FOCUS - SYLVIA

[tolenaars53]

Now this.. This is what jan wrote on behalf of this song. A ginius on guitar. And all for the benefit of Thijs van leer. I hope Jan wil ever get a penny out of it!

Fuck Thijs.

He was nothing.. And wil be nothing.

jan is gnn have a pelgrim place in holland.( i wil see to that )

Thijs gnn get worms!.

Jan A.. was and is the most talented Guitar player holland ever had,, and stil is!

As from Brainbox to whatever he did. He belongs under the top 10 of best guitar players in the world.!

[Terry59000]

Fantastic exciting intro, and yet such a boring melody. Better live though.

[smileshoter]

oh my god what a song!

and oh my god, the nail of that guy!!!

[DickensVideo]

JAN AKKERMAN IS GERARD DEPARDIEU

[countrytar]

I was at the consert Stockholm 1973,konserhuset.

[bigtedlittleted]

can someone tell me where to find the lyrics?

[Necryte]

@bigtedlittleted Google.

[mottledbrain]

I don't mean to offend, but we have too many 'singer-song writers'. I love instrumental music.

[xSylvia92x]

any idea why it's called sylvia? loll

[GuyWithNoName67]

@xSylvia92x Focus started as a backing group for cabaree singers in Holland. One of them was named Sylvia. Thijs Van Leer wrote this song for her (w/lyrics) but she didn't like it, so it was shelved. The words were then removed in 1972 and became this.

[niggerfuckshitreborn]

@xSylvia92x they all fucked this prostitute called sylvia.. 4 guys 1 girl

[stevemetaloldie]

saw them last year at Weyfest and seeing them again this year :)

[kancherito33]

I'm gonna download this video and keep it forever. I swear it will be in any backup of my computer i'll ever do. I can't believe what 63Brummie said: How can't you like 70's music? If that music didn't exist, we would have no idea of how to free ourselves through music, dude. 70's rock is the true soul of Rock n' Roll.

[papasieg]

he's still the best player in the world i think

[flewincnowokayx12]

Really great job! Wow, I enjoyed it so much!!! 5*****

[raemenp]

splendid , just splendid ...still today

Peter R. - Starsbourg Nov 2010

[hoopydu]

these guys can drop the vocals.... not needed  AWESOME BAND!!!

[meandrunk]

I saw Focus in Madrid and Jan Akkerman broke a string and transposed a very complicated lead effortlessly - fantastic talent!

[ray3mondo]

Superb

[beppesalsabike]

reperto archeologico prezioso

[doubleotwentyone]

...and a Gretsch neck pickup on his Les Paul ~ interesting...

[doubleotwentyone]

Love the switch from the front to back pickup and that playing around with the rhythm at the beginning,,,Akkerman was amazing...

[Maynard0504]

this is why the dutch legalized marijuana

[camcoop25]

@Maynard0504

Why, so this shit would sound good?

[petrusaloisius]

@Maynard0504

bleeeeeh bla bla

[12uuunnt]

only saw them 7 times Great !!!

[rnm1011]

Master guitarist at play.

[tokaicarl]

great live version----------------

[srm1953]

God save the master guitarrist Jan Akkerman!

[grumpyoldgitt]

Makes me feel old to think I remember being allowed to say up as a 11 year old to watch this on tv.

[tokaicarl]

@grumpyoldgitt yeahhhhhhhhh i agree !!!!!!! xx

[wewelltv]

i focus del 1972. Dedicata a checco petraro e a sandro mastrobuono.

[ipanemared]

Fantastic!!! Why, oh why they do not make music like this anymore??? My soul is smiling....Jan - the guitar God!!!

[ragnor56]

There's only one thing wrong with this film & that is these guys like all the rest of us are now a hell of a lot older & sad to say as you get older the chances of you passing into the crowd upstairs gets nearer but just listen to that legacy left behind after they have finally left life's biggest stage.........................­..............

[TheFatPandIsHere]

i am actualy fair in love with the guitaring

[6PBP6]

Really good version! Love the falcetto vocals from the keyboard player.

