Reelin' In the Years- Steely Dan
OK Vic, this ones for you. Next time you're at that open mic,
suggest this song. Tell that guy who's so hot on guitar to play
the lead, ‘cause you're gonna lay down some rhythm.
This song is not hard, and it's very cool. Kind of a
combination of Boogie Blues and Jazz. A study in
partial chords.
Chords used in this song
-----A------D----F#m7----D/A------A7----Ab7----G7------
e----0-----2m------------------------------------------------
b—-2r—--3r-----5p--------3m----8p-----7p------6p----
g—-2m—-2i-----2i---------2i------6i-------5i------4i------
d—-2i-----0------X---------4r------X-------X-------X------
a----0------------4r---------0------7m-----6m-----5m----
e--------------------------------------------------------------
I put the fingering for a reason. The A and D chords are normal. After
that everything is a partial chord. Notice that starting with the F#m7
chord the index finger stays on the G string. That is very important
and will help you play the other chords easily. The last 3 chords are
the same form.
Before we get to those chords (which are played during verses), there
is an easy section that is played both during all solos and choruses.
It is a blues boogie.
Intro- Solo (16 Bars)
--G5--G6-G5----G6-G5------G6-G5-----G6-G5-
e-----------------------------------------------------
b-----------------------------------------------------
g-----------------------------------------------------
d-----------------------------------------------------
a--5-5-7-5----5-5-7-5----5-5-7-5----5-5-7-5-
e--3-3-3-3----3-3-3-3----3-3-3-3----3-3-3-3-
--A5—A6-A5------A6-A5-----A6-A5-----A6-A5-
e-----------------------------------------------------
b-----------------------------------------------------
g-----------------------------------------------------
d-----------------------------------------------------
a--7-7-9-7----7-7-9-7----7-7-9-7----7-7-9-7-
e--5-5-5-5----5-5-5-5----5-5-5-5----5-5-5-5-
OK, this is your standard Rock & Blues shuffle.
Use your index and ring finger to play the 5 chord,
reach out your pinky to play the 6 chord. That was
4 measures, so play this whole section 4 times.
Choruses and Solos are 16 measures long in this song.
OK, back to those wierd chords.
Verse 1- Your everlasting summer........
e----------0------2--2-2------------------------------------------0--
b--2---3---------3--3-3------5--5-5------3--3-3-------2---3-------
g--2-------------2--2-2------2--2-2-------2--2-2------2------------
d--2-------------0--0-0------X--X-X------4--4-4-------2------------
a--0--------------------------4--4-4-------0--0-0-------0------------
e-----------------------------------------------------------------------
e--2--2-2----------------------------------------------0--
b--3--3-3-----5--5-5--------3--3-3---------2----3------
g--2--2-2-----2--2-2--------2--2-2---------2------------
d--0--0-0-----X--X-X-------4--4-4----------2------------
a--------------4--4-4--------0--0-0----------0------------
e------------------------------------------------------------
e----------------------------------------------------
b--8--8-8------7--7-7------6--6-6------5--5-5---
g--6--6-6------5--5-5------4--4-4------2--2-2---
d--X--X-X------X--X-6-----X--X-X-------X--X-X--
a--7--7-7------6--6-6------5--5-5------4--4-4---
e----------------------------------------------------
e--2--2-2-----------------------------------------
b--3--3-3-------5--5-5--------3--3-3-------2---
g--2--2-2-------2--2-2--------2--2-2-------2---
d--0--0-0-------X--X-X--------4--4-4-------2---
a----------------4--4-4---------0--0-0-------0---
e---------------------------------------------------
Congratulations! If you have stuck it out this far, you have learned the
entire rhythm guitar for this song. Notice that the strum is always
exactly the same. It is not too hard to sing this song while playing.
Listen to the recording to get the feel.
So remember the Boogie part during solos and choruses, and the chord part
for all verses. That's just 2 parts! With just a little practice you will
find this song very easy to play.
