Foreplay tips?

[kwyn]

Ha! If you're gonna make a joke.about the thread title, go ahead, but real.advice first. I'm not an expert player and the band wants to do foreplay/longtime.

 

Any good tips for learning this intro? I don't know how to read music.

 

 

[GRollins]

Consider one of the programs that slows down the music (but keeps the pitch the same), such as The Amazing Slow Downer. It costs money to buy the complete program, but if I recall correctly you can download an evaluation version that will allow you to work on the first three minutes of a song for free--should be enough to get you through the beastly part at the beginning. There's another program that's entirely free, but I can't remember the name of it and the audio quality isn't as good. By now there are probably more programs like that. It's been a while since I've looked.

 

Or...you can do what I've done in the past and get the sheet music and pen in the note names on a hard copy. No, it's not "sight reading" and it's tedious as hell, but it'll get you there. I'm slowly learning to read sheet music, but I still can't sight read in the sense that I can just sit down and play something from a sheet of paper. All things in time--I just need more time to work on this.

 

Grey

[Dr88s]

Any good tips for learning this intro? I don't know how to read music.

 

 

There"s a video on YouTube with the track isolated. Put it into a slow down app with looping capabilities, budget a buncha hours of woodshedding, and you"re off to the races. Start slow and gradually bring the speed up. The speed is the killer.

[Dr88s]

Here you go.

 

[video:youtube]

[Dr88s]

get the sheet music and pen in the note names on a hard copy. No, it's not "sight reading" and it's tedious as hell, but it'll get you there. I'm slowly learning to read sheet music, but I still can't sight read in the sense that I can just sit down and play something from a sheet of paper. All things in time--I just need more time to work on this.

 

Grey

 

Most of the sheets I"ve seen for this song - and there are many - are not accurate when you compare to the slowed isolated recorded track.

 

[Doerfler]

maybe you could edit the title to "Foreplay/Longtime by Boston" tips?

[kwyn]

Thanks! Great suggestions.

 

maybe you could edit the title to "Foreplay/Longtime by Boston" tips?

 

Just seemed funny at the time, so I went with it

[ChiefDanG]

Do Foreplay in Am and Longtime in E - your singer will agree.

[Michael Wright]

Foreplay? Take your time.

[Stokely]

There's a youtube tutorial on this tune. I know because for one band audition (7 years ago or so) I decided to finally "learn it right". I originally learned this song back in '86 or so, and like everyone I did so by rewinding a cassette tape a million times. No way I could really hear what was going on, so I learned it wrong and played it wrong for years.

 

Boy was I excited to see this tutorial! The problem: the real deal was WAY different than I had always played it, and was quite a bit more difficult. I find a couple of the fingering turnarounds pretty hard to play actually, much like I find some of Billy Powell's chord changes (minor to major riffs) hard because they are so different to how I normally play.

 

Anyway, long story short, at the audition (which I was late to, got lost, so I used the guy's crappy keyboard that was there, BIG MISTAKE) I played some horrible hybrid of what I had always played and the real thing They didn't pick me for the band, which was fine because they never played out and I've done about 400 gigs since then

 

I'm sure there are others on there too, but this is the one I used. Not sure it is 100% accurate but it sounds very close to me.

[video:youtube]

[Dr88s]

^^

 

Just remembered about this video and came back to share it but Stokely beat me to it.

[Stokely]

^^

 

Just remembered about this video and came back to share it but Stokely beat me to it.

 

 

As a fellow non-music-reader youtube can be a real help. I have a pretty good ear but sometimes when the player is doing something a little out of the "norm" (for me) it really helps to see someone else do it.

[tunaman]

If you"re not aware, you can select a different playback speed in YouTube - from 1/4 speed to 2x.

 

Also, I used to use the Tascam Vocal Trainer which allowed advanced features such as playback speed, key transposition, looping, and removing vocals. It worked with CD media.

 

I checked not long ago for an updated version, and while they don"t have a VT replacement they do have a Guitar and Bass Trainer which does most of the above using audio files. I picked one up and am finding it very useful for this type of application.

