Different Strings (Rush) Guitar Lesson

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Learn how to play Rush's Different Strings from the album Permanent Waves on guitar.
I thought this would be easy to explain, but it proved pretty difficult.
Gear used:
2019 Gibson 335.
Old Roland JC-120 amplifier.
2 Sennheiser E609 mics.

Опубликовано:

18 сен 2024

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Комментарии : 85

@TheRealThomasPaine1776 Год назад

Adam really has it down right here. I watched an interview with Alex the other day, not very old either. In the conversation they were talking about the sounds that Alex was creating and experimenting with over the years, and at one point he said, in effect, "around that time I got a Roland JC120, and for hours on end I'd just sit in front of it, with the chorus on and I just loved that sound, and really couldn't get enough of it" he was talking about the Farewell to Kings timeframe. He also said that he'd tend to write the songs or put them together with the board and whatever effects, searching for sounds, but when he recorded, than he went through the amps, as that real amp sound was unlike any other. I am a firm believer that for Permanent Waves, (and in some of the still photos taken at Le Studio you can see) his ES-355 and the Roland JC 120 formed a big part of the sound, especially side two: Entre Nous/Different Strings/Natural Science. To me, that whole second side sounds very much "of a piece" and its meant to be heard together. So Different Strings is very much a lead in to Natural Science. There are videos of Alex playing his 355 for Natural Science, so IMHO I feel that Kings and Permanent Waves formed the pinnacle of what he was able to achieve with the ES355 before he started to do more with strats, LP's and all the other gear he assembled and his sound changed. Lastly, for some trivia: Alex just recently sold off most of his collection, with proceeds going to charity. His White 1976 ES355, the one that he bought new and has been with him all those years, sold for $385,000. It topped the list, but most of his guitars, including his main recording and touring models, all vouched for and authenticated by Alex himself, sold for over $100-200k each. Not sure, but after looking at the list (including tour material, and drum heads signed by Neil) he must have raised almost $2m for charity. And oddly, I've never heard him mention it! But that's just so like him.

@AdamGotheridge Год назад

Thanks for sharing all that. To me, there's sort of a wall of sound in those recordings that's really hard to figure out. Like there's another cleaner sound under the distorted sound that's heavily compressed, and sometimes it sounds like the same part, but the voicing on the guitar is different. So sometimes if feels like a doubled part, and sometimes it sounds like multiple amps running at the same time, maybe with or without that chorus thing. I have a couple JC-120's an old head and old combo. They can sound quite magical, but also really hard to play because they basically have no compression and are really "pokey" and kind of spikey in frequency response. It's a sound for sure.

@sonvolt9938 3 года назад

Alex Lifeson is brilliant. Its like he invents his own chords.

@lovetogolf4184 3 года назад

I know

@4randosutube 5 лет назад

Right on Adam. Great job. One of my favs by my favorite band. Man, Alex has ears on him. I don’t come upon chords like those.

@AdamGotheridge 5 лет назад

Yeah, he's pretty incredible and certainly the band as a whole is a pretty special thing. Thanks!

@stephencook9357 Год назад

Thank you sir.This one has been busting my balls for YEARS lol. Alex is the man, as you are. Many thanks!!

@AdamGotheridge Год назад

Really glad you found it helpful! And yes, he and Rush produced a ton of great material with very innovative ideas.

@acemacen4173 3 года назад

Great job. Tough song and you made it look easy!

@AdamGotheridge 3 года назад

The song is tough! Thank you.

@matthewammendolia4342 3 года назад

I always wanted to learn this song as a kid, thank you for the great lesson!

@AdamGotheridge 3 года назад

Thanks! Glad you found it helpful.

@polygraphovich 7 месяцев назад

Thanks, Adam. This was very helpful. That chorus has a couple time signature changes, but that’s typical of Rush (and prog, in general) & not so bad if one just counts. Again, excellent lesson!

