I Dare Not Touch A Song

I believe I speak for all guitarists that we all picked up that little piece of wood because we felt the need to play that one particular song by our favorite band or singer. Or partly cause we just wanted to show off, either one. For me though, I asked my father for the Yamaha C-70 Classical Guitar my piano teacher introduced/pushed me to buy cause I wanted to play Blink 182’s The Rock Show.

Oh fuck yeah I did learn piano for 4 years. Four long years and all I forgot all I learnt cause I have yet to discover the beauty of the instrument at the time. And yes, I also took guitar lessons from her for maybe.. three weeks? I quit cause she was teaching me classical pieces, which I didn’t appreciate at the time too. I thought, “Why play classical music when you’ve got Blink 18Fucking2?”

Fuck it, seems like I digressed a little. Anyway, I soon learnt how to play The Rock Show and the list expanded further. I remembered feeling like a rock god after I managed to nail the “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” solo when I was in Form 5 (I even did the devil's horn after I nailed it). No doubt, I did give up some songs cause I thought they are too hard. Songs like Jimi’s Little Wing. That shit is so complicated! I still do think it’s complicated, how the fuck do you play rhythm and lead at the same time? Bah, maybe I just didn’t put enough effort into the song. Another notable song I gave up on is Cream’s Crossroads. I cried myself to sleep every night knowing that I’d never be able to play that song… four years ago, heheh. Now? I think I can but it won’t be as accurate, note for note.

Fast forward to 3 years later, I discovered shred and the list grew once more. Uh, I meant the “give up” list. Fucking Racer X songs, Paul Gilbert and the usual shredders’ roster. Fuck fuck shit fuck they’re too hard!! And don’t say I didn’t try, I did but they(my covers) sounded like shit. Didn’t even get past the 1 minute mark. I will probably will get back to them but it won’t be soon.

Let’s move on to the point of this post. Actually, there are songs that I want to play so badly but I don’t dare touch, at all. Most of them are Steve Vai’s songs. In my HUMBLE opinion, Steve Vai is on a different plane when it comes to instrumental guitar music. His songs, I don’t listen to them for their technicality. It’s the emotions that he puts into them. You can’t copy that shit. As if it isn’t hard enough to nail the technique, you gotta fucking nail the rock face, the “swoop my hair to the back” skill, whammy bar tricks, the "wind blowing in my hair", the "occasional glitter on the cheek which people mistook for tears". Ahhhh fuck!

There's this one song. It is like the Holy Grail to me. I will never touch it until I can cover not the whole song, but the whole fucking video (gotta get the suit, the hair, the bandmate, the ambience). This probably will surprise my Music Master friends but, yeah I like this song more than any other Paul Gilbert songs. And I’ll only be able to proudly call myself a pro if I achieve this. Which realistically, is never.

I present to you, Tender Surrender.