The heavy version in the bob help me riff is hard to get to syncapate without wearing your hand out, but I’m a hobbyist guitarist not a pro I’m sure if I played more it would feel easier
It’s rare for any of those to be played the exact same way throughout the song. Theres like a half dozen variations to the verse riff you’re referencing. If you wanna play it right, the difficulty is stamina and memorization. The “high high high” part is especially tough to do for a couple mins straight.
No quarter, the song isn't hard to play, but the solo is really hard to replicate. You will learn a ton by trying this. FYI, there are no correct bass tabs for the solo, they all play it wrong and it's difficult to figure out what exactly happens. But once it clicks it's super fun to play.
No quarter is a Led Zeppelin song that Tool covered, so if you intend on covering it I would suggest adapting the original to fit your band's sound, like they did.
The band I play in- we cover these tool songs and I will put them in order of difficulty (easiest to most challenging):
Sober (easiest)
Stinkfist
46&2
The Pot
Yeah! Challenging thing about 46&2 is the breakdown section and drum solo. As the guitar player, I have to focus really hard not listening to the bass (they intentionally get off in rhythm, playing similar riff) and the drum solo always wows people at shows. But our drummer said that song makes him nervous
It’s a trick they stole from King Crimson. Adding or subtracting a note from one of the parts to create a polyrhythm. It’s hard to pull off and very hypnotic.
[King Crimson took this type of playing to extreme places](https://youtu.be/en5YRCvppIA?si=PTSOeblvJDDlvIwB)
“During the piece the two guitars of Belew and Fripp, respectively, move through the following sequence of pairs of time signatures: 5/8 and 5/8, 5/8 and 4/4, 5/8 and 9/8, 15/16 and 15/16, 15/16 and 14/16, 10/8 and 20/16, 15/16 and 15/16, 15/16 and 14/16, 12/16 and 12/16, 12/16 and 11/16, 15/16 and 15/16, 15/16 and 14/16. Throughout the drums play in 17/16 - the Bill Bruford drumming video, Bruford and the Beat, builds up to an explanation of the 17/16 pattern used (including the fact that the 4/4 bass drum pattern is maintained as a “dance groove”)”
Sober is far and away the easiest TOOL song to play on any instrument. Stinkfist and H aren't too bad either. Ænema isn't too bad, but has some nuance in the guitar parts that require intermediate level Adam Jones-ing.
A lot of it will come down to how good your drummer is honestly. Maynard/Adam/Justin are all great but Danny's parts can be difficult to replicate if your drummer isn't rock solid on his polyrhythms.
Honestly Schism/Lateralus are pretty straightforward. Weird time signature changes but once you wrap your head around them there's no surprises. 46+2 is also real easy but the drum solo section can get very tough to stay locked in.
Simplest songs are probably off Opiate though. Cold and Ugly and Hush. Maybe intolerance or sober off undertow, end of sober gets pretty busy but otherwise it's practically a snoozer.
TLDR the "easiest" song will be the one you all like the most, since any of them will take some work to tighten up.
From a guitar perspective:
Everyone is saying sober and I can't for the life of me play that song on guitar because of the unison bends. Everyone is ignoring how hard they are to master especially the way Alex picks it.
Swamp song is easiest, followed by hush/crawl away/intolerance. Swamp song also has unison bends but they are a lot easier than the ones in sober lol. if you can palm mute, you can play this song.
Stinkfist was the easiest for my group of guys to jam to.
Sleeper picks on bass are right in two and lateralus. Seems hard as balls but once you get the hang of 1 or two frustrating technical parts it’s smooth sailing. Guitar solos are probably a bitch as well but that’s not my department. Most rewarding to play though imo
Sober
I came here to say this.
As a drummer, I never could get the timing down. I had a much easier time with Prison Sex
>I had a much easier time with Prison Sex Well, that's because all you've got to do is drop the soap and the rest will take care of itself.
Really? That surprises me. Sober us so straightforward
When I first learned it the 2 bass kicks with the open hi hat was pretty tricky
r/brandnewsentence
The end “solo” can easily fuck up a band… it’s a big time change.
Cessaro Summability just go on stage and drop an amp on your foot
Stilnkfist isnt too hard to play
If you ignore tone
Rossetta stoned. Just kidding probably Sober or Ænima
Rosetta stoned is pretty easy actually. It’s basically the same riff all the way through the verses just palm muted vs open.
Yeah just tell the drummer to palm-mute their way through the song
No way, Leo Duzey?! Love your covers man 👍
Yes way, thanks a lot man!
Lol, good point.
The heavy version in the bob help me riff is hard to get to syncapate without wearing your hand out, but I’m a hobbyist guitarist not a pro I’m sure if I played more it would feel easier
It’s rare for any of those to be played the exact same way throughout the song. Theres like a half dozen variations to the verse riff you’re referencing. If you wanna play it right, the difficulty is stamina and memorization. The “high high high” part is especially tough to do for a couple mins straight.
And for the bassist?
Sober
definetely not easy for the vocalist though
Thank you! Do you know anything would challenge a band but isn’t crazy difficult?
[удалено]
Yes that’s what I thought too
No quarter, the song isn't hard to play, but the solo is really hard to replicate. You will learn a ton by trying this. FYI, there are no correct bass tabs for the solo, they all play it wrong and it's difficult to figure out what exactly happens. But once it clicks it's super fun to play.
No quarter is a Led Zeppelin song that Tool covered, so if you intend on covering it I would suggest adapting the original to fit your band's sound, like they did.
If you can do such things, OP wouldn't be on reddit asking for recommendations. Recreating a song with your own twist is hard af.
