@@joshdougherty1574 yeah master of puppets is really demanding if you downpick everything, but if your wrist gets too tired you can always slip some alternate picking in there and gets waaaay easier. From snow there's just no escape, you have to keep going and maintain the fast pace of the riff for a long time
@@joshdougherty1574 I've learned both songs years ago, and I am 100% confident that playing Snow all the way through is harder than master of puppets (still a very challenging riff no doubt). I haven't mastered Snow yet, it's literally a physical issue with the muscles of my hand at this point. With Snow it's my left hand that dies, while the other one kills my right wrist
The thing about this riff is that it makes you feel like your fingers are becoming creatures of their own and are doing the opposite of what your brain tells them to do
John Frusciante is definitely a genius musician. Not because his riffs are very hard to play, but because he turns conventional guitar playing inside out & upside down in such a uniquely melodic style. Have a very, very close listen to Blood, Sex, Sugar, Magic....... bloody epic!
lol, i thought it was neon too. and i also thought why is he making the same video again, because; okay, snow is hard but not as much as the title says
There are very few original comments. People constantly regurgitate other funny stuff they see or hear. No shame in that. Good artists borrow, great artists steal.
Rules to learn your favorite riffs: 1. Exercise your picking and fretting hand every single day. 2. Learn first your chords and scales. 3. Play every day. 4. Play every day. 5. Play everyday. 6. You guessed it... Remember good guitar players weren't born with a guitar in their hands. Mastery requires practice. Learn to love the journey of learning. Love you all, keep it up.
Yep, agree I quite easily got the gist of blackened intro riff, but just after a few days of not playing it i couldn't play it at the same tempo i could play easily before Guitar takes looots of different practise, barre, power, open, 7th, inversion chords, alternate, downstroke, upstroke, speed and inbetween-the-strings picking, different strumming and different modes, scales and keys, all this needs practise or else you fall behind
@@TonyNaber - To be fair though, downstrokes sound different from alternate picking, and if that's the sound you're going for.. Also personally enjoy the challenge of playing something like Master of Puppets in Hetfield mode. :p
It is quite easy. This guy just uses an awkward technique to play it called string hopping. With circular motion you could play it twice as fast (if you can move your hand that fast).
Yeah, it's easy to do it multiple times, it's playing it throughout the whole song that's the issue. John definitely is a master, cause he's singing at the same time and everything. Gotta respect the man
Just wanna take this comment to appreciate the work you do here In allowing us the explore deeper and more complex music, whether that'd be a riff, lick, or song! Really amazing work here as always!
I thought this rift was amazing before I knew all John was doing, but now I know just how godly this was. That’s why josh had such big shoes to fill. John made technical challenging, complicated rifts like this into hugely popular songs. It takes a master to do this.
@@rogerpbsmusic no he didn’t. I saw the peppers at lollapalooza when josh was playing. Josh was ok. He could play the big hits, but he couldn’t improvise and jam the way John did. For most of the set flea was leading things. I saw the peppers years before that with John. Him and flea improvised and jammed between the big songs. And John didn’t play every song exactly like the album version. He would embellish or mix up the solos, and randomly play covers during the set. I don’t dislike josh but the band just had a different vibe with him in it.
@@maxhocks2006 ..but Josh did play this song & more. He knew all of BSSM since his teens & knew b-sides too. He really did his homework. It also became kind of tradition that he got an encore spot pretty much every show where he played a cover..probably played more covers than John ever did at that point haha
I tried and gave up on this song years ago , then put the guitar down for years/ but decided to pick the guitar back up and start playing again and this time I learned this song. mid life crisis i think but wanna actually learn how to play guitar this time.
It's taken me flippin ages to get this riff to sound recognisable. Yet John just probably picked it out the air and nailed it straight away. The guy is a genius.
Guitar skills? Scratch that, I've always knew Paul had this in the bag. But the amount of hard work and meticulous editing skills that have been put into the video is amazing! Keep it up my man
That's how I play this...and that much downpicking isn't THAT difficult with practice to build up your stamina (although Papa Het is a technical BEAST when it comes to how amazing his palm muting is, how accurate his picking and fretting are, and the fact he's singing at the same time).
There are just a few teachers who are able to describe all the particular nuances in such a manner. Without any doubt - Paul Davids is one of the best! Thank you, Paul.
I think there is still one part missing: After the last pick of every chord, John lets it ring while he is continuing to play the next chord. It's so hard to get this right..
Not really that hard, you just have to be precise when fretting. Finger tips straight in. This is how you play classical guitar where the action is much higher. Practice this on a guitar with high action.
@@bjorngot73 so much this. We snagged up a worn out, cheapo, yard sale acoustic and had my 9yo learn some basics. 6mos later got him a 3/4 Ibanez and he had Thunderstruck nailed in an afternoon. 👍
Paul..From a fifty year old man’s perspective I feel you have an incredible gift for conveying information not only about “end game” guitar but also musical and life philosophies extremely well. Another excellent video! Keep it up!
Its a really REALLY great alternate picking warmup. It's in sets of 7 which changes the starting picking direction of each set, there are changing directional string changes (the inside picking stuff), string jumps between sets, and it skips from straight alternate picking to the hammer-on part, which stutters the picking hand. Oh and it's moderately fast, Its a really good tounge twisters on multiple levels.
