https://guitarnoise.forum/easy-songs/reelin-in-the-years-steely-dan/ Guitar Noise Discussion Board en-US Thu, 04 Jun 2026 22:42:23 +0000 wpForo 60 https://guitarnoise.forum/easy-songs/reelin-in-the-years-steely-dan/#post-60745 Fri, 14 May 2004 23:38:44 +0000 Easy Songs corbind https://guitarnoise.forum/easy-songs/reelin-in-the-years-steely-dan/#post-60745 https://guitarnoise.forum/easy-songs/reelin-in-the-years-steely-dan/#post-60723 Fri, 14 May 2004 01:45:39 +0000
Vic

:) :) :)]]> Easy Songs Vic Lewis VL https://guitarnoise.forum/easy-songs/reelin-in-the-years-steely-dan/#post-60723 https://guitarnoise.forum/easy-songs/reelin-in-the-years-steely-dan/#post-60717 Fri, 14 May 2004 00:07:33 +0000
I am not a theory guy. I have been playing 30 years without it, and it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks. Guitar makes sense to me, though I probably have my own way of looking at it. Yeah, on the A7 you have the E (5th) on the A string, C# (3rd) on the G string, and G (b7th) on the B string. The only thing missing is the root. But to me, it's still an A7. At first I wrote out A7/E but it looked too confusing, so I left off the bass notes.


The thing about these chords is that they have a hollow sound to them, much the way octaves sound.

After playing the D chord your index finger pretty much stays on the G string. This will help you to find these chords fast. Use your index finger as sort of an anchor to pivot your other fingers off of.

Maybe today or tomorrow I will tab another Steely Dan song that uses chords like this.]]> Easy Songs Wes Inman https://guitarnoise.forum/easy-songs/reelin-in-the-years-steely-dan/#post-60717 https://guitarnoise.forum/easy-songs/reelin-in-the-years-steely-dan/#post-60713 Thu, 13 May 2004 22:50:28 +0000
After a bit of a struggle I now see where you're coming from with the partial A7/Ab7/G7/F#m7 chord sequence, and I found it easier, once I realised what you'd done, to keep the A7 as a barre chord like so -

E A D G B E
5 7 5 6 8 5

and play it without the top and bottom E's, but bringing into play the D string.

It doesn't soung quite as good but it's easier for me to get my head around because in the A7 chord now you've actually got the Root "A" note: it wasn't there before! You were actually playing E on the A string, Db on the G string and G on the B string - the only way I can get these three notes to make a chord is to take Db as the root, E as a flattened third and G as a flattened fifth which makes the chord Db dim......

I know I haven't been studying theory very long and probably have this all wrong..........it's just that I'm now getting to the stage where it's no longer enough to know how, I want to know why as well!!!!

Vic.]]> Easy Songs Vic Lewis VL https://guitarnoise.forum/easy-songs/reelin-in-the-years-steely-dan/#post-60713 https://guitarnoise.forum/easy-songs/reelin-in-the-years-steely-dan/#post-60627 Wed, 12 May 2004 04:12:40 +0000
Let the finger on the 5th string touch the 4th string and damp it.

Take your time and go slow.]]> Easy Songs Wes Inman https://guitarnoise.forum/easy-songs/reelin-in-the-years-steely-dan/#post-60627 https://guitarnoise.forum/easy-songs/reelin-in-the-years-steely-dan/#post-60625 Wed, 12 May 2004 01:47:20 +0000
Please don't think I'm nit-picking Wes - far from it, maybe sooner or later I will be able to do it your way - it's just that at the moment, my technique isn't quite up to it. When I try the individual chords they sound great - just the changes are going to need an awful lot of work before they'll show any reward - still, the only place you will find "reward" before "work" is in a dictionary!!!

Thanks a lot, again, for this one - and keep 'em coming!!!!

Vic]]> Easy Songs Vic Lewis VL https://guitarnoise.forum/easy-songs/reelin-in-the-years-steely-dan/#post-60625 https://guitarnoise.forum/easy-songs/reelin-in-the-years-steely-dan/#post-60604 Tue, 11 May 2004 15:59:14 +0000
Another good one. this one will probably be a challenge but I'll have to give it a go.]]> Easy Songs cnev https://guitarnoise.forum/easy-songs/reelin-in-the-years-steely-dan/#post-60604 https://guitarnoise.forum/easy-songs/reelin-in-the-years-steely-dan/#post-60589 Tue, 11 May 2004 05:54:15 +0000 Easy Songs Vic Lewis VL https://guitarnoise.forum/easy-songs/reelin-in-the-years-steely-dan/#post-60589 https://guitarnoise.forum/easy-songs/reelin-in-the-years-steely-dan/#post-2382 Tue, 11 May 2004 05:04:56 +0000
OK Vic, this ones for you. Next time you're at that open mic,
suggest this song. Tell that guy who's so hot on guitar to play
the lead, ‘cause you're gonna lay down some rhythm.

