has anyone done a deep dive into the music theory behind Becker‘s compositions? (From what I understand, at the risk of oversimplifying, he and Fagen understood music theory quite well, but didn’t necessarily think about it in the songwriting process). So much of Becker’s stuff has a unique and distinct harmonic language. There are relationships between chords that I don’t hear anywhere else, save a handful of Steely Dan songs. As a keyboard player, I find most SD/Fagen songs have some linear chord logic I can intuitively follow (if not fully
comprehend). Becker’s stuff is a different animal. Maybe it’s just a guitar vs. piano thing, but at any rate, I’d be interested in some analysis of, say, Surf And/Or Die, if such a thing exists.
Steven- that IS the chord! I did try that- it's the intuitive alternative but on my guitars, it doesn't get there- though my 6120 came close if I grazed the Bigsby to goose the cluster. That high on the neck for me, the next three strings just don't cross over to the place Adam got; that fingering doesn't ring and resonate like the transcription. Sorry, D-mod, I didn't respond directly to your question and it is a very good one. I think it IS what Adam Rogers is playing, Dan Begelman is that good. I could ask him but I'd rather ask Adam :) Can we do that? Steven- perhaps string gauges/guitars matter. If you can get that otherworldly sound with the easier stretch, please tell me how you are getting it! Aside from that, I am compelled to pile on the "holy fuck" (vis a vis Donald, according to the bootleg, hearing the raw spontaneous solo to Your Gold Teeth II) for Adam. Holy Fuck. I submit that what he plays (for me, it's still in the present tense) in the song's finale is a musical metaphor for a hang glider guy gracefully "surfing the wind" on the descent that certainly doesn't feel like it's about to go very very wrong. Walter is already mourning his friend as it goes down, down, down- though, his friend doesn't know it yet. Why should he? He's in the zone. Then, listen carefully to the synth just after the monks become more conspicuous; it's a washover cascade going very suddenly (vs the mesmerizing feeling of gliding above in the airy realm) ...down.
You could miss it. Listen! It's there.
Not accidental!
Metaphor music. I rest my case.
wait!
The fact that the recorded monks were in already G perhaps was serendipity- but, let's hope that by now, dear Walter knows if this was serendipity or a profound nod from the cosmic wow.
My soul wants to believe it was the latter.
Let's not slight Fima and Ben. Holy Fuck! This sublimely minimalist recording (with heavy processing sauce) is a synchronicity of the right musicians converging at the right place and time for a soul soaring/wrenching experience... for dear Walter. Sorry. I got a little misty.
Here's propers to Fima and Ben.
Holy Fuck.
guitarists will have to stretch to play some of these voicings- I use a 24" scale Fender Jaguar to make it easier. may the transcription light your way to insight, like the tubes from a thousand boutique amps. I think of it as "note clustered modality" launched from a base that is a maj7 without the 3rd. God bless the ears and hands of Danny Begelman. google him! cheers and harmony to all.
Ah, the Chromatic Life! Not directly on point to the larger theory perhaps (I'm too uneducatied to know), but the land of Chroma is where my honey lived inside and out. In fact if it weren't for the half-dozen other tells that will help ID a Becker solo, there'll almost inevitably be a run in there somewhere that he couldn’t resist. The most recent reminder of that for me was the solo in Fra Lippo Lippi's Angel, (or was that Milli? Or Vanilli?) recently dscussed in the '80s Output thread
Can't remember which interview it was offhand, but DF and/or WB referenced the George Russel book entitled the Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization. Maybe that would provide some hints? I've tried to track it down at various local libraries without any luck. I plan to just buy it if/when I ever get through some of the other music theory books that are around here collecting dust...
Very interesting that you bring that up, OTC: there's more than a little synchronicity going on between you and residents 'round this way. Time schedules have gotten in the way for us. But we would love a post on this, and have been itching for deep dives in most any waters. And now that we see there would be at least one other conversant, it's time to pick up the start on this, and get cracking!
(at the superficial level, I was thinking the other day about the simple issue of resolutions. If somebody wanted to sound incrementally more like Becker, they would write the usual resolution at the end of a line, say…and then do something else instead. Don’t resolve that phrase with the harmonically obvious default. Same in the middle of a melody line, something as simple as flatting a note at the point for a standard transition, say, is a Becker thing to do. These are cheap tricks —they're not part of some alternative scheme, just an attraction to violating expectations in small ways here and there, putting the listener in a somewhat unbalanced posture...and certainly paying attention.)