@AdamGotheridge 7 месяцев назад

Glad it was helpful! Thanks

@s6g2k 2 месяца назад

Many many years ago my brother found a fairly small Rush song music book he got for my bday. As I recall it was supervised by Alex. Sadly, I don't think I have it anymore. Little tidbit about it, though. Last I recall having it was when I lent it to a nearly savant friend. Not that she was a big fan of Rush, but she declared it as one of her inspirations to get into a college level jazz music program. The book did show a slightly different way to play this song. Terminology? I'll prob fail in my description but the first verse phrase starts in the first position. Now, it seems that Adam's method might be a bit more economical in fingering. The book method is a little hard for me and my old, partly arthritic left hand fingers. I really like all the different variations on chords in this song. It really expanded my understanding of music.

@AdamGotheridge 2 месяца назад

I used to play in a rush tribute band and picked up a couple books to try and help learn the songs. Those books were terribly wrong, I thought. Like nothing sounded right at all to me, and usually those types of books are pretty good. So I did my best to learn them by ear and try to make them sound "right" to me. I'm not sure the fingerings are "right" at all, but they sound right to me. The chorus part with the added piano melody is obviously not right, but suggests what's going on in the song there. And yes, it's sort of arthritic exercise on the left hand. One thing about playing it all on the 5th fret is it allows all the notes to continually ring out. The chorus with the Bm9 add 11 to F major is cool. Kind of odd like Stevie Wonder's Sir Duke with the B major to Fmin7 in the chorus, the but major/minor is reversed. Both sound great to me, and I have no idea how or why those work from a theory standpoint.

@s6g2k 2 месяца назад

@@AdamGotheridge Whatever position was played, they sounded identical as I played along. I'm pretty sure that same book had Broon's Bane as well. That one is a workout.

@AdamGotheridge 2 месяца назад

@@s6g2k Yeah, that one is hard too. And another one with really odd and interesting changes.

@demonicusa.k.a.theblindguy3929 2 года назад

A song I always skipped in my youth but grew to appreciate until it ended up in my top ten's favorite list by them. Let's face it though any die hard fan of any band cramps 25 - 30 Songs into their top ten's favorite. This was very well explained for this blind guy to understand and had me playing along by the end. Very well taught and beautifully played. Much appreciated.

@AdamGotheridge 2 года назад

Wow, really glad it helped you out. I had never thought of learning the song on RU-vid without being able to see what’s being done. Bless your heart!

@demonicusa.k.a.theblindguy3929 2 года назад

@@AdamGotheridge It's only been the past few months through RU-vid that I've learned some missing theory I should have learned over 30 years ago. Again your description was great and thorough. If you ever get the time and care to do it I would really appreciate you teaching us bruins bane off of exit…. stage left. I have played a comfortable version of it for many years but many years by after sliding up to the 5th threat for the 2nd phrase a few of those chords are hollow because I'm just not sure I'm hearing them right. Either way though I'll keep checking out your channel lessons et cetera. Take care.

@AdamGotheridge 2 года назад

@@demonicusa.k.a.theblindguy3929 I used to know it a long time ago. Maybe I can give it a try in a few weeks. It's hard to play well, that much I remember! Have a wonderful day, and thank you. 🙏

@demonicusa.k.a.theblindguy3929 2 года назад

@@AdamGotheridge ☮️

@ewetomb 5 лет назад

What a RUSH... Nice👍👍👍🎸

@AdamGotheridge 5 лет назад

Thanks buddy! I gave it a shot...

@owenandrew8108 2 года назад

super informative!! i have been trying to learn this song for ever and havent been able to find an easy way to play it until i found this video

@aclsp91 8 месяцев назад

Thank you ver much from brazil

@AdamGotheridge 8 месяцев назад

That's where the real music is! 🙏

@TheRealThomasPaine1776 Год назад

Absolutely fantastic! I always knew this song must be much harder than it, are you just definitely proved that!!! I was hoping you tell us how you got that beautiful sound, I have a Roland jc-40, that I got specifically so I could recreate this type of sound!! Now I have Alex's white, ES355 as well!! Thanks for this excellent tutorial. I'm sure it will take me forever to learn it, but you've laid the groundwork.

