Chords for Donald Fagen talks about PEG pt 1

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
There's a tune we wrote some years ago called Peg and that tune
_ Although it has a number of parts to it.
The verse is based on a 12 bar 12 bar blues _
We started out with a figure something like [G] this
_ _ _ Very _ _ _ _ _ blues like feel
_ _ _ _ _ But we wanted to write a major blues with more of a major sound so instead of this
_ _ _ flat seven _
Most blues _ would have we we wanted a major sound like _ _ _ _ _
Which is most unusual [F#] most unusual although you know there have been some _ _ _ _
Blues is like in the 50s a lot of blues ballads and so on used a lot of major seven
So on I hear them on Bobby blue band records
_ _ [G] Charts that were written for Bobby blue band Ray Charles and so on _
_ but this is a little different in that it's kind of a
built into the figure in a way _
so _ _ that you have a _
Let's take a major chord here
so instead of this
_ _ _ Start with this _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [F#] No _ _ _ third right I'm opening voicings and chords are in fourths right [G] it's a G in the [D] bass _ _ _
_ _ [G] _ A D G right
_ _ _ Stack _ [G#] _
of fourths this is a let's say that let's hear that stack and
[G] _ _ _ So _
_ _ _ _ _ _ Well, that's fine, but it's a little boring so instead of what we'll do is use a
Was sometimes called the plagal cadence or church cadence which goes from? _
Four to one rather than than the dominant [D] to one
_ five to [G] one _
Which is a normal cadence we'll use the four to one [C] plagal cadence _ _ _ _ [G] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ your [C] church _
_ [G] _ Gospel _ [G#] gospel is your [C] amen
_ [G] We'll add our major notes to that symbol.
We'll add add some chords that that give it that major sound in the in _ [A#] the C [C] chord
_ _ _ We'll put a B
B natural in there which gives you a C major seven, _ _ and then we'll use that other stack of fourths for [G] the G
_ _ We end up with [C] this
_ [G] _ _ _ [C] _ _ _ [G] _
_ _ [C] _ _ [G] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ Really _ _ [F#]
different than
_ [Gm] _ _ _ [G] _ _ _
[Gm] _ _ [G] _ _ _ _ [E] _ _
[G] _ _ [C] [Gm] Sorry [F] _ [C] _ _ _
[G] _ _ _ [Em] _ _ _ [G] _ _
_ [C] _ _ _ [D] notice _ [G] _
[C] _ _ [G] _ _ _ [C] _ _ [G] _
you can still play your blues figures with minor _ [Gm] thirds
[Fm] Still [G] _ use a regular blue can if yeah if you if you want to because it's so [C] close to blue
_ [Gm] _ _ _ _ _ [G] _ _
_ [C#] You [C] have to after a while you get to know where you can do that and where it sounds good
I'm hard doesn't sound good
But essentially you could do that or you can play if you're improvising over it you can use a major you can use either one
_ [G] _ So _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
then you follow the regular 12 bar blues exactly it's precisely a 12 bar blues _ _ _
Maybe you could help me just play through it
_ _ The normal degrees that a blues would have so one two three [C] and
_ [G] _ _ _ _ [C] _
_ [G] _ _ _ [C] _ _ [G] _ _
_ [C] _ _ _ [G] _ _ _ [F] _
_ [C] _ _ _ [F] _ _ [C] _ _
_ _ _ _ [G] _ _ [Em] _ _
_ [G] _ _ _ _ _ [D] _ _
_ _ [F] _ _ [C] _ _ _ _
_ [G] _ _ _ _ [C] _ _ [G] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ So that's that's what we use for the verse part of the song that really makes it different in a very subtle way
So let's see we this is an a a B structure though, which just means
[C] _
_ [G] One of these sections and that's the a section and [C] then another one
[G] _ Starting the same spot
That's your another a section and then the B section would be a chorus, so we're basically taking a blues structure
_ In the verse repeating it and then adding a [G#m] chorus [C] a which or a hook a repeated _ section
the course is related _ to the _ _
Diverse and that in fact it starts out the very same way _
[Bm] But then we move into the minor area the relative minor
Which [Am] is a minor
_ _ _ G being the major and so the second two chords you have _
_ [Em] _ Together _ _ _ _
_ [D] _ we [C] have
_ [Bm] _ _
[Am] Then _ [Em] _ _ _ [C] _ _
[Bm] _ _ [Am] _ _ _ [Em] _ _ _
[A#] _ _ _ _ _ we move into some other chords that
Depart a little bit from
Have so far.
We have a _ start on the leading tone to the fourth which would be a sharp [F#] fourth here [C#] _ or
[A] _ _
_ _ [C] _ _ back to the [Em] tonic
_ _ Mm-hmm, then we want to here's a chord built on the seventh [F#] degree
_ _ Which leads to a sort of bebop [Bm] turnaround _ _
_ _ [Em] _ _ _ _ _ [Am] _
_ _ _ [C] _ _ _ three six [D] two five exactly and then back [C] to _
[G] _ _ _ _ _ So _ but the voicings I noticed
Stay pretty much similar even when you go to minor you're using the stack of fourths kind of thing or like minor
Yeah to give it a unified sand.
We don't want to like when [A] you getting _
_ [Em] _ [A] _ _ [Em] _ _ _ _
[F#] [A#m] We
Could we could [B] have done we could have done something else we could have done something [C] like [Bm] or _ _ [Am] _
_ [D] _ _ _ _ [C] some other kinds of chords
_ [Bm] _ _ _ _ [Am] _
_ [Em] _ _ _ [E] _ _ but
_ You know, I think in this case it sounded better keeping them stylistically in the same basic _ pocket _ _
_ Rhythmically it's in the same pocket and harmonically