My favorite Pete Buck story about their early gigs: ‘I’d go in with my tacky Fender amp and my little guitar and in every club we played the guy’d go, “Well, where’s your Marshall?” “We don’t use Marshall amps”. “You don’t use Marshall amps?!” You’d always have this guy with hair down to his waist, he’d go, “Tell me what songs you have your solos in so I can put the spotlight on you,” and I’d go, “I don’t have any solos,” and he’d go, “What, no solos?!” and I’d go, “I play rhythm guitar, y’know.”
Completely agree with your assessment of Peter buck. Vastly underrated as a guitarist. His ability to arpeggiate simple chords and bring out wonderful melodies places him among the best for me. Strange currencies exemplifies this technique really well. From murmur to Hi-Fi, never get tired of listening to that period of r.e.m albums - timeless music.
I might be able to shed some light on the "mysterious jangly sound", although it may spoil some of the mystique. I don't know anything about this song, but Mitch Easter was kind enough to talk to me about some of his own songs one time and so I do know about a few of the things he liked to do. For a start like any studio recording, there is more than one guitar part. Not heaps, his own studio was only 16 tracks, so there aren't like a million parts, but still. Mitch liked to add a few 6-string acoustic tracks to go along with electric parts. Sometimes they were like double tracks of the electric part, other times more like interweaving harmonies. He could create quite a bit of sparkle just by layering up a few guitar parts playing slightly different variations of the same arpeggio, so that you hear notes from different tracks ringing out at different times. Sometimes he'd add a 12 string track, although he still balanced the sparseness and density and often a couple of 6 strings sounds like a 12 string, so adding another 12 string playing the exact same part can be too dense, so a lot of the 12 string parts were different harmonies and would sort of come in and out at different parts of a song. He also had a homemade mando-guitar, only 4 strings, a bit like the Fender Mandocaster that Big Star used. No idea if that appeared on any REM stuff. So you'll here these layered up 6 string electric and 6 acoustic parts and then over the top a part might come in played on a 12 string, and then later on another part might come in played on the mando-guitar etc. He played around with delay a lot too, and had access to good plate reverbs. Overall it's just making use of the multitrack format to create interesting arrangements and harmonies. He had lots of gear and heaps of different things that made all kinds of sounds, it's just in the way the arrangments were done and sometimes how the instruments are played. I think they used the Ampeg Gemini on Murmer and that sounds plenty jangly in the mix with all the other things that are twinkling and sparkling. John Leckie did something similar with the Stone Roses. Every electric part is double-tracked with an acoustic guitar, 2 tracks of acoustic, 2 tracks of electric, one panned left, one panned right. Leckie's tracks are pretty much exact doubles, whereas MItch would change up the parts a bit, leave a note out here, add a note there, mix it up a bit. So if you hear a Ric part that sounds astonishingly like a mandolin, it might not be some crazy effect, it might just be a mandolin and not a Ric at all.
Thanks for this! I've been looking for REM tutorials, and there are surprisingly few of them. I recently learned a version of "Driver 8," that someone posted on CZcams several years ago, but you are my trusted source for accurate versions of songs. Have a nice weekend.
I'd almost forgotten how brilliant those IRS years where, as beautiful and anthemic AFTP is, I think Reckoning will always be my favourite. Thanks for the coverage, Cheers!
Fantastic lesson, Adrian, and as usual you selected a wonderful song from a truly memorable album. Love Buck's sense of harmony and rhythm, and I think he's a fantastic composer. Pete Buck is so rarely mentioned in the pantheon of rock guitarists and I think he should be. I know people love to laud the masters of the ripping guitar solo, and sure, those can be great, but my ear tends to favor musicians who developed a signature style such that they are usually recognized within a few moments. Peter Buck's guitar does that for me. I can usually tell it's him quite early in a song. Andy Summers of The Police is another example: not mentioned often when people list out their favorite guitarists, but definitely recognizable as his own when he plays. I first saw REM play live when they opened for The Police in 1983, but that was such a zoo of a show because The Police had become so huge -- it was the tour in support of the 'Synchronicity' release -- and REM was just starting to get some attention, so they played very briefly along with a few other opening acts. I then saw REM a few years later when they toured to support the release of 'Lifes Rich Pageant' and it was great because the venue wasn't overly huge and I could really see and hear the band. If you can forgive my long-windedness, I have two quick final notes: (1) Really nice to hear you sing, Adrian; you are very good at it! and (2) yes, I am with you in that much as I love early REM, I also admire how they didn't stand still stylistically -- they evolved and experimented, often with really compelling results. PS -- Okay, fine, one more comment before I really do sign off here: You make me want to be a better guitarist and musician, Adrian, thank you. You have an amazing ability to get me to think about music differently; your musical tastes, preferences, and artist/song selection help open my ears and mind.