Reelin' In The Years
Your everlasting summer
You can see it fading fast
So you grab a piece of something
That you think is gonna last
You wouldn't know a diamond
If you held it in your hand
The things you think are precious
I can't understand
CHORUS:
Are you reelin' in the years
Stowin' away the time
Are you gatherin' up the tears
Have you had enough of mine
You been tellin' me you're a genius
Since you were seventeen
In all the time I've known you
I still don't know what you mean
The weekend at the college
Didn't turn out like you planned
The things that pass for knowledge
I can't understand
CHORUS
I spend a lot of money
And I spent a lot of time
The trip we made in Hollywood
Is etched upon my mind
After all the things we've done and seen
You find another man
The things you think are useless
I can't understand
CHORUS
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
Thanks for this one Wes - one of my all-time favourites - can't wait to have a go at this in the morning!!!
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
Wes,
Another good one. this one will probably be a challenge but I'll have to give it a go.
"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!
Had a little trouble with that fingering for F#m7 so ended up putting a mini-barre across the D,G,B & E strings at the 2nd fret ; also found it difficult to "not play" the D string for the sequence of descending 7ths - do you pick the partial chords or have you got some sneaky way of damping that string? The way I did it was playing the A7 at the 5th fret as a full barre then coming down a fret at a time till I got to the F#m7 at the 2nd again.
Please don't think I'm nit-picking Wes - far from it, maybe sooner or later I will be able to do it your way - it's just that at the moment, my technique isn't quite up to it. When I try the individual chords they sound great - just the changes are going to need an awful lot of work before they'll show any reward - still, the only place you will find "reward" before "work" is in a dictionary!!!
Thanks a lot, again, for this one - and keep 'em coming!!!!
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
Yep
Let the finger on the 5th string touch the 4th string and damp it.
Take your time and go slow.
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
No - one ever said it was easy..........
After a bit of a struggle I now see where you're coming from with the partial A7/Ab7/G7/F#m7 chord sequence, and I found it easier, once I realised what you'd done, to keep the A7 as a barre chord like so -
E A D G B E
5 7 5 6 8 5
and play it without the top and bottom E's, but bringing into play the D string.
It doesn't soung quite as good but it's easier for me to get my head around because in the A7 chord now you've actually got the Root "A" note: it wasn't there before! You were actually playing E on the A string, Db on the G string and G on the B string - the only way I can get these three notes to make a chord is to take Db as the root, E as a flattened third and G as a flattened fifth which makes the chord Db dim......
I know I haven't been studying theory very long and probably have this all wrong..........it's just that I'm now getting to the stage where it's no longer enough to know how, I want to know why as well!!!!
Vic.
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
Vic-
I am not a theory guy. I have been playing 30 years without it, and it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks. Guitar makes sense to me, though I probably have my own way of looking at it. Yeah, on the A7 you have the E (5th) on the A string, C# (3rd) on the G string, and G (b7th) on the B string. The only thing missing is the root. But to me, it's still an A7. At first I wrote out A7/E but it looked too confusing, so I left off the bass notes.
The thing about these chords is that they have a hollow sound to them, much the way octaves sound.
After playing the D chord your index finger pretty much stays on the G string. This will help you to find these chords fast. Use your index finger as sort of an anchor to pivot your other fingers off of.
Maybe today or tomorrow I will tab another Steely Dan song that uses chords like this.
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
Like you Wes, I've been playing a long time and picked up very little theory - does'nt seem to have done you much harm though, you seem to know a million little tricks, whereas I only decided a few months ago to learn properly - maybe if I had taken to theory all those years ago, perhaps I'd be a decent guitarist by now - ah well, there's still time - I hope!
Vic
:) :) :)
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
Nice post Wes. I love SD but find their fingerings so out-of-whack. I've looked at SD tab books and put them down after just minutes seeing the wild stuff. I really appreciate Becker much more from that point on.
"Nothing...can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts."
