We seriously need to hound or bribe Fagen into doing a whole series of these before it's too late. Just deconstructing tunes, telling how they came into being, revealing all the mysteries. Sheeit I'd pay good money for that, no question
Yea, I can’t count how many times I’ve watched this video. It’s beyond fascinating. I just wish it was more descriptive as far as chords used and the camera shoring the chords but it’s amazing watching this.
People wonder how and why Steely Dan is so popular, with their off base lyrics, etc, it is in the music, it isn't just a pop song, it is a deep, blues jazz based song, with strange lyrics, and the best musicians in the business playing it. Donald is a musical Genius.
Man, look, the term "genius" has become so overused, it's lost all precision of meaning. And if you have any doubts about this, call Donald Fagen, he'll tell you the same thing, now just enjoy the music and stop making your high minded comments.
@@davidwatkins204 I'm not a huge fan of the term, I think it should be reserved quite a bit more as well as more specific. Donald Fagen is certainly an excellent musician with an incredible ear, but I'd hesitate to use that label as it is too broad. If you get a bit more specific and specify Songwriter I think it would be less inappropriate, but I feel you could easily feel push-back even at that level of specificity. On the other hand, if we're talking about recording audio, I think it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to call Donald Fagen a recording genius, Walter has a great ear for recording as well. Pretty much everyone considers Steely Dan records are at the audiophile level. I feel like that's specific enough for the term genius to be valid. "Peg" coincidentally, is a great example of their amazing ear for recording. Not to mention if you go a bit deeper you'll see they have a great understanding of the process itself in addition to having the ear for layering.
Man i wish i wouldve kept up reading chord charts as i progressed!i was in too big of a hurry!he speaks a foriegn tongue about music in general.this stuff has ryhme and reason!classic!
I'd be honored if some Steely Dan fans would check out my acoustic piano & vocal cover of the Michael McDonald/Kenny Loggins composition HEART TO HEART on my channel. Real live acoustic with no autotune. Thanks and please excuse the promo.
I cannot play piano and don't intend to learn. But I sat and watched the entire clip. Fascinating to watch this guy explain how they came up with this tune. Love Steely Dan, especially the entire Aja album. Never gets old. Will remain a classic for generations.
This group had such an unmistakeably unique sound. Hit after hit. But not only is Fagen an accomplished musician, but his voice, to me, always drove the songs. His voice compliments what is being played almost like a whole new mysterious instrument. But an instrument unique only to Steely Dan.
It's crazy how his talking voice sounds like David Duchovny, then his singing voice has this awesome raspy fry to it. What a chemist of chords... Never gets old.
I play piano, guitar and drums, and this guy is so fucking smart its nuts. Becker and Fagan are so clever and beyond most everyone else that when I see this, I wonder why I bother. How many bands could have as many hits as these guys, while essentially playing complex jazz? Great band that has always been smarter than everyone else, and they know it.
+colin poitras "Great band that has always been smarter than everyone else, and they know it." and we know it , too.....When I first started playing guitar , many years ago.....I bought a Dan songbook,,.... I was looking at the progressions , chord structure and fingering and came to the conclusion that I needed one more hand with 7 fingers on it.
+colin poitras I get your point and i agree, but I bet you got a 'Peg' in you somewhere too. Compare yourself to yourself day to day & write a new classic...God knows we could use some. SD rocks!!!
+colin poitras You said it. When I first bought Cant Buy a Thrill way back in the seventies it blew my mind. So diverse, so complex but somehow it always resolves perfect. I'm still trying to perfect the solo intro for Dont Take Me Alive!!
Totally! I remember years ago when I FINALLY figured out the voicings Walt and Don wrote (I worked by ear... no song book or youtube). I was overjoyed... So smart yet soulful and elegant (not me; the chords, of course). That struggle made me a much better musician. I love how the movement from single notes E to D occurs in both the G to C progression and the F to C. (Then it steps up to F# to E for the G to D shift... Str8 BUTTER!) And those notes sound utterly DOPE on the gently phased Clavinet in the studio/album recording. Don Grolnick played, I think? A perfect song. (And, as if it wasn't bad-ass enough, Mike McDonald hits those backup vocals... Damn....)
Fagen is truly a musical genius. His use of some many interesting tonal elements (quartal voicings and altered dominates that just slide into a beautifully voiced major chord...etc) is unheard of in rock music. He used the very best session players of his day to make these masterpieces. Just awesome!
Clicked on this thinking I was going to get another "the making of Peg" talking about different musicians and lyrics. Instead I was given a music theory lesson behind Peg. I'm blown away at how freaking smart Donald Fagen is.
A glimpse inside the mind of a musical genius.Peg is on the surface Steely's most Pop like song.However every play reveals more and more layers of musical creativity.I love the Be-Bop turnaround in the chorus.
