Hardest Song?

[twostepper#36]

I was just wondering what other people thought was the hardest dave song. For me i'd say one sweet world or two step.

[Blaha 41]

are you serious!?

[mikeo²]

http://www.wam.umd.edu/~jkanter/stone.txt :D

[moe.ron]

The stone isnt even close to the hardeest i would def say Billies

[Marching Raven]

Originally posted by moe.ron
The stone isnt even close to the hardeest i would def say Billies

Billies? interesting..but I would actually say Ryhme & Reason or The Stone...Billies the hardest? interesting..

[Beanz41]

rhyme and reason is cake. the stone on the other hand, is a bitch. try hitting every note in that song without fucking up once, especially while singing.

[Marching Raven]

Originally posted by Beanz41
rhyme and reason is cake. the stone on the other hand, is a bitch. try hitting every note in that song without fucking up once, especially while singing.

now that i think about it..your right..i was thinking about another DMB song..don't know which but oh well..

[craig]

I think the muting on Warehouse is pretty tough, that song can make you go crazy, but one day I will get it. Also I found the Lover Lay down chorus to be pretty tricky too.

[Bean]

Originally posted by craig
I think the muting on Warehouse is pretty tough, that song can make you go crazy, but one day I will get it. Also I found the Lover Lay down chorus to be pretty tricky too.

I have lover lay down pretty good, except the chorus. I can't seem to find chords that sound right. I seem to play it different everytime through. I've found many variations but they never seem to work for me. I'd be interested to see what chords you use, email me a TAB of the chorus?

Warehouse is fun to play, that and granny. My hardest is Stone aswell...it's not of this world.

[dmbware]

billies

[bullhead1987]

The hardest thing about Billies is the big hand stretch for the verse riff.
The chorus is easy though, cause it uses the "Four Dave Matthews Chords".

[bleedin_fingers]

JTR (intro and verse), Warehouse, Billies (Nature intro and verse) and R&R.

[haildmb]

R&R I can do fine... except I don't play it exactly like dave plays it. Because he pulls off so much muting etc in the song which apparently I am incapable of :) But I vote Stone as most difficult

[AcE25]

I have been able to play close to all Dave's songs, the one that I still can not get, i can play it, but I can not seem to get the rythym down to is Tripping Billies, to me that is the hardest.

[warehouse918]

i do fine with billies when im playing guitar alone, but when i do with a drummer, i always fuck up. i dont know why. other than that, i can play most dmb songs pretty well, i cant say one is harder than another.

(100th post :D )

bill

[thehoboprophet]

You Never Know.

[ithinkican]

YNK has now just become Dave's toughest song. Alot of chords. Prior to this I'd have to say Rhyme and Reason (not to bad to play but try and play it while singing.

[mikeo²]

I guess different things are harder to different people. I've never had that much trouble singing and playing RR or Billies, but it took me forever to get taht little main riff to the stone to the point I could sing with it. Likewise, I don't think YNK is that hard to play/sing.

Oh well, different people are different :)

[FPrefect61]

Stone's a bitch, but have you tried to play and sing Satellite at the same time? Fucking insanity! I just figured out R&R last week, but it's still a pain in the ass.

[TrippingTyler]

I`m learing The Stone right now and its a bitch, Billies is pretty easy, as is rhyme and reason. The Stone is definetly the toughest.

[Bean]

Typical Situation is easy to play, but a pain in the frigging ass to sing along with while you play it... :devil

[PilotC150]

It appears everybody has their strong and weak points/songs. I'm sure it's because thier "hardest song" may be their newest to learn as well.

I have billies down solid. Even the nature intro, sounds awesome.

I've gotta work on So Much to Say and R&R. I gave warehouse a shot, then gave up for a bit to work on WWYS. Got that down except the bridge.

The verse to satellite is really cool when you get it down singing and playing, you just have to stop thinking, at least for me, then it just all comes in rhythm.

[mikeo²]

Satellite is fun as hell once your learn it though :D

[goirishnd23@aol]

i think #34 is fun to play and so is drive in drive out but it's everyones personal preferences

[Dadgad33]

WoW I'm quite shocked. I play Stone, Billies, and R&R the best out of any DMB songs. Right now I am looking for accurate You Never Know tabs(the way Dave plays it) and then I'll learn that. Also is anyone else really set on learning to play the songs exactly the way Dave does or do you find the easiest way. I have to play them the way he does.

[twostepper#36]

#34 is real fun to play!
:bounce

[Big Grey Ant]

Warehouse and Two Step for me. I have no idea how to mute right. Or at least in a way that works for the way Dave plays. I also suck at playing entire songs... i get the intro and the verse but i can't do the weird versions of chords for the choruses (in grey st, etc).