I've been playing acoustic for 13 years but decided to make the shift to electric and bought an electric guitar just a week ago. Playing electric for the first time can be quite daunting! I've decided to make Snow my first song goal and have been working solely on that and some scales for the past week. So it's really quite cool that this video comes out at this very particular time!! Quite encouraging and insightful video! I will definitely keep at it. Thanks for the good videos.
@@MerijnH I did but I only got to about 80% speed. I've moved on to other things but I still want to come back at some point and get it to 100%. Looking to do the nextlevelplaying course once I'm done with studies and have bit more time.
I remember, back in highschool we all played metal riffs as the epitome of guitar technique, and I wanted to learn this riff just for fun, and because we loved that song. I thought I really suck at guitar becasue it was so hard for me to play it correctly - especially at the right tempo -, and I couldn't comprehend how on earth could it happen when I can play those tricky metal riffs quite easily. Well, now I know :D Thank you Paul!
I've been playing for 20 years; I learned Snow in 2007. I've been returning to try to master it for the past 14 years. It really is that tricky. The core notes are easy enough to get down, even the tempo isn't the worst thing to nail really. For me, the absolute hardest thing about this riff is returning to the chord shape of the beginning of the riff in time with the tempo consistently. The chord shape on this is way more difficult than it seems like it ought to be once you start trying to fall into a groove with it. To this day, my performance of this song is still underwhelming. I can do all sorts of crazy flamenco strumming, I can play metal on a grand concert style acoustic without a pick; I can do things one "doesn't do" with a guitar essentially. All the same, simply playing "Snow, Hey Oh" is still beyond me. I remember when my friend taught me to play this lick for the first time. Once I got it down more or less, I said "Damn!" He looked back at me and praised Frusciante: "How does a person even begin to write a lick like that?" Still totally outside my ability to comprehend. Frusciante is amazing. This was a great video.
DUUUDE! HOW in the FFFFFF.....am I just now finding your videos???? You have the absolute best, common sense breakdown and LITERAL itemization of every segment of these songs. It's ridiculous. Keep it up!
Ik vind je echt de beste gitaardocent op youtube, werkelijk waar. Je lijkt altijd echt veel moeite in je video's te stoppen en ze goed te editen. Buiten dat kan je extreem goed gitaar spelen en kom je heel fijn en rustig over. Ik volg je al een aantal jaren dus ik vind het leuk om te zien dat het zo goed gaat met je kanaal nu! Ga zo door man!!
Thank you for this, it's these little details about John's style of playing I love to learn about. Videos like yours really make people think about exactly why some of the songs we like are so good and helps us appreciate the details you might not think about at first
I've never understood why hundreds of people thumbs down your videos. I guess they are jealous of your ability to both play & teach. The bright side is tens of thousands thumbs-up them!
This song was the song that inspired me to pick up the guitar in high school. I spent over a year trying to play this song while learning other songs at the same time. Never got it right
For a riff like this, I try to identify the specific mechanic blocking me from playing it. Then I can build practice exercises isolating that mechanic (alternate picking, string skipping, chord shape changes, finger independence). I don't ever really make the same progress practicing a riff I can't play over an over unless I back off and improve the thing keeping me from playing the riff.
For someone who is struggling here’s a tip you may like: play the first note with the pinky at the 5th string. This allows to change the chord way easier by just sliding it.
I do economy picking for the first 2 notes of each chord: so I do not have to do inside picking and the 3rd note is up picking (Down, Down, Up, Down, Up, Down, Up) I personally find it easier to play at high speed than alternate picking all along +1 if it helped you to play this song faster ;)
It's definitely easier, but the notes don't ring as evenly, or at least the attack on the strings is different so some may not think it sounds as authentic to the original, but on the other hand, it's barely noticeable so who cares it doesn't really matter.
The thing is: it's hard for the whole duration of the song to stay perfectly clean, and singing it along is very hard (I play and sing simultaneously and we never covered this song with my band due to this)
I think once you mastered the guitar part, the singing isn't too hard. It's mostly muscle memory and the singing melody corresponds very well with the cord changes.
When I first learnt this riff I thought it was supposed to be fingerpicked! I am amazed at how fast Paul picks and how clean the tone is. I have decided to challenge myself to play it with a pick.
Guys I'm doing it!!! It's been 1 month and I'm already at 90 BPM and all I have is my acoustic. I'm so happy with my progress and don't be afraid, once you learn the picking pattern it's just ingrained in your mind.
it’s all relative to be fair. some people find this song harder because of the alternate picking. some find neon harder because of the difficulty of the coordination. personally they’re both challenging but I find snow slightly harder because the riff is harder to maintain at its set tempo.
I jumped into this video by accident, and I have a few things to say: - Good video: Lightning, framing, background environment, etc. - Clear and spot on instructions. Very well structured. I don't play guitar and I understand the message and the process behind the work to get to play this riff. - Audible voice. Understandable accent, enthusiastic, clear sound. - Makes me feel even more sad for not being able to play guitar. :) Best Regards
he seems like such a mature musician. having the track panned to one side, and the nature of it, means that his legendarily difficult riff plays as a background to the vocals. a non musician might have trouble even realizing this is a tough right
According to youtube commenters, everything and everyone is underrated. Even the most awarded, recognized, beloved and successful. Everything is "underrated". That or people just like pretending they have a secret about all the best stuff everyone already loves.
