Chordplay - The Chords of Steely Dan
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- Опубліковано 4 бер 2020
- Here's the next episode of Chordplay with The Chords of Steely Dan.
Steely Dan's a legendary band that hit their stride creating/releasing their own brand of jazz-influenced pop/rock music in the early 1970s. Eventually, the group racked up a steady stream of radio/chart hits and many of those songs are still well-received and widely played on classic rock radio to this day.
This lesson features a number of interesting and useful chord-based ideas coming from the late-great Steely Dan founder/guitarist Walter Becker, which includes Steely Dan's signature "Mu" chords along with a number of famous progressions, riffs, and songs from a number of their classic hits and albums. The examples include material from songs such as 'Josie,' 'Green Earrings,' and 'Peg' - to name a few.
Give this lesson a view, leave some comments and feedback, and please subscribe to Late Night Lessons - THANK YOU!
The Dan were in a league of one.
Only Level 42 came close, but from a different direction.
You're a great teacher and communicator not to mention a great guitarist
An incredibly intelligent musician - skilled at discussion, too
Seriously now my favorite all time band. Steely Dan was so badass they truly separated the men from the boys. From legendary musicians Carlton, Grayson, Gadd, Perdie, Baxter etc a powerhouse. Finally the most creative & stylistic changes in rock. Just friggin perfect. RIP Walter Becker! As always 🍺’ski you rule!🤘
...Porcaro...
Actually it's Graydon...Not Grayson (Jay Graydon to be precise). Hey did the solo on Peg.
In 1973 I was 11 years old, I heard Reelin In The Years on AM radio, the guitar tone, arrangement, musicianship, and production quality dropped my jaw and in 1975 I was 13
my older brother had gotten a Les Paul and an Orange Amp, I have been playing guitar ever since. Yes, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Steely Dan have always been my top four.
Very commendable top 4 bands choices 👏
Steely Dan, the intersection of heart, intelligence, brilliance and soul.
Great lesson. Thanks!
The Dan! One of the best rock bands of all time
Had no idea how crazy Steely Dan's guitar playing was until recently when I heard Frank Gambale mention them in an interview. Green Earrings is sick
Walter Becker came up with some really interesting parts all throughout but they hired some of the best: Skunk Baxter and Denny Dias were the original guitarists, along with Elliott Randall. Later on when they became mostly a studio band they hired guitarists like Larry Carlton, Jay Graydon, and Dean Parks, just to name a few.
Check out the backing-track-only version of Green Earrings... I never appreciated what a kicking arrangement it was before I heard that.
Thanks so much for posting this. I have been a SD fan for a long time but always found their music very difficult to play. This really unlocks a lot about their techniques and sound.
had the pleasure of getting a lesson from Larry Carlton, and your are playing the right phrasing of the chords.......you are the first one I have seen on youtube
Those fingerings fall out when you follow the piano chart in the published songbook, 'Steely Dan Complete'.
Nicely done. Just the right amount of "distortion". Excellent lesson.
So many different ways of playing the same thing! I learned that Peg opening a totally different way! Awesome insight into all those sumptuous chords. Thanks!
Love your Aja album picture over you computer. Awesome guitar playing too.
My god Man, is there anything you can't play?
This lesson is for us big boys. 😉
That has to be the coolest arrangement of chords. I'm obviously familiar with steely Dan, but watching Josie being played, much more respect I have for these guys.
You don't hear this stuff now a days.
Good stuff D B🐓👍👍
Im having an acid flash back from the 70s.Your guitar is arching and the wall is expanding from the center.Far out mann...
,,,,and a few twitches
Thank you for the excellent lesson. You have a wonderfully approachable presentation style. Very conversational and familiar yet highly informed. (Heck of a player as well.) As a fellow educator I just wanted to send my sincere respect. Will definitely be visiting more of your offerings. 😊🎶👍
When I first started playing, it took time to develop that muscle memory to switch between chords. Then learning jazz chords was a WHOLE new ball game...lol.