[jkanter]

I am pretty set on playing songs exactly the way Dave plays them(in case you couldn't tell:D :D :D :D :D )

I would have to say Stone is REALLY hard. Probably hardest. Although I can't sing too well, when I am in the privacy of my own room and sing(trust me, it's better that way), Proudest Monkey and Typical are really hard to sing and play at the same time.

Billies isn't very hard once you get it. It's not even that tough to sing along to but it's all about training yourself to not think about what your playing. Your hands and voice have to be thinking on different levels, but on the same playing field.

YNK isn't that bad to play because it has a pretty standard strumming pattern. An accurate tab for it can be found at ASTB msg board. Go to the musicians section there and it should be near the top. I am in the process of making my tab for it(just watched rooftop show and 5/12) and that tab is excellent. A couple things seem off but it is almost perfect....best YNK(dave way) you will find out right now.

Oh well....lemme know what you all think....peace

[soLittleTosay]

Originally posted by Big Grey Ant
Warehouse and Two Step for me. I have no idea how to mute right. Or at least in a way that works for the way Dave plays. I also suck at playing entire songs... i get the intro and the verse but i can't do the weird versions of chords for the choruses (in grey st, etc).

Grey Street doesnt have a weird chorus. its just a Bm-->A-->D-->G progression. As for Warehouse, I hear ya, that muting is killer.
I dont really have problems playing any song, but right now i cant get Minarets and sing at the same time for some reason. The Stone is no prob if you have played it forever:D

[soLittleTosay]

Originally posted by jkanter
I am pretty set on playing songs exactly the way Dave plays them(in case you couldn't tell:D :D :D :D :D )

I would have to say Stone is REALLY hard. Probably hardest. Although I can't sing too well, when I am in the privacy of my own room and sing(trust me, it's better that way), Proudest Monkey and Typical are really hard to sing and play at the same time.

Billies isn't very hard once you get it. It's not even that tough to sing along to but it's all about training yourself to not think about what your playing. Your hands and voice have to be thinking on different levels, but on the same playing field.

YNK isn't that bad to play because it has a pretty standard strumming pattern. An accurate tab for it can be found at ASTB msg board. Go to the musicians section there and it should be near the top. I am in the process of making my tab for it(just watched rooftop show and 5/12) and that tab is excellent. A couple things seem off but it is almost perfect....best YNK(dave way) you will find out right now.

Oh well....lemme know what you all think....peace

Man you are right on. The only way to play and sing at the same time is if you program yourself to play automatically so you can just focus on singing. And that takes for-ev-er.

[DMBustedStuff]

I have only been playing for 8 months, and I can play pretty much any song I try with a little practice (not perfectly, but good enough for me...I just need practice, and I know it will come with time). But for some reason, I cant get JTR, Jimi Thing, or WWYS down...especially the timing on Jimi Thing. I havent tried anything in The Stone other than the intro, but after what I have heard it has just been booted to the bottom of my list (until i get more experience).

[Danny Vince]

Hey im just wandering why most of you think the stone is the hardest to play ?? Im a bassist but ive just been fooling around with an acustic and a dave tab book and i didnt find the stone to be that hard , its not easy but is it just cuz you have to play it so fast or what?? Sorry if im sounding like a jackass , i dont mean to be, im just wandering.

[PilotC150]

Originally posted by DMBustedStuff
I have only been playing for 8 months, and I can play pretty much any song I try with a little practice (not perfectly, but good enough for me...I just need practice, and I know it will come with time). But for some reason, I cant get JTR, Jimi Thing, or WWYS down...especially the timing on Jimi Thing. I havent tried anything in The Stone other than the intro, but after what I have heard it has just been booted to the bottom of my list (until i get more experience).

I know your feeling. It seems everything sounds so tough, but i put 15-20 minutes into it working it out and it seems to come pretty good.

Jimi thing came in about the same amount of time for me, just gotta listen to the song enough, and same with WWYS. It's really fun.

Especially for me, since from the first time I heard that song, I was in awe of the guitar playing and could only dream of actually playing it. Now I actually can, although for some reason i still have the feeling down inside that I suck at guitar. Who knows.....

I've only worked on The Stone for a few minutes, but after hearing mixed reviews of it here, i'm gonna work it out right now.

Wish me luck...

[tkeDMBfan961]

I got sick of a lot of the mindless babble on the DMBc board, so I'm ahngin out here more now. any, You Never Know is the hardest I think, mainly to get the timing is tough. Billies is up there, though I don't think its that hard. The Stone isn't that hard either, once you get it into muscle memory.