@AdamGotheridge Год назад

White 355 - boy am I jealous! Super cool. As for time to learn - you just have to take is slow and play at the speed you can play it accurately over and over and then gradually it will come together, but faster if you do it that way. Thanks for the kind words. 🙏

@TheRealThomasPaine1776 Год назад

@@AdamGotheridge I will try to take it slow, in fact, I set a "One Year" goal, to put together a medley of sorts of some of the songs that I really like, without the solos, as I figured that they would be beyond me. But, i started to learn the solo for Limelight, and I think that perhaps it might be attainable. Background: I was a bass player in a Rush cover band when i was a kid, in the mid 80's. My brother was on drums, with out best on guitar. no Taurus pedals, we were kids and couldn't afford them. So 30 years later i have young kids and I start playing the acoustic, than, finally, I decided to try my hand at an electric. I go a Casino, thinking it might replicate some rock riffs plus be a nice starter. But, I just couldnt resist learning a little Rush, so first it was Fly by Night, than Limelight, when I realized that I didn't have enough frets to learn the solo!!! So, all that aside, so I'm older now (60!! ouch) so I'm trying to set my sights with smaller goals. Right now, its just increasing fingerboard accuracy and learning to sound out all the notes in a chord, which is imperative in playing Alex's stuff! My fingers are still adjusting to those damm skinny strings, but there are moments when it sounds not too crappy! Like golf! Most of the time we're struggling, but when we make a great shot, it feels great and keeps moving us forward!

@AdamGotheridge Год назад

@@TheRealThomasPaine1776 Music is just a joy, a gift, art, even a fun puzzle! For this one, try taking each section, and play them slow to a metronome for a few minutes each day. Solos, some of the early ones like fly by night or lakeside park are fun, not "too" hard, and not too long. Bass - I started taking that up about 10 years ago and found it a lot harder than I though. Guitar sort of has a loose time and feel about it, but you really have to be dead one with bass. I think that's an advantage for you! Good luck in your journey, and yes, I'm a few months away from 60 myself. All good. :)

@josephhohl82 4 года назад

You do those strings pretty good man. Enjoyed.

@AdamGotheridge 4 года назад

Thanks Joseph.

@scounter72 4 года назад

That was very useful. Just popped on here to get some tips about how to play this song as I'm about 75% there. Terrific composition right? You really have the spirit of it. And lovely guitar sound too

@AdamGotheridge 4 года назад

Thanks and yes, a wonderful composition.

@Alchemtron 4 года назад

Superb tone and voicing. Beautifully done!

@AdamGotheridge 4 года назад

Thanks Jon!

@Alchemtron 4 года назад

Neil's death has me learning Rush again. This song helps me cope. Thank you.

@AdamGotheridge 4 года назад

@@Alchemtron Most welcome! His music lives on. :)

@hoochrocks 6 месяцев назад

Thank you

@ahcubac 4 года назад

Geddy wrote the lyrics to this, and as Geddy did a lot of writing on the acoustic (read somewhere that Geddy came up with the intro to closer to the heart), I wouldn't be surprised to hear that Geddy wrote this chord sequence either. Great explanation and beautifully played. Thanks so much for sharing this amazing song!!!

@AdamGotheridge 4 года назад

I wonder if those guys remember who wrote what having written and recorded so much material. Their music in general seems mostly collaborative to me, like say Ged wrote the chords and melody, the arpeggiated open strings in this one is really and Alex trademark.

@ahcubac 4 года назад

@@AdamGotheridge That's a good point regarding the open string being an Alex trademark. I would love a "woodshed" interview where they just document as much they can recall regarding who wrote what parts. Perhaps Geddy came up with the three chord opening sequence and then the "mad scientist" filled in the blanks? Lol! Either way, the chemistry in songwriting those two share is a rare gem! Love your chorus tone too. What pedal, rack etc do you use for chorus?

@AdamGotheridge 4 года назад

@@ahcubac They would Neil around for sure, but yeah it would be funny if they were interviewed with "who wrote what". They probably all remember it differently. The chorus sound is the built in chorus on the JC-120 amp. Pretty cool huh? You can get that same basic sound with the Boss Waza CE-2 pedal, but you need 2 amps (it doesn't sound very good in mono, but great in stereo). Also note that I have a JC-120 head also, and the chorus sounds a little different in that from the combo amp. Or at least I think it does, but I run that into a stereo 4x12 when I use that so that might be part of it.