I asked Mitch Easter how he got the sparkly sound. They used a lot of different equipment, but most of it was just double-tracking small harmony parts with a 6-string acoustic, sometimes he'd use a 12 string, but he felt that made things too muddled, so most of the time it's just two 6 strings, one electric, one acoustic. I did get to hear his Ric tracked on it's own and it is pretty jangly in isolation, but not as jangly as the acoustic parts. John Leckie did a similar thing with the Stone Roses, each electric part is doubled by an acoustic playing the exact same thing, two tracks on the left, two tracks on the right. What I learnt from MItch is that it's all about the arrangements and how you play them. And sometimes if you hear a Ric part and you're like "woah, that Ric sounds just like a mandolin", it's because on the album they just used a mandolin. Mitch also had this 4 sting electric mandolin thing that one of the band members made, it's kind of like the Fender Mandocaster that Big Star used, not sure if that made it onto any REM stuff, but the point is he had a lot of different things that made jangly sounds when you hit them.
Terrific lesson Adrian. As a kid I always thought it was either a 12-string or 2 guitar lines layered, especially with how fast it is played. Your lesson here makes it infinitely more attainable and playable. I remember British music critics favored Murmur over Reckoning in the early days for some reason (Murmur was more original, unique sound, Reckoning more referenced, derivative). Reckoning is filled with amazing melodies, this definitely one of them.
Reckoning is one of those CD's I have that never gets filed back on the shelf because I play it so often. Adrian you've done a great job here and your vocal performance was just super. As a fan of REM since I saw them at Boston University in 1983 I want to say Thanks.
I about crapped my pants! 1) never heard Adrian sing, 2) his timbre and tone and texture sounded remarkably like Michael Stipe. So now here’s what we have: Adrian is 1) coolest guitar teacher on CZcams (undisputed), 2) great player, and 3) hot damn, son, the lad can sing like a boss!
I’ve been in an REM mood lately and came back to this lesson. Fables of the Reconstruction came out my freshman year of college and it was such a meaningful album in my transition from teen to young adulthood. Keep the REM coming! Maybe a lesson on Radio Free Europe or Green Grow the Rushes.
Thanks for this! I absolutely love Peter Buck's jangly arpeggiated guitar playing from those early REM years. He moved away from that style on their later albums but he remained an inventive player none-the-less. I used to believe this song was done on a 12-string, it's so crystal clean and ringing. Also, I dig your singing on this, you captured Stipe's tone pretty nicely.
You're an excellent singer. Front a band dude. I met REM in college. Michael was famous before he was famous. Like he always had an entourage and they all wore thrift store repurposed clothes and stood out from everybody else. The girls wore altered wedding dresses. One of them was his sister. I didn't get to know them but we spoke and they were friendly.
Fantastic song - great lesson, Adrian. I often bookmark tuition videos, to come back to at a later date, but I got my guitar as soon as I saw this one! Thank you. 😎
My Roll Model and a source of inspiration for me ..... Learn Everything from you sir .... You deserve much more than what u have ...... Love and respect for u sir
Jesus - your vocal timbre matches Stipe spot on. I about fell out of my chair. Unsure if im going to attempt this one with the Marr-esque string skipping and picking at speed.
Reading the comments below, let me second them! Excellent job Adrian, as usual. And what a voice - who knew? REM is one of the few bands I missed seeing in their height. Why? IDK because they certainly came through the DC region a few times. But then I also missed seeing U2 and Dire Straights playing at the Bayou in Georgetown - look up that PBS special - it is fascinating. I miss REM!