[MiniTheD]

I was born in the wrong generation, the 70's wouldve been a good time

[Richie979]

15 chipshops said it all. So evocative and moving. It takes me on an emotional time machine seeing this. Wonderful

[Monkeyslash]

Great song...God awful camera work on Jans guitar.

[fuckcockshitdick]

godlike sound. im impressed to the max at the moment.

[el1y]

i love it <3

[atti1488]

so thats the origin of nirvana's super hit song "smell like teen spirit" .... shame on u nirvana...

[Milanotjuh]

@atti1488 of course you never picked a guitar up and saw how easy it is to come up with these chords. If you want to insist then there are tons of origins!

[15chipshops]

My favourite version of one of my all time favourite tunes!

Perfection!!!

[kenziexxpodders]

Wow just love this ....keep playing over an over again ...love that guitar so much....Thank god for you tube....GREAT STUFF !!!!!

[alazmen]

questa canzone fa sognare questi musicisti sono al top canzone incredibile!!!!

[wissahdahmastah]

i love it

[gaborikrocks]

JAN AKKERMAN IS A GUITAR GOD

[StairwayToHeaven666]

Ohh yeah !!

[colourkraft]

i havw seen focusplaying live in amsterdam in 1974 and they were fab..........gggrrrreeaaattt

[63Brummie]

You're VERY BLESSED..

Someone said that the 70's was crap for music...can you believe that????

[89Rodrigasso89]

It was probably a deaf person... ¬¬

[donniedarko88888]

@63Brummie many stupid people in this world ....so yes :)

[Ryu12543]

@63Brummie I consider it the best time for sure because it was Rush's prime. Whoever said that is probably a Nickelback fan.

[mariolecompt]

@63Brummie did they like shitney spears and justina bieber?

[samguitarmurphy]

man i love jan akkerman

[graphitec]

bravi

[HeavyfkinMetal66]

love this song

[WeekendWarrior1210]

I want that guitar he is using, it's gorgeous.

[Alvarez461]

Its Delicious!!! :D

[360mAN100]

the drummer is good .

[soduno]

He's one of the best rock drummer i ever heard, exept bonham, and paice off course!

[51698271]

Keith Moon is not so bad either.

[StairwayToHeaven666]

mitch mitchell too ... but the best ... John Bonham !

[RogerjTurner]

For any guitar 'saddos' out there, the neck pickup on Jan's Gibson Les Paul is a Gretsch Filtertron. Excellent noise.

[conor30000]

Thanks man

[DariusBlue]

Dude, we are not the saddos. The legions of wannabes who play "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band" are.

[piutikaki]

Beautiful *.*

[alexcremento]

the best..

[wihu61]

geweldig

[EndeavorLeadGtr]

I'm really digging Jan's tone here.

[MissDeniseHewitt]

Fantastic Performance and one of my all-time favourite songs from my teenage years which I've now recorded for YouTube:) Warmest Wishes - Denise

[alstuart56]

Jan akkerman wicked guitar

[jlr0909]

Impresionante, Jan Akkerman, Thijs Van Leer me volaron la cabeza cuando los escuche por primera vez. Como guitarrista me senti muy inluenciado por ellos. Estaban tocando adelantados a su epoca.

[silverracer01]

Jan Akkerman, Thijs Van Leer, Boudewijn De Groot, Elly... the best of the past generation!!!

[murriskman]

Da ich mich bereits englisch mehrmals geäußert habe, sage ich Herrn Jan Akkerman hiermit nochmals auf Deutsch vielen Dank für dieses wunderbare Stück "clasic rock" oder wie's man sonst nennen will ... vielleicht klassisch komponiert und rockig umgesetzt ... ?

[terrorjosef]

Kaptein sabeltann og gulars!!!!!

[opaladomaik]

a primeira vez que ouvi focus em 1972 ,gostei de mais, sao exelentes, grupo holandes, progressivo,que ate hoje esta na ativa,100./. bom,gosto de todas musicas,sou brasileiro, porem so gosto de grupos internacionais, 60,70,,s.obrigado pela postagem dny 95.,voce tem bom gosto,edson florianopolis, brasil.tchal.

[krullebol4]

THIS is focus , one of Hollands biggest bands ever, also featuring dutch guitarist Jan Akkerman, he´s the greatest!