The fact that he casually refers to '50s blues ballads and bebop turnarounds when dissecting the song reveals his knowledge of music history/context. Great video.
You need to listen to the interview of Donald Fagen by Paul Shaffer. Donald and Walter got their start by playing backup for a doo-wop band. He tells the whole story to Paul in this interview while playing piano. All the details of the early days are in this interview.
I think its pretty phenomenal that an artist sits down and walks through the song construction process and music theory.....motivates me to buckle down and learn it!
Warren Bernhardt is hardly clueless. He studied with Bill Evans and his thorough knowledge of jazz is probably one of the reasons he was Steely Dan's musical director on many of their tours.
Agree, Warren was probably just being low key about it, allowing Don to explain everything. Warren is a fantastic musician and played with everybody, he knows his stuff inside and out.
I can't play or even read music but seeing the architecture and construction of Peg has made me appreciate it all the more. I don't like everything by Steely Dan but there is no arguing that they were ruthless perfectionists who really laboured to get it exactly right. Very cool! Thanks for uploading.
Brilliant post, brilliant songwriter! Notice how he always gives credit to "we", we did this, we wanted that - Walter was his perfect musical partner - "I learned music from a book on piano theory. I was only interested in knowing about chords. From that, and from the Harvard Dictionary of Music, I learned everything I wanted to know." ~ Walter Becker RIP
Becker & Fagen had to be one of the best song writing duos of their generation. Watching them explain their process & seeing the making of Aja documentary, just prooves how genius their work was. Each of them are great in their own right, but as a pair, they're phenomenal. While not as commercially viable, I believe they're right up there with the likes of Lennon & Mccartney. Love Steely Dan or hate them, their song writing ability & muscianship is legendary imo.
The reason Steely Dan is so popular and has been for so long is the real attention to craft. Every song is meticulously assembled yet flexible and the engineering/recording is surgically precise. It's like those Japanese temples that are built without nails yet withstand quakes and typhoons.
That's the best thing up can do, especially when you feel like you don't know very much , right now. Donald Fagen didn't either when he started, but he studied and practiced and started writing songs and playing with other musicians. And he stuck with it and got lucky.
Yeah. I've been playing piano and pipe organ for almost 60 years, and while I understand everything he's saying, the ability to create this kind of breathtaking beauty still escapes me.
Practicing is good, but one also needs to study so that one can understand the concepts and sounds of, for example, major, minor, sixths, sevenths, triads, etc.
Thank you Don for sharing your creative thought process …. You guys are an incredibly God given gifted & Thank you for bringing so so much joy to so so many ♥️♥️♥️
When I was growing up I thought they were different and good. As I got older I realized the genius and craftsmanship that want into their music. Brilliant.
I think in a thousand years Donald's music will still be a high water mark.Musicians will hold it in the highest regards.Intelligent songwriting combined with intelligent playing.The Duke Ellington of Rock
Operating on a higher level than almost everyone else , making it look so incredibly easy when its so incredibly difficult, are guys like him and the musicians he surrounds himself with , breathtaking to watch them perform live
Clinicians sounds cold though. Call them master craftsmen instead and it maybe doesn’t seem as unlikely that they would and do hit it often and with precision
Steely Dan was among the most captivating sounds of that era, and just kept evolving and developing with each new project. The riffs play in my head to this day (even though I'm mostly deaf at 72).
Thanks for sharing this. All Dan fans pretty much know how cerebral Walt and Don are, but this shows the wider audience just how great they really are.
true...some of the greatest songwriting played by some of the greatest musicians in an era where analogue recording was about as good as recording has ever gotten. The great thing is it doesn't sound stiff...despite the obvious perfectionism around the whole thing they managed to keep a loose vibe to everything - amazing!
I’ve heard they intentionally perfected and embellished the album to the closest to perfection they could make it. It is the only album that I call perfect.
This band is my heart and soul. I listen to Steely Dan just about everyday their music has gotten me thru so tough times In my life. I’ve seen them 8 times and they are awesome.
I loved steely Dan since I was fourteen 47 years later I see them in concert for the first time lol let me tell you if they play out again DONT miss it! Incredible performance! I'm sad I didn't get to see Walter play..RIP Walter! 😢 🌺 But Donald and all the rest were just incredible! We saw them at the Hartford Health Care Amphitheater in Bridgeport Connecticut in June of this year. A really cool place there too!😎🎊🎹🎷🎺🪄🎻🎸🎤🎶🎵🎶
gawd, what a legacy this brilliant duo leaves behind. some people are given an unjustifiably obscene amount of talent, but we're all richer for it. thanks, guys...just don't charge so much at the gate.