Sitting Still is my favorite R. E. M song, ingot into a lot of College rock in the late 80's and early 90's before I got into the pop and skate punk scene of the mid 90's.
Peter Buck did play 12-string on certain tracks, for sure. And electric sitar too. I always assumed he was a finger picker - but I never checked. I thought I was starting to get good when I figured out how to play "Radio Free Europe" all by myself back in the mid 80s. That HAS to be finger picked, I think, which is why I just assumed he finger picked everything.
I love your channel, it's helped me improve by leaps and bounds over the last year, so first and foremost: "THANK YOU." Have you ever considered looking at a Parquet Courts song? A lot of their early stuff is an interesting combination of country licks and post punk, which seems up your alley.
Awesome guitar as usual and your voice always delivers. On the singing stuff, I really love your teaching style, if you did a video giving some pointers on singing with guitar I would love to see! Thank you!
Adrian, your lessons, playing, and song choices are great. This one is no exception. A bit of constructive criticism.. could your voice narration and the guitar sound be leveled a bit more evenly, please? (The guitar and singing is fine, so not that) I regularly find that your narration is a couple clicks lower than the guitar. Otherwise, keep on rocking, sir! Thank you!!
Blimey Adrian you can do an Amazon Buck and Stipe combo. your right about the “rem were Better in the 80s”. They were different bands during their career. But I loved their first three albums for sure.
My favorite Pete Buck story about their early gigs: ‘I’d go in with my tacky Fender amp and my little guitar and in every club we played the guy’d go, “Well, where’s your Marshall?” “We don’t use Marshall amps”. “You don’t use Marshall amps?!” You’d always have this guy with hair down to his waist, he’d go, “Tell me what songs you have your solos in so I can put the spotlight on you,” and I’d go, “I don’t have any solos,” and he’d go, “What, no solos?!” and I’d go, “I play rhythm guitar, y’know.”
... the forgotten REM... great vocal performance, Adrian!
You do a great Michael Stipe, Adrian! I prefer R.E.M.‘s early “indecipherable lyrics” period.
"The only band that mutters!"
Wait....Adrian was just singing?!? Has that happened before?
Wow, banger voice to go with his mad playing and teaching skills. So great...More please!
Completely agree with your assessment of Peter buck. Vastly underrated as a guitarist. His ability to arpeggiate simple chords and bring out wonderful melodies places him among the best for me. Strange currencies exemplifies this technique really well. From murmur to Hi-Fi, never get tired of listening to that period of r.e.m albums - timeless music.
Wow! What a voice. I've never heard you sing before. Wonderful
Gardening at night, is another great song if you are looking for other early REM tracks!
I might be able to shed some light on the "mysterious jangly sound", although it may spoil some of the mystique. I don't know anything about this song, but Mitch Easter was kind enough to talk to me about some of his own songs one time and so I do know about a few of the things he liked to do. For a start like any studio recording, there is more than one guitar part. Not heaps, his own studio was only 16 tracks, so there aren't like a million parts, but still. Mitch liked to add a few 6-string acoustic tracks to go along with electric parts. Sometimes they were like double tracks of the electric part, other times more like interweaving harmonies. He could create quite a bit of sparkle just by layering up a few guitar parts playing slightly different variations of the same arpeggio, so that you hear notes from different tracks ringing out at different times. Sometimes he'd add a 12 string track, although he still balanced the sparseness and density and often a couple of 6 strings sounds like a 12 string, so adding another 12 string playing the exact same part can be too dense, so a lot of the 12 string parts were different harmonies and would sort of come in and out at different parts of a song.
He also had a homemade mando-guitar, only 4 strings, a bit like the Fender Mandocaster that Big Star used. No idea if that appeared on any REM stuff.
So you'll here these layered up 6 string electric and 6 acoustic parts and then over the top a part might come in played on a 12 string, and then later on another part might come in played on the mando-guitar etc.
He played around with delay a lot too, and had access to good plate reverbs. Overall it's just making use of the multitrack format to create interesting arrangements and harmonies. He had lots of gear and heaps of different things that made all kinds of sounds, it's just in the way the arrangments were done and sometimes how the instruments are played. I think they used the Ampeg Gemini on Murmer and that sounds plenty jangly in the mix with all the other things that are twinkling and sparkling.