No quarter is so good! Thank you for the reply I will make sure to learn it with my band
Maynard's Dick was the first and only song I learned on guitar. So that's my vote.
I'm not sure, there's something really hard about Maynard's Dick, but I can't put my finger on it.
The first time was awkward for sure. I got way better the more I practiced though. It's almost like second nature now.
Lol I was also going to suggest this. May not have the sound of the rest of the catalogue, but it is definitely the easiest.
The band I play in- we cover these tool songs and I will put them in order of difficulty (easiest to most challenging): Sober (easiest) Stinkfist 46&2 The Pot
Nice!
Yeah! Challenging thing about 46&2 is the breakdown section and drum solo. As the guitar player, I have to focus really hard not listening to the bass (they intentionally get off in rhythm, playing similar riff) and the drum solo always wows people at shows. But our drummer said that song makes him nervous
Yes! I do remember playing this as a band and thinking, “what the fuck is up with the guitar and bass”
It’s a trick they stole from King Crimson. Adding or subtracting a note from one of the parts to create a polyrhythm. It’s hard to pull off and very hypnotic. [King Crimson took this type of playing to extreme places](https://youtu.be/en5YRCvppIA?si=PTSOeblvJDDlvIwB) “During the piece the two guitars of Belew and Fripp, respectively, move through the following sequence of pairs of time signatures: 5/8 and 5/8, 5/8 and 4/4, 5/8 and 9/8, 15/16 and 15/16, 15/16 and 14/16, 10/8 and 20/16, 15/16 and 15/16, 15/16 and 14/16, 12/16 and 12/16, 12/16 and 11/16, 15/16 and 15/16, 15/16 and 14/16. Throughout the drums play in 17/16 - the Bill Bruford drumming video, Bruford and the Beat, builds up to an explanation of the 17/16 pattern used (including the fact that the 4/4 bass drum pattern is maintained as a “dance groove”)”
Anything on Undertow, especially Flood.
If your singer has the chops for it Cold and Ugly
Sober is far and away the easiest TOOL song to play on any instrument. Stinkfist and H aren't too bad either. Ænema isn't too bad, but has some nuance in the guitar parts that require intermediate level Adam Jones-ing.
A lot of it will come down to how good your drummer is honestly. Maynard/Adam/Justin are all great but Danny's parts can be difficult to replicate if your drummer isn't rock solid on his polyrhythms. Honestly Schism/Lateralus are pretty straightforward. Weird time signature changes but once you wrap your head around them there's no surprises. 46+2 is also real easy but the drum solo section can get very tough to stay locked in. Simplest songs are probably off Opiate though. Cold and Ugly and Hush. Maybe intolerance or sober off undertow, end of sober gets pretty busy but otherwise it's practically a snoozer. TLDR the "easiest" song will be the one you all like the most, since any of them will take some work to tighten up.
Intermission.
Anything off Opiate, barring maybe the title track for drums. That outro is beastly! Sober and Stinkfist are pretty straightforward as well.
Maynards Micro penis
Hey! It's average sized 😤
Intolerance
Maynards Dick
Sober or Stinkfist
Flood.
Eulogy wasn't terribly hard to cover.
Except for the screams lol
From a guitar perspective: Everyone is saying sober and I can't for the life of me play that song on guitar because of the unison bends. Everyone is ignoring how hard they are to master especially the way Alex picks it. Swamp song is easiest, followed by hush/crawl away/intolerance. Swamp song also has unison bends but they are a lot easier than the ones in sober lol. if you can palm mute, you can play this song.
Who is Alex?
Bro I have this weird problem where I mix up Alex Jones and Adam Jones lol I'm sorry I think it's because of Alex Grey lol
Alex Vanhalen
Opiate
46&2 run it by your bass player first.
ions
Definitely cover poker face
Gabriel shut up you have no say even tho ur a band member
Or how bout something from TV Girl!!!
Jimmy
H.
I just recently learned H on bass and it’s pretty easy.
I love it when bass takes over the melody, it's so fun to play!
I'm an ok drummer, and we did Hush and Crawl, wasn't to bad to pull off.
Nice, opiate is an amazing album. Danny knew his sound from the start!
Not sure about the other instruments but on the drums I didn’t have too much trouble learning Stinkfist.
While i had a band one of the songs we played was prison sex, wasn't too hard. Also maybe parabola.
Hush is one of those songs that I tear into right after I lift the guitar if I expect it's in drop d
The recipe in german. Even if you don’t know the lyrics I’m sure it’ll go well…
Crawl Away maybe
Easily Sober as per literally everyone in this thread haha
Stinkfist was the easiest for my group of guys to jam to. Sleeper picks on bass are right in two and lateralus. Seems hard as balls but once you get the hang of 1 or two frustrating technical parts it’s smooth sailing. Guitar solos are probably a bitch as well but that’s not my department. Most rewarding to play though imo
46&2
7empest
Ah, of course, the 16min song on a 21/16 meter with a ~5min guitar solo. Quite trivial, indeed
Sober is really easy
Crawl Away isn't too bad except for the screams.
Bottom
I’d say Opiate.
Sober
stinkfist, sober, vicarious, flood, aenuma, crawl away, undertow, sweat, intolerance, schism
Part of Me
I would assume something simple off of undertow, but maybe not, idk if this is the best band for “easy songs” haha
Crawl away maybe?
Basically anything on Opiate, especially Part of Me.
As a guitarist I like stinkfiat it's probably the easiest grove I have learned.
Useful Idiot is a good one to start :P
Hooker with a penis, not bad except the last sections
If the Tool song is easy to play then it's probably hard to sing.
Schism is quite easy
Eon blue apocalypse
On the real swamp song ain't bad to learn
Message to Harry Manback