Friday, March 8, 2013

The End of the Innocence

I have a relatively cheap electronic piano that was out in a trailer in the back yard because there wasn't enough room in my office for it. But I moved some things around and now the piano, a Casio WK-200, is next to my recording stuff, ready to be used in songs. This is the first one that came to mind, mainly because the piano part is not too difficult. I haven't played the piano in over a year.


When I first heard this Don Henley/Bruce Hornsby tune back in the late 80s I thought it was quite profound and catchy, especially the piano riff. When I figured it out I realized why. It's full of 2 chords.

2 chords, or mu chords according to Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, are what gave The Mothers and Steely Dan their sound. You play a 2 chord by simply adding a 2 note to the 1 - 3 - 5 of the major chord. You add D to a C major chord. When I played piano in a lounge back in 1982-83 I found that I rarely played a regular major chord. I always played a 2 chord.

A slow, odd phrasing of the Buckaroo lick appears in this song, except now it's on the piano, not the guitar. 


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