Adam

[will w]

<pre>

lover lay down chorus

e----0--------x--------3---------0-----0------------------
b----2--------5--------3---------3-----2-----------------
g----2--------4--------0---------2-----2-----7-----6-----
d----2--------2--------0---------2-----2-----0-----0----
a----0------- x--------2---------0-----0------x-----x----
e---------4---4--------3-----------------------7-----5----
A E/G# G A? A Bm A


there it is for ya! listen to the rhythm- this is easy

</pre>

[liftmeuplove]

hehehe that lover lay down tab is a bit off. im gonna plug jkanter here.... http://www.wam.umd.edu/~jkanter/loverlay.txt

play that version and itll be a little more difficult. and yeah those 2 sick chords that looks like you hafta break you hand to play... thats exactly how the man does it.

[mikeo²]

I'm courious... can anyone here acutally play and sing the stone well? I'd love to hear a clip if you can...

[Dadgad33]

I can sing and play it better than well. I just don't know how to get a clip on here. If anyone knows how just let me know.

[Dadgad33]

By saying I can play and sing it well doesn't mean I have a great voice. I can just keep the rhythm

[liftmeuplove]

i can play and sing stone fine, but i dont like my voice. my friend did it live when he played an acoustic show, but i dont know if they got a pull of it.... im gonna hafta check cause hes done it for me when i was at his house and it sounded really good.

[mikeo²]

I don't care if your voice is really bad (it'd still be better than mine! lol).. I'd just like to hear someone else play it really well :)

[jkanter]

in case anyone here was wondering....I posted a thread with music to the Lover Lay Down Chorus. Seems a lot of people are interested but no one has replied.....oh well...peace

[FPrefect61]

Originally posted by jkanter
in case anyone here was wondering....I posted a thread with music to the Lover Lay Down Chorus. Seems a lot of people are interested but no one has replied.....oh well...peace

That site you've got is one of my favorites, but it's in serious need of an update. :)

[jkanter]

me too....check this thread out......peace

http://www.antsmarching.org/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=23161

[MattJ]

Originally posted by Danny Vince
Hey im just wandering why most of you think the stone is the hardest to play ?? Im a bassist but ive just been fooling around with an acustic and a dave tab book and i didnt find the stone to be that hard , its not easy but is it just cuz you have to play it so fast or what?? Sorry if im sounding like a jackass , i dont mean to be, im just wandering.

The thing with the stone, like Bean (I think) said is that even when you've commited it to your fingers muscle memory, you may be able to do it but over the length of the 7 minute song, while singing if you do that, its really easy to start missing notes. Playing it passably isn't too bad with practice, but performing it really well/perfectly is very very difficult.

It takes more concentration to hold it together for the whole song, especially during the transitions in the verse. The picking itself isnt too bad, but going precision pick -> hard strum -> precision pick again perfectly every time can really get you.

Oh and DMBustedStuff you should knock Stone back up to the top. Really good skill practice. I avoided it, DIDO, Two Step and Billies for a long time, but now that I stuck out the semi frustrating learning process, not only do I know how to play some kick ass songs, I am a lot better because of it. At least save them for when you've plateued and need something new.

(btw, I have trouble with JTR too. My rhythm is just off enough to screw me up when I'm singin it)

[BustedMachead]

I keep on seeing how the fingering for Lover is so hard. Is it the chord used in Crash that is supposed to be the 'hard' one?

Anyway...i just wish that i could sing and play at the same time. I suppose if i keep working on it i might be able to do so.

[DMBlive4036]

I definitetly think You Never Know is the hardest to get down with the weird tuning and the chorus, and recently is a bitch for me to learn ,
dave

[dmbnum3441]

Originally posted by Beanz41
rhyme and reason is cake. the stone on the other hand, is a bitch. try hitting every note in that song without fucking up once, especially while singing.

Here's a stone cover I found. Intro is tight.

The Stone (http://www.groove-salad.com/TheStone.mp3)

[dmbnum3441]

Originally posted by soLittleTosay


Man you are right on. The only way to play and sing at the same time is if you program yourself to play automatically so you can just focus on singing. And that takes for-ev-er.

What seems to help me is I learn the guitar part and grind it into muscle memory, then the singing just follows suit.

[SomebodyElse]

Right now I am looking for accurate You Never Know tabs(the way Dave plays it) and then I'll learn that.

