Who can play.........

Jam10

The Alive solo front to back perfectly? Do you guys find this solo difficult or easy? Any suggestions on how to nail this solo.

Novawind

Difficult for me. I still can't play it to tempo.

seanw1010

yup
took some practice, but you really just stay in the penatonic form for the most part. definately not one of the harder pearl jam solos

MonsterOfTheMidway

I used to be able to. I haven't played PJ in a while...but I could probably get it again.

keeponrockin

Used to, not bad... Just takes practice.

lucylespian

Not yet, it's on my list of things to do.
It is quite difficult, in some sections. Most of it is not so badm, but there are a few harder 4 note combination sequences.
Believe me when I say that often peope will say this solo or that is not hard, but if they have worked it out by ear, they may well be missing a bunch of notes.
The last fe bars of the Sweet Child solo for example, I can fake that and it sounds good, but I know whihc notes I am not playing, becasue I can't do those same combinations reliably and cleanly.

The Alive solo breaks into a few sections. The first half page is prety cool. Then ther are some bits where he is jumpiong up and down the neck, that's harder. I find the next bit with the big unison bends OK, then the vottom half of the second page is where it gets tricky, then you get a break with the starightforward stuff in the open position, more combination stuff, tehn the big unison bends to finish. Tackle each section separately, then join em together.

mnicole22

Absolutely.......not

but I'm working on it.

MonsterOfTheMidway

lucylespian wrote:

Not yet, it's on my list of things to do.
It is quite difficult, in some sections. Most of it is not so badm, but there are a few harder 4 note combination sequences.
Believe me when I say that often peope will say this solo or that is not hard, but if they have worked it out by ear, they may well be missing a bunch of notes.
The last fe bars of the Sweet Child solo for example, I can fake that and it sounds good, but I know whihc notes I am not playing, becasue I can't do those same combinations reliably and cleanly.

The Alive solo breaks into a few sections. The first half page is prety cool. Then ther are some bits where he is jumpiong up and down the neck, that's harder. I find the next bit with the big unison bends OK, then the vottom half of the second page is where it gets tricky, then you get a break with the starightforward stuff in the open position, more combination stuff, tehn the big unison bends to finish. Tackle each section separately, then join em together.

It's really not that hard.

Anon

MonsterOfTheMidway wrote:

It's really not that hard.

If you are already a reasonably accomplished player then sure i can agree with that. If you are a beginner, just learnt lukin, and think you are going to automatically be able to carve up the alive solo then yeah, you are going to find it very hard.

So if you are reasonable accomplished, then the solo isn't that hard, just a pentatonic scale. I have learnt the solo note for note cause it's just so freakin awesome, but when I play it I always mix it up a little. I think you should keep the heart of the solo but still change it enough to keep it fresh.
Having said that though, and now i'm a bit older, i really don't recommend anyone learning any solo note for note because it'll only end up limiting you. Sure you're gonna be playing the same notes, but you're never gonna have the same emotions cause you aren't the guitarist you are trying to emulate. Take the main parts, then improvise and make it your own.

If you have the right scale and you are a beginner then you can play a simplified solo. Alive has some tricky parts for a beginner.

Trust me. If you work at it a little each day, you'll get it down quicker than it probably feels right now. Take it piece by piece. Start out slow.

xtremehardy388

I can but it's not easy. I can play the beginning and ending behind my head but NOT the middle, at all

ianvomsaal

http://forums.pearljam.com/showpost.php?p=5819610&postcount=11
From what I remember it's not tooo bad. I think I worked on it for a few hours
at home, then later the next day I recorded it (after I was done in the studio).
When I get time I'll post it - I'll just have to find it (I'm fairly sure it's in one of
the boxes buried in my music rooms closet).

I recorded it NFN for my lessons, but I totally agree with Pj_Gurl, keep the core
parts of the solo (you can quote it), but just play what feels right for most of it.

fleahorse

seanw1010 wrote:

. definately not one of the harder pearl jam solos

what would you say then is one of the harder pearl jam solos?

