The other day I was watching a video clip of Geddy Lee and Alex LIfeson of Rush play one of their prog rock instrumentals, “YYZ,” with drummer Omar Hakim. The trio appeared on stage as part of a tribute concert honoring recently deceased Foo Fighters drummer, Taylor Hawkins. But something was off. And this led me to the discovery of a new word.
“YYZ” is an instrumental piece from Rush’s 1981 album Moving Pictures. Every rock bass player my age will know it. It was one of those “If you can play this, you can play anything” challenge pieces we all learned. It has the added bonus of being drummer catnip. I guarantee you that if a bass player busts out the first few notes of “YYZ,” the drummer will join in instantly, usually with a “whoop!” and a big goofy grin. They can’t resist. It’s like tapping shave-and-a-haircut in the presence of Roger Rabbit.
So I know the piece fairly well, which is why I noticed that during this live performance there were some…irregularities going on in the song’s 10/8 introduction. (Nerd alert: YYZ is the airport identification code of Toronto Pearson International Airport, near the band’s hometown, and the 10/8 time signature repeatedly spells out Y-Y-Z in morse code.) Yes, there was some sketchy timing for sure. But what the heck. Lee and Lifeson are retired. Who knows how long its been since they’ve been called upon to perform this complex piece. And what about Hakim? This isn’t his music. One wonders how much time he had to learn it. So, imperfections weren’t surprising.
But then, at a mid-song chord change, Geddy continues on playing flawlessly–in the wrong key. For at least four bars. Only when the next chord change comes does he get back on track. (It’s very hard to hear on that video. The one I originally heard was much clearer, but has been taken down by Viacom.)
Geddy Lee is nothing less than a hero to rock bass players of my generation. His aggressive style, biting tone, and virtuosic playing brought the instrument forward in a way that few others ever had. He’s a legend. Plus, on a more practical note, the man is retirement age and has literally never had another job other than playing bass guitar. And this is a piece of his own composing! All of which made his mistake a little shocking to me.
I wrote about it in an online forum for bass players, citing Lee’s professionalism (in that he never let on that he’d screwed up) and my own humility (cut yourself some slack – even Geddy makes mistakes). Many others in that forum responded with tales of their own musical screw ups, which they repeatedly referred to as “clams.”
Clams? I had to Google it. Sure enough, “clam” is a term used to mean wrong notes in a musical performance. Now, I’ve never been more than a weekend warrior when it comes to music. I have no formal training and I am a self-described “hack.” But I have been hacking for forty years. How have I never heard this term?
Maybe it’s an east coast thing? Or a jazz thing? I’ve dropped a few clams in my time, and I’ll drop a few more before I’m done, but now at least I have a new word for them.