&nbsp http://www.anyoneseenthebridge.com/msgboard/showthread.php?s=&threadid=60246&highlight=nonstandard

[hutnik]

i think satellite is tough

[CrashNdriveout]

It took me a while for stone, but once ya understand the movements, its not as hard as people make it out to be. now i can play it behind my head, and sing. :-D

i'd have to say the hardest song would be stay or leave, just because of the fact you have to tune your guitar way out of wack....well atleast in all the tabs i've seen of it ya do. if anyone has a good standard tuning, non-capo tab for that, lemmie know. he used a different guitar for that song yesterday in rochester, so i assume its just the tuning problem. but maybe i'm an ass.

good luck to all you guys still working on TB and stone...hahaha, but dont cheat and do it the easy way, watch him, see how he does it, so that way your fingers learn to be like elastic, and anything seems possible.
-Dave, Buffalo NY

[PilotC150]

check out www.dmbtabs.com and you'll find a standard tab for it.

[FrankTheTank]

i can't believe someone hasn't mentioned stay yet. mutings are tricky.

[giddy]

Typical Situation is easy to play, but a pain in the frigging ass to sing along with while you play it... :devil

very true

you never know was the toughest to get down and sing, for me

[FrankTheTank]

lld is one of the easiest to play, but it's a bitch to sing on pitch and play.

[WesDutchMaster]

I didn't know you played/sing Frank, anything uploaded anywhere?

[bartender4141]

I have lover lay down pretty good, except the chorus. I can't seem to find chords that sound right. I seem to play it different everytime through. I've found many variations but they never seem to work for me. I'd be interested to see what chords you use, email me a TAB of the chorus?

Warehouse is fun to play, that and granny. My hardest is Stone aswell...it's not of this world.

iwas so happy when i finally found....

http://www.dmbtabs.com/song.php?sid=19

That is the perfect chorus, it sounds awesome, but its hard to master i'll email it too

[bartender4141]

**These are the correct chords though,the site is dif
E:---------------------------------------
B:-2-2--3-3-------5---------3-2----------
G:-2-2--4-x----4--4----4-4--x-x----7--7--
D:-2-2--2-4----2--2----5-5--2-2----7--7--
A:-------------x--x----x-x--x-x----x--x--
E:-----------4-4--4----3-3--3-3--7-7--5--

[nlaposta1]

proudest monkey and you never know are the hardest for me to sing and play - although, and i've never heard and thus not tried it, #34 with lyrics would be damn hard.

[GLR87]

Jimi Thing I cant get, I need a video, and warehouse is pissing me off, but alot of songs do that, but when you finally get it its great. OSW intro is very hard, because I dont know the chords.

[PilotC150]

Jimi Thing I cant get, I need a video, and warehouse is pissing me off, but alot of songs do that, but when you finally get it its great. OSW intro is very hard, because I dont know the chords.
Don't try to do that one with chords, just learn the motions like satellite. It comes rather easy that way.

[GLR87]

^ Thanks, satellite was easy for me.

[Pipsqueak]

I just took a Dave Matthews guitar class at the Old Town School of Folk Music here in Chicago. (8 weeks, one night per week, 1.5hrs/night)

We learned: (in this order)

Dancing Nancies
Satelllite
Crash
So Much to Say
Ants Marching
Jimi Thing
Tripping Billies

A couple of things:
1. Obviously, any song is MUCH easier to learn with an instructor.....and my instructor was amazing.
2. The instructor sang, we concentrated on learning the music.

Just talking strictly about learning the music. I would say (out of those 7 songs) that Nancies was definitely the easiest and Billies was definitely the hardest. Our instructor thinks Satellite is tougher for people to pick-up, so he put it earlier in the session so we would have longer to work on it. Out of the 5 people in the class, 4 of us picked it up very quickly. Now I could do Satellite in my sleep.....sing it?...not yet! Singing with Satellite is definitely a challenge.

Billies is a tough song. Sure, the beginning "Dave chord" riffs are a walk in the park, but getting that second riff to SOUND correct is tough. (I'm talking about the Guitar 1 part....not the Guitar 2 part) We didn't have much time to work on this song, so I had little instruction on the riffs. That's probably another reason it was toughest.

I will say that each Dave song has its challenging parts. But, man....once you learn them, they are a FREAKIN BLAST to play. As I learn more and more Dave tunes (just started playing his stuff and only know the above), I really see why he has so much fun up there on stage. good times.

(I've been flamed for this before, but here goes it) :p
Do I HAVE to play it the way Dave does? No. I don't. Different strokes for different folks.
I got flamed on another forum one time for posting about the Dm chord in So Much to Say. I think that slide up to the 9th/10th fret is ridiculous. It easier played at the 5th. Does it sound the same?....minor difference. But man, I thought this guy was going to explode!
And, in truth....Dave plays a lot of shit different each tour. I think a little variation is FINE. Jam it the way YOU want to jam it......

my $.0002

[Pipsqueak]

Jimi Thing I cant get, I need a video, and warehouse is pissing me off, but alot of songs do that, but when you finally get it its great. OSW intro is very hard, because I dont know the chords.

man, once you "get" Jimi Thing....you're gonna LOVE it!