[kwyn]

I forgot that I had amazing slow downer on my phone and it works with Spotify. Still gonna be a hefty challenge for me to get up to speed. It's not necessarily figuring out what notes, but playing them fast and steady enough

[Stokely]

Yeah I have that problem with Foreplay. Just in a few spots (there's one change with iirc C# to G#/C while playing the arpeggios that gives me fits.)...but you can't slow down for those few spots

 

Honestly if I was playing that song these days I'd probably just alter it slightly for any trouble spots if I just couldn't get it. I ended up doing that with the solo to Call Me the Breeze, I struggled mightily on the E-D portion of the first half of the solo. Nobody will ever notice!

[Dr88s]

Nobody will ever notice!

 

Every time I dumb something down for lack of ability, *I* notice and it hurts.

 

[pinkfloydcramer]

 

Anyway, long story short, at the audition (which I was late to, got lost, so I used the guy's crappy keyboard that was there, BIG MISTAKE) I played some horrible hybrid of what I had always played and the real thing They didn't pick me for the band, which was fine because they never played out and I've done about 400 gigs since then

 

I'm sure there are others on there too, but this is the one I used. Not sure it is 100% accurate but it sounds very close to me.

[video:youtube]

 

Your experience with that song very closely parallels mine, except that I had the misfortune of being picked, for a similar band (my first). Never made it out of the garage, practiced twice a week on Foreplay/Long Time, Carry On My Wayward Son, Tom Sawyer, challenging stuff, but in actuality could barely make it through Johnny B Goode. An actual audience would have torn us limb from limb, lol. I spent a lot of time rewinding the tape. At first it seemed hopeless (especially on the Carry On solo) but I discovered that wherever the tape stopped on those endless rewinds, the last note would stick in my head. And so I painstakingly pieced it together.

[Canoehead]

I have found this app really helpful for learning a number of tunes.

 

https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/crammit-player-for-ipad/id1355382385

[EricBarker]

UGH! My band leader put it on the list a few years back. I went home and shedded the thing to death for a good 3 days. Got it flying. I came to rehearsal and no one else had even bothered to look at it. Then the bass played veto'd it because he didn't think it would go over at gigs. I was HOPPING mad! Wasted hours of practice time learning something I really loved (for a change) only for it to get shelved. Unfortunately, since I never returned to it, I never got it really in my fingers. It would take me a few hours to bring it back, but I'd do it in a heartbeat if anyone gave me a day's notice. LOVE that tune!

 

But it's a toughy. I didn't have too much trouble transcribing it by ear, but there are some real finger twisters. If I remember, my biggest hangups were the very top: getting the pattern steady and not accidentally playing it an extra time when my fingers got "in the zone". Also, the big transitional arpeggio between the first and second loop is a DOOSY!

 

Side Question:

I've always wanted to cop that big "WOOOSH!" effect at the climax. I think I read up on it at one point, but I've forgotten what went into it. For those of you who play it, how do you do it? I've heard similar sounds done by Radiohead, Spock's Beard, and a few others. But Foreplay's definitely the most iconic.

[Bill W]

There's also Matt Riddle's video:

 

[Dr88s]

Sometimes when I transcribe organ parts I have difficulty because of the extra overtones that some of the drawbars add, especially when there are intervals.

 

That shouldn"t be an issue here but just in case I did a quick vid of the right hand played at a fraction speed on piano to hear the notes clearly. This is from memory. Apologies if anything is wrong.

 

[video:youtube]

 

[richforman]

I've played the song in many different bands over the decades; not sure if I have it authentically note for note but it sounds pretty good and bandmates and audiences seem to always respond positively and enthusiastically.

 

But anyway, it reminds me of the last time I saw Boston in concert, four or five years ago I guess, rather than recreate the familiar recording, Tom Scholz played a way-extended version that expanded the themes and motifs into a dazzling almost classical piece. way longer and more complex, it was pretty impressive. I thought it could be heard a little bit as a "here, suck on this!" to all of us cover-band keyboardists in the crowd who think they're hot s**t because they can play something close to the original.