I believe a lot of us can follow his "plagal cadence", his "stack of fourths" and his "no thirds".....it's when he gets further into the meat and the bones into that you suddenly realise how technically superior these two musicians are and why they would want to push the boundaries of excellence they wanted to pursue. Hats off to both of them .. not forgetting Roger Nichols and Gary Katz ........
The amazing thing is he gets all the theory. All the chord construction. But he puts it together in the most tasty way And then he takes the whole thing and creates hits.
I was thinking the same thing - I've played for 20 years and if I was in the same room with the guy I'd be too afraid to get the thing out of the damn case.
Unless I suppose you’re Larry Carlton for whom the duo had utmost respect and who was tasked to orchestrate and create the charts for the session musicians
major blues, with stacked 4th, and a wild modal "bebop turn around" as he calls it, at the bridge, it's actual not all that complex and really pretty simple, that's the pure genius of it.
Of all Donald's supposed and actual personal traits, he is thoroughly engaged and sincerely engaging in this discussion. It's the gift of B & F genius that makes this upbeat song more than just a ditty, rather it is a true composition. A very open breakdown of each component and the thinking behind the chord selection. A little in-depth for the casual listener, many intriguing mentions of those theory elements which distinguish this tune from a standard e.g. 3, 6, 2, 5. On to Part 2 folks!
Donald Fagen. There are so many words to describe his genius.......... He wrote one of the best pop songs ever in PEG. I would have loved to have been in the studio watching them record this! [although close to a year would have been a long ass time LOL]
''Then we move onto some other chords that depart a little bit from what we have so far'' I noticed, Don. Learning your tunes is hell. Thanks for everything
The more you learn about Fagen and Becker, the deeper you see into the songs, that they were constructed, engineered as near as perfect to their ears. The great hooks and listenable songs didn't come easy. Fagen's study in jazz gave him a great playground to write eclectic and accessible tunes that will endure until the earth explodes. BTW, I have no idea what he is talking about, but I love the way it sounds. 💯% GOLD
Love it. Interestingly, he says the first G chord is open, but the 3rd IS there, it's just that it's in the bass. The plagal bass line going CCB is one of the elements that really make this song.
12 bar major progression, "bright" blues though neither used that word, stacking the 4th, the diminished 5th "bebop turn around" bridge is just complete off the wall mental high jinx, it's really not all that complex just a lot of figuring out what you can do then figuring out what you SHOULD do.. as he put it: @3:30 "you have to know where you can do that and where it sounds good".. right in the middle of his chord breakdown, you still have to know what sounds good. Great Song Writing 101 - D. Fagen The song would have been perfect alone, as is, just like that but this is no ordinary GREAT band or musician group, no, first we blend Michael McDonald layered backing vocals, have Chuck Rainey slap an octave.. and to top it all off, out of no where comes Jay Graydon, funking up his Hawaiian styled blues solo that is absolute perfection. and that's why nobody can ever touch the all time legend, Steely Dan.
Fagen & Becker et al, are perfect examples of talented musicians that dedicated themselves and worked very hard. Practicing every day while everyone else was having fun. It’s called sacrifice and dedication, and that is part of their genius.
Brilliant chord changes. Ever since I first heard the Aja album in 1977 I liked every song on it. I really like "Peg" for it's lively tempo and all the really cool parts of it! The guitar solo really fit the song perfectly too. Of course having Michael McDonald's vocal harmonies on it really helped to make it the great song that it is. I know they went through several guitar players before they found the one (Jay Graydon) who could pull off a solo that fit the song so well. :)
Don and Walters intelligence shines in these sorts of arrangements so much. They didn’t even discuss the intro, but to tie the descending “mu-major” intro whilst introducing the successive timbres into the song and setting up the groove is so genius. Then it kicks in as a major jazz blues built on the plagal cadence on top of the cheekiest and sleaziest 70s LA studio groove. How could you not love this band?
Some musicians inspire me to pick up an instrument and others make me think "why bother" ....Steely Dan is for listening because they just cannot be imitated.
Simply brilliant, and yet the song is accessible to everyone. I love the way Fagan nonchalantly offers his insights into incredibly complex creative decisions. I hope this makes people appreciate SD a little more. But I have to agree with sharpasaneraser's comment that ticket prices are ridiculously high.
Just saw SD play in Milwaukee. Donald and Walter have assembled the most talented group of musicians to ever grace a stage. I agree with the other posters here who are simply glad to be alive to see the talents of this remarkable musician.
The only reason peg was a hit is that the bassist didn't follow their retarded instructions to play the third. If he hadn't slapped that fucking root this tune would have been infinitely too esoteric for the fucking normie horde.
