'sweet home alabama'

[CEB]

Not to sugar coat it, but...

 

I really hate that 3-chord POS song.

 

Yeah... I said it.

 

 

 

 

Coolest part about the song is The Honketts.

[Tonysounds]

Billy Powell is the man...but I'm not sure if I respect him more now for the great licks or having the great sense to use two hands! I had to teach myself the one hand method for those licks!

[Ian Benhamou]

What really matters is knowing whether this song is in the key of D or G

 

That discussion blows my mind! I still can't make up my mind.

 

D Mixolydian

+1

[DanS]

Werewolves is the same 3 chords.

 

Just ask Kid Rock.

[Ian Benhamou]

Although his technique (or lack there of)throws any concept of feel and timing out the window, I gotta give it to this guy for nailing the part:

 

[video:youtube]

[Stu McHopton]

One note about those 6th licks, if using one hand, is be sure to practice on the board you will be using for the gig. That probably holds true for everything, but I find for those types of licks you want your muscle memory to be adjusted properly. Very easy to flub if you practice on another piece of gear with different size or weight keys.

[Bobadohshe]

 

To be honest, I wouldn't even worry about that riff (the one at the end of the tune). You'll survive if you don't play it.

 

Bobby - I was trying to outline 3 of the second 4 bars of the solo

 

I know! I'm talking about in the context of the OP, who has a zillion tunes to learn yet isn't much of a player and feels overwhelmed. Don't worry about learning the solo, you've got bigger fish to fry. That's what I was saying.

[Griffinator]

I know! I'm talking about in the context of the OP, who has a zillion tunes to learn yet isn't much of a player and feels overwhelmed. Don't worry about learning the solo, you've got bigger fish to fry. That's what I was saying.

 

This, emphatically.

[DanS]

I'm just waiting for the Mustang Sally thread to start...

[ITGITC]

 

Sweet Home Alabama charted to #8 in 1974. It was a great song then. Yes, I was there. And because it's 37 years old isn't the reason I'm not fond of it any more.

 

The primary reason that I dislike this song is that it's been played to death.

 

Tell your bandmates that and they will probably reply, "But the crowd LOVES this tune! They sing along and really get into it."

 

Yet, for those of us who have played this song way too many times, it's very easy to go into The Dead Zone - you're a zombie behind the keyboards looking off into space because, other than the signature licks that Billy Powell played and Bobby wrote out above, you're playing three chords over and over and over again.

 

Plus, this song does nothing to put your band on the map. Every other cover band plays this song - and usually does it badly. If you don't get the licks right - all of 'em - you're not doing this over-played song justice. It becomes just another filler tune. Sure, it may have a stanky groove (thank you Mr. Kanker), but that becomes a moot point.

 

For your band to rise above the din you have GOT to have some interesting songs in your setlists. They need to entertain each audience, while at the same time be fun and challenging for the band. Otherwise, you're just up on stage going through the Zombie Motions.

 

A band is only as good as the songs it chooses to perform in the finite amount of time allotted. Imagination and understanding your audience are absolutely necessary when you're trying to come up with the ideal set list.

 

After some preliminary research, it's OK to throw stuff up against the wall and see what sticks. In other words, try out a whole lot of tunes on your audience. Sometimes they'll work, sometimes they won't. However, from experience I can tell you that there are always surprises. Some songs can do well locally or regionally, but you'll hear crickets chirping with other audiences.

 

Consider the band's instrumentation and what they're capable of. Put yourself in the shoes of your audience and make an educated guess at what they would really enjoy hearing. This is not a simple process... books have been written

 

As far as I'm concerned, Sweet Home Alabama is at the top of the list of those 3-chord, lowest common denominator, overplayed, under-learned, pieces of rubbish a band can choose to play. Sure, it will be immediately recognized by the audience and they'll hoot and hollar for the first few measures before they make this face: .

 

There are so many songs you can choose that will have the same reaction, yet help you stand out from the pack.

 

Remember, for bands, the barriers to entry are low. Anyone with a credit card can walk into any Guitar Center and buy what they need to hop on stage and pretend to be a musician. It takes much more than that to stay in the game for the long haul.

 

Good luck.

 

Tom

 

 

 

[CEB]

Without an adequate girl choir I prefer to do Werewolves into Frankenstein.

[Steve Force]

BTW, Tom (ITGITC) - thanks for the keyboard tabs to "Sweet Home Alabama" that you mailed me. They look well worn--are these the ones you gigged with? If so, thanks!

 

[DanS]

BTW, Tom (ITGITC) - thanks for the keyboard tabs to "Sweet Home Alabama" that you mailed me. They look well worn--are these the ones you gigged with? If so, thanks!

 

 

Can you forward those to me Steve?

Thanks Tom, yodaman!