[BernMeister]

Sometimes when I transcribe organ parts I have difficulty because of the extra overtones that some of the drawbars add, especially when there are intervals.

 

That shouldn"t be an issue here but just in case I did a quick vid of the right hand played at a fraction speed on piano to hear the notes clearly. This is from memory. Apologies if anything is wrong.

 

[video:youtube]

At 11sec, just change the last descending arpeggio note from Eb to F (effectively creating an Fm and not Fm7), and you've got the passage exactly right. Good job at breaking the arpeggio pattern on the two select chords (at 7 sec); most folks think it's always running in the same direction.

[HammondDave]

99.99999% of the audience (And probably your band mates) will never know. And Foreplay in Am will almost always sound better. Very few singers can match those Brad Delp parts. Even he had issues life trying to hit those notes.

[area51recording]

Nobody will ever notice!

 

Every time I dumb something down for lack of ability, *I* notice and it hurts.

 

Me too. Hurts me even more if I don't dumb it down and I bone it every time I try to play it.......

[EricBarker]

My biggest problem was THE BAND. I put in a good 6 hours of practice over a week woodshedding it. Had it perfect. Came into practice, band couldn't follow it, and everything fell apart. Band finally decided to scratch it, so 6 hours of practice down the drain, big waste of my time. Make SURE the band is serious about it, cuz it's probably the trickiest tune in popular rock music this side of Roundabout (I would argue it's harder than Roundabout). Bands (particularly drummers). Many non-keyboard rock musicians, even pros, wear it as a badge of pride that they don't practice, they figure they can come in and wing it, and that's definitely not the case here. It's a difficult keyboard part, but the rest of the band really needs to understand their parts too, or the keyboardist ends up looking like a joke.

 

Probably the hardest part is getting it started, making sure the band knows when to come in after the fade-up. Then, making sure they know where to come in again after the first full-band passage. My band was good, but they really lost the plot on entrances on this one. You might need to hold their hand a bit. That's my nightmare.

[Iconoclast]

I think I'm the one weirdo in the world that plays this with my thumb in the same place. Most people play both the F and G# with their thumb but I do it with my my thumb on the F and my 2nd finger gets the F#. Kind of a stretch, but it sounds identical. I've tried to relearn it the way everyone else does it but I just can't break the old habit.

 

I also play a couple of these passing notes different but always in the same chord so I don't think anyone notices. I've played it in 3 different bands and never gotten any criticism from my band mates about not being true to the original.

[Radagast]

Any good tips for learning this intro? I don't know how to read music.

 

 

There"s a video on YouTube with the track isolated. Put it into a slow down app with looping capabilities, budget a buncha hours of woodshedding, and you"re off to the races. Start slow and gradually bring the speed up. The speed is the killer.

 

YouTube itself has a function for slowing the playback without changing pitch. Of course the more you slow it down, the grungier it sounds. When you tap on the video (with a phone or tablet) you"ll see little icons pop up. It looks like a little six sided gear.

[Delaware Dave]

".... I went home and shedded the thing to death .......I came to rehearsal and no one else had even bothered to look at it.

In one of my bands I have this exact same issue and it is a pet peave of mine. We'll schedule a half day rehearsal (which I hate to begin with) and go over 15 new songs. Not one time did all 5 of us actually learn all 15 songs and together the 5 of us probably all learned maybe 5, mme and one guitar player afe the only ones who actually learn all 15 and come to the rehearsal ready with them. Then someone breaks out a phone and puts the unlearned songs over the microphone, the bass player is playing over it, the guitar is new noodling around it and I sit there frustrated why I even bothered to learn the songs. then we go to the gig and the 5 songs we did actually get through aren't on the set list. After 10 years of brush, rinse, repeat, I decided that I'm not learning anything that requires me to program my keyboard until everyone else has competently learned the song before I waste any time on my side......

[bjosko]

Last time I really dug in to a song before rehearsal was when we agreed to do 'Love is in the air' by John PaulYoung. Before starting by next rehearsal

, the singer told us he couldn"t do the tune.

It was the last time I did so much with a song before a rehearsal, it was back in -78/79