It is a rockin' song....and a blast to play.

[GLR87]

^ I need a video for it, because when I listen to I really cant grasp it.

[Chaykak]

I've only bee playing for a few weeks, but Recently really isn't that hard for me... with the possible exception of the transition out of verse, that's a bit tough. It's a really recognizable tune and rhythm

[bigeyedharper]

I've only bee playing for a few weeks, but Recently really isn't that hard for me... with the possible exception of the transition out of verse, that's a bit tough. It's a really recognizable tune and rhythm

its really hard to play it well though...meaning getting the right balance between picking and strumming. yes, getting the right notes out is easy, and getting the rhythm isn't hard, but playing it dave-like is a lot tougher.

[Rob]

Damn... I loved these songs when they were difficult... Does this mean I'm "over" Dave?

Of course not!!! ;)

::goes back to Mason Williams and Classical Gas::

[FrankTheTank]

**These are the correct chords though,the site is dif
E:---------------------------------------
B:-2-2--3-3-------5---------3-2----------
G:-2-2--4-x----4--4----4-4--x-x----7--7--
D:-2-2--2-4----2--2----5-5--2-2----7--7--
A:-------------x--x----x-x--x-x----x--x--
E:-----------4-4--4----3-3--3-3--7-7--5-- i think this is the best way to play the LLD chorus, sounds much better than what was posted first.

[AJDMB05]

First off the bat... what a massive bump. But a good one. Nice thread.

Second. DAVE MATTHEWS GUITAR CLASS?! Where, and who do I have to kill to sign up?

As for me...

I can pull off Billies, R&R and Warehouse nicely. Stone, forget it, I tried learning it when I was inexperienced by changing the 5s to open notes and now I can't seem to get back in the groove of it. SMTS, I just can't hear that verse riff. Sounds wrong. BOWA, I thought I could do and now my rhythm seems off. I can play Satellite, but forget trying to sing with it. Same with WWYS, I manage to forget a note here or there. I haven't even tried to tackle DIDO yet, the groove seems so crazy.

[GLR87]

Sounds like I can play all the ones you cant, and vice versa.

[johnbro23]

You guys are pathetic. I'm 16 and only been playing for 9 months and can play AND sing Tripping Billies, Ants, Satellite, Jimi Thing -> PNP, Crush, IBYU, and Crash. I might not have the best voice in the world, but the rythem comes to me. I can also play tons more with just the guitar part... and those that I can't play I haven't tried. I've never come across a DMB song that I couldn't get.

Well sorry for bragging, but... his songs arent that hard. Also, dmbtabs.com has tons of videos and all the CORRECT tabs. That site def makes it easier to pick up stuff easily.

[GLR87]

No one said that we cant play these songs, they either took us awhile or we are still trying to learn them, Its not how fast it takes u its how good it sounds.

[Rob]

johnbro- you can keep your comments to yourself if that's all you have to add. This forum is a great place for constructive criticism and aid for musicians. Comments like yours will get you booted very quickly.

[Dancing Ants]

Too Much is easy to play, but i can't sing over it...I can't sing over much Dave stuff...Proudest Monkey..almost got Everyday, and Halloween...I get really nervous when singing/playing DMB stuff..

[PilotC150]

I got flamed on another forum one time for posting about the Dm chord in So Much to Say. I think that slide up to the 9th/10th fret is ridiculous. It easier played at the 5th. Does it sound the same?....minor difference. But man, I thought this guy was going to explode!
And, in truth....Dave plays a lot of shit different each tour. I think a little variation is FINE. Jam it the way YOU want to jam it......

my $.0002

The reason to go up to the 9/10th fret is to get the sound of the slide. That's all. I like the way the slide sounds, that's why I play it up there.

The thing I play different is in the chorus for nancies, in the "sing and dance" part, I play a full Bm chord, then a "barred" D (as opposed to open D) then a barred A chord (instead of open) then the same for the 4th chord. I think it sound a bit fuller that way (just my opinion).

Ya'll should that that sometime.

[the world]

most of the riff songs are a bit on the difficult side when you try to add the lyrics while you play.
the stone, drive in drive out, rhyme and reason, busted stuff, typical situation, dreams of our fathers. it's just hard to get the timing of the two actions down easily while thinking of them both. and while most of these songs have very easy chorus' there are parts that give me trouble, only when i try to sing them as well.

[the world]

a good way to get over the barrier of singing and playing difficult riffs is to play the riff and try to have a conversation with someone else. the idea being that you learn to do the riff without thinking and without being distracted by thinking of something else.