[Milklord9001]

im 12 and what is this?

[Manu9078]

gtfo

[boyleman17]

im 16 and my dad told me about this song

[DonAsturiador]

'-' ??

[joshmacky]

im 16 just discovered this band... its like beethoven to rock music except doesnt sound shit like yngwie malmsteen.. they are fuckign weapon!

[SummerIsK]

Thanks to Radio 2 i love this song.

[memphistube]

To SummerlsK .....I heard it on Radio 2 aswell,& I have put it on my facebook page,& let everyone hear it,nnow it may be time for Focus to do a 'Take That'/East 17/Boyzone/Spandau Ballet etc etc......

[Soporifica]

oh my! I've stumbled into a time warp and I'm a teenager LOL ... still damn good even if I am older than dirt! LOL

[HardWarUK]

So glad to have been a teenager in the 70's!!! Man those were the time's - all down hill since then!!!

[ZIPPTPH77]

I saw them play at the Scaeffer Music Festival in Central Park.August '72.... What a gas!

[TimeWolf26]

Hey! Some of the new generation aren't totally sheepish jerks. I love this song, a long with a lot of other old stuff.

[daliangirls2]

under the the blue sky sylvia is dancing on the grass

[decko87]

its a pretty good sing alright

[union7penguin09]

How comes my comment has been rated bad.

I like this song aswell.

[DarkAndMartyr]

u can tell where Brian May got his influences from

[darioso5]

union7

you must stop listening to this song, my friend

[Jbiorobot]

Why can"t we all just get along??

Rodney King

[union7penguin09]

I find this tune really upsetting for some reason.

Whenever i hear it..it makes me fell just upset..

[Blomm4n]

i feel the same as union7... this song is a burden:p

but akkerman and focus are great creators and musicans!

[VesleVegard07]

Where du you get this?  =)

That is some good stuff you got there, boy!

[pigje]

da was idd de max.

spijtig dat Jan zo wispelturig was...

[dharmaseed]

Great song. These guys had chops.

[jjworden92]

the guitarist put a gretsch pickup in his les paul

[goofywilly]

no thats a sears n roebuck "power-tronic 3m" pickup

[rtuzak91]

nerd

[goofywilly]

WTF?

[StairwayToHeaven666]

Genius song

[ki0ny]

Been to a concert of jan akkerman yesterday;) It was awsome.

[tricio1234]

The must have albums from Focus are: Moving waves, Focus 3 and Hamburg concert. All are excelent albums.

[afroboy717]

I don't like the music of this band very much but I have to admit that the guitarist and the singer have real talent

[PaulWayne]

....shut up

[CHAOSDEATHCULT]

LoLskeetz

[goobernutz]

did these guys only have 2 hits? what would anyone suggest as a "must have" cd from them?

[Tengent]

I find that most band's gems aren't hits.. Focus II is my favorite. :P

[klaasgroen]

live at the rainbow ;)

[bbunters]

@goobernutz

Klaasgroen is right, 'live at the rainbow' is one of their best performances.

[fritzmcd]

Always reminds me of my firstlove

[surfstrat59]

He's got a filtertron pickup in the neck of his Les Paul. The Old Grey Whistle Test was great...

[BurningSkyFilms]

These guys are pretty thin

[LudgerBW]

You don't know what you are talking about. I've seen Focus live and been listening to them for over thirty years.

[RadioBazterd]

Great piece of prog, timeless. Cowell would rather listen to Sinitta and crap like that.

[111chazz]

More like sh*g sinita

[gasdan72]

Very good quality version,Simon Cowell you should hang your head in shame,THIS IS REAL MUSIC!

[betterdaysmusic]

Dutch Masters

[Dennizzz119]

Thats what they call dutch quality

[HamnClan]

If it is Dutch it cant be much ;-) The music is an all time favourite of mine tho

[lekezenman]

Bad comment!

I know a one-trown-for-the-rats-newborn out of a damm poor country who now is a professor at Leuven University Belgium!

One of the best around the globe!

ALL RIGHT!!!

[HamnClan]

What are you on girl ? Let me comment how I want to just leave me alone

[HamnClan]

and if you can not spell the language then just leave your comments as thoughts. Like i wrote this is for me an all time favourite. So aufwiedersehen pet X.