[ITGITC]

BTW, Tom (ITGITC) - thanks for the keyboard tabs to "Sweet Home Alabama" that you mailed me. They look well worn--are these the ones you gigged with? If so, thanks!

 

 

 

Beer. I need one.

 

 

[ProfD]

Thanks to Bobby for providing an excellent roadmap for covering this tune. Also, a great post written by ITGITC? regarding the importance of artists/musicians/bands being different on some level.

[HAMEGZ]

Not to sugar coat it, but...

 

I really hate that 3-chord POS song.

 

Yeah... I said it.

 

 

 

 

We don't/won't play it, so there.

 

 

Then you have never played a bar down here in the south when a group of hard core bikers come in and would just love to hear that song played.

[Pale]

Without an adequate girl choir I prefer to do Werewolves into Frankenstein.

 

I have 3 female backing vocals and it still doesn't make playing SHA any more pleasurable

 

 

Then you have never played a bar down here in the south when a group of hard core bikers come in and would just love to hear that song played.

 

Well, you could always play Freebird instead :D

[Eric Jx]

I would say that 9 out of 10 guitarist play that opening riff wrong.

[Griffinator]

Sweet Home Alabama charted to #8 in 1974. It was a great song then. Yes, I was there. And because it's 37 years old isn't the reason I'm not fond of it any more.

 

The primary reason that I dislike this song is that it's been played to death.

 

Tell your bandmates that and they will probably reply, "But the crowd LOVES this tune! They sing along and really get into it."

 

Yet, for those of us who have played this song way too many times, it's very easy to go into The Dead Zone - you're a zombie behind the keyboards looking off into space because, other than the signature licks that Billy Powell played and Bobby wrote out above, you're playing three chords over and over and over again.

 

Plus, this song does nothing to put your band on the map. Every other cover band plays this song - and usually does it badly. If you don't get the licks right - all of 'em - you're not doing this over-played song justice. It becomes just another filler tune. Sure, it may have a stanky groove (thank you Mr. Kanker), but that becomes a moot point.

 

For your band to rise above the din you have GOT to have some interesting songs in your setlists. They need to entertain each audience, while at the same time be fun and challenging for the band. Otherwise, you're just up on stage going through the Zombie Motions.

 

A band is only as good as the songs it chooses to perform in the finite amount of time allotted. Imagination and understanding your audience are absolutely necessary when you're trying to come up with the ideal set list.

 

After some preliminary research, it's OK to throw stuff up against the wall and see what sticks. In other words, try out a whole lot of tunes on your audience. Sometimes they'll work, sometimes they won't. However, from experience I can tell you that there are always surprises. Some songs can do well locally or regionally, but you'll hear crickets chirping with other audiences.

 

Consider the band's instrumentation and what they're capable of. Put yourself in the shoes of your audience and make an educated guess at what they would really enjoy hearing. This is not a simple process... books have been written

 

As far as I'm concerned, Sweet Home Alabama is at the top of the list of those 3-chord, lowest common denominator, overplayed, under-learned, pieces of rubbish a band can choose to play. Sure, it will be immediately recognized by the audience and they'll hoot and hollar for the first few measures before they make this face: .

 

There are so many songs you can choose that will have the same reaction, yet help you stand out from the pack.

 

Remember, for bands, the barriers to entry are low. Anyone with a credit card can walk into any Guitar Center and buy what they need to hop on stage and pretend to be a musician. It takes much more than that to stay in the game for the long haul.

 

Good luck.

 

Tom

 

 

 

This is why, if I lived closer to Raleigh, I'd absolutely be dragging Tom here into a band with me. He has the same perspective on cover tunes that I do.

 

 

[Bobadohshe]

On corporate gigs, that song kills. And the crowd loves it the whole time. And I'm not sick of playing it. But we're not doing it for art's sake. We're doing it for $'s sake.

[Griffinator]

Not to sugar coat it, but...

 

I really hate that 3-chord POS song.

 

Yeah... I said it.

 

 

 

 

We don't/won't play it, so there.

 

 

Then you have never played a bar down here in the south when a group of hard core bikers come in and would just love to hear that song played.

 

Closest I ever came to playing SHA at a bar:

 

Spanky's Underground, circa 1999. Lost Souls Division (LSD) had burst onto the local club scene in a ball of fire. Two smoking young guitar players, with me handling vocals, keys, and bass in varying capacities, and a fireplug drummer I had been jamming with for years prior.

 

Our second night of a 2-night stint at said club brought in some locals who had heard about us, but not heard us from the previous night (where we played absolutely no Skynyrd). A few songs into the second set, one of them called out from the back "PLAY SOME SKYNYRD!" We had rehearsed a few weeks prior for specifically such a moment...