Probably the biggest influence I ever had in my musical education, not just technical , but style and music appreciation in the realms of blues and jazz. Steely Dan's catalogue is essential for all aspiring musicians!
As a lifelong guitar player, engineer and arranger, I love your channel. Maybe I'm biased as I really enjoy your taste in voicings and music in general. Stoked I disco-ed this content..keep rocking 💪🤘🥓
I just wanted to say thanks...a life time of listening to something Steely I thought was impossible to grasp, you made incredibly approachable.... Thank you so very much! LJM
MIND BLOWN
Always very nice sounding chords in Steely Dan's music, I'm a 4 decades fan, definitely.
Awesome David!!!! Definitely Nice to see this!!!!
Amazing! To hear those chords slowed down you appreciate those chords and sounds even more. Wow!
Wow, I love steely and have been fascinated by there sound. Steely Dan is like pizza! You can never have to much! Thank you for a demo of music I will never be able to play! Great presentation, YOU Are A MAJOR DUDE!
Really stoked that this showed up in my "suggestions"... Sir, your channel is magnificent & I immediately subscribed. It's been used but man, you're the, "Bob Ross" of technical explanations. Thoroughly enjoy your methodology & subtle way of coveying your experiences. I've learned quite a bit this fine morning here in 'unusually' rainy, but welcomed, Dana Point, CA! Wonderful channel indeed! I'm hooked! 😉 💜 🍀 🎶 💜 Love & Light to you all out in there in UA-cam Land & bEyOnD!
Thank you!!! Greetings from nearby the Arctic Circle/Finland.
This is so fun. Thank you David Brewster.
Wow!! I learnt more about their chord structures from watching this than I have from constantly listening to them since 1972. Great video, well done and thank you.
How many great channels are lurking out there. I watch about.....99.9% guitar content and this is the first time you’ve popped up. Steely who?...just kidding. 3 chords=rock n roll, 3+ and it’s jazz. Just what I needed. 🙏
I've been a Dan Fan for over 40 years now and although I doubt I'll ever master the complexity of their music (I'm a simple, 3 chord on an acoustic kind of guy), I have so enjoyed hearing you discuss how these fabulous songs were constructed...thank you so much.
excellent stuff my friend. thanks for this.
Well that just reinforces my notion and personal taste that Steely Dan is the classiest band in rock. Just candy to my ears. Thank you for breaking it down for us... ROCK ON BROTHER !!!🤘😎
You are one of the coolest guitar teachers I've ever watched and I've watched hundreds. Great job man!! Keep up the very cool way of teaching.
Your diverse musical knowledge is inspiring! Didn’t see this one coming, and you knocked it out of the park. Thank you for your amazing content. I’ve been obsessed with Steely Dan’s chord work for years. I really appreciate your knowledge of those advanced voicings.
Found a new channel to binge. These channels that dissect music are great. Watching someone stumble over tabs is exhausting.
i’vw been a steely dan fan for many years i love the Walter backer plays he’s still awesome to me i want to learn their music i’m such a big fan
Thank you for taking the time to make this Video. I would love to hear the future Steely Dan Videos with a little less distortion. Best of life to you. Thanks again!
Hey, your video is really nice! And with a smile it's so cool. I discovered Steely Dan music in 1975 while baby sitting the already tall son of an american basket player in my hometown in France.
I had to order the records as they were only imports from USA. I never quit listening to this fantastic band. And today, some chords are coming in my tunes.
HELLO I'M CARL AND LOVE STEELY AND YOUR TAKE.. YOUR DEMEANOR HELPED RECEPTION OF MATERIAL EASY, COMFORTABLE THX
Aside from simply enjoying their music, it seems that almost any time I've ever studied something from Steely Dan's music on guitar, it takes me out of my box/comfort zone in various and good ways. 😎
Thanks for the Crash Course,I'm a drummer,but it sure was a good day at My Old. School.