D.F. is one of the reigning geniuses currently alive. Zappa was one, but he's gone. Bach is gone, DeBussy is gone. Beyond his ability to take chords to places beautiful and unexpected is Fagan's ability to create engrossing and evocative imagery with his lyrics. "True Companion", although having a too short vocal section is wonderful poetry. It makes one wish for another stanza or two.
We seriously need to hound or bribe Fagen into doing a whole series of these before it's too late. Just deconstructing tunes, telling how they came into being, revealing all the mysteries. Sheeit I'd pay good money for that, no question
I also have the sense of time passing on geniuses who could be sharing their genius with future generations. What about someone like Steven Stills?
Yea, I can’t count how many times I’ve watched this video. It’s beyond fascinating. I just wish it was more descriptive as far as chords used and the camera shoring the chords but it’s amazing watching this.
just use your ears you fucking amateur. and while youre at it, listen to something that is better then steely dan (most music)
That's a great idea. He's one of the most complex songwriters who add vocal melodies to sophisticated chord structures, beats, and rythyms
It's from an instructional video from Homespun Video. The whole video is on composition.
People wonder how and why Steely Dan is so popular, with their off base lyrics, etc, it is in the music, it isn't just a pop song, it is a deep, blues jazz based song, with strange lyrics, and the best musicians in the business playing it. Donald is a musical Genius.
Don Breton That’s what I say
Man, look, the term "genius" has become so overused, it's lost all precision of meaning. And if you have any doubts about this, call Donald Fagen, he'll tell you the same thing, now just enjoy the music and stop making your high minded comments.
@@davidwatkins204 I'm not a huge fan of the term, I think it should be reserved quite a bit more as well as more specific. Donald Fagen is certainly an excellent musician with an incredible ear, but I'd hesitate to use that label as it is too broad. If you get a bit more specific and specify Songwriter I think it would be less inappropriate, but I feel you could easily feel push-back even at that level of specificity.
On the other hand, if we're talking about recording audio, I think it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to call Donald Fagen a recording genius, Walter has a great ear for recording as well. Pretty much everyone considers Steely Dan records are at the audiophile level. I feel like that's specific enough for the term genius to be valid. "Peg" coincidentally, is a great example of their amazing ear for recording. Not to mention if you go a bit deeper you'll see they have a great understanding of the process itself in addition to having the ear for layering.
@@dantavano3871 Be more "specific"
@@rhythmfield yeah yeah, whatever, and its "Fagen" for God's sake.
Donald is a perfect example of musical genius. Nothing less.
Man i wish i wouldve kept up reading chord charts as i progressed!i was in too big of a hurry!he speaks a foriegn tongue about music in general.this stuff has ryhme and reason!classic!
John Roberts it is never too late to learn the nuisances of musical theory. Believe you me, I am late bloomer.
thema
Yes he is at genius level. His partners were so close as well. An amazing band
I'd be honored if some Steely Dan fans would check out my acoustic piano & vocal cover of the Michael McDonald/Kenny Loggins composition HEART TO HEART on my channel. Real live acoustic with no autotune. Thanks and please excuse the promo.
I agree !!
Any major dude can tell you.
Any Maj7b5 dude can tell you.
@@raybrown1725 that chord is so eerie I love it. Play the minor 9 a half step below and it sounds great (Em9, FMaj7b5)
DESHAWN A. LARKIN love that song too!
haaaaa that's funny :D
WILL tell you.
I cannot play piano and don't intend to learn. But I sat and watched the entire clip.
Fascinating to watch this guy explain how they came up with this tune. Love Steely Dan, especially the entire Aja album.
Never gets old. Will remain a classic for generations.
This group had such an unmistakeably unique sound. Hit after hit. But not only is Fagen an accomplished musician, but his voice, to me, always drove the songs. His voice compliments what is being played almost like a whole new mysterious instrument. But an instrument unique only to Steely Dan.
Perfectly stated. He's very soulful and inimitable.
It's crazy how his talking voice sounds like David Duchovny, then his singing voice has this awesome raspy fry to it. What a chemist of chords... Never gets old.
Regarding Steely Dan songs, anyone else turn the volume up as the songs faded out just to hear what they were playing?
Everytime
yes!!!
They do have the best fade outs in the history of recorded music.
Yes, to hear Skunk Baxter’s gnarly fills in the fade on “My Old School.”
@@danl.909 Those were fabulous.
As a novice I have NO IDEA what he's talking about.. I just love the finished product.
Just listen to what he is saying. Open your mind!
@@davidcarroll1883 Welcome Hyde
I feel like a 6 year-old watching Jeopardy. But I love this!
I play piano, guitar and drums, and this guy is so fucking smart its nuts. Becker and Fagan are so clever and beyond most everyone else that when I see this, I wonder why I bother. How many bands could have as many hits as these guys, while essentially playing complex jazz? Great band that has always been smarter than everyone else, and they know it.