 

Our lead guitarist burst into the opening strains of SHA. Right about the time where you'd have been expecting Ronnie to go "Turn it up", I screamed "F*** YOU, I WON'T DO WHAT YOU TELL ME!" and the whole band dove into Rage Against the Machine, "Killing in the Name". The crowd erupted, and we had them eating out of our hand the rest of the night. The guy who had "demanded" Skynyrd, after that particular set, came up and said "Well, man, you guys were really good, but I wish you had played the rest of (SHA)"... I smiled, shook his hand, and said "I understand." and walked away.

[Steve Force]

I played it at some outside gig a few years ago (Huber-Breeze Music/Richmond, MI anniversary) with no monitors (Was DI in) and the sun directly overhead.

 

So I dialed in the patch and started playing. SHA intro sounds...interesting..in a Yamaha Motif Harpsichord voice..

[J. Dan]

Although his technique (or lack there of)throws any concept of feel and timing out the window, I gotta give it to this guy for nailing the part:

 

[video:youtube]

 

 

 

The closeup of the Marlborough Reds at the end of the video say it all for me. If I'm going to do lowest common denominator (and I do), I'd rather put on a wig and play to a bunch of bouncing, hot, 20-something chicks...plus the money's better.

[Adan]

I wouldn't complain about doing any song that allows me to play a killer piano solo like that, and one that the audience is eagerly anticipating, to boot. You're always allowed to play variations, to keep it interesting.

[JeffLearman]

Sweet Home Alabama charted to #8 in 1974. It was a great song then. Yes, I was there. And because it's 37 years old isn't the reason I'm not fond of it any more.

 

The primary reason that I dislike this song is that it's been played to death.

 

Tell your bandmates that and they will probably reply, "But the crowd LOVES this tune! They sing along and really get into it."

 

Yet, for those of us who have played this song way too many times, it's very easy to go into The Dead Zone - you're a zombie behind the keyboards looking off into space because, other than the signature licks that Billy Powell played and Bobby wrote out above, you're playing three chords over and over and over again.

 

Plus, this song does nothing to put your band on the map. Every other cover band plays this song - and usually does it badly. If you don't get the licks right - all of 'em - you're not doing this over-played song justice. It becomes just another filler tune. Sure, it may have a stanky groove (thank you Mr. Kanker), but that becomes a moot point.

 

For your band to rise above the din you have GOT to have some interesting songs in your setlists. They need to entertain each audience, while at the same time be fun and challenging for the band. Otherwise, you're just up on stage going through the Zombie Motions.

 

A band is only as good as the songs it chooses to perform in the finite amount of time allotted. Imagination and understanding your audience are absolutely necessary when you're trying to come up with the ideal set list.

 

After some preliminary research, it's OK to throw stuff up against the wall and see what sticks. In other words, try out a whole lot of tunes on your audience. Sometimes they'll work, sometimes they won't. However, from experience I can tell you that there are always surprises. Some songs can do well locally or regionally, but you'll hear crickets chirping with other audiences.

 

Consider the band's instrumentation and what they're capable of. Put yourself in the shoes of your audience and make an educated guess at what they would really enjoy hearing. This is not a simple process... books have been written

 

As far as I'm concerned, Sweet Home Alabama is at the top of the list of those 3-chord, lowest common denominator, overplayed, under-learned, pieces of rubbish a band can choose to play. Sure, it will be immediately recognized by the audience and they'll hoot and hollar for the first few measures before they make this face: .

 

There are so many songs you can choose that will have the same reaction, yet help you stand out from the pack.

 

Remember, for bands, the barriers to entry are low. Anyone with a credit card can walk into any Guitar Center and buy what they need to hop on stage and pretend to be a musician. It takes much more than that to stay in the game for the long haul.

 

Good luck.

 

Tom

Yeah, but it has such a great guitar part!

 

Regardless, I agree not to play it unless you're going to play it well.

[ITGITC]

Yeah, but it has such a great guitar part!

 

Regardless, I agree not to play it unless you're going to play it well.

 

Thanks, Jeff.

 

That was pretty much what I was trying to say; only much more succinct.

 

There are times, like the biker bar scenario, when there's no escaping it - you gotta play it.

 

So if you are in this situation, it's best that you don't mess it up.

 

Yeah.

 

 

[konaboy]

Although his technique (or lack there of)throws any concept of feel and timing out the window, I gotta give it to this guy for nailing the part:

 

[video:youtube]

 

 

think you're being a bit harsh on the guy, i enjoyed his playing, not much wrong with his technique or timing that i could detect, certainly more than adequate for some good od rock 'n roll!

[Joe Muscara]

Otherwise, you're just up on stage going through the Zombie Motions.

I'm claiming both "Zombie Motions" and "Going Through the Zombie Motions" as potential band names.

[FXM]

For the solo, this tutorial is pretty good:

 

What do you normally play with your left hand during this solo (assuming you're playing the 6ths with one hand)?

 

Neil

[CEB]

When I played it I had to cover the bass guitar part with the left hand using a 360 Systems Midi Bass.