@ahcubac 4 года назад

@@AdamGotheridge Ah yes the JC-120! Alex said he had one of those among his marshall's and hiwatt's during the recording of hemispheres. A friend in college let me borrow his JC-77 on break one time back in 1985! I loved the sound of it but have honestly never played the 120. Thanks for sharing the info and again you did beautiful justice to a beautiful song. Thanks!

@lovetogolf4184 3 года назад

Geddy wrote lyrics to "Tears" also

@brettbreet 2 года назад

Surprised no one has mentioned the WURM easter egg at the end!

@seriousthinking3088 5 лет назад

VERY CLEAN !!!!

@AdamGotheridge 5 лет назад

Maybe too clean. ;)

@geoffreysmith4459 4 года назад

great job adam

@AdamGotheridge 4 года назад

@@geoffreysmith4459 Thanks old buddy! Love you, and thank you from the bottom of my heart for all you did for me growing up. :)

@6806goats1 5 месяцев назад

Thanks Adam. When Gibson created the 335 they created a masterpiece. Hopefully I’ll get my Sire H7V close enough to warrant a 335. I’m not worthy.

@AdamGotheridge 5 месяцев назад

I think your sire will be more than close enough.

@SveinOlavGlesaaenNyberg 2 года назад

For whatever it's worth, the wonderful sound of your guitar set me on a path to getting an electric guitar myself. I got a Duesenberg Starplayer Phonic. Nice beast! Now, of course, I can't stop at just a guitar ... which kind of effects/pedals are you using? (I'm a total novice to el, so my guess stops at "reverb".) And of course: thank you very much for the instruction video. It's great! 😊

@AdamGotheridge 2 года назад

Love that!!! It's just the guitar into a Roland JC-120 amp with the chorus on (from the amp). I might have used a compressor pedal, but I don't really remember. Good luck with your journey!

@SveinOlavGlesaaenNyberg 2 года назад

Thank you, @@AdamGotheridge, and thank you for the milestone! 😊 (And I will look into chorus pedals ... or amp with it built-in)

@TheRealThomasPaine1776 Год назад

@@SveinOlavGlesaaenNyberg I also wanted that same sound, for many years! I was a bass player, so the skinny strings are a bit new to me. Anyway, the guitar player in one of the bands I was in also had a JC120, and it was awesome! At the time, we were more like the Cure, I guess. Anyway, about 6-8 months ago I bought the smaller version, a JC-40 and boy its everything the JC 120 is! Its not as big, but unless you're playing bigger stages, you will never miss it. In fact, my 40 is plenty oud enough here in my house. The JC-22 might have worked, but for a bit more I have the size that I need if I ever get a chance to play with anyone else again. Also, the JC-40 comes with Chorus, Vibrato and Distortion, also you might want to add to those to get more layers. As for pedals, perhaps a compressor, for more of that late 80's-90's sound that Alex had. A flanger will be needed to play a lot of his stuff (listed to the opening to Spirit of Radio) I plan on an Electric Mistress to do that. Perhaps a digital delay, and of course a good distortion box, like a classic Tube Screamer or a Blues Driver. I'm not an expert, but I've done a bit of research. All the best.

@idoaviv5130 4 года назад

thank you very much! you did a great job

@AdamGotheridge 4 года назад

Thanks Ido!

@TruthSurge 4 года назад

sounds nice. Man, you could really play some 2112 and Hemispheres and all kinds of stuff on that thing. La Villa Strangiato and EVATHANG! I wondered what the amp/signalpath was. Sounds really clean. I don't even know THIS song at all. hahaha I never owned any Rush albums. Oddly, I guess.