@@WhiteCranK Nah buddy, it's not a word used in English speaking. Even in that link you provided, it shows "rare, obsolete" next to sympathic. Again, not trying to be a jerk, if English isn't your first language I'm just trying to help you out. "Sympathic" isn't really a word in typical English language.
@@travistotle wow you are late but yes, it's my fault, it should be "sympathetic" ? translate.google.com/#view=home&op=translate&sl=de&tl=en&text=sympathisch funny that you repeat that late... it was very important for you, right?
30 years ago my guitar teacher, when I was 13, focus so much on teaching me alternate picking in the beginning which has certainly paid off. The endurance of this riff is hard. The key to this sort of thing is to practice it slowly, Perfectly, over and over and over until you’re blue in the face and you can hold a conversation while playing it. Eventually playing at its speed won’t be that hard. The other key is to relax your arm your wrist in your shoulder and play freely, which is really hard to do until you play it 1000 times and make it muscle memory
One of the first songs I learned how to play. Always one of my warm ups when I haven’t played in awhile. Makes you regret putting the guitar down and getting rusty. Still gets the best of me sometimes lol
@@emmanuelakena5365 true i probabbly dont play it like john but.In terms of complexity i dont think its as hard to master playing it like him,than neon or this song
@@brandonthemuso8238 oh thats another pair of socks.Singing with that kind of rythm is super hard.i cant even sing with a easy chord progression let alone something else lol.
The tricky part for me is change the chord after the hammer on. at that speed it can be pretty difficult. oh and you forgot to sing while playing! haha Anyway, great video as always.
Luca Stricagnoli played this riff with just one hand by utilizing hammer-ons and pull-offs, with a custom tuning of course, and proceeded to play the whole song with percussions included. I was just blown away.
This is my new favorite section! My favourite was "big love" by lindsey buckingham. You motivated me to learn that song, so thank you very much! and keep it up! Greetings from Argentina! 😎
Thanks Paul Davids for a BRILLIANT, meticulous analysis of a a very difficult guitar piece. Your comment about the importance of “strict alternate picking” throughout and the syncopation of accenting the 2nd and 4th beat truly taxes the muscles in wrists and arm☹️. This is truly important advice. One must NOT tense up for nearly 5 minutes☑️. There is a sort of cheater’s method! CAPO the 4th fret and fret an E minor chord shape and you’re straight into G#minor without having to barré the 4th fret and move to other difficult chord shapes. I have yet to see such a brilliant and musical analysis on TH-cam. 👏👌👍
7:32 last scene of a high school football drama show where the second string quarterback throws the final touchdown of the game to win the championship even though they’ve been through unimaginable turmoil
Fracture came to mind immediately for me too, this was very interesting but seems more doable than the Fripp riffs noted here. I think of Fracture as simpler on the left hand and just blazing on the right hand. Larks tongues pt1 and pt3 cover so much fretboard the left is super demanding too. I've never pulled any of them off. I'd love to see Paul breakdown these.
I think Paul's analysis of this song is spot on. It is tricky, but it's not the hardest thing in the world to play. What I wish Paul had touched on is what makes this song (and Frusciante's other songs) special is the writing. All you other guitar players out there try to imagine what it takes to come up with a riff like this.
I’ve been playing for 3 years now and started it just a year ago when I first learned my Em chord. Now I’m able to play that and even more improvs and I couldn’t be happier with myself.
I started learning guitar two months ago and this is the first thing I tried to learn. When I realized how fast you actually supposed to play it I could not believe it.
I love this video. I remember watching it when it first came out and me practicing for hours but I couldn't get it down. Now after alot of improvements in my playing I tried the riff once again and my god I can play it!
I remember having a hard time when learning this back in the day, and would probably have to practice a bit to get it back since I haven´t played it in years. It would be interesting to know your opinion on other "hard" riffs in fairly well known songs explained in detail like this.
Bro, really epic lesson... you absolutely nailed the main points and the intricacies... I started playing guitar 30 years ago (but mainly a drummer) and i was a bit lost in the beginning of this lesson. I replayed it quite a few times and paused it, and the flow absolutely came to me once I practiced the mechanics several times. Brilliant! Keep up the good work 😎
I’ve been working under the bridge for a while and I’ve almost got it. This one would take alot of dedication. BUT, the cool thing about Johns riffs and licks are that they are so Bouncy and Addictive that they Stay in Your Brain. Thats the Genius that Pulls you in. He’s Such a Great Unassuming Guy, I Don’t Even Know if He Knows How He Affects Us. Would love to have a Coffee with the Whole Band!