..nice breakdown.. really good stuff 👍
dude, you're great. a placid reprieve in a world of distress... thanks!
Amazing! I'm knocked out by how well you can hear all those crazy chords. I love Steely Dan and it was good to see those examples up close and slowed down!
I love this guy’s personality and style of teaching. He’s like the Mr. Rogers of guitar instruction.
I think that second chord in the “Peg” verse might function as a Gmajadd9 with the third (B on the A string) functioning as the root, as the bass goes from C to G...same applies for the F to C and G to D.
As a lifelong Dan fan and guitarist since my teens, I have to say I loved this. Gave me new insight into their chords and revived my interest in their tunes, after all these years. I'm back into it, guitar-wise too. Thanks again. Subscribed.
Thankyou. Interesting and beautifully presented. Will get that pinky switching fast as lightning. More please.
Good stuff. Thanks for posting.
Came across this while working on Dr. Wu. today. I'm a long time subscriber and fan....
Very good video. I know a lot and learned a lot. Thanks!
thanks for sharing this! it makes me appreciate Steely Dan even more
Not a huge Steely Dan fan, but as a metal guitar player with a degree in music theory, I TOTALLY respect their writing. And, your effort in presenting the fact of what they accomplished, is to be commended.
Great stuff. One of the bands I am fortunate enough to be in plays several Steely Dan songs.
Josie, Pretzel logic, Green Earrings, Peg, Kid Charlemagne
I'm still catching up on some of it. Not only great cord work, but the solos are fantastic. Without a doubt my all time favorite band.
Great radio voice!
The Dan - one of my all time best bands-Fagen and Becker -fabulously talented and intelligent!
Yes! I agree...
Wow this is really helpful for me to begin to understand the Steely Dan Jazzy chord structures.
Really good, thank you.
Funky , smart , iconic - brilliant work. Chords that I've played individually just fooling around but didn't have the knowledge to fit into a progression. The Hendrix chord is what got me into guitar. I had to have that. At volume. Rush to the guitar with relish ..
What a Great lesson,thank you,David.
The awesome thing about Fagan and Becker is that they knew Jazz-style harmony really well; close-voiced chords, leading-tones, and how to arrange things. I'm a bassist mostly that has dabbled on guitar for years, but the key thing is that they were really into keyboard and horn-chart style harmonies which can be really hard to play on guitar. I've tried it and it can be real finger-torture, especially with the speed and fluidity. It's hard to capture that flavor, but you do a damn fine job, kudos!
I’d argue man for man Steely had the best guitarists in the world playing on their records ! The list of killer players in really unmatched ! Skunk, Dias, Bullock, Coryell, McCracken, Knopfler and of course Becker himself hits crazy how many top flight guitarists put their mark on their tunes !!
you missed Carlton!!
Toby Hodkinson let’s not forget the great Jay Graydon and Rick Derringer 🕶
You also left off Lee Ritenour. Not sure about Coryell...what did he play on? You also left off Dean Parks and of course their current lead player, John Herington. Knopfler was credited for Time Out of Mind on Gaucho, but it sure doesn't sound like him....and rumor I heard was that your icon Becker basically altered and stripped Knopfler's solo contribution down to about zero. Becker was an interesting guitar player but he played in the same tempo, format, musical scale box time after time. He was very unimaginative, but Dan-Fans continue to treat him like some kind of god. He wasn't.
I was just naming a few that came to mind wasn’t meant to be an all inclusive list. May have been wrong on Coryell though you are right. As for Becker where did I say he was a God ? Not sure what your point on that was ... that said was a pretty fine writer and engineer and along with Fagen crated “the sound” s kinda hard to leave him out.
@@toby1kenobe And Khan
Really nice! how could anyone thumbs down? what a ton of great information.
I said to myself "Please don't do Josie" but I still kept watching. Lol keep going man you've got a good thing going
I feel like I’m adding up an Einstein equation...love your channel, always something great. Thanks!!