[mabbazza]

happy days.dutch prog rock and the mighty Partick Thistle who ran out to the wonderful"Sylvia".Possibly the only club in British football to do so.ThYS Van Lear and Alan Rough are connected and legends.

[godwhyisthistaken]

cool song, nice instrumental!

[crossbones07]

Old Grey Whistle Test wheeeeyyyy! Akkerman is an amazing guitarist :D

[Gozzillacia]

the sound of an age - of virgin teenage - the brilliant sunset of AOR - before the dawn of punk - sorry we had to rip you to shreds - but we loved you all the same.

[CharitableView]

Pure sex.

[dreiahalb]

omfg this riff is fucking godlike!!!

[erikjan1989erikjan]

thys was a little bit out of tune

but still brilliant song

[paul20motorbikes]

This is good, real good.

[frambosidica]

Akkerman rules! Amazing talent. Gotta love his "jesus" looks period.

[PeterInglisGuitar]

One of the very first tunes I learned on the guitar. We used to play it at dances. What a great era - a melting pot of classical, jazz and rock!

[gmaildotcom]

What pickup is fitted in the neck position?

[QuiltedPine]

Hmm, according to the looks, looks like a Gretsch Filtertron. Maybe a HiLoTron, I cannot remember the difference. Jan akkerman is so cool, and he was like 27 in this video!

[acdc126]

yes its filtertron on a kind of lespaul by gibson, a dream guitar! the first difference is the cover, and you can see only 6 poles on the hilotron.

filtertron are high sensitivity humbucker and better, hilotron are tiny humbucker that sound better in neck position than bridge...

[Volendammtje]

Great song!

[Mikepiphone]

Great song i love it.

Check out my intro cover of this guyz! =D

[paulnery]

WONDERFUL TUNE!!!

[terrysteward]

I played this at my solo gig in herne bay last sunday,i have a gr8 backing track, the pub governor asks for it everytime i go there !!,i have a few instrumentals,it also gives the voice a rest !!,if i do something like rods hot legs and def lepards animal,its nice to stick sylvia or satrianis summer song in,to get my breath back !!

[maeleh]

yeh, this song came on TV and my dad told me how he played it aged 14 in front of the whole school, i've started learning it now (guitarist) Got most of down already, really great song, can't stop listening to it. amazing band also!!!

[terrysteward]

Hocus pocus is gr8 too !!, but i havent started on that yet !!

[thexela]

great upload, cheers

[acidska]

Where Jan Ackerman?

[nandostein]

with the black gibson and moustache

[terrysteward]

IVE WORKED IT OUT,ARE AS NEAR AS I CAN GET IN A SHORT TIME,BY EAR,USING TRIADS ON THE TOP 3 STRINGS OF THE GUITAR FOR THE BRIDGES AND LINKS,I.E,THE D,D#DIM,D I WORKED OUT AT THE 10TH FRET,SO 1ST FINGER COVERS THE E AND B STRING AT THE TENTH FRET,AND THE MIDDLE FINGER THE G STRING AT THE ELEVENTH, THEN JUST ADD AND SUBTRACT YOUR RING FINGER TO THE TOP E STRING AT THE 11TH FRET TO MAKE D,Ddim,D. THE MAIN VERSE CHORDS MIDDLE OF GTR NECK, I DO NOT READ MUSIC OR EVEN TAB,BUT I JUST HOPE IT WILL HELP.

[terrysteward]

GOT IT !!,THOSE FOUR IN SUCCESSION RISES LATER ARE,(DONT FORGET 1 CHORD PER BEAT) Gm,Am,Bbm,Cm,Db,Eb,F,--Dm,Em,F­m,Gm,Ab,Bb,C,-- Am,Bm,Cm,Dm,Eb,F,G,--Em,F#m,Gm­,Am,Bb,C,D, THEN THE 2ND BRIDGE,CHORD EVERY OTHER BEAT, G, GMAJ7,EM,D, THEN 1 CHORD PER BEAT,E,FDIM,E,G,E,D,E, 3RD BRIDGE CHANGE EVERY 2ND BEAT,A,AMAJ7,F#m,E, CHANGE ON EVERY BEAT, F#,GDIM,F#,A,G,D234,VERSE,BUT DO THE GM RISE TWICE,SLOWING DOWN ON THE 2ND ONE, THEN ITS INTRO,WHICH BRINGS THE BAND IN AGAIN TO END, HOPE YOU CAN UNDERSTAND ME

[manatthewindow]

Terry - good work, mate.

