more! Good luck, you life of the party, you.