Jam10

Pj_Gurl wrote:

If you are already a reasonably accomplished player then sure i can agree with that. If you are a beginner, just learnt lukin, and think you are going to automatically be able to carve up the alive solo then yeah, you are going to find it very hard.

So if you are reasonable accomplished, then the solo isn't that hard, just a pentatonic scale. I have learnt the solo note for note cause it's just so freakin awesome, but when I play it I always mix it up a little. I think you should keep the heart of the solo but still change it enough to keep it fresh.
Having said that though, and now i'm a bit older, i really don't recommend anyone learning any solo note for note because it'll only end up limiting you. Sure you're gonna be playing the same notes, but you're never gonna have the same emotions cause you aren't the guitarist you are trying to emulate. Take the main parts, then improvise and make it your own.

If you have the right scale and you are a beginner then you can play a simplified solo. Alive has some tricky parts for a beginner.

Trust me. If you work at it a little each day, you'll get it down quicker than it probably feels right now. Take it piece by piece. Start out slow.

Thanks Pj Gurl for your advice. I agree with you that if I practice it a little each day it will come. I've got the first 2 bars down, just another 30 to go! (:
If some of you don't find this solo to be that difficult, what are some examples of difficult solos?

keeponrockin

Pj_Gurl wrote:

If you are already a reasonably accomplished player then sure i can agree with that. If you are a beginner, just learnt lukin, and think you are going to automatically be able to carve up the alive solo then yeah, you are going to find it very hard.

So if you are reasonable accomplished, then the solo isn't that hard, just a pentatonic scale. I have learnt the solo note for note cause it's just so freakin awesome, but when I play it I always mix it up a little. I think you should keep the heart of the solo but still change it enough to keep it fresh.
Having said that though, and now i'm a bit older, i really don't recommend anyone learning any solo note for note because it'll only end up limiting you. Sure you're gonna be playing the same notes, but you're never gonna have the same emotions cause you aren't the guitarist you are trying to emulate. Take the main parts, then improvise and make it your own.

If you have the right scale and you are a beginner then you can play a simplified solo. Alive has some tricky parts for a beginner.

Trust me. If you work at it a little each day, you'll get it down quicker than it probably feels right now. Take it piece by piece. Start out slow.

Quoted for truth.

MonsterOfTheMidway

fleahorse wrote:

what would you say then is one of the harder pearl jam solos?

Pearl Jam have no hard solos. They keep it pretty simple, actually.

keeponrockin

MonsterOfTheMidway wrote:

Pearl Jam have no hard solos. They keep it pretty simple, actually.

And that's precisley why they're amazing.

I noticed after seeing Ryan Adams and the Cardinals last week, he keeps things SOO simple, yet it just sounds brilliant. I can play fast (though not as much anymore due to the fact I have no time to play). But I think that the simpler you keep things, the better it is. Less is indeed more.

xtremehardy388

Nirvana were VERY simple but VERY powerful. Pearl Jam's live solos are sometimes pretty hard in terms of how clean they are. Mike's solos during Porch, NAIS, Evenflow, Alive, and Grievance are pretty tough in terms of how well they're played but difficulty on hitting the notes is fairly easy. The jam session of RVM is so amazing because it sounds so good yet it's just improv, more or less. You can tell the band has chemistry and it's easy to tell when it's a good night or a bad one.

seanw1010

fleahorse wrote:

what would you say then is one of the harder pearl jam solos?

none really. theyre all pretty much the same.

Glorified Irish Guy

i dont like playing the album solo anymore, i just try improvise like mike does live, its a lot more fun!!

dcfaithful

I just takes some rhythm and knowing the patterns that Mike uses...like mentioned earlier, it's mainly pentatonic...It's fun to play

Gossard_Is_God

fleahorse wrote:

what would you say then is one of the harder pearl jam solos?

Go, Animal and why go

lucylespian

MonsterOfTheMidway wrote:

It's really not that hard.

Depends on your definition of hard I suppose.
I'm comparing it to solos like One and Wherever You May Roam, which I can play much better. There is one somewhat faster section in the One solo that I can't do consistently either.
The rapid 4 note combinations are hard to do well and consistently.
Maybe the rest of the solo is not so hard, but it only takes one bar you can't play to stop you from being able to play the whole thing.