+colin poitras I know simply amazing
+colin poitras "Great band that has always been smarter than everyone else, and they know it."
and we know it , too.....When I first started playing guitar , many years ago.....I bought a Dan songbook,,....
I was looking at the progressions , chord structure and fingering and came to the conclusion that I needed one more hand with 7 fingers on it.
+colin poitras I get your point and i agree, but I bet you got a 'Peg' in you somewhere too. Compare yourself to yourself day to day & write a new classic...God knows we could use some.
SD rocks!!!
+colin poitras You said it. When I first bought Cant Buy a Thrill way back in the seventies it blew my mind. So diverse, so complex but somehow it always resolves perfect. I'm still trying to perfect the solo intro for Dont Take Me Alive!!
Totally! I remember years ago when I FINALLY figured out the voicings Walt and Don wrote (I worked by ear... no song book or youtube). I was overjoyed... So smart yet soulful and elegant (not me; the chords, of course). That struggle made me a much better musician. I love how the movement from single notes E to D occurs in both the G to C progression and the F to C. (Then it steps up to F# to E for the G to D shift... Str8 BUTTER!) And those notes sound utterly DOPE on the gently phased Clavinet in the studio/album recording. Don Grolnick played, I think? A perfect song. (And, as if it wasn't bad-ass enough, Mike McDonald hits those backup vocals... Damn....)
Fagen is truly a musical genius. His use of some many interesting tonal elements (quartal voicings and altered dominates that just slide into a beautifully voiced major chord...etc) is unheard of in rock music. He used the very best session players of his day to make these masterpieces. Just awesome!
Watching genius in action. Show your kids this video. My 10-year-old son plays now. Making him watch this.
Bad parenting 101
Love RedactedNews!
Let him enjoy baby shark lol, what a boring childhood
Clicked on this thinking I was going to get another "the making of Peg" talking about different musicians and lyrics. Instead I was given a music theory lesson behind Peg. I'm blown away at how freaking smart Donald Fagen is.
A glimpse inside the mind of a musical genius.Peg is on the surface Steely's most Pop like song.However every play reveals more and more layers of musical creativity.I love the Be-Bop turnaround in the chorus.
=
The fact that he casually refers to '50s blues ballads and bebop turnarounds when dissecting the song reveals his knowledge of music history/context. Great video.
It’s why current musicians suck. They don’t teach history at all.
You need to listen to the interview of Donald Fagen by Paul Shaffer. Donald and Walter got their start by playing backup for a doo-wop band. He tells the whole story to Paul in this interview while playing piano. All the details of the early days are in this interview.
I have always loved Steely Dan but I did not realize their genius until now. These guys are amazing and inspire me to this day.
I think its pretty phenomenal that an artist sits down and walks through the song construction process and music theory.....motivates me to buckle down and learn it!
Warren Bernhardt is hardly clueless. He studied with Bill Evans and his thorough knowledge of jazz is probably one of the reasons he was Steely Dan's musical director on many of their tours.
Agree, Warren was probably just being low key about it, allowing Don to explain everything. Warren is a fantastic musician and played with everybody, he knows his stuff inside and out.
@@thebreathalyzer He probably knew the tunes better than Fagen in some ways.
I knew Warren personally in upstate NY, and he is hardly clueless. He was doing out stuff long ago. Very knowledgeable and humble.
Oh yeah
I remember seeing this clip about 5 years ago and having no clue what he was talking about. It feels amazing to watch it now and go "oh yeah!"
I can't play or even read music but seeing the architecture and construction of Peg has made me appreciate it all the more. I don't like everything by Steely Dan but there is no arguing that they were ruthless perfectionists who really laboured to get it exactly right. Very cool! Thanks for uploading.
That's exactly how I feel about them. I still play their greatest hits CD a lot. Rikki don't lose that numbaaaaaaaa
Brilliant post, brilliant songwriter! Notice how he always gives credit to "we", we did this, we wanted that - Walter was his perfect musical partner -
"I learned music from a book on piano theory. I was only interested in knowing about chords. From that, and from the Harvard Dictionary of Music, I learned everything I wanted to know." ~ Walter Becker RIP
Man With the golden Arm
A genius explains his artistry. Fagen is a monster.
agreed
One of the very few that I can still listen to and it doesn’t sound dated or stale.
But do you hear the Hasidic chromatic progressions ?
Really? What might I listen to for comparison? I can't say that I know Jewish music so I have no basis to start with.
BagdadBill
burt bacharach. Chicago.
Becker & Fagen had to be one of the best song writing duos of their generation. Watching them explain their process & seeing the making of Aja documentary, just prooves how genius their work was. Each of them are great in their own right, but as a pair, they're phenomenal. While not as commercially viable, I believe they're right up there with the likes of Lennon & Mccartney. Love Steely Dan or hate them, their song writing ability & muscianship is legendary imo.