There's also a FIFTH reason: the sheer repetition in time. I probably could manage this at one time.. But that many notes times 138? Dunno.. There's a point where also a trained guitarplayer's hand won't do what he's got his mind set on. This must be played and repeated that often, one can only play this without any tension or straint. It has to be fluidly. And actually that is hard to do. Guess we all have to TRY AND WORK HARDER🤘
How does a band like RHCP, who have been around 40 years, still get forgotten in so many conversations? I reckon you could make a dozen of these videos about their tracks with both Fruschiante and Navarrro
Great video, I believe you missed to mention the slide from 7th to 9th fret to reach the first note of the F# chord which adds more complexity to the work. John certainly did a master piece. Thanks
Im grateful I waited until now in my guitar journey to attempt this. Too early would have made me give up. Now I was able to just watch his hands and do it. Feels like magic. Sweet riff
Playing it with fingers makes it much easier indeed... Even if it does not work sound the same it sounds better then playing dead notes or the wrong tempo
![Red Hot Chili Peppers - Can't Stop - Live Earth, London - 07 [Remastered]](/img/n.gif)
John's probably like "ohh so that's what I did"
Lmaoo
Lmfao😂😂
deep cigarette inhale*
@@chinaski_sounds HAHAHAHAHHA
With all due respect to both, pretty sure John knew what he was doing. He is a genius
It's the fact he can sing backing vocals as well that makes him truly extraordinary
Also has solo stuff aswell as that super band he’s part of too amongst many many other things, John is the 🐐
The hardest thing about this riff is definitely endurance
Try master of puppets ;)
@@joshdougherty1574 yeah master of puppets is really demanding if you downpick everything, but if your wrist gets too tired you can always slip some alternate picking in there and gets waaaay easier. From snow there's just no escape, you have to keep going and maintain the fast pace of the riff for a long time
@@grigno97 You're totally right
Tension
@@joshdougherty1574 I've learned both songs years ago, and I am 100% confident that playing Snow all the way through is harder than master of puppets (still a very challenging riff no doubt). I haven't mastered Snow yet, it's literally a physical issue with the muscles of my hand at this point. With Snow it's my left hand that dies, while the other one kills my right wrist
The thing about this riff is that it makes you feel like your fingers are becoming creatures of their own and are doing the opposite of what your brain tells them to do
in "c'mon girl" flea makes me feel the same
I agree. My fingers feel like they're alive and doing their own thing when I play this. The second I start trying to think, they stop obeying me.
John Frusciante is definitely a genius musician. Not because his riffs are very hard to play, but because he turns conventional guitar playing inside out & upside down in such a uniquely melodic style. Have a very, very close listen to Blood, Sex, Sugar, Magic....... bloody epic!
Some of his very greatest work is on that album
true
My favourite chilis album by a long way I think!
Yeah and while a riff like can't stop isn't technically hard to play it's nearly impossible to get it to sound like Frusciante
Blooty epick!! R ya Brit m8?
Definitely thought it was gonna be Neon until I heard “while singing backup vocals”
Why would I make the same video 2 times?!
I thought John was JP
same here lol
lol, i thought it was neon too. and i also thought why is he making the same video again, because; okay, snow is hard but not as much as the title says
EXACTLY what i thought...
1:17 I really hate when people compare Jesus and Frusciante, like yeah, he's cool and all, but he's not Frusciante.
Okiyoto bitch u stole that comment the fuck up
@@hmm4959 grammar, please
Yeah yeah 😂😂😂😂
@@joejohnson974 what?
There are very few original comments. People constantly regurgitate other funny stuff they see or hear. No shame in that. Good artists borrow, great artists steal.
This guy's videos are just different in a unique way.
His voice also is so soothing
Your voice is even more soothing
Rules to learn your favorite riffs:
1. Exercise your picking and fretting hand every single day.
2. Learn first your chords and scales.
3. Play every day.
4. Play every day.
5. Play everyday.
6. You guessed it...
Remember good guitar players weren't born with a guitar in their hands. Mastery requires practice.
Learn to love the journey of learning.
Love you all, keep it up.
Can this be learned at any age?
@@korkunctheterrible4302 you are never too old to play music
This is a beautiful comment
Yep, agree
I quite easily got the gist of blackened intro riff, but just after a few days of not playing it i couldn't play it at the same tempo i could play easily before
Guitar takes looots of different practise, barre, power, open, 7th, inversion chords, alternate, downstroke, upstroke, speed and inbetween-the-strings picking, different strumming and different modes, scales and keys, all this needs practise or else you fall behind
Or use simply guitar
Alternate picking:
James hetfield has left the chat
Hetfield: "if it's physically possible to downstroke the whole song, bitch I'm doing it"
CuriousTaco what a nerd 😎
@@TonyNaber - To be fair though, downstrokes sound different from alternate picking, and if that's the sound you're going for..
Also personally enjoy the challenge of playing something like Master of Puppets in Hetfield mode. :p
@@TheMrVengeance yes you're right
I'm %100 sure James would downpick the everliving fuck out of this riff.
I do really love his high camera quality, his camera angles and his jacket
And probrably his penis
And his beard
The riff is easy to learn but very hard to master, especially the endurance
Also, I've met/seen a lot of people that can "play this song" but often it sounds like shit or much more "clumsy"
You stole that
It is quite easy. This guy just uses an awkward technique to play it called string hopping. With circular motion you could play it twice as fast (if you can move your hand that fast).
Yeah, it's easy to do it multiple times, it's playing it throughout the whole song that's the issue. John definitely is a master, cause he's singing at the same time and everything. Gotta respect the man
8:41 was so satisfying. The build up of the explanation paid off beautifully. I involuntarily smiled when he launched into the whole riff.
You’re a wonderful guitar teacher. I’ve been teaching for almost 20 years now and I’m inspired by your approach. Stay cool ;)
Paul: Click that like button, do it gently.
Davie504: SLAPP like NOW or I will call the police!
i am a guitar player, am i allowed to like this comment?
@@BigSh00tsie You're not even allowed to read it. I hope you didn't read it?
@@ezet OH-EM-GEEE, i read it... call the police!
