Dis-satisfying Satisfaction?

Strange turn of events last night. After wrestling with the verses from Satisfaction for quite some time, I had put the song away for a while. I hadn't even touched the 3d verse - and I'd never come close to nailing it when I played through the whole song.

Last night I decided to see if a break had helped me any and I played through the song a couple of times. No joy. I had nearly forgotten the verses altogther, so I dug into Riff Repeater to work them back up at least to where I had them before. Verses 1 and 2 were at 100% but not maxed. Not quite sure where Verse 3 was when I started last night but probably close to 0%. Didn't take long to get Verse 1 Maxed, but 30 attempts weren't enough for me to Max Verse 2 and I had to work that in Free Speed to get the notes. Somewhere during my second 30 lives in Riff Repeater Leveler I managed to max the second verse. Then I played through the whole song just to cement things in place.

The first time through was rough, so I played through a second time. Things went better. I believe I went back to Riff Repeater to see what I could do with the 3d verse, but even now I have only the haziest recollection of how that verse goes. I certainly don't KNOW it. Nonetheless, I played through the whole song again to see how things would fall into place and -

a miracle

I scored slightly over 100,000 and Master Mode was unlocked before my eyes!

I do not deserve this honor, but because all three verses are treated as "Verse," and I maxed out at least the first verse, I met the All-Phrases-Max'ed requirement for Master Mode and it was given to me.

I wasn't really thinking about this glitch in the three verses last night. At the time it seemed like RS just felt sorry for me and gave me a pass.

I also mastered my first of the three Christmas songs (God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen), at least one arrangement, but I have a very hard time playing it from memory. Tried it a few times last night and managed to get as high as 160,000+/-, but that seemed generous. What's strange is that I'm actually playing from muscle memory when I see the notes - but when I try to perform in Master Mode it just all goes away. Like that comic strip where the kid's brain leaps out of his head as soon as the teacher passes out a test. I never had this problem before with drums. . . So, maybe I just don't know the song by heart yet.

It's already well into March and I'm still struggling to memorize my first of three Christmas songs. . . I'd say it's a good thing I didn't wait until November to start this little project.