My favorite Behind the Music.
While not as "commercially viable", Steely Dan still sold 40 million albums!
Better
@@stevewiegand6442 Definitely better. The Beatles came first...but this is better music.
@@surfinganddancing1609 They got my money.
The reason Steely Dan is so popular and has been for so long is the real attention to craft. Every song is meticulously assembled yet flexible and the engineering/recording is surgically precise.
It's like those Japanese temples that are built without nails yet withstand quakes and typhoons.
And yet remained accessible to those like myself who simply appreciate great music without understanding the technicalities involved.
That's an excellent analogy!
Also extremely well said sir.
And yes, beautifully put. Your analogy took my mind straight to the cover of Aja. 🙂
He's completely on another level. There is no other way to describe it.
I realized how musically stupid I am when I watched this video. This guy knows things....that I just don't. I'm going to practice now....forever.
That's the best thing up can do, especially when you feel like you don't know very much , right now. Donald Fagen didn't either when he started, but he studied and practiced and started writing songs and playing with other musicians. And he stuck with it and got lucky.
So, five years later how do you feel?
Yeah. I've been playing piano and pipe organ for almost 60 years, and while I understand everything he's saying, the ability to create this kind of breathtaking beauty still escapes me.
Partially inspiring and partially discouraging.
Practicing is good, but one also needs to study so that one can understand the concepts and sounds of, for example, major, minor, sixths, sevenths, triads, etc.
If anyone watching this is just the least bit unsure of what "genius" is, you're looking at it (and listening to it).
Saw him in Kansas City 2 nights ago and he was one of the coolest people I've ever seen! First time I've ever seen Steely Dan...it was a great show.
Thank you Don for sharing your creative thought process …. You guys are an incredibly God given gifted & Thank you for bringing so so much joy to so so many ♥️♥️♥️
Beautiful. Thank you for sharing!
When I was growing up I thought they were different and good. As I got older I realized the genius and craftsmanship that want into their music. Brilliant.
Such a profoundly prolific wonderful composer- and- under appreciated- singer. Thanks Donald. Rip Walter.
and to think the whole chord prog was just 12 bar blues. wow. I never caught that till now.
The chorus was 12 bar blues.
You don't hear it until he pointed it out , however even then, it still doesn't sound too much like it . He did it differently
I think he took that 12 bar blues behind the woodshed for an “adjustment on attitude”. Lol. Pure genius
I think in a thousand years Donald's music will still be a high water mark.Musicians will hold it in the highest regards.Intelligent songwriting combined with intelligent playing.The Duke Ellington of Rock
Operating on a higher level than almost everyone else , making it look so incredibly easy when its so incredibly difficult, are guys like him and the musicians he surrounds himself with , breathtaking to watch them perform live
It's not often that clinicians produce amazingly engaging music, but these cats hit it.
Bunne Rabb true, they always know to grab you, isn't it?
Bunne Rabb
Bunne Rabb i dig those cats😸😸🌈
Clinicians sounds cold though. Call them master craftsmen instead and it maybe doesn’t seem as unlikely that they would and do hit it often and with precision
Astute observation ...
Steely Dan was among the most captivating sounds of that era, and just kept evolving and developing with each new project. The riffs play in my head to this day (even though I'm mostly deaf at 72).
Hand-crafted music the likes of which you just dont hear anymore. Beautiful. Thanks Steely Dan.
Thanks for sharing this. All Dan fans pretty much know how cerebral Walt and Don are, but this shows the wider audience just how great they really are.
Aja is a rock/fusion milestone. They have a lot of great songs, but that album is the closest thing to unified studio perfection there is.
true...some of the greatest songwriting played by some of the greatest musicians in an era where analogue recording was about as good as recording has ever gotten. The great thing is it doesn't sound stiff...despite the obvious perfectionism around the whole thing they managed to keep a loose vibe to everything - amazing!
I’ve heard they intentionally perfected and embellished the album to the closest to perfection they could make it. It is the only album that I call perfect.
This band is my heart and soul. I listen to Steely Dan just about everyday their music has gotten me thru so tough times In my life. I’ve seen them 8 times and they are awesome.
Nothing to discuss here. Some things cant do be better. He plays straight in my heart. Thank you for showing.