Can y'all just kindly fuck off with wannabe Pewdiepie in this comment section thanks
Jesus, that Italian guy has so many followers and so many catching sentences. EPICO
Just wanna take this comment to appreciate the work you do here In allowing us the explore deeper and more complex music, whether that'd be a riff, lick, or song! Really amazing work here as always!
RC32 Dude, get a life, I‘m seeing you under every damn guitar related video.
@@christoph.schneider But that means, that you're under every guitar related video as well, isn't it?
@@christoph.schneider As you must be. But unlike you? RC32 isn't a misanthrope. He wins.
@@christoph.schneider I don't see that to be a problem quite frankly, unless I am in some way causing harm to someone else
@@christoph.schneider Is just mad that he can't play the riff 😂
I thought this rift was amazing before I knew all John was doing, but now I know just how godly this was. That’s why josh had such big shoes to fill. John made technical challenging, complicated rifts like this into hugely popular songs. It takes a master to do this.
Did Josh play it the same way live as John did?
@@rogerpbsmusic no he didn’t. I saw the peppers at lollapalooza when josh was playing. Josh was ok. He could play the big hits, but he couldn’t improvise and jam the way John did. For most of the set flea was leading things. I saw the peppers years before that with John. Him and flea improvised and jammed between the big songs. And John didn’t play every song exactly like the album version. He would embellish or mix up the solos, and randomly play covers during the set. I don’t dislike josh but the band just had a different vibe with him in it.
@@maxhocks2006 ..but Josh did play this song & more. He knew all of BSSM since his teens & knew b-sides too. He really did his homework. It also became kind of tradition that he got an encore spot pretty much every show where he played a cover..probably played more covers than John ever did at that point haha
This riff is sooooo satisfying when you actually get it right and play along to it for 20 seconds or so that first time. Such a fantastic riff.
Who else remembers thinking "i might learn snow today" and 15 minutes later thinking "actually no I won't! :D"
I learnt it in a week 😅
I learnt it in 2 days (2 months if you count the days before i gave up the guitar and picked it up again)
I tried and gave up on this song years ago , then put the guitar down for years/ but decided to pick the guitar back up and start playing again and this time I learned this song. mid life crisis i think but wanna actually learn how to play guitar this time.
It's taken me flippin ages to get this riff to sound recognisable. Yet John just probably picked it out the air and nailed it straight away.
The guy is a genius.
You're a genius
@@luisaucedo you’re a genius
@@draedeltoro6542 youre a genius
@@gherburger you're a genus
@@sergiomartinez5946 You're a genius
Guitar skills? Scratch that, I've always knew Paul had this in the bag. But the amount of hard work and meticulous editing skills that have been put into the video is amazing! Keep it up my man
James Hetfield will do it only with down picking :D
To this day i still dont know how his arm can handle that amount of down picking!
That's how I play this...and that much downpicking isn't THAT difficult with practice to build up your stamina (although Papa Het is a technical BEAST when it comes to how amazing his palm muting is, how accurate his picking and fretting are, and the fact he's singing at the same time).
Racer X
HAHA probably the best comment so far. You made my day bruh!! 😂😂😂
Tom Delonge would like a word with you
There are just a few teachers who are able to describe all the particular nuances in such a manner. Without any doubt - Paul Davids is one of the best!
Thank you, Paul.
I really love how Paul really is breaking down these songs, he gives me very useful Information that I cannot find anywhere else here on TH-cam
that c chord n00bs comment had me laughing out loud in my local coffee shop. Thanks for that, Paul! Keep up the awesome work.
lmao me too
Me too. Hilarious 😁🤣
Your videos are literally ASMR with a guitar soundtrack, I love it
I think there is still one part missing: After the last pick of every chord, John lets it ring while he is continuing to play the next chord. It's so hard to get this right..
Probably just one of his effect pedals
Not really that hard, you just have to be precise when fretting. Finger tips straight in. This is how you play classical guitar where the action is much higher. Practice this on a guitar with high action.
@@bjorngot73 so much this. We snagged up a worn out, cheapo, yard sale acoustic and had my 9yo learn some basics. 6mos later got him a 3/4 Ibanez and he had Thunderstruck nailed in an afternoon. 👍
Paul..From a fifty year old man’s perspective I feel you have an incredible gift for conveying information not only about “end game” guitar but also musical and life philosophies extremely well. Another excellent video! Keep it up!
Its a really REALLY great alternate picking warmup. It's in sets of 7 which changes the starting picking direction of each set, there are changing directional string changes (the inside picking stuff), string jumps between sets, and it skips from straight alternate picking to the hammer-on part, which stutters the picking hand. Oh and it's moderately fast, Its a really good tounge twisters on multiple levels.
Peope trying to play snow: Omfg that fukin picking!
Me: *laughs in fingerpicking
Lol
Hahahahah i can relate
Same !
Yeah but if u want to play it accurately u gotta use a pick sooooo
SuperPig *plays stairway with a pick
I've been playing acoustic for 13 years but decided to make the shift to electric and bought an electric guitar just a week ago. Playing electric for the first time can be quite daunting! I've decided to make Snow my first song goal and have been working solely on that and some scales for the past week. So it's really quite cool that this video comes out at this very particular time!! Quite encouraging and insightful video! I will definitely keep at it. Thanks for the good videos.
So did you do it?
