Jun 23 2009
No Stairway To Heaven
This clip from Wayne’s World originates a joke that runs through many guitar shops even today. Because Stairway to Heaven was considered a classic song that was classicly easy to play, it become a wound in the ears of guitar techs and shop owners all over the world. The story goes that these types of signs originated in the UK long before the Wayne’s World motion picture brought the joke to the mainstream. I can’t really say for sure, personally I’m willing to bet there is not a single guitar shop in the world that had a ‘No Stairway to Heaven’ sign before that movie came out. There is also a bit of a ’sub-text’ joke here that I bet a lot of people missed. One of Jimmy Page’s guitar of choice was the very model of strat from this clip. No doubt Mike Myer’s was throwing a wink to the band by picking up a ‘64 strat and immediatly starting to play Stairway to Heaven. However, one fact that was apparently missed is that Jimmy Page actually used a Fender telecaster in the recording of that song.
The thing that gets me about this clip is that whatever Wayne has started to play is, it doesn’t sound a thing like the song, “Stairway to Heaven”. Rumour has it the theatrical release of Wayne’s World did had Myer’s playing the opening riff to the song in the No Stairway scene, but when it was released on video they had to replace the riff with some random notes because of copyright issues. I didn’t see this movie in theatres, but those random notes are the ones I always remember hearing in this scene.
This clip got me thinking about some of the songs I find really typical of beginner guitarists and musicians. There are plenty of songs that bug me when amatuers try to play them because it never quite seems they are playing it right. It got me to wondering what some other people might not want to hear in their shops. The sign below appears to be from a german guitar store and outlines a few overplayed songs of today.
If you had a guitar store, what songs would be on your “No Stairway” sign? What would absolutely hate to hear played day after day in your shop? What song will have you ready to snatch your guitar out of the hands of another guitar player and tapping the sign?
Thanks for chiming in with that link, Pappy. I’ve had similar feelings myself. Personally, I would never make someone feel bad about what songs they wanted to play while trying out a guitar, especially if they were a beginner.
Best solo ever written by the best damn guitarist ever…
yea ya’ll act like ya’ll didn’t sit there for hours playing the same stuff when you first learned how to play
Hell I’ve been playing for more than a decade and I still sit and play the same stuff for hours.
I used to take lessons in a guitar shop that heavily featured classical guitars and I got sick of “The Anonymous Romance” really fast. But I guess any guitar player anywhere in the world would cringe when someone starts the “Smoke On The Water” riff.