Hearing Trey flub (yet again :P ) the main "flying" theme of Mockingbird at the Alpine shows reminded me that that riff is probably the hardest to get down of any Phish thing I've tried to learn. I've learned at least parts of most of Trey's epic compositions (Fluffhead, Stash, Reba, Divided Sky, David Bowie, SoaM, YEM, Guyute), but this riff always trips me up. On the surface it doesn't seem as though it should be hard. I'm curious if anyone knows of good, pro shot video of a closeup of Trey's hands while playing it. I know I have the right notes but wonder if there's an easier position to play it in. Though seeing as how Trey rarely nails it, I'm probably playing it the right way. Ha!
For some reason the It's Ice intro is always pretty tricky for me. I also find that short fast bridge thing he plays in Golgi hard.
There is no question trey used to write some super challenging pieces. Landlady is tough, all things reconsidered is tough. You don't really appreciate it as a fan until you try and play it. They definitely don't write like that anymore. But that's when he was still taking a lot of lessons and learning a ton.