How to play the intro of "The Spirit of Radio" as given by the man himself...

[rocketman]

This is one that's been debated over the ages. Most people, including me, always thought that Lifeson played the opening riff as

 

F#-E-D-E-A-E-D-E-F#-E-D-E-G#-F#-E-D-E

 

There has also been a debate on whether or not he picks the whole riff or uses a combination of picking and pulling. Either way the tricky part of this riff is that you need to pick the E string when you come off the D note on the B string. This caused some intense practicing in my youth to get it done right.

 

Well it turns out Alex NEVER plays the E note/string after the D note at all. Here's the man himself explaining it...

 

[YOUTUBE]

[/YOUTUBE]

 

So actually the riff isn't that bad to learn once you get the timing down.

[recsec]

Nice, Thanks for the post!!