Jam10, it's hard enough, so don't beat yourself up for not being able to play it yet.

Pacomc79

difficulty is relative. It depends on what music you naturally gravitate to and how you learned as to what is easy or hard.

If you can find something to slow it down and play it note for note Jam10 then work your way up (if you've got an hour or two) one day playing or a week or so of breifly working it out just slow it down and ramp up the speed gradually, let your muscles and fingers learn how to make the progressions.... you'll nail it and get comfortable with it.

I learn a lot of stuff by ear so a lot of times, I end up making it far tougher than it really is, so It takes me a while to learn the easier more makeable progressions sometimes.

xtremehardy388

Pacomc79 wrote:

difficulty is relative. It depends on what music you naturally gravitate to and how you learned as to what is easy or hard.

If you can find something to slow it down and play it note for note Jam10 then work your way up (if you've got an hour or two) one day playing or a week or so of breifly working it out just slow it down and ramp up the speed gradually, let your muscles and fingers learn how to make the progressions.... you'll nail it and get comfortable with it.

I learn a lot of stuff by ear so a lot of times, I end up making it far tougher than it really is, so It takes me a while to learn the easier more makeable progressions sometimes.

I learn by ear, too! Slowing it down helps a LOT

Jam10

Pacomc79 wrote:

difficulty is relative. It depends on what music you naturally gravitate to and how you learned as to what is easy or hard.

If you can find something to slow it down and play it note for note Jam10 then work your way up (if you've got an hour or two) one day playing or a week or so of breifly working it out just slow it down and ramp up the speed gradually, let your muscles and fingers learn how to make the progressions.... you'll nail it and get comfortable with it.

I learn a lot of stuff by ear so a lot of times, I end up making it far tougher than it really is, so It takes me a while to learn the easier more makeable progressions sometimes.

Wow how do you learn a solo like Alive by ear? Any tips on how to play by ear? That's one of my weaker points in my playing.
Thanks any help would be greatly appreciated.

pjtaper

on harmonica, yes!

xtremehardy388

Jam10 wrote:

Wow how do you learn a solo like Alive by ear? Any tips on how to play by ear? That's one of my weaker points in my playing.
Thanks any help would be greatly appreciated.

Listen to it over and over and play along with the song. Sometimes it is easier for others. I play by ear with almost al instruments-I've tried reading music but I just can't. That's a MAJOR weakness of mine

opsopcopolis

For me, its an incredibly easy solo, very straightforward.
I agree with the guy that said that PJ doesn't really have any hard solos.
They're all pretty easy once you grasp the idea of playing a pentatonic scale.(at least for most of Mike's solos, Stone is a different style.)

lucylespian

Jam10 wrote:

Wow how do you learn a solo like Alive by ear? Any tips on how to play by ear? That's one of my weaker points in my playing.
Thanks any help would be greatly appreciated.

The Alive solo is basically a bunch of SRV blues licks all strung together.
If you learn a bunch of different solos form transciptions, you will start to notice the same licks being repeated. Then when you hear a new song, you will start to recognise those licks, so you don't have to hear every note.
I'm total crap at transcribing, but I can often hear differnt licks in songs. It takes a while, but sooner or later you will start to be able to do this.
It's taken me longer than a lot of people, but I learnt to play before tab was aound too, so I nothing to guide me.

dcarelli23@verizon.net

ianvomsaal wrote:

http://forums.pearljam.com/showpost.php?p=5819610&postcount=11
From what I remember it's not tooo bad. I think I worked on it for a few hours
at home, then later the next day I recorded it (after I was done in the studio).

From what you remember, huh? QWhen you had time you u laid it down, We got a real rock star on our hands here!

TOOLSHED!!!

ianvomsaal

Dank wrote:

From what you remember, huh? QWhen you had time you u laid it down, We got a real rock star on our hands here!

TOOLSHED!!!

dude, i don't even think you know me. you might want to find out about
someone before you make these kinds of comments. you even misquoted
me - i never said "when i had time i laid it down" - you might want to get
it straight before you comment about someone . . . but whatever . . .