Show Biz Kids - Steely Dan
----------------------------
From the album "Countdown To Ecstasy"
transcribed by Howard Wright
howard@jmdl.com
This is probably the only Steely Dan song that you can play using
just 3 chords. The basic chord sequence is:
Dm7 G/A Dm7 Am7
This is repeated all the way through the song.
If you break up these chords into a bass note and a triad you'll
find the bass note alternates D A D A, while the pattern of triads
is F G F C. This is pretty simple stuff - the only subtlety is to
get the voicing of the triads right. There should be a rise from
the F to the G triad, and a fall from the F to the C triad.
On the guitar, the simplest way to play the triads from the original
piano part is:
E------5--7--------5--3-----------
B------6--8--------6--5-----------
G------5--7--------5--5-----------
D---------------------------------
A---------------------------------
E---------------------------------
If you add the main bass notes, you can play the chords as:
E--------5--7--------5--3---------
B--------6--8--------6--5---------
G--------5--7--------5--5---------
D--0--0--------0--0---------------
A-----------0-----------0---------
E---------------------------------
The actual bass line from the song uses one extra note, a C,
between the A and D. Using fretted notes rather than open strings,
the bass line is:
E------------------------------|-----------------------------
B------------------------------|-----------------------------
G------------------------------|-----------------------------
D------------------------------|-----------------------------
A--5-5-------3--5-5---------3--|-5-5-------3--5-5---------3--
E---------5------------5-5-----|--------5------------5-5-----
(this shows two repeats of a 2 bar section - the vertical line marks
the end of the first section of 2 bars). Again, this bass line just
repeats throughout the song.
It's fairly easy to get the bass line and the chords (i.e the
complete piano part) in a single guitar part. You can either
play the part as:
E--------5--7-------------5--3----------
B--------6--8-------------6--5----------
G--------5--7-------------5--5----------
D--0--0-------------0--0----------------
A--------------0-------------0--0---3---
E-----------------8---------------------
Or you can play the same triads higher up, using different
fingerings for the bass line:
E---------------------------------------------
B---------10--12--------------10---8----------
G---------10--12--------------10---9----------
D---------10--12--------------10--10----------
A-----------------0----------------0--0-------
E--10-10-------------8--10-10------------8----
Whichever way you prefer, practise it until you can play it
comfortably, keeping good time, then just keep repeating it
for the full length of the song!
The two part vocal from the chorus can also be played on the
guitar as:
E----------------------------------------------------
B----------------------------------------------------
G---7--7--9/10---10-10-9--7--7--7---9/10---9--7--9---
D---7--7--9/10---10-10-9--7--7--7---9/10---9--7--9---
A----------------------------------------------------
E----------------------------------------------------
E------------------------------------------------
B------------------------------------------------
G---7--7--9/10--10-10--9--7--7-7--7---7--5-5-----
D---7--7--9/10--10-10--9--7--7-7--7---7--5-5-7---
A--------------------------------------------8---
E------------------------------------------------
E----------------------------------------------------
B----------------------------------------------------
G---7--7--9/10---10-10-9--7--7--7---9/10---9--7--9---
D---7--7--9/10---10-10-9--7--7--7---9/10---9--7--9---
A----------------------------------------------------
E----------------------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------
B-----------------------------------------------------
G---7--7--9/10--10-10--9--7--7-7--7---7--5-5-4--5--2--
D---7--7--9/10--10-10--9--7--7-7--7---7--5-5-3--3--0--
A-----------------------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------