[livenumber41]

I would say Tim's part on Tripping Billies. The easiest way for me to learn it was memorize how it sounded then figure out the riffs he played then just rock it!

[juskr]

I find one of the hardest songs to play is the Intro to One Sweet World. The intro when the full band plays. The tab I have requires alot of movement and precision. It is alot of fun to play though and sounds awesome.

[puck6two4]

i can play the stone no problem, but ive never been able to get two step.......the muting feel i just cant get...one day ill get the feel for it and itll all be good....

[Ben F.]

crazy. wow. so hard right now.

and for those of you who say you have the stone down pat- i'd be interested to hear a recording you make- that song is tough- wears my hand out too.

[MistreatedLewis]

I'd believe that some people could get it close to perfect without singing.

While singing, I would be verrrry impressed.

crazy. wow. so hard right now.

and for those of you who say you have the stone down pat- i'd be interested to hear a recording you make- that song is tough- wears my hand out too.

[theBLINDmelon]

I just picked up JTR, but I can't imagine trying to sing over the verse.

[jeremy_9]

I find So Right to be a really trying song , alot of fast notes, barre chords and precison playing, right on top of a raised b tune. But I agree with the majortiy The Stone and Billies are up there its just once you get them and play them a hundred times they seem so easy. But i remember back when I was learning those and they were tough to learn especially if you strive to play them the way Dave plays them. In all, I really love daves style he is so fun to play and after you get his style hes easy to pick up as far as his other tunes, whereas guys like clapton or mayer there stuff sounds great but to me is not as fun to play because of difficulty. I love hard songs but not so much they take the fun out of it

[johnbro23]

Warehouse is my personal toughest with the mutes. I've never really given the stone a good effort though. I think I'll give it a try.

[dobyblue]

I love playing and singing The Stone. The syncopation between voice and guitar with the exception of "i was just wondering if you'd......" is very challenging. It's rare that I get it perfect all the way (very rare) - the bit I have the most trouble with is the double hit on the D (a string 5th fret) coming out of the 31x3--
Verse
E:----------------------------------------------------------------------
B:----------------------------------------------------------------------
G:-----2--------------------3-------------------2-----------------------
D:---------3---5-5--2-3-2---x---5-5--2-3-2---------------3--0--2--------
A:-5------------------------1----------------5-----3--1-----------3--0--
E:--------------------------3-------------------------------------------
4 1 2 4 4 1 2 1 4 4 1 2 1 4 1 2 1 4 2 3
----------------------------^^^^^
this bit here

tab taken from dmbtabs - of course!!!!!!!
Keep in mind that most times I play at the local pub it's around 1:30 in the morning and I'm generally around the 6-10 pint mark! There's a few DMB fans at the local pub I go to. When I played So Damn Lucky on Dec 24th they clapped and whooped and one of them shouted out (Burkey you're a God)
Always cool to be complimented. I think I have a good voice for dmb and d+f songs. I love playing Oh! Iget told a lot that I play Dave really well and sound a lot like him but I certainly pick the songs carefully to match my voice.
The songs I play (so far - I only picked up a guitar last May and am playing again for the first time in 10 years)
Gravedigger
So Damn Lucky
Oh!
Pantala Naga Pampa>Loving Wings>WAYG>LIOG (mixture of short then long jam chords from dmbtabs)>WAYG (once through the chord sequence and end. This is a cool medley as everything starts with a D chord in some form or another. At the end of WAYG I sing "where are you going? you look so beautiful, so beautiful tonight" then start the LIOG chords up on the 10th fret. "sing whatever comes to mind about looking beautiful then go high and sustained for the 12xx12 change into the long jam chord sequence then do one time back through the short jam and into the D chord open once through WAYG and end the way WAYG ends on the album version.
The Stone
SMTS
If I Had A Boat
Grey Street
Two Step
Stay Or Leave
Jimi Thing
Spoon

The only other songs I play are the three I have written since @ October and "Let's Go Dancing" by drivin' n' cryin'

Warehouse is a very hard song. The muting is probably the toughest of and Dave tune.
Playing Stay Or Leave without a capo in the open tuning is VERY hard during the verses. I find the stretch on this chord 7x6454 fairly easy once you've been playing The Stone for a while. Your little finger gets strong very quickly if you enjoy playing The Stone. But the verses on the standard tuning are very hard indeed. Luckily if you stumble through them whilst playing you get to bust into the E minor chord for "stay or leave..." that brings you back into a full sound. Wonderful vocal line during the chorus.

I also find the syncopation very difficult in Let You Down. I can't seem to start singing at the right time because the timing of the vocals is really strange. It doesn't sound strange to listen to it but it is very hard.

