Apache

[Triple-o]

I must have be living under a rock. Apache! Never heard it. The band must have been hiding in the “Shadows” or perhaps they were just “Drifters”.

I’ve had a strat for 10 years.Early on I screwed  the wammy bar in and it seemed pretty useless.It wouldn’t stay in place, so back in the case it went. I was probably in session 4 and really had no reason to figure it out. 
 

Now, I hear Apache and Hank is using the strats floating vibrato bridge. So, thanks to Apache I floated my bridge, and put some plumbers Teflon tape on the bar threads and now I am “cooking with gas”. There was a small spring with the wammy bar that I thought would help hold the bar so I dropped it in the hole, but it didn’t do anything.

The Galluping part of the tune is rather challenging, but once I got out of the “starting gate” I could feel the wind in my face. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSCetatVRJ4

[Oldjock]

The song Apache has been one of my favourite songs since I was a teen. Although the Beatles were the really big deal in the sixties, I became a fan of the Ventures instrumentals. Learning to play Apache had me humming and thinking of the melody in my head for days on end. It is not a difficult song to learn but like you, the galloping portion is still elusive.

[matonanjin]

@Oldjock, I have tackled Apache many times over the years because, like you, "it has been one of my favourite songs since I was a teen."  Every time that I did attempt it I got to that, as you and @Triple-o call it, "galloping portion" and the sheet music, or whatever I was studying from, went back in the desk drawer.

Maybe, after Christmas, it's time to get the music back out?  Thanks to both of you for the reminder. In a way perhaps this will serve as a gauge if I am making any progress.  The difficulty level of the song is listed as “Moderate”.  If that is accurate I should be able to complete it!  I may or may not report back!😡

But now I'm trying to figure out how to say what I want to say while maintaining Moderator hmmmm legality with Member intended helpfulness.

In December of 2013 Guitar Techniques magazine had as their cover article "Apache by the Shadows".  This edition is loooong out of print. So one can no longer purchase it.  But the intellectual rights to that article still do remain with Guitar Techniques. It is illegal to share it.  As a guitarist, and as long time semi-professional photographer, I want to respect any such property rights. 

The article included the entire song sheet music, an mp3 of the song intended as a play along and an mp3 backing track of the song. The backing track is a very good one.  Actually, racist comments (“this chart topper from Hank, Bruce, Jet and Tony will rid you of all your reservations”, “Native American style tom-toms) aside, for anyone wanting to learn Apache, this is like all of Guitar Techniques articles, very professionally done.

But, as I said, it is out of print and so old it is no longer for sale as a back issue from Magazines Direct, the publisher of Guitar Techniques.  Let's leave it this way.  If you would like to see the article or play the backing track, contact me by PM.

 

 

[Mike Hoodenpyle]

What a great song. I see some backing tracks available on Amazon. Not sure where you could find reliable sheet music, but I think I'll do some digging.