@@MerijnH I did but I only got to about 80% speed. I've moved on to other things but I still want to come back at some point and get it to 100%. Looking to do the nextlevelplaying course once I'm done with studies and have bit more time.
@@dirkiemyburgh6499 good luck!!
Thx
I remember, back in highschool we all played metal riffs as the epitome of guitar technique, and I wanted to learn this riff just for fun, and because we loved that song. I thought I really suck at guitar becasue it was so hard for me to play it correctly - especially at the right tempo -, and I couldn't comprehend how on earth could it happen when I can play those tricky metal riffs quite easily. Well, now I know :D Thank you Paul!
I've been playing for 20 years; I learned Snow in 2007.
I've been returning to try to master it for the past 14 years.
It really is that tricky.
The core notes are easy enough to get down, even the tempo isn't the worst thing to nail really. For me, the absolute hardest thing about this riff is returning to the chord shape of the beginning of the riff in time with the tempo consistently. The chord shape on this is way more difficult than it seems like it ought to be once you start trying to fall into a groove with it.
To this day, my performance of this song is still underwhelming. I can do all sorts of crazy flamenco strumming, I can play metal on a grand concert style acoustic without a pick; I can do things one "doesn't do" with a guitar essentially.
All the same, simply playing "Snow, Hey Oh" is still beyond me. I remember when my friend taught me to play this lick for the first time. Once I got it down more or less, I said "Damn!"
He looked back at me and praised Frusciante: "How does a person even begin to write a lick like that?"
Still totally outside my ability to comprehend. Frusciante is amazing.
This was a great video.
Play some jazz for awhile then come back to it... just need to be familiar with or as comfortable with those cords as you are with others...
Ya this is what gets me about this riff. Changing chord shapes in time is hellish
makes me feel better about still not having this perfectly down after over a year and a half of practice lol
I got its down in 15 minutes and can play it in speed and I’m 14 it’s not too hard
@@ryankafi2907 sure you did
DUUUDE! HOW in the FFFFFF.....am I just now finding your videos???? You have the absolute best, common sense breakdown and LITERAL itemization of every segment of these songs. It's ridiculous. Keep it up!
Who is here because John Frusciante is coming back to RHCP?
Iqbal Satrio Nindito yeah
Yups
Google is tracking us...
Hell, I’m listening to Snow on Spotify at the moment and this video popped up.
Haha........ yeah you got me. Guilty as charged.
Ik vind je echt de beste gitaardocent op youtube, werkelijk waar. Je lijkt altijd echt veel moeite in je video's te stoppen en ze goed te editen. Buiten dat kan je extreem goed gitaar spelen en kom je heel fijn en rustig over. Ik volg je al een aantal jaren dus ik vind het leuk om te zien dat het zo goed gaat met je kanaal nu! Ga zo door man!!
Thank you for this, it's these little details about John's style of playing I love to learn about. Videos like yours really make people think about exactly why some of the songs we like are so good and helps us appreciate the details you might not think about at first
I've never understood why hundreds of people thumbs down your videos. I guess they are jealous of your ability to both play & teach. The bright side is tens of thousands thumbs-up them!
This song was the song that inspired me to pick up the guitar in high school. I spent over a year trying to play this song while learning other songs at the same time. Never got it right
Paul you're gonna get copyright striked by playing that accurately 😂
Even a beginner trying to play that riff would get copyright striked at this point.
Can’t wait to see the next level!
For a riff like this, I try to identify the specific mechanic blocking me from playing it. Then I can build practice exercises isolating that mechanic (alternate picking, string skipping, chord shape changes, finger independence). I don't ever really make the same progress practicing a riff I can't play over an over unless I back off and improve the thing keeping me from playing the riff.
For someone who is struggling here’s a tip you may like:
play the first note with the pinky at the 5th string. This allows to change the chord way easier by just sliding it.
Hands down my favorite guitar instructor. I appreciate you so much.
I do economy picking for the first 2 notes of each chord: so I do not have to do inside picking and the 3rd note is up picking
(Down, Down, Up, Down, Up, Down, Up)
I personally find it easier to play at high speed than alternate picking all along
+1 if it helped you to play this song faster ;)
It's definitely easier, but the notes don't ring as evenly, or at least the attack on the strings is different so some may not think it sounds as authentic to the original, but on the other hand, it's barely noticeable so who cares it doesn't really matter.
The thing is: it's hard for the whole duration of the song to stay perfectly clean, and singing it along is very hard (I play and sing simultaneously and we never covered this song with my band due to this)
Just make a loop ;)
Guillaume THOMAS ahaha that is a CHEAT 😂
I think the hardest part is following the chorus where you go from struming back to the picking
I think once you mastered the guitar part, the singing isn't too hard. It's mostly muscle memory and the singing melody corresponds very well with the cord changes.
Oliver Zendejas maybe I just need to practice. Charlie is also hard to sing and play along, the tempo messes up my head
“ only Jesus can play this riff” Well, he does have a beard and a gentle demeanour....just saying 😆
John Frusciante is jesus
And his middle initial is H
SMPMS8389 Jesus h Christ 😂😂😂😂
I can not play this on a guitar..as i only play a harp. On the harp i can play it much faster..
Even Jesus can't play this riff. He's ain't Frusciante
When I first learnt this riff I thought it was supposed to be fingerpicked! I am amazed at how fast Paul picks and how clean the tone is. I have decided to challenge myself to play it with a pick.