I loved steely Dan since I was fourteen 47 years later I see them in concert for the first time lol let me tell you if they play out again DONT miss it! Incredible performance! I'm sad I didn't get to see Walter play..RIP Walter! 😢 🌺 But Donald and all the rest were just incredible! We saw them at the Hartford Health Care Amphitheater in Bridgeport Connecticut in June of this year. A really cool place there too!😎🎊🎹🎷🎺🪄🎻🎸🎤🎶🎵🎶
I’m 15 now. A couple months ago when I was 14 I had the pleasure of seeing them. it was a must see performance
Fagen is so versed in music theory and knowledgeable on so many styles....He is truly genius...!
gawd, what a legacy this brilliant duo leaves behind. some people are given an unjustifiably obscene amount of talent, but we're all richer for it. thanks, guys...just don't charge so much at the gate.
mad scientist of music!! jazz+blues+rock+gospel+funk+R&B = STEELY DAN!
I believe a lot of us can follow his "plagal cadence", his "stack of fourths" and his "no thirds".....it's when he gets further into the meat and the bones into that you suddenly realise how technically superior these two musicians are and why they would want to push the boundaries of excellence they wanted to pursue. Hats off to both of them .. not forgetting Roger Nichols and Gary Katz ........
Fagen’s depth of musical knowledge astounds.
I mean for an English Lit. major he is astoundingly knowledgeable on music theory. I could watch 8 hours of this.
Donald Fagan = Musical Genius
*The great Donald Fagen, a real musical genius.*
I love Steely Dan's albums.
The amazing thing is he gets all the theory. All the chord construction. But he puts it together in the most tasty way
And then he takes the whole thing and creates hits.
As a guitarist I can appreciate his level of knowledge its so innovative and intelligent.
2:49 wow. The B to G movement there is so nice. Maj 7 to add 9. pretty brill.
and the 4ths
A musical genius!
@@jackhammer111 "show me that stack"
As a guitar player I would be totally intimidated by being in a session with these guys. THe chord progressions alone are pure genius.
I was thinking the same thing - I've played for 20 years and if I was in the same room with the guy I'd be too afraid to get the thing out of the damn case.
Unless I suppose you’re Larry Carlton for whom the duo had utmost respect and who was tasked to orchestrate and create the charts for the session musicians
Oh, yeah! Forgot about him!
major blues, with stacked 4th, and a wild modal "bebop turn around" as he calls it, at the bridge, it's actual not all that complex and really pretty simple, that's the pure genius of it.
Of all Donald's supposed and actual personal traits, he is thoroughly engaged and sincerely engaging in this discussion. It's the gift of B & F genius that makes this upbeat song more than just a ditty, rather it is a true composition. A very open breakdown of each component and the thinking behind the chord selection. A little in-depth for the casual listener, many intriguing mentions of those theory elements which distinguish this tune from a standard e.g. 3, 6, 2, 5. On to Part 2 folks!
Donald Fagen. There are so many words to describe his genius..........
He wrote one of the best pop songs ever in PEG.
I would have loved to have been in the studio watching them record this! [although close to a year would have been a long ass time LOL]
pwkpilot Peg is just one of so many creative pieces....
It’s the perfect pop song.
I love musicians go into this type of detail about their songs.
Yeah man…genius and master song writer along with Walter Becker!!!
''Then we move onto some other chords that depart a little bit from what we have so far''
I noticed, Don. Learning your tunes is hell. Thanks for everything
Donald Fagen is the man! Very unique individual and his singing voice is one of a kind.
yeah the uplifting twist that is the soul-enriching Steely Dan
The more you learn about Fagen and Becker, the deeper you see into the songs, that they were constructed, engineered as near as perfect to their ears. The great hooks and listenable songs didn't come easy. Fagen's study in jazz gave him a great playground to write eclectic and accessible tunes that will endure until the earth explodes. BTW, I have no idea what he is talking about, but I love the way it sounds. 💯% GOLD
Donald Fagen come back! The world needs you! I never thought about Peg as blues but he makes sense. It is a plagal cadence too! Wow.
Fagen and Becker are goats they inspired alot of hip hop producers too these guys are legends RIP Mr becker
Donald and Walter got me through high school with a mellow boldness and walk.
Love it. Interestingly, he says the first G chord is open, but the 3rd IS there, it's just that it's in the bass. The plagal bass line going CCB is one of the elements that really make this song.
Very candid observations.
12 bar major progression, "bright" blues though neither used that word, stacking the 4th, the diminished 5th "bebop turn around" bridge is just complete off the wall mental high jinx, it's really not all that complex just a lot of figuring out what you can do then figuring out what you SHOULD do.. as he put it:
@3:30 "you have to know where you can do that and where it sounds good".. right in the middle of his chord breakdown, you still have to know what sounds good. Great Song Writing 101 - D. Fagen
The song would have been perfect alone, as is, just like that but this is no ordinary GREAT band or musician group, no, first we blend Michael McDonald layered backing vocals, have Chuck Rainey slap an octave.. and to top it all off, out of no where comes Jay Graydon, funking up his Hawaiian styled blues solo that is absolute perfection.
and that's why nobody can ever touch the all time legend, Steely Dan.