I just found a great song that I encourage everyone to download. It's on the website for the band Brad http://www.bradcorporation.com
If you scroll down on the initial page they have two songs not released available for downloading. One of them is called "Makes Me Crazy" - it's brilliant. Shawn Smith has such a haunting voice.
I presume it's okay to cut and paste dmbtabs as long as credit is giver seeing as Jared is such a righteous geezer and friendly to am.org
If not my apologies. Looking forward to the DVD Jared! I wouldn't have a clue with a number of Dave tunes how to play them PROPERLY without your website.

[CraigM]

ive only been playing 9 months, but i have a vid of dave playing stone solo, that looks damn hard, but i also have a vid of Billies from storytellers, and the chorus is a sinch, but the verses are no joke IMO

[danster]

stone is toughest for me

[phil123]

im pretty good with most dave stuff. oddly enough, BOWA is the song i cant seem to get. something funny about the timing. anyone else willing to admit the same?

[illbackyouup_03]

i find once you know one dave song you can basically do them all. . .

except all the cute little picking songs its hard to play the same pattern over and over again without messing up at some point in time. . ie satellite, rhyme and reason, #34, Stone

I suggest everyone learn #34

[delfuhd]

I have to say that The Stone and Rhyme & Reason are super easy, I play the stone all the time. I geuss its just cuz I have nothering better to do than play guitar all day :D But really, if you want to get your ass beat, I would say the verse to Tripping Billies can be tricky, but Typical Situation is a bitch to play and sing at the same time, and I've been tryin to get that down for 3 years! Also, Captain is a stretch like hell. But, I guess it's all opinion and skill level...

[ZaqDiesel]

i think captain can be tough because of the stretching for the entire song. just my 2 cents though

[SevenMinarets]

The Stone.

[myonlybliss]

The muting in STay is pretty rough too. Anyone have a hard time with this one? I'm new to guitar but I also tried SMTS and I don't know what the hell is going on there.

[The Floodzone]

A lot of people say Stone, which is very hard. I can finger it ok, but the strumming isn't there yet. What about You Never Know? That looks pretty hard, especially to play it in a raised b guitar.

Chris

[greenpick41]

Stream

[halloween21]

Well I can play almsot every Dave song excluding the rare ones and have to say fore just a riff rhyme and reason is pretty hard but once u get u get it but for overall son id say that its Billies. im surprised no one has mentioned SMTS or WWYS cuz playind those songs exactly liek he does isn't the easiest. Another one is Recently and DIDO.

[halloween21]

You guys are pathetic. I'm 16 and only been playing for 9 months and can play AND sing Tripping Billies, Ants, Satellite, Jimi Thing -> PNP, Crush, IBYU, and Crash. I might not have the best voice in the world, but the rythem comes to me. I can also play tons more with just the guitar part... and those that I can't play I haven't tried. I've never come across a DMB song that I couldn't get.

Well sorry for bragging, but... his songs arent that hard. Also, dmbtabs.com has tons of videos and all the CORRECT tabs. That site def makes it easier to pick up stuff easily.

Alright first off no need for your bragging. Congrats on your massive skills. Go play stream. And for being so knowledgable im surprised that you didn't know that its Jimi-Thing-->What will become of me. Nice call. Put soem of your recordings up to show us how they sound.

[johnbro23]

Alright first off no need for your bragging. Congrats on your massive skills. Go play stream. And for being so knowledgable im surprised that you didn't know that its Jimi-Thing-->What will become of me. Nice call. Put soem of your recordings up to show us how they sound.

Wow, I feel like an ass. Sorry for pissing people off, but that was like my first post. At the time, I didn't realize how nice everyone is here. It is kind of ironic that I just posted a cover a few days ago here. http://www.antsmarching.org/forum/showthread.php?t=92354
Go ahead and tell me how much I suck, I don't care. I really wish I could take back what I said.


P.S.: I know its Jimi Thing->What Will Become of Me but I just skip the WWBoM and go into PNP.

[MistreatedLewis]

i find once you know one dave song you can basically do them all. . .

except all the cute little picking songs its hard to play the same pattern over and over again without messing up at some point in time. . ie satellite, rhyme and reason, #34, Stone

I suggest everyone learn #34


Question regarding these: Does Dave alternate pick, or does he always do that cray strumming thing he does? Or simply all downstrokes or upstrokes??

[PilotC150]

He messes with his picking a lot. I watched him play Satellite on various vidoes and sometimes he'll do all downstrokes, but sometimes he'll go up and down, whichever is convienient for that particular note.

I always play downstrokes. Easier for me to keep track of where my pick is without having look down at my right hand.

