This one is for keyboard players, musicians in general, and Steely Dan fans.
I like to hear musicians talk about their craft. This week I’ve decided to feature a video in which Warren Bernhardt sits with Donald Fagen in Woodstock, NY to talk about songwriting techniques such as harmony and melody, and the blues.
It is a master class in piano playing, but it is also a look at Steely Dan’s songs Chain Lightning, Peg, and Josie, and shows how they were constructed. It’s an up close and personal demonstration of each song followed by a performance.
The discussions of Peg and Josie will be especially enlightening for anyone who likes the songs, or likes to talk about pockets, minor thirds, chord derivations, tonics, sevenths, whole tone sequences, and fifths leading back to G.
The video has great footage for keyboard players to enjoy that shows Fagen’s hands on the keys from above. It also has the music theory discussion that explains why he’s playing what he’s playing, and the choices he faced while getting there.
http://youtu.be/wbke5CXD1ig