You keyboardists out there understand you're learning at the feet of a master , I'm sure. Me , I'm practically in tears.
Fagen & Becker et al, are perfect examples of talented musicians that dedicated themselves and worked very hard. Practicing every day while everyone else was having fun. It’s called sacrifice and dedication, and that is part of their genius.
This clip gave me chills, and their multiplying
You guys are music Gods. I thank you and shall continue worshipping Steely Dan. Amen.
Brilliant chord changes. Ever since I first heard the Aja album in 1977 I liked every song on it. I really like "Peg" for it's lively tempo and all the really cool parts of it! The guitar solo really fit the song perfectly too. Of course having Michael McDonald's vocal harmonies on it really helped to make it the great song that it is. I know they went through several guitar players before they found the one (Jay Graydon) who could pull off a solo that fit the song so well. :)
Love how he explains the verse chords,so damn cool ,my favorite from Steely Dan.
Sandra - I've given up trying to make sense of Steely Dan's songs. I just listen and sing along.
I love that Donald Fagan gave us these! What a blast!
Fagen is so down to earth and does the demo with modesty a true genius ...peg has always been a fantastic steely dan tune off aja
'Peg' is in my top ten of personal favorite songs. Great feel good song!
Don and Walters intelligence shines in these sorts of arrangements so much. They didn’t even discuss the intro, but to tie the descending “mu-major” intro whilst introducing the successive timbres into the song and setting up the groove is so genius. Then it kicks in as a major jazz blues built on the plagal cadence on top of the cheekiest and sleaziest 70s LA studio groove. How could you not love this band?
Billy Gibbons just heard what you said. You know what happened next.
@@NeverTalkToCops1 beer drinkin' and hell raisin'?
My favorite Steely Dan song! Love the breakdown.
I have no idea what they're talking about. But, damn, I love it.
i just made a groovy little tap dance to this song! i've always loved it! thanks for sharing this film!
Some musicians inspire me to pick up an instrument and others make me think "why bother" ....Steely Dan is for listening because they just cannot be imitated.
Imitated, no, but the Dan definitely inspires me to pick up one of my instruments and play it.
Steely Dan music - the ultimate medium for the jazz/rock guitar solo.
Total magic when he puts it all together at 4.05!
I'm telling my 29 year old daughter, who loves music, she needs to take a DEEP dive into SD... forthwith...SD was magical.
Simply brilliant, and yet the song is accessible to everyone. I love the way Fagan nonchalantly offers his insights into incredibly complex creative decisions. I hope this makes people appreciate SD a little more. But I have to agree with sharpasaneraser's comment that ticket prices are ridiculously high.
Thanks for the lesson. I learned it last night and I'm very happy. I played along with Donald and now I'm a success!
Thats actually Ben Stiller. Top notch acting right there.
He looks like Ben Stiller crossed with Andy Samberg.
Adam brown Ben folds maybe
Lou Reed too
Stiller meets Eddie Deezen. (Eugene from the movie 'Grease')
Sounds like Jeff goldblum
One of my favorite Steely Dan songs. I love Donald's insight into creative process behind the song.
I don't understand this at all, but it's fascinating. He is a genius.
Just saw SD play in Milwaukee. Donald and Walter have assembled the most talented group of musicians to ever grace a stage. I agree with the other posters here who are simply glad to be alive to see the talents of this remarkable musician.
He didn't mention that the bass lands on the 3rd C to B instead of C to G, that's a huge part of the sound....
True. It's a pretty typical jazz voicing for pianists -- you leave out the root and let the bassist take care of it.
See someone is payin tention
The only reason peg was a hit is that the bassist didn't follow their retarded instructions to play the third. If he hadn't slapped that fucking root this tune would have been infinitely too esoteric for the fucking normie horde.
Clarence Wooten really...not every jazz bassist has to hit that 3rd
I was just thinking that!
what a fuckin genius. To realize now after so many decades what went into those songs.
D.F. is one of the reigning geniuses currently alive. Zappa was one, but he's gone. Bach is gone, DeBussy is gone. Beyond his ability to take chords to places beautiful and unexpected is Fagan's ability to create engrossing and evocative imagery with his lyrics. "True Companion", although having a too short vocal section is wonderful poetry. It makes one wish for another stanza or two.
A total genius in work. Outstanding! Thanks for this lesson!
Brilliant. Love this guy.
I play in a ‘Dan’ tribute band. . . . It’s the best musical experience I’ve had for years. Genius here 👏👏👏
Must be really great to get inside such amazing music like that.
Fagan was FINE then & he's STILL fine...love the complete disinterest (issues, I have issues;)
It’s inspirational watching someone do what they love