John Leckie did something similar with the Stone Roses. Every electric part is double-tracked with an acoustic guitar, 2 tracks of acoustic, 2 tracks of electric, one panned left, one panned right. Leckie's tracks are pretty much exact doubles, whereas MItch would change up the parts a bit, leave a note out here, add a note there, mix it up a bit.
So if you hear a Ric part that sounds astonishingly like a mandolin, it might not be some crazy effect, it might just be a mandolin and not a Ric at all.
Mitch Easter and Let’s Active were so criminally underrated.
Adrian, you have an awesome voice to accompany your A+ guitar skills
Thanks for this! I've been looking for REM tutorials, and there are surprisingly few of them. I recently learned a version of "Driver 8," that someone posted on CZcams several years ago, but you are my trusted source for accurate versions of songs. Have a nice weekend.
Right there with you. I'm a little confused by the lack of REM lessons on youtube. Exactly why I support this channel.
I'd almost forgotten how brilliant those IRS years where, as beautiful and anthemic AFTP is, I think Reckoning will always be my favourite. Thanks for the coverage, Cheers!
Fantastic lesson, Adrian, and as usual you selected a wonderful song from a truly memorable album. Love Buck's sense of harmony and rhythm, and I think he's a fantastic composer. Pete Buck is so rarely mentioned in the pantheon of rock guitarists and I think he should be. I know people love to laud the masters of the ripping guitar solo, and sure, those can be great, but my ear tends to favor musicians who developed a signature style such that they are usually recognized within a few moments. Peter Buck's guitar does that for me. I can usually tell it's him quite early in a song. Andy Summers of The Police is another example: not mentioned often when people list out their favorite guitarists, but definitely recognizable as his own when he plays. I first saw REM play live when they opened for The Police in 1983, but that was such a zoo of a show because The Police had become so huge -- it was the tour in support of the 'Synchronicity' release -- and REM was just starting to get some attention, so they played very briefly along with a few other opening acts. I then saw REM a few years later when they toured to support the release of 'Lifes Rich Pageant' and it was great because the venue wasn't overly huge and I could really see and hear the band.
If you can forgive my long-windedness, I have two quick final notes:
(1) Really nice to hear you sing, Adrian; you are very good at it! and
(2) yes, I am with you in that much as I love early REM, I also admire how they didn't stand still stylistically -- they evolved and experimented, often with really compelling results.
PS -- Okay, fine, one more comment before I really do sign off here: You make me want to be a better guitarist and musician, Adrian, thank you. You have an amazing ability to get me to think about music differently; your musical tastes, preferences, and artist/song selection help open my ears and mind.
Great comment.
Early REM is very enjoyable to play. Thanks a lot.
I’ve been reliving my musical youth lately and lusting after a ric… you just proved I don’t need one!
I asked Mitch Easter how he got the sparkly sound. They used a lot of different equipment, but most of it was just double-tracking small harmony parts with a 6-string acoustic, sometimes he'd use a 12 string, but he felt that made things too muddled, so most of the time it's just two 6 strings, one electric, one acoustic. I did get to hear his Ric tracked on it's own and it is pretty jangly in isolation, but not as jangly as the acoustic parts. John Leckie did a similar thing with the Stone Roses, each electric part is doubled by an acoustic playing the exact same thing, two tracks on the left, two tracks on the right.
What I learnt from MItch is that it's all about the arrangements and how you play them. And sometimes if you hear a Ric part and you're like "woah, that Ric sounds just like a mandolin", it's because on the album they just used a mandolin. Mitch also had this 4 sting electric mandolin thing that one of the band members made, it's kind of like the Fender Mandocaster that Big Star used, not sure if that made it onto any REM stuff, but the point is he had a lot of different things that made jangly sounds when you hit them.
Terrific lesson Adrian. As a kid I always thought it was either a 12-string or 2 guitar lines layered, especially with how fast it is played. Your lesson here makes it infinitely more attainable and playable. I remember British music critics favored Murmur over Reckoning in the early days for some reason (Murmur was more original, unique sound, Reckoning more referenced, derivative). Reckoning is filled with amazing melodies, this definitely one of them.