True. It's easier to play snow fingerstyle than with a pick.
Guys I'm doing it!!! It's been 1 month and I'm already at 90 BPM and all I have is my acoustic. I'm so happy with my progress and don't be afraid, once you learn the picking pattern it's just ingrained in your mind.
Love how it’s 2019 and John is still considered one of the greatest guitar playing legends of all time!
6:48 Don’t listen-trying to reach that g-string was what got me 2 years in prison.
LOL
This riff: I’m the hardest
Neon: Hold my beer
Exactly, this riff doesn’t hold a candle to Neon
More like Neon - I sing like I’m constipated. Snow = great song. John Mayer - suck ass song
@@JohnClark03 Irrelevant comment since we are discussing the guitar parts.
Nope neon is actually pretty easy for people that plays slap bass cause their thumb are coordinated
it’s all relative to be fair. some people find this song harder because of the alternate picking. some find neon harder because of the difficulty of the coordination. personally they’re both challenging but I find snow slightly harder because the riff is harder to maintain at its set tempo.
I jumped into this video by accident, and I have a few things to say:
- Good video: Lightning, framing, background environment, etc.
- Clear and spot on instructions. Very well structured. I don't play guitar and I understand the message and the process behind the work to get to play this riff.
- Audible voice. Understandable accent, enthusiastic, clear sound.
- Makes me feel even more sad for not being able to play guitar. :)
Best Regards
he seems like such a mature musician. having the track panned to one side, and the nature of it, means that his legendarily difficult riff plays as a background to the vocals. a non musician might have trouble even realizing this is a tough right
Frusciante is immensely underrated in the guitar world, his song writing is as advanced and complex as it is beautiful and funky.
LOL. There is nothing underrated about john fukin frusciante.
According to youtube commenters, everything and everyone is underrated. Even the most awarded, recognized, beloved and successful. Everything is "underrated".
That or people just like pretending they have a secret about all the best stuff everyone already loves.
I've pressed the like button "djently"
Super video Paul Davids, very sympathic
...........sympathic?
Not trying to be a jerk here, I literally don't know what word you were trying to say lol
@@travistotle hmm it's from google translate
look here:
www.dict.cc/?s=sympathisch
@@WhiteCranK Nah buddy, it's not a word used in English speaking. Even in that link you provided, it shows "rare, obsolete" next to sympathic. Again, not trying to be a jerk, if English isn't your first language I'm just trying to help you out. "Sympathic" isn't really a word in typical English language.
@@travistotle wow you are late but yes, it's my fault, it should be "sympathetic" ?
translate.google.com/#view=home&op=translate&sl=de&tl=en&text=sympathisch
funny that you repeat that late... it was very important for you, right?
30 years ago my guitar teacher, when I was 13, focus so much on teaching me alternate picking in the beginning which has certainly paid off. The endurance of this riff is hard. The key to this sort of thing is to practice it slowly, Perfectly, over and over and over until you’re blue in the face and you can hold a conversation while playing it. Eventually playing at its speed won’t be that hard. The other key is to relax your arm your wrist in your shoulder and play freely, which is really hard to do until you play it 1000 times and make it muscle memory
Its a brilliant warm up with the hammer ons and pull offs and chord changes for the left hand.
One of the first songs I learned how to play. Always one of my warm ups when I haven’t played in awhile. Makes you regret putting the guitar down and getting rusty. Still gets the best of me sometimes lol
JOHN IS BACK!!!!
When they say "john" and "tempo" I was thinking of belief
Belief is pretty easy neon is much more of a struggle
@@vulgr5076 anyone who says Belief is pretty easy doesn't play it like John.
@@emmanuelakena5365 true i probabbly dont play it like john but.In terms of complexity i dont think its as hard to master playing it like him,than neon or this song
@@emmanuelakena5365 Belief is also particularly difficult to sing while you play the riff since the rhythms clash.
@@brandonthemuso8238 oh thats another pair of socks.Singing with that kind of rythm is super hard.i cant even sing with a easy chord progression let alone something else lol.
The tricky part for me is change the chord after the hammer on. at that speed it can be pretty difficult. oh and you forgot to sing while playing! haha
Anyway, great video as always.
Luca Stricagnoli played this riff with just one hand by utilizing hammer-ons and pull-offs, with a custom tuning of course, and proceeded to play the whole song with percussions included. I was just blown away.
Great video! Perfect balance between showing how hard it is to play the riff and not taking motivation from the audience to give it a shot.
