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'sweet home alabama'


metromike

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What's that little box above the piano on that linked video? Some kind of mixer or gain boost device? I noticed that he pushed a button before and after the solo...

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I like the song but only when it is played right. It sounds totally wrong when the tempo is too fast (it is NOT bluegrass!) ... Last year we covered that song and unfortunately had a drummer whose tempo kept speeding up. And up. And up. By the time the piano solo came around it was shred metal tempo and I couldn't play it.

This song is played too fast *a lot*.

 

Drummerz :facepalm:

 

 

Had a guitar player who started off the song way too fast, every damn time.It made playing those piano riffs a biotch.

Luckily , the guitar player is gone, and we haven't played a biker bar (yet)..

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What's that little box above the piano on that linked video? Some kind of mixer or gain boost device? I noticed that he pushed a button before and after the solo...

 

It's his personal monitor volume control. He turned a knob, actually. :thu:

 

Lots of folks used to use such a setup back in the day (cf Billy Joel in the video below, red knob, just before he starts the tune).

 

[video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=811oamfW-ao

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For those of us playing garden variety bar gigs, there has come to exist a set of rock standards that people want to hear. Many of the patrons clammoring for these songs weren't alive when they were written, which is fortunate, because many of the people who were alive and partying when the songs were written are not out in the clubs anymore. We should be grateful for these overplayed songs, because they bring people into live music clubs even when there are so many DJ dance club options.

 

As much as I like Skynyrd, I would usually skip over this song in any Skynyrd playlist, because of the overplayed thing. (Gimme Back My Bullets!) Playing it is a different matter. I can get into playing absolutely anything, if it's done well.

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I like the song but only when it is played right. It sounds totally wrong when the tempo is too fast (it is NOT bluegrass!) ... Last year we covered that song and unfortunately had a drummer whose tempo kept speeding up. And up. And up. By the time the piano solo came around it was shred metal tempo and I couldn't play it.

This song is played too fast *a lot*.

 

Drummerz :facepalm:

 

 

Yeah... Beat Bugs should be a required tool for most drummers. Handy little thing; first saw one years ago when on the road back in the southeast. The drummer for the band I'm playing with this weekend picked up a Beat Bug a while back; That was a great relief, as his tempo on SHA used to be pretty warped: starting around 120, and ending up near 140; though, in all fairness, the guitarist was responsible for the too quick opening tempo.. That made the signature piano lick and solo riffs interesting, as I'm one of those who learned to play them with the right hand only.

 

Still enjoy playing the song, as long as it stays in the groove; the stankier the better, to reference Kanker..

 

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...the stankier the better, to reference Kanker.

 

Funny how that reference fits Mr. Kanker so well. :laugh:

 

(Kev, have you washed your hands lately?) Errr... :facepalm:

 

DanS says it looks like schnitte, but I know that it's just a funky spot growing out where your thumb got slammed a few months ago...

 

I've got picturez. :sick::D

 

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"Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent." - Victor Hugo
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I of course play it on keyboards and I love it. But now I can even play the intro riff on guitar. I play backup rythym on it and decided a couple of months ago I needed to really get the intro down on guitar because I might have to play it some day. (I never do it). Last Sunday at a gig, I started it for the first time on guitar and it came out great! This song through and through is amazing. Most bands butcher it. Although mentioned as one of the songs musicians hate, it's a masterpiece of complexity and most bands just suck playing this. Ronnie whipped his troops into shape (sometimes literally) so they would have no musical compromises and it shows on record.
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I turned down a chance to play with a Skynryd tribute act not too long ago. I don't hate the music, as there is stank and solo opportunities. There are worse tribute acts a player could be in, I suppose. I ended up saying no because the band wasn't particularly tight or doing the songs justice, and they loved to put the Confederate flag all over stage.
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The famous "Turn it up" line uttered by Ronnie Van Zant in the beginning was not intended to be in the song. Van Zant was just asking producer Al Kooper and engineer Rodney Mills to turn up the volume in his headphones so that he could hear the track better. :cool:

"Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent." - Victor Hugo
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Watch the man himself do it, at 4:08 of this video:

Funny... they change the last chord.