Greatest Band of my lifetime.I love what you said about their career beyond the trainspotter's choices.
Reckoning is one of those CD's I have that never gets filed back on the shelf because I play it so often. Adrian you've done a great job here and your vocal performance was just super. As a fan of REM since I saw them at Boston University in 1983 I want to say Thanks.
I about crapped my pants! 1) never heard Adrian sing, 2) his timbre and tone and texture sounded remarkably like Michael Stipe. So now here’s what we have: Adrian is 1) coolest guitar teacher on CZcams (undisputed), 2) great player, and 3) hot damn, son, the lad can sing like a boss!
Totally agree, one of the coolest guitar teacher on CZcams. And I had a good idea his vocals would be great.😉
I’ve been in an REM mood lately and came back to this lesson. Fables of the Reconstruction came out my freshman year of college and it was such a meaningful album in my transition from teen to young adulthood. Keep the REM coming! Maybe a lesson on Radio Free Europe or Green Grow the Rushes.
You have a great voice Adrian. Love the jangle sound. Really appreciate you material you post, it means a lot.
Thanks for this! I absolutely love Peter Buck's jangly arpeggiated guitar playing from those early REM years. He moved away from that style on their later albums but he remained an inventive player none-the-less. I used to believe this song was done on a 12-string, it's so crystal clean and ringing. Also, I dig your singing on this, you captured Stipe's tone pretty nicely.
Wow! Inspiring! I've been learning various R.E.M. songs over the past few months and am going to spend some time here! Great sound and playing.
Amazing vocals Adrian I think it is the first time I have seen you perform like this you should definitely do more like this great lesson as well
Please do a Ricky Wilson tribute lesson!! (B52s guy!)
YES!
I never really tripped on this song until I heard you playing it lol! Great work! I’ll have to go back and listen to it again
You're an excellent singer. Front a band dude. I met REM in college. Michael was famous before he was famous. Like he always had an entourage and they all wore thrift store repurposed clothes and stood out from everybody else. The girls wore altered wedding dresses. One of them was his sister. I didn't get to know them but we spoke and they were friendly.
Fantastic song - great lesson, Adrian. I often bookmark tuition videos, to come back to at a later date, but I got my guitar as soon as I saw this one! Thank you. 😎
Nice to hear you sing, Adrian. And great playing and tone, as always.
You and Corey Hunter are the YT guitar teachers with the coolest musical tastes
Dude... Fantastic - great lesson and cover! Nice singing
As always - Great song choice, great lesson. So fun to play! THANK YOU!
A really helpful explanation of a much loved song which is giving me hours of pleasure trying to get up to speed. Many thanks!
It’s nice that you feature both the Smiths and R.E.M. I initially only listened to R.E.M. and was unaware of the Smiths until the early 2000s.
You're a great guitar player love your lessons
Man turned into Michael stipe right before our eyes. That was eerie and amazing.
Superb choice, and you nailed the Buck tone, too.
My Roll Model and a source of inspiration for me ..... Learn Everything from you sir .... You deserve much more than what u have ...... Love and respect for u sir
Jesus - your vocal timbre matches Stipe spot on. I about fell out of my chair. Unsure if im going to attempt this one with the Marr-esque string skipping and picking at speed.
Reading the comments below, let me second them! Excellent job Adrian, as usual. And what a voice - who knew? REM is one of the few bands I missed seeing in their height. Why? IDK because they certainly came through the DC region a few times. But then I also missed seeing U2 and Dire Straights playing at the Bayou in Georgetown - look up that PBS special - it is fascinating. I miss REM!
Sitting Still is my favorite R. E. M song, ingot into a lot of College rock in the late 80's and early 90's before I got into the pop and skate punk scene of the mid 90's.
Great lesson, I wouldn't have known where to start. Good voice too, sounded like the record 👌
Hell yeah adrian singing!
Great vocal, Adrian 👍
Well done, Adrian!
Nice singing Adrian! Very cool . . .
Forget Buck, you do a perfect Stipe!
No idea how I missed this lesson. THANK YOU!
Good one. Buck such an interesting player. Byrds like.
Oh man. Excellent cover to start off. Your Voice sounds great man.