Here's a couple of amendments to the rising sections

Gm, F/A, Bbm, C dim, Db, Eb, F

Dm, C/E, Fm , G dim, Ab, Bb, C

Am, G/B, Cm , D dim, Eb, F , G

Em, D/F#, Gm , A dim, Bb, C , D

Just to clarify, F/A means an F major chord with an A in the bass, ie an F 1st inversion. Similarly with the C/E, G/B & D/F# - the first letter is the chord, the second one is the bass note. Let me know if this helps - I don't have an instrument handy to check it.

[terrysteward]

Ah thanks for that,i am a guitarist,that as with most guitarists doesnt read music or even tab,but i have in 36 years,built up a good chord and scale knowledge,and some sort of uncatalogued theory,i can improvise quite well,without hitting a bum note,as i am always aware of the scale i am in,but this sylvia,was quite a bugger to work out !!

[manatthewindow]

Cheers, Terry! ;)

[pinball1970]

who can match focus for ability? YES? top top post and a great song

[dharmaseed]

Amazing!

[DominatorMCMLXXVIII]

Decent quality post at last. Still prefer the black and white vid from '73 though.

[gingerguineypig]

if someone knows the chords or piano music which goes over the top of this please let me know

thanks that would be a great help :)

[minstreel60]

Years ago I've copied a book of Focus-music. It contains Sylvia and is in piano-notation with cord symbols. A few weeks ago the keyboardplayer of my band lend it, but if you want I can scan it and send it to you.

[gingerguineypig]

oh yeah thanks that would be awesome

[gingerguineypig]

for some reason youtube wont let me post a comment with my email address in it so if you give me your email address i can send it to you

thanks.

[gingerguineypig]

for some reason youtube wont let me post a comment with my email address in it so if you give me your email address i can send it to you

thanks.

[terrysteward]

VERSE F,FMAJ7,DM,C,Bb,F,Gm,C,(QUICK Bb)F,F7,Eb,Dm,THEN SUCCESSIVE RISING CHORDS ARE,Gm,Am,Bbm,Cm,C#,Eb,F,ONCE INTRO,AND RPT ABOVE,THEN AFTER THE RISE FROM THE Gm,IT RISES FROM THE Dm CHORD 1 CHORD PER BEAT,so its,Dm,Em,Fm,Gm,Ab,Bb,C,THEN 1ST BRIDGE IS CHANGE EVERY TWO BEATS,F,FMAJ7,DM,NOW EVERY ONE BEAT,D,D#DIM,D,F,D,C,D, EVERY TWO BEATS G,GMAJ7,Em,D,EVERY 1 BEAT,E,FDIM,E,G,F,C, BACK TO VERSE,THEN IT DOES THOSE 4X MINOR 3X MAJOR RISES,IN SEVERAL KEYS,I WILL WORK EM OUT,AND DO ANOTHER REPLY.

[gingerguineypig]

please could someone let me no wat the music is

[mattcol99]

C on Bass, Chords:

F C Bb Eb Ab Eb, Bb

The rest is very complicated !

[gingerguineypig]

ok thanks for your help

[88panterafan]

theyre playin the renfrew ferry in glasgow soon!!

[blackbirdtwigg]

superb !! Jan Akkerman is one of the worlds greatest and most underrated guitarists.Does anyone know if they still have the same line up ??? Thanks for posting !

[piafounet]

as far as i know, the organist is the only original member left.

[Muizenmeester]

Dude, this song sounds familiar to me... Maybe of a dutch commercial? Ik blijf Nederlander

[soxstix]

Den e najs

[samme0]

great band !very psychedelic atmospheric sound.

[radioman60]

One of the first instrumental tracks I heard when I was a kid way back around 1972 - blew me away.

Heard it today again on the radio and thought I'd relive some memories via youtube..!

Great track