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Fagen/Chuck Rainey transcription

KeithPoker

KeithPoker

Guest
Apr 18, 2011
701
117
Santa Monica Beach, CA
#1
I have been transcribing A LOT lately. I'm a detail-oriented person so I'm very careful about documenting every bit I can. As we know details are often lost in a mix so this is a challenge and we can merely approximate. I like that decision-making process that comes with transcriptions. Is it a ghost note or regular note? There are many in-betweens and close calls. Was it overdubbed? Was it low note played on guitar instead of bass? Was the note I just heard keyboard? Was the ghost note actually a kick drum?

Here is something I did today if anyone would like to look over and/or play it. The song is Green Flower Street off of Donald Fagen's The Nightfly album. This is the brightest I've heard Chuck's tone from these days.

Enjoy!

greenflower1.png
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#3
I'll compare with mine. Good work ;-)

I decided not long ago to finish transcribing the whole album. So I did last week Nightfly and New Frontier after I've done Ruby Baby, I.G.Y and Green Flower Street a few years ago.

Good call because this album is a must for studio bass playing with the Masters
 
#4
Oh cool! I've transcribed much of the album too. I have Will Lee's Walk Between the Raindrops as well. PM if you want to swap and compare some work from this album.

Now if I can only figure out the best way to differentiate between muted and ghost notes on Finale PrintMusic which I just recently bought. Right now they're all in parentheses. They don't have X noteheads on this software version.

Part of this album was recorded right down the street from me. I always think of it (among other albums) when I pass by!
 
#8
Febs, good catch. Thank you for the edit man. I just learned how to do those in Finale.

Groove Master, Rainey was of course brilliant from these days although Fagen deserves credit too because I think he wrotes many bass lines on this album. Yes, I am a fool but luckily after a few months of playing back in the day I realized how little rhythmic information tab alone reveals about a tune.
 
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#11
Groove Master said:
I'll compare with mine. Good work ;-)

I decided not long ago to finish transcribing the whole album. So I did last week Nightfly and New Frontier after I've done Ruby Baby, I.G.Y and Green Flower Street a few years ago.

Good call because this album is a must for studio bass playing with the Masters
Click to expand...
Would like to see what you came up with for "Ruby Baby".
I bet "IGY" was a challenge...sounds like a lot of crossing the barline rhythms...IIRC, "Glamour Profession" was similar in that regard.
 
#12
I have all three of those. I will share some in a thread I started here where I will add future transcriptions if there is interest. I will add Ruby Baby right now.

The best thing about all three of those especially the first two is they're not very difficult. As we know AJ will squeeze the most out of any line so they're still a full articulation workout. What a master he is. Glamour Profession might be my all-time favorite Dan song.
 
#20
JimK said:
Would like to see what you came up with for "Ruby Baby".
I bet "IGY" was a challenge...sounds like a lot of crossing the barline rhythms...IIRC, "Glamour Profession" was similar in that regard.
Click to expand...
The biggest challenge for me on IGY was to find the best way to write the particular phrasing of the main riff.
 
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