Another killer song pick for a lesson. We’ll done. Thanks.
Geez Adrain you can belt it out. Fantastic singing
your voice is very good with hints of Stipe and Ian Broudie
As a person that go to live in Athens Ga and work with REM .. you did a great job !!
Peter Buck did play 12-string on certain tracks, for sure. And electric sitar too. I always assumed he was a finger picker - but I never checked.
I thought I was starting to get good when I figured out how to play "Radio Free Europe" all by myself back in the mid 80s. That HAS to be finger picked, I think, which is why I just assumed he finger picked everything.
Peter Buck didnt fingerpick. He supposedly didn’t even use alternate picking either in those days but that seems unlikely to me
Favorite R.E.M. song!! 🤘 Excellent video and discussion. Thanks!
Awesome! Nice work Andrew.
Great lesson! More R.E.M. please! Would love to see you do Camera from this album!
Thanks Adrian, your lessons never fail to impress, and always inspire.
Greetings from Athens GA. You've got such great taste, Adrian. You like what I like! Cheers!
That tone is incredible coming out of a tele it sounds like a rick
Thanks for producing such a great channel Adrian. There are lessons for so many songs I love here. Can you do a lesson for Wolves (Lower) please?
Quality content as always
Great song!
Sounds so much like R.E.M.!
A convincing Stipe impression!
Just great…I think I see a two week REM rabbit hole in my future…thanks
p.s. All hail Peter Buck. Probably the best-read pop guitarist ever.
Wow!! Great voice!
And awesome guitar sound
as always!
Great lesson ! First time I've heard you sing, very nice !
One of my faves, thanks Adrian!
That was great.
Great selection, Adrian. I've wanted to learn this song for years now
Thanks for posting this. Really close matching on the tone, too!
Thanks again Adrian, big fan of REM and Peter Buck's sound.
This fits into some stuff I am working on myself, with the arpeggiated playing.
Great playing. Unexpectedly awesome singing too!!!
Thanks , I had forgotten this song ! Another brilliant lesson 👍
You have a nice voice for this genre Adrian!
Sweet Selection, Adrian! Thanks
This guy is amazing!💯🤙🏻🔥💯
I love your channel, it's helped me improve by leaps and bounds over the last year, so first and foremost: "THANK YOU." Have you ever considered looking at a Parquet Courts song? A lot of their early stuff is an interesting combination of country licks and post punk, which seems up your alley.
Awesome guitar as usual and your voice always delivers. On the singing stuff, I really love your teaching style, if you did a video giving some pointers on singing with guitar I would love to see! Thank you!
Thanks Adrian, Damn that's good fun to play. Great job on the vocals too, Anyone Can Sing? Actually, think I'll stick to guitar. 😉
UP is a great album.
Adrian, your lessons, playing, and song choices are great. This one is no exception. A bit of constructive criticism.. could your voice narration and the guitar sound be leveled a bit more evenly, please? (The guitar and singing is fine, so not that) I regularly find that your narration is a couple clicks lower than the guitar. Otherwise, keep on rocking, sir! Thank you!!
great 👍 👌
Another classic. Cheers Adrian! (some similarities with Kid by the Pretenders by my ear). Loved it.
Blimey Adrian you can do an Amazon Buck and Stipe combo. your right about the “rem were Better in the 80s”. They were different bands during their career. But I loved their first three albums for sure.
Brilliant…thanks!
Thank you!!
This is great!
Great lesson as always, but I'm here primarily to compliment you on an outstanding vocal performance - really Stipe-ish and very good indeed.
He can sing too! Damnit. Wish I could play and sing at the same time.
Have you ever done any Stiff Little Fingers? Suspect Device or Alternative Ulster would be great .
Big fan and Patreon subscriber - have enjoyed your content for ages but… where did this little gem come from?! Great performance!
brilliant, singing was ok too😁
Good singin'
I love seeing REM on here but I must say, I’m really ready for some more Velvet Underground.
You sing too?!! Well done. Crikey
To quote Michael Stipe, "It's not really a family story...but it's true." Make of that what you will.
you're cool!
For me, with exception of the album Green, the IRS years of REM were the best.
Green was Warner Bros