Useful Jenkins & Big Zach "Speak"
Useful Jenkins & Big Zach "Speak"
This one's just because this is a killer guitar riff. The riff section was even used as an instrumental-only backdrop to the final battle between Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) and Kane (Mario Van Peebles) in Highlander III: The Sorcerer. It's an adrenaline pumper.
I actually used to play this riff a bit differently because I had only ever heard the song once or twice before on MTV when I was trying to play it by memory. I also play it in standard tuning (E A D G B E, low to high), whereas — as I've only recently found out — the guitar was actually tuned down a whole step (D G C F A D, low to high) for the recording. I normally play everything in standard tuning, so it hadn't even occurred to me that this was actually played on a down-tuned guitar.
Changing to a different tuning on a guitar with a Floyd Rose type whammy bar is a serious pain in the neck due to the interaction between different forces. A change in the tuning of one string in one direction affects the tuning of all other strings in the opposite direction, and dropping everything down a whole step also changes the bridge angle, and with it, the intonation of the bridge saddles and the action — i.e. the height of the strings above the frets and the pickups — which you then have to compensate for by adjusting the tension of the springs in the back of the guitar. Furthermore, in order to tune the guitar down a whole step, you have to loosen the locking clamps at the nut and tune the guitar by way of the tuning keys at the headstock, but fastening the clamps again in itself also already affects the tuning, which you then have to compensate for with the fine-tuners at the bridge.
Like I said, it's a pain, and even though the riff itself doesn't require a Floyd Rose style bridge, the rest of the song does. You might be able to get away with it on a non-locking vibrato guitar — and retuning those isn't very easy either, albeit that it's less work — but I wouldn't advise it, given the nature of the song. So if you're going to be going down that road, then it's best to set up a separate guitar with the dropped tuning and use another guitar for the standard tuning stuff. If you like, then you can even choose a heavier gauge of strings for the drop-tuned guitar in order to have a similar tension feel to your other guitar.
My version of the riff sounds slightly different — not necessarily better or worse, just different — and I always play it when I'm testing the balance between the low, mid and high frequencies with a heavy distortion sound. So if the EQ settings are incorrect, then playing (my version of) this riff will bring that out and then I can make the necessary adjustments either on the effects unit or on the amplifier itself. If all the frequencies come out right during the riff, then I know my setup will work for everything else as well.
Anyway, crank up the volume, break out your best air guitar and start banging your head until your hair covers your eyes.
= DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR =
Cearna (21st May 2016), Dreamtimer (5th June 2016), Joanna (22nd May 2016), Lord Sidious (8th June 2017), pointessa (15th June 2016), sandy (21st May 2016)
And the Dreamers awake....
Aragorn (3rd June 2016), Dreamtimer (5th June 2016), Elen (3rd June 2016)
What is the purpose of your presence?
Aragorn (3rd June 2016), Cearna (20th June 2016), Dreamtimer (5th June 2016), Elen (3rd June 2016), Joanna (14th June 2016), PurpleLama (3rd June 2016)
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61invZG0OO8
I can't forget you my little Mushanga
I keep a place in my heart for you
The days of waiting they keep getting longer
And not a thing I can do
I was a poet, a magazine writer
Sent to report on political views
It was by chance through a lens that I met you
A Capetown girl with no shoes
You were runnin' down the road
I was going your way
I stopped and turned around and lent you my hand
You smiled though you were suffering
I didn't understand
You broke into my heart
I saw your eyes and then I knew
You broke into my heart
Like the wind and rain that followed you
You broke into my heart
Had the Lord above forgotten you?
You broke in from the start
And all my tears belong to you
Mushanga, oh, Mushanga, oh
I sat and watched as she danced by the fires
Through ancient songs did the tale unfold
They sang of diamonds that came from their mountains
And loss of lives mining white man's gold
I had to leave and go back to Manhattan
Where all my stories are bought and sold
I know the city would surely be saddened
If what I knew could be told
You were runnin' down the road
I was going your way
I stopped and turned around and lent you my hand
You smiled though you were suffering
I didn't understand
You broke into my heart
I saw your eyes and then I knew
You broke into my heart
Like the wind and rain that followed you
You broke into my heart
Had the Lord above forgotten you?
You broke in from the start
And all my tears belong to you
Mushanga, oh, Mushanga, oh
It's been so long since I last heard your laughter
So many letters and still no news
I hope you find all the things that you're after
You know my heart is with you
You were runnin' down the road
I was going your way
I stopped and turned around and lent you my hand
You smiled though you were suffering
I didn't understand
You broke into my heart
I saw your eyes and then I knew
You broke into my heart
Like the wind and rain that followed you
You broke into my heart
Had the Lord above forgotten you?
You broke into my heart
I saw your eyes and then I knew
You broke in from the start
And all my tears belong to you
Mushanga, oh, Mushanga, oh
Mushanga, oh, Mushanga, oh
Mushanga, oh, Mushanga, oh
Mushanga, oh, Mushanga, oh
= DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR =
Dreamtimer (11th June 2016), Joanna (14th June 2016)