 

To my ears, the song is mostly in D, the piano solo kind of straddles the line, and finally the guitar solo is in G and the 3-chord ending knocks you over the head with it in case you weren't sure. It may have been in D at the start, but it's in G by the end. It may not be prog rock, but it's a cool trick.

 

I never thought about the key until recently. We always end F C D which I always felt had a cool 'unresolved' sound to it, so I guess my ear tends to hear the key as G. Playing F C G as an ending sounds correct too, if a little 'straight'.

"I'm well acquainted with the touch of a velvet hand..."
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Just got the Hal Leonard "Rock Hits" keyboard book that has this song transcribed note for note. If the transcription is accurate, the solo is ridiculously hard! Haven't slowed down the MP3 yet to verify accuracy, but this is kicking my butt!

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The song is popular mainly because of the lyrics and the groove. I've got nothing against it at all... kinda liked the raw groove when I played it years ago, but if it was called "Sweet Home Siberia", I suspect it wouldn't be a hit.

 

Now that this thread has over 100 replies, a question: Unless someone is in a "tribute band" where a perfect version is required, why bother to learn every note of that solo? You can get the idea across by playing the main parts or "hooks" of the solo and wing the rest of it, which is what sounds like happened on the original solo anyway.

 

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Unless someone is in a "tribute band" where a perfect version is required, why bother to learn every note of that solo?

 

If I were playing the song in a band now, I'd learn it verbatim for 3 reasons- a nod to a great player who is no longer with us, because it's way cooler than anything I'd come up with on the fly, and because chances are I'd learn a thing or two from it.

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Unless someone is in a "tribute band" where a perfect version is required, why bother to learn every note of that solo?

 

If I were playing the song in a band now, I'd learn it verbatim for 3 reasons- a nod to a great player who is no longer with us, because it's way cooler than anything I'd come up with on the fly, and because chances are I'd learn a thing or two from it.

 

I consider us a tribute band and do learn everything note for note, at least initially. If I'm going to do my own thing in a solo, I STILL learn the solo note for note BEFORE doing my own thing, for a couple reasons. First, I get a sense for what's really going on in the solo, second, it insures that I'm not just being lazy and that "my own thing" is really something I bring to the table, not just a simplified version because I didn't take the time to learn it.

Dan

 

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:thu:

 

My thumbs up posts are redundant, yes... but I can see both sides of this. :)

 

And I think we've analyzed this 3-chord song to death. :deadhorse:

 

But it's been fun!

 

Who wants a beer? I'm buying. :cool:

 

 

"Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent." - Victor Hugo
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Boy does a beer sound good right about now! (I'm at work)

 

Or, as another forumite so aptly puts it:

 

"Titties and beer please!"

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.

-Mark Twain

 

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:thu: My thumbs up posts are redundant,

:thu::laugh: Yes, no redundancy allowed in the tri-annual threads on SHA. Can't let that happen.

 

I'll see you in September, SHA.

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During the piano solo modulate to the key of E then play Flight of the Bumblebee. That would be fun.

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I saw Living Colour a few times for free in college. One time, a friend and I were so early we walked in on their sound check. Corey Glover in a beat up old sweatshirt repeating, "mind the gap," emphasizing the gaps, I guess.

Been to London lately?

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:idea: Thanks for the reminder.

 

At the time, I just found it an odd thing to use for sound check. Reflecting back on their lyrics, he probably picked up phrases and things people said and used them mostly for songs.

"I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck

 

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We should be grateful for these overplayed songs, because they bring people into live music clubs even when there are so many DJ dance club options.

 

best point in this thread, and one I'm sure most of us have never considered. :thu:

 

 

On a different note, the key debate is interesting. I'd never considered it could be anything but D (or D Mixolydian as I said earlier), but upon a fresh listening, to me the tonal center does change from D to G when it moves from the piano solo to the guitar solo. This could make a great theory debate in a classroom setting (as long as the kids could get past listening to stuff their parents listened to!).

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