Phish Brainteaser

Phish General
#1

Harry Hoods,

Long time listener, first time caller. After listening to an impeccably played Trey solo, I thought that he must have played a whole lot of notes in his life to get that good at guitar - then my math nerdiness kicked in. I have a question that I would like to pose to you all, the best of the best out there in all things Phish. Specifically:

How many notes has Trey played on the guitar in his lifetime? A few rules:

  • Approach the question however you like - there is no right or wrong way to go about it
  • Teamwork is encouraged
  • Chords are technically multiple notes, so they count just that way
  • Only standard 6 or 12 string guitars apply, no bass
  • The right answer is not a google
  • Best (most thorough) analysis takes the cake
  • Have fun
#2

Man that’s a tough one - you’d have to take into account all the guitar lessons with Ernie Stires, all the endless hours in the college dorm, the beginning phases of the band, the downtime until the pickup in 87, the crazy 200+ shows a year for a long time until they slowed down in the early 2000s, the lull with the solo projects (my god all the solo projects), and the current resurrection. It’s a super tough question, but one I hope to be asked at my next Deloitte interview :slight_smile: Viva la Icculus

#3

Wow, thanks for the quick response. Yeah there is a lot to take into consideration, but if anyone is capable of doing it, its all of you on ohkeepa.

#4

#5

::f*cks face value::

#6
#7

Easy as pie.

Pi divided by zero.

#8

“They are both the same person, or at least have the same IP address”

Same IP addresss = roommates. We arrived at the question after a long evening of extreme hypothetical questions (if a single ballpoint pen writes up to 8 km, how big of a book could it write?) and discussed this specific one for quite a while. After he posted the question, I posted my general thoughts, but we are still very curious to see if anyone can offer a more detailed analysis. Clearly there’s no wrong answer - it’s more your methodology in how you calculate a note and how you determine how many notes have been played.

This may be the nerdiest question ever asked on this forum, but there HAS to be someone out there that can offer some insight into this pressing question :slight_smile:

#9

A Google, I win, thanks for playing

#10

a better more answerable question mite be how many different fills has Todd nance employed in his lyphe?

#11

Happy trolling! Been a while since we have had a good trolling on here…it’s due. :clap: :thumbup:

:unamused:

#12

#13

^“I’d fuck me”!

:laughing:

#14

Notice the can of 7Up? WTF?

#15

I think this should have been posted in the drunk/stoned thread, just sayin.

New thread idea: How many cans of 7up has Axl had in his life?

#16

I don’t really see it as trolling…I thot that was when people started threads/stated opinions they didn’t believe to get a rise out of people.

so basically I’m more of a troll than this guy

#17

Yep - legitimately interested in people’s responses here. Stoned, no. Drunk, very much so.

#18

Also, congrats to willbreathes on his/her 25,000th post!

#19

^ He’s sensitive about that.

#20

:clap: