Steely Dan

When I was 16 I thought guitar solos were the mark of a great guitarist. Now I get geeked over chords.
Same...In High School...I couldn't appreciate Jimi. Now, his clean chord work is some of my favorite...
Also, Eddie's rhythm work is amazing. (And don't get me started about Lerxst's use of chords :D)
 
I'd start each new measure with a downstroke... so down... up/down/up...down then repeat...

I don't know how to help with the timing. The timing of those down and up strokes is just what it is... not sure how to help with that. Sorry. Maybe drum with your right hand on the table instead of picking it, to get that pattern in your head. I'm assuming your familiar enough with the song to just "know" that pattern, so I'm not really sure what I could say that would help you on how to get it down better.
 
Your missing an upstrum but it looks like you’re only playing on the downstrum. I could be wrong. Idk
 
It's UPSTROKE , up, down, up up playing an Em7 barred. you can hear the upper e/b strings in the chord formation dominating the sound of the chord during the verse. OR you can pluck the lower E string on beat one (down) then follow the pattern but the guitar isn't playing the low e- that's the bass and keys.
 
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It's UPSTROKE , up, down, up up playing an Em7 barred. you can hear the upper e/b strings in the chord formation dominating the sound of the chord during the verse. OR you can pluck the lower E string on beat one (down) then follow the pattern but the guitar isn't playing the low e- that's the bass and keys.
I was mainly referring to the timing of it, but you bring up an interesting point. How do you know it starts with an upstroke? Many times, it's clear because you can hear the high strings first, but I don't detect that in this song. I hear the strum being quick enough that they all sound at once, so it could be done either way. Admittedly, I'm not listing on my stereo or maybe I'd hear it more clearly.
 
The timbre resonates the E/B string as dominant on the upstrokes, and the g string on the downstroke- in the Em7 barred formation. the progression starts on the second beat of the measure with the bass playing low E on one. I think if you try it this way you'll hear the differences and it will be a more natural way to play it. I've been playing this song for years this way- my .02 cents. if you've ever watched Lexington Lab band- Dale - (Maple Baby on this forum )he's is the guitarist in the group that plays this part of the song, and he plays the chord in a different position going down-stroke first- bottom line you need that E/B string ringing dominant
 
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The timbre resonates the E/B string as dominant on the upstrokes, and the g string on the downstroke- in the Em7 barred formation. the progression starts on the second beat of the measure with the bass playing low E on one. I think if you try it this way you'll hear the differences and it will be a more natural way to play it. I've been playing this song for years this way- my .02 cents. if you've ever watched Lexington Lab band- Dale - (Maple Baby on this forum )he's is the guitarist in the group that plays this part of the song, and he plays the chord in a different position going down-stroke first- bottom line you need that E/B string ringing dominant
That's really interesting. First, I noticed that Dale played it in a different position than I used too.

I know exactly what you mean about the E and B strings needing to ring dominate. So, I don't know if this makes me a hack or what. I figured things out on my own, or by watching the person who did them. I'd never seen this song played live back in the days when I was playing this one. So I literally do it the opposite way ever other time. Meaning if I start with a down stroke and end with a down stroke the first time, I stay down and start and end the second time with an upstroke, which puts me back up and start the third time with a down stroke. I did recognize what strings should be ringing dominant and just manipulated that with left hand finger pressure variances. I held the E and B hard while mildly releasing pressure on the other strings, so that the E and B rang out more clearly, while the other strings didn't.

This may be the "wrong" way to play it, but it worked for me, and not in the "I play it my way" way. LOL I recognized what needed to ring and what didn't. Again, I'm self taught and haven't played it in 20 years. I know some times when guys are playing something "wrong" I hear it immediately. In this case, I strum it differently than you but made it "sound" like the original, and I'm sure you do too, but in a different way. I may actually try it your way just to see if it works better for me.

And, I agree that normally when I do something where it's the high strings that need to ring out the most, and that has a relatively fast strum, I do upstroke to hit them first. But other things like some Rush things where the high strings need to ring out, but are clearly played last, I did it with lightening my pressure on the lower strings once I got to the high ones so that probably carried over to this.
 
Well if you're playing this song- you're not a hack! LOL and there's a lot of ways to get to a "sound".
 
Well if you're playing this song- you're not a hack! LOL and there's a lot of ways to get to a "sound".
I love Steely Dan, and think Jazz Chords are the coolest! But I'm not a chordsmith, and don't know jazz chords at all. Heck, I was figuring them out by ear when I played it and don't even know the names of most jazz chords. LOL I wish I did though, they are so cool sounding.

I love the way Steely Dan would modulate the chords to play a melody. Play one chord several times with only one note changing, and that note was the melody line, played with simply modulating the chords. I always thought that was just a very cool and great sounding thing.
 
SD IS my "desert Island band" - you know, stranded on desert island and you could only hear one band forever- they are it. But they were also a mash-up of THE BEST studio players of the time and Fagen and Becker would audition 15 people to play a part and record it all. It would be torture to be working with those guys!! LOL! A lot of (most if not all) was written on piano - translating that to guitar is a ***** and therefore you get awesomeness is chord structure!
Among other things I play with a church group led by an incredible piano player who writes most of the sheets we do. I've learned to find a minimum of 4-5 variations of all chords on the neck. Wanna get good at theory? do that! Every major/minor/7th,9th, add 13, diminished chord- learn how to play them in 3-5 formations- the math emerges. There's a great program at this site- https://www.oolimo.com/guitarchords/analyze- it will help you a ton!! Remember- and this was Clapton that said it but probably not exactly like this- " the guitar is easy to learn and impossible to master"
 
So I have been practicing Black Friday. What a great song. All these new triads. I can remember exactly where to place my fingers for each triad but I can’t remember the names of them. I guess I will remember the names sooner or later. These are some of the coolest ever triads that I have never even heard of.

The solo in this song is absolutely crazy and beyond my skill level. One bite at a time though. I will nail this SOB solo if it takes me two years.

I started playing Spooky too. It’s a lot of fun and not really that difficult. Sort of instant satisfaction.
 
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