Now try singing the back up harmonies while playing that riff. Hence why john is guitar jesus
Frusciante is great, but John Pertrucci is guitar Jesus
It was well over a year before Klinghoffer could play it and sing at the same time
@@AllTheCoolNamesAreTaken84 Nah, JP is a wizard. JF is Jesus
Hope you ment Mayor lol
@@richikdadhich2914 so ur saying John Mayer is a guitar Jesus😂
Paul low key flexing that sick jacket
This is my new favorite section! My favourite was "big love" by lindsey buckingham. You motivated me to learn that song, so thank you very much! and keep it up! Greetings from Argentina! 😎
Thanks Paul Davids for a BRILLIANT, meticulous analysis of a a very difficult guitar piece. Your comment about the importance of “strict alternate picking” throughout and the syncopation of accenting the 2nd and 4th beat truly taxes the muscles in wrists and arm☹️. This is truly important advice. One must NOT tense up for nearly 5 minutes☑️. There is a sort of cheater’s method! CAPO the 4th fret and fret an E minor chord shape and you’re straight into G#minor without having to barré the 4th fret and move to other difficult chord shapes. I have yet to see such a brilliant and musical analysis on TH-cam. 👏👌👍
7:32 last scene of a high school football drama show where the second string quarterback throws the final touchdown of the game to win the championship even though they’ve been through unimaginable turmoil
Impossible guitar parts -
Fractured - King Crimson
Frame by Frame - King Crimson
Fripp is an alt pick beast
Larks tongues pt 1, I've played it live before but definitely not perfect
Larks Tongues In Aspic P.III Intro th-cam.com/video/C2MY5UA-NLg/w-d-xo.html
Fracture came to mind immediately for me too, this was very interesting but seems more doable than the Fripp riffs noted here. I think of Fracture as simpler on the left hand and just blazing on the right hand. Larks tongues pt1 and pt3 cover so much fretboard the left is super demanding too. I've never pulled any of them off. I'd love to see Paul breakdown these.
The intro to spirit of radio by rush still tests me and I've been trying for 30 years.
I did that song for my grade 8 rock guitar. Completely fluffed that bloody intro riff!
oh my god yes
that riff makes me want to burn my guitars
I thought it would be Smoke on the Water until it said "John sings the back vocals"
Yeah, billions of guitarists think they can play this. But it must be hard because only one guitarist can!
Learned to finger pick this when it came out. Can't for the life of me play it with a pick.
I think Paul's analysis of this song is spot on. It is tricky, but it's not the hardest thing in the world to play. What I wish Paul had touched on is what makes this song (and Frusciante's other songs) special is the writing. All you other guitar players out there try to imagine what it takes to come up with a riff like this.
I’ve been playing for 3 years now and started it just a year ago when I first learned my Em chord. Now I’m able to play that and even more improvs and I couldn’t be happier with myself.
I can play this riff once or twice through, but I think the hardest part about it is the endurance it takes to play it throughout the whole song!
Thanks for this walk through. I really like your in depth explanations. I had been sweep picking before and muddling the notes a bit.
You're like the chillest guitar guy. Much appreciated. Thanks for the vids
I started learning guitar two months ago and this is the first thing I tried to learn. When I realized how fast you actually supposed to play it I could not believe it.
I love this video. I remember watching it when it first came out and me practicing for hours but I couldn't get it down. Now after alot of improvements in my playing I tried the riff once again and my god I can play it!
When you were showing those 3 comments I was like "it's neon, John mayer"
I remember having a hard time when learning this back in the day, and would probably have to practice a bit to get it back since I haven´t played it in years.
It would be interesting to know your opinion on other "hard" riffs in fairly well known songs explained in detail like this.
This videos is the most polite way of saying "yer...I'm a guitar Jesus ".... Love it
Bro, really epic lesson... you absolutely nailed the main points and the intricacies... I started playing guitar 30 years ago (but mainly a drummer) and i was a bit lost in the beginning of this lesson. I replayed it quite a few times and paused it, and the flow absolutely came to me once I practiced the mechanics several times. Brilliant! Keep up the good work 😎
For some reason I was thinking this was the riff you were going to play before I even clicked.
5:03 I actually found this out when my headphones broke and the right ear didn't work any more. It was so jarring to just hear nothing
After 4 years of practice I can finally play that song. Was it worth it? Yes. Just keep. on. practicing.
This is one of the most fun riffs for me to play, never gets old
I’ve been working under the bridge for a while and I’ve almost got it.
This one would take alot of dedication. BUT, the cool thing about Johns riffs and licks are that they are so Bouncy and Addictive that they Stay in Your Brain. Thats the Genius that Pulls you in.
He’s Such a Great Unassuming Guy, I Don’t Even Know if He Knows How He Affects Us.
Would love to have a Coffee with the Whole Band!
He was a modern day Hendricks. Had no clue what he was doing and it was amazing! Great guitarist.
What do we want? More Frusciante lessons! When do we want them? Now! 😂
There's also a FIFTH reason: the sheer repetition in time. I probably could manage this at one time.. But that many notes times 138? Dunno.. There's a point where also a trained guitarplayer's hand won't do what he's got his mind set on. This must be played and repeated that often, one can only play this without any tension or straint. It has to be fluidly. And actually that is hard to do. Guess we all have to TRY AND WORK HARDER🤘
This is hands down my favorite edit in any guitar related video
Your delivery in your videos are as elite as this riff.
Knew this was about Snow as soon as I clicked lol
Very nice your a master
How does a band like RHCP, who have been around 40 years, still get forgotten in so many conversations?
I reckon you could make a dozen of these videos about their tracks with both Fruschiante and Navarrro
No one believes me when I tell them how hard this song really is. Glad you made this.
Great video, I believe you missed to mention the slide from 7th to 9th fret to reach the first note of the F# chord which adds more complexity to the work. John certainly did a master piece. Thanks
Im grateful I waited until now in my guitar journey to attempt this. Too early would have made me give up. Now I was able to just watch his hands and do it. Feels like magic. Sweet riff
Paul: incredible precise and calculated micro movements for picking
Me, who uses fingers: *interesting*
Playing it with fingers makes it much easier indeed... Even if it does not work sound the same it sounds better then playing dead notes or the wrong tempo