@AdamGotheridge 4 года назад

Thanks. Signal path here is guitar, old Roland JC-120, 2 Sennheiser e609 mics, Warm Audio wa-412 mic preamp (api clone), Apollo interface. To my ears a lot of the stuff he did was a combo of guitars playing slightly different part most of the time. Like it sounds like a Marshall or whatever with a smashed to hell di track or clean amp to where you can't really distinguish one from the other, except you can't play the complete chord voicing in one chord. "that" chorus sound you can hear on a lot of the earlier stuff, but it's like mixed with the dirty amp. It's a super picky amp, like you can pick quite and then loud and it will blow your head off. So it's really hard to play well, or more like you have to play really well for it not to sound bad, but in the room in particular, it sounds huge and wonderful. And you should probably listen to some of that old stuff. ;)

@TruthSurge 4 года назад

@@AdamGotheridge Well, that sounds like a clean amp with some headroom. You play louder, it GETS louder. Yes, that takes control so you don't pluck accidentally too hard. Didn't Alex use a Gallien-Kreuger amp at one point? Then later he used Hughes and Kettner I know Prob Marshall was in the very early stages when he was all hard for Page. hahaha But I don't know more than that. Yeah, he had some cool sounds and open ringy chords.

@kebello10 4 года назад

Fantastic Tks so much!! Is this an Angelico guitar?

@AdamGotheridge 4 года назад

Thanks! No, it's a 2019 Gibson ES-335.

@erickinkel6037 3 года назад

Is that a flanger or chorus....if so what pedal settings to get that sound.... clean channel too?

@AdamGotheridge 3 года назад

It's the chorus that's built into the JC-120 amp. And yes, clean channel.

@wglennhowells 3 года назад

Such a great classic Rush song. Now, do a video for "Here Again" off the 1st album. I'm pretty sure I've been playing it wrong for 40 years. ;p

@AdamGotheridge 3 года назад

Ha! I never truly learned that one. Quick listen, 3 guitars through most of it, the crunchy Marshall, cleaner sound, and an acoustic too. They are all playing slightly different parts. I'm sure you came up with a pretty close approximation for those 3 parts. That lead part is super fat...

@wglennhowells 3 года назад

@@AdamGotheridge it has such a unique opening riff to the lead. Reminds me a lot of the intro riff in the lead from No One At the Bridge (Part III of The Fountain of Lamneth). Smooth, full of low end, not in a race, really sucks you in.

@davidbuyers8862 4 года назад

niceeeee...… thank u

@AdamGotheridge 4 года назад

Welcome 😊

@luigi-ol6vv 2 года назад

¡Hermoso sonido!

@AdamGotheridge 2 года назад

32 / 5,000 gracias. es un buen amplificador

@huntingtonhenry7700 3 года назад

Hey wait! What about the ending lead? 15:40 Rhythm sounds good though, you have it down..

@AdamGotheridge 3 года назад

Improvise like Alex would have done. :)

@vanorsow 4 года назад

Awesome to hear this, but I want the same for all RUSH songs now! Wasn't there a slow bluesy and maybe even painful sounding ending to Different Strings?

@AdamGotheridge 4 года назад

I'll try to add some and get through them quicker. The album version faded out, not sure of what they did live.

@vanorsow 4 года назад

@@AdamGotheridge Just listened to the Tyler Warren version (who I just discovered from a comment on one of your vids) and it indeed has the ending with the electric guitar, from 26:00 to 26:30 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-GD5Xo1Tkh4U.html

@cemetarygates2800 5 лет назад

I enjoyed it Adam... If you get a chance here on RU-vid, watch a guy named (Tyler Warren's full Permanent Waves album cover). It's brilliantly done and think you may enjoy it. Different Strings begins at the 22:40 mark of his album rendition. Fun fact: Tyler is out on tour with Queen, he's their drummer. Let me know if you get a chance to watch it. He does every instrument on the cover and to be honest, it's a complete masterpiece.

@AdamGotheridge 5 лет назад

I've seen it and brilliant is an understatement there. I still can't comprehend how he did all that by himself, not just playing, but the production of the whole thing too. I should have gone back and watched that first, I think he plays it more accurately than I, starting with fingerpicking the whole thing.

@cemetarygates2800 5 лет назад

@@AdamGotheridgeNot sure if you're aware but Tyler is on tour drumming with QUEEN.

@AdamGotheridge 5 лет назад

@@cemetarygates2800 Super cool, and certainly well deserved.