Rush: The Spirit of Radio From the album Permanent Waves (Mercury Records) Copyright 1980 Core Music Publishing Music by Lee and Lifeson Lyrics by Peart The Great Radio Controversy Riff A: Rich Soto: -2p0-----5p0-----2p0-----4p0------- -----3p0-----3p0-----3p0-----3p0--- ----------------------------------- ----------------------------------- ----------------------------------- ----------------------------------- Tony Kennedy: -2p0---0--5p0---0--2p0---0--4p2p0---0---- -----3--------3--------3----------3------ ----------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- BigDave: -2p0----5p0----2p0----4p0--- -0h2p0----5p0----2p0----4p0--- ----3p0----3p0----3p0----3p0 ------3p0----3p0----3p0----3p0 then repeat ---------------------------- ------------------------------ ---------------------------- ------------------------------ ---------------------------- ------------------------------ ---------------------------- ------------------------------ C. D. Bruce: Hello, its me "again"! A coworker downloaded some "key" songs from the web site for me, one of which was the "The Spirit of Radio". I noticed there was a "controversy" on the intro riff. Here is my version to add to the controversy! Its closest to Tony Kennedy's version. I'm showing it on what I call "expanded" tab since each note is a 1/16 note (with the exception of the "triplet" 4-2-0 on the e string). The 1, 2, 3, 4 on top are the quarter note beats of the measure, the numbers below that are the 1/8 note beats, below that the 1/16 note beats. You'll see that the main "pulled notes" fall conveniently on the quarter note beats which helps you keep time. I read in an interview from "Guitar for the Practicing Musician" from the early eighties (before I even started playing guitar - I just bought it back then because Lifeson was on the cover!). In the interview, Lifeson stated that the riff was "all pulls". So here it is (slightly different than how the mag shows it - because the magazine was "slightly off")... Repeat 6 times 1 2 3 4 - 1/4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 - 1/8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 - 1/16 4/4 p p p pp e|-2--0-----0--5--0-----0--2--0-----0--4-20-----0-| B|-------3-----------3-----------3-----------3----| G|o----------------------------------------------o| D|o----------------------------------------------o| A|------------------------------------------------| E|------------------------------------------------| 1 2 - 1/4 1 2 3 4 - 1/8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 - 1/16 2/4 p p e|-2--0-----0--5--0-----0-| B|-------3-----------3----| G|------------------------| D|------------------------| A|------------------------| E|------------------------| one repeat 1 2 3 4 - 1/4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 - 1/8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 - 1/16 4/4 p p p pp e|-2--0-----0--5--0-----0--2--0-----0--4-20-----0-| B|-------3-----------3-----------3-----------3----| G|o----------------------------------------------o| D|o----------------------------------------------o| A|------------------------------------------------| E|------------------------------------------------| 1 2 - 1/4 1 2 3 4 - 1/8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 - 1/16 2/4 p p e|-2--0-----0--5--0------- B|-------3---------------- G|------------------------ D|------------------/4--etc... A|------------------------ E|------------------------ Note that it is not all 4/4 throughout, there is a 2/4 section in there which can screw you all up if your not aware of it. Additionally, any sounding of the open B string is "accidental". The open B is not picked. There are no "slides" in this riff as indicated in the currently tabbed song. *All* notes are picked including the initial "pulled" note (the high e sting frets 2, 4, and 5). The open e string after the pull and the F# note (2nd fret e string) in the "triplet" pull are not picked. It is certainly a tough lick to nail, but if you practice it in slow motion with a metronome, then work your way up to full tempo, its do-able. I've seen Lifeson play this riff "differently" a number of times (probably because he's tired of playing the same thing every night!), so using video to verify how it is played may not be valid. Use distortion and flanging to get the right sound. It even sounds closer to the album if you put a chorus pedal in after the flanger. _______ _______ _______ gtr ---->| |---->| |---->| |---->Amp | Dist | |Flanger| |Chorus | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |_______| |_______| |_______| Riff C1: Tony Kennedy: While I was slowing things down I noticed an 'extra' note in the part right after the intro. I haven't looked at the tab on the web site to see if it's already there, but I thought I'd throw this out to you all. E----------------------------------------------------------- B----------------------------------------------------------- G----------------------------------------------------------- D---------------------0------------------------------------- A-----------0-2-0-3-4--------------------------------------- E---0-2-3-4------------------------------------------------- Riff G1: Rich Soto: Your Riffs G1 is as follows... -0--0---0-0-0--2--2---2-3-2--4--4---5-4-5--2-2---2---3-2-3-2-/------- -0--0---0-0-0--3--3---3-3-3--5--5---5-5-5--3-3---3---3-3-3-3-/------- -1--1---1-1-1--2--2---2-2-2--4--4---4-4-4--2-2---2---2-2-2-2-/------- -2--2---2-2-2--0--0---0-0-0--0--0---0-0-0--0-0---0---0-0-0-0--------- -2--2---2-2-2--x--x---x-x-x--x--x---x-x-x--x-x---x---x-x-x-x--------- -0--0---0-0-0--x--x---x-x-x--x--x---x-x-x--x-x---x---x-x-x-x--------- Riff H: Rich Soto: ----------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------- -7-7-7p5p4---4--------------------------------------- -----------7---7--4-5-4----4----------/4-2----------- ------------------------7----7-5-4---------5-4-5-4-2- -----------------------------------5----------------- Sean Jones: s^s^s^ s s s s^s^s^s s s s s s s e e s s s s s s -------|-----------------------------------|-------------------| -------|-----------------------------------|-------------------| -7-7-7-|-7:--------------------------------|-2:----------------| -------|-8:-10-9-7-7-7-7-------------------|-4:-4-2-0---0------| -------|-----------------10-9-7-9-7-5------|----------4---4-2--| -------|------------------------------7-5--|-------------------| The bass/drums intro is very similar... s^s^s^s s s s s s s s s s s s e e s s s s s s ----7-7-7-------------------------------|-2:----------------| -4:-------10-9-7-9-7--------------------|-4:-4-2-0---0------| -4:------------------10-9-10-9-7-5------|----------4---4-2--| -----------------------------------7-5--|-------------------| Riffs I1 and I2: Rich Soto: -----4----------4------5------7--| -----5----5-----5------5------7--| -----4------4---4------6------8--| -----6----------6------7------9--| ---------------------------------| -0-0----0----------5-5----7-7----| 2x and then... x x . x x x . x x . x x . -12------4------5------7------4----------12------5------7--| -12------5------5------7------5----5-----12------5------7--| -13------4------6------8------4------4---13------6------8--| -14------6------7------9------6----------14------7------9--| -----------------------------------------------------------| -----0-0----5-5----7-7----0-0----0-----------5-5----7-7----| . x x . x x . x x . x x . x x x . x x . x x .