[MistreatedLewis]

He messes with his picking a lot. I watched him play Satellite on various vidoes and sometimes he'll do all downstrokes, but sometimes he'll go up and down, whichever is convienient for that particular note.

I always play downstrokes. Easier for me to keep track of where my pick is without having look down at my right hand.

Thank you!

[Mike Beauford]

Billies? interesting..but I would actually say Ryhme & Reason or The Stone...Billies the hardest? interesting..
R&R is easy as shit!

[saywhuut]

for drums the hardest song for me..well they are alll hard and take a lot of time to get..and when you think you got it..you find out carter is doin somethin else thats just crazy as well. but the hardest song right now id say is Warehouse live on Central Park..the latin beat is just sick..and theres tons of different things going on with different hands at the same time..very challenging song.


Stephen

[manninta]

YNK, it doesn't seem very difficult but to play it like dave is for me.

[GeorgeJr.]

anyone try So Right or Last Stop... both really tough

[aeroshady]

Stone hands down.....just watch Dave on Charlie Rose show playing it.....i don't even come close to that. (R&R took me a while, but I got it.....and I saw someone say JTR...I found that really easy, it was the first song I ever learned on Guitar)

[laron384]

I find that The Stone is not so tough, even singing with it. Billies, on the other hand gives me fits.

[AcousTronic]

Billies took me a little time to get the rythum right, and now I can sing and play it... So, of the 20 or so dave tunes that I do, Billies would be the hardest.

The people that think it is easy, do you sing it too? The riff is now easy to me but still takes some extra effort to sing over it.

[acost3]

im sorry but the Stone is not a hard song to play.....Billies is deff. up there though along with R & R

[PilotC150]

im sorry but the Stone is not a hard song to play.....Billies is deff. up there though along with R & R
People that make comments like this should have to put up recordings of them playing these songs.

The Stone, in this case.

[dman0808]

People that make comments like this should have to put up recordings of them playing these songs.

The Stone, in this case.

:thumbsup

[SpencerDS]

The stone is hard timing wise, Billies is as well, R&R i dont think so..... just my .02 everybodys got different weaknesses, i also tink rapunzel is hard to get down

[reverend miles]

here are the two hardest dave songs i know.. and as requested, i've posted copies of me attempting them.

tripping billies
http://s10.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2Y4AR9D8MVF7Q0MRGMOD11I4N2

the stone
http://s27.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3ONN8EOB8ODNE0D4J4DHS5GY07

you enjoy myself and big skiota are the two most challenging songs i know.

[smokentrees]

Stone is pretty tough, which I see everyone agrees with....it took me forever to get the finger picking intro to OSW down, but I finally nailed it...I really wish he would play it live, I have never heard it all the times I have heard the song...Billies is a biatch to play

[zeppelinman]

here are the two hardest dave songs i know.. and as requested, i've posted copies of me attempting them.

tripping billies
http://s10.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2Y4AR9D8MVF7Q0MRGMOD11I4N2

the stone
http://s27.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3ONN8EOB8ODNE0D4J4DHS5GY07

you enjoy myself and big skiota are the two most challenging songs i know.
guitar sounds great on billies!

[kmsracer]

since this thread seems to be an appropriate place to get some feedback on our attempts to play hard DMB songs, I was just wondering if you wouldnt mind taking a listen to my try at tripping billies and let me know what doesnt sound right.

be warned the recording is through my laptop, so it has no high end pickup... (i.e. the bass is a little heavy :- )

thanks!

http://s38.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=073XDPKGK03LL0MP1F6YAS8A6B

[laron384]

since this thread seems to be an appropriate place to get some feedback on our attempts to play hard DMB songs, I was just wondering if you wouldnt mind taking a listen to my try at tripping billies and let me know what doesnt sound right.

be warned the recording is through my laptop, so it has no high end pickup... (i.e. the bass is a little heavy :- )

thanks!

http://s38.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=073XDPKGK03LL0MP1F6YAS8A6B

Well, it sounds a hell of a lot better than my attempt at playing Billies! :thumbsup

You sound like you were having fun, too.

[Carbon Copy]

for the love of god different songs are harder for different people.

[The Floodzone]

for the love of god different songs are harder for different people.

:thumbsup

I completely agree.

Chris

[SouLChicken]

rhyme and reason is cake. the stone on the other hand, is a bitch. try hitting every note in that song without fucking up once, especially while singing.

It is played so fast also...
WOW @ two step..its a sinch
Rhyme and Reason can be rough...
Let me think and get back to it..

[leggman67]

i would have to say that warehouse is one of the hardest to play for me...lots of stuff going on with your fingers