I bought Aja in high school, I've been a fan ever since! Thanks for the lesson!
The Best SD album!
Many thanks for your calm, clear narrative on the chords used by the several guitarists who worked with SD. You are quite correct -- that music will live on among people with an ear for complex and sophisticated music.
Love Steely Dan! Thanks Brew, I finally learned Josie after meaning to for years!
Just a joy watching and listening to how they constructed those classics. Wonderful. Thank you
Thanks for churning out such great stuff, man! This one is a dandy
Steely Dan turned me on to the 13 chords. Great lesson, thanks!
Thank you sir. Now a I can play along a few steely Dan songs.
Love your variety of video/artist subjects , keep up the great work !!!
You knocked this out of the park my friend!!
Brilliant! Excelent delivery. Thank you!
Bro! You got one of the best guitar channel on yt. A raw and true content. Gold! Im your fan!
I have great gear, play poorly but this episode is like the best thing I've seen in a long time. Like a play with multiple acts, all easily digestible. Thanks so much!
Outstanding lesson. Tnx so much for these voicings.
Haven’t dropped in for awhile but holy cow. What a lesson to check in with. Thanks for making my head explode on this one and as usual I could listen to you noodle all night.
Quite possibly your best video yet. Great work sir!
Great lesson.
What a great lesson, David. And I really like your style and the way you communicate. So glad I came across your channel. Very helpful and informative. Thanks for what you do!
Steely Dan was amazing! The tonality was spot on! The innovation was outstanding!
Simply wow! What a great lesson that helps to decipher Steely Dan’s chords progression. My hat’s off to you, you are amazing. Bravo. You have a new fan :)
Another Amazing lesson again. Many thanks. 🎸 🇬🇧☺️
Great overview of Steely Dan. They've been my favourite band since the 1st time I heard them back in the early 70s. The arrangements, the lyrics, the monster session guys they brought in... everything.
Youreally did it...😄 Awesome stuff, thanks a bunch!
Your lesson has flow without promising too much. It's a door opener. Inviting. Very, very well done. Thank you.
Just getting into Dan now and realising how incredible they are .
Great presentation , and feel ; let's not forget Denny Dias, who is so versatile and played So many tremendous solos '72-77 +
Dooood! So insightful! Thank you!
YEEEAAAAHHHH!!!! Thanks, David!!!!! Whewwww!
Excellent teacher - the kind everyone should have! Great work, great posts.
Great stuff! I wouldn't analyze that chord in Peg's verse as Bm7#5, but as a G9, because that make more sense harmonically in the song, and also the bass plays a G.
Agree it's better thought of as a G, making that bit basically a IV I (C to G) cadence. It's actually their later version of the Mu chord which is in this case G major add 9 in first inversion voiced partly in fourths: B A D G. Gorgeously dark way of playing a major chord and very 60s modal jazz.
Oh my god~!!!! Are you kidding me? Let's see. I married my daughter's daddy in 1977 and we were jamming to AJA in the living room of our apartment. I was 19 (no reference to Hey 19). I had been playing guitar eight years by then. I'm 62 now and I NEVER KNEW it could be possible for me to play a Steely Dan song. THANK YOU MAN! I waited my whole life for this! lol. Ok, well.. let's say I soo appreciate this lesson! Thanks man!
Steely Dan! Great stuff!
Very well done , thanks
I'm a bass player and I love to play along with Steely Dan songs because of the funky grooves along with the movement in the songs but I've never sat down and tried my hand at the guitar arrangements.... Until this video. Thanks!
Thanks for the insight. My band plays a lot of Steely Dan. I'll finally get them right.
Tackling what I'd consider the essence of SD's mystique is an admirable feat. Sending appreciation for revealing a portion of their elusive magic that became much less complicated to grasp in the relationships of chords you've presented.
Fun lesson. Dangerous. Reminds me of the days when I figured much out by ear with a cassette tape. So much info is easily accessible today. I’m just discovering your cache of info now. Thank you for sharing the love.