This song is not hard, and it's very cool. Kind of a
combination of Boogie Blues and Jazz. A study in
partial chords.

Chords used in this song

-----A------D----F#m7----D/A------A7----Ab7----G7------

e----0-----2m------------------------------------------------
b—-2r—--3r-----5p--------3m----8p-----7p------6p----
g—-2m—-2i-----2i---------2i------6i-------5i------4i------
d—-2i-----0------X---------4r------X-------X-------X------
a----0------------4r---------0------7m-----6m-----5m----
e--------------------------------------------------------------

I put the fingering for a reason. The A and D chords are normal. After
that everything is a partial chord. Notice that starting with the F#m7
chord the index finger stays on the G string. That is very important
and will help you play the other chords easily. The last 3 chords are
the same form.

Before we get to those chords (which are played during verses), there
is an easy section that is played both during all solos and choruses.
It is a blues boogie.

Intro- Solo (16 Bars)

--G5--G6-G5----G6-G5------G6-G5-----G6-G5-

e-----------------------------------------------------
b-----------------------------------------------------
g-----------------------------------------------------
d-----------------------------------------------------
a--5-5-7-5----5-5-7-5----5-5-7-5----5-5-7-5-
e--3-3-3-3----3-3-3-3----3-3-3-3----3-3-3-3-

--A5—A6-A5------A6-A5-----A6-A5-----A6-A5-

e-----------------------------------------------------
b-----------------------------------------------------
g-----------------------------------------------------
d-----------------------------------------------------
a--7-7-9-7----7-7-9-7----7-7-9-7----7-7-9-7-
e--5-5-5-5----5-5-5-5----5-5-5-5----5-5-5-5-

OK, this is your standard Rock & Blues shuffle.
Use your index and ring finger to play the 5 chord,
reach out your pinky to play the 6 chord. That was
4 measures, so play this whole section 4 times.

Choruses and Solos are 16 measures long in this song.

OK, back to those wierd chords.

Verse 1- Your everlasting summer........

e----------0------2--2-2------------------------------------------0--
b--2---3---------3--3-3------5--5-5------3--3-3-------2---3-------
g--2-------------2--2-2------2--2-2-------2--2-2------2------------
d--2-------------0--0-0------X--X-X------4--4-4-------2------------
a--0--------------------------4--4-4-------0--0-0-------0------------
e-----------------------------------------------------------------------

e--2--2-2----------------------------------------------0--
b--3--3-3-----5--5-5--------3--3-3---------2----3------
g--2--2-2-----2--2-2--------2--2-2---------2------------
d--0--0-0-----X--X-X-------4--4-4----------2------------
a--------------4--4-4--------0--0-0----------0------------
e------------------------------------------------------------

e----------------------------------------------------
b--8--8-8------7--7-7------6--6-6------5--5-5---
g--6--6-6------5--5-5------4--4-4------2--2-2---
d--X--X-X------X--X-6-----X--X-X-------X--X-X--
a--7--7-7------6--6-6------5--5-5------4--4-4---
e----------------------------------------------------

e--2--2-2-----------------------------------------
b--3--3-3-------5--5-5--------3--3-3-------2---
g--2--2-2-------2--2-2--------2--2-2-------2---
d--0--0-0-------X--X-X--------4--4-4-------2---
a----------------4--4-4---------0--0-0-------0---
e---------------------------------------------------

Congratulations! If you have stuck it out this far, you have learned the
entire rhythm guitar for this song. Notice that the strum is always
exactly the same. It is not too hard to sing this song while playing.
Listen to the recording to get the feel.

So remember the Boogie part during solos and choruses, and the chord part
for all verses. That's just 2 parts! With just a little practice you will
find this song very easy to play.

Reelin' In The Years


Your everlasting summer
You can see it fading fast
So you grab a piece of something
That you think is gonna last
You wouldn't know a diamond
If you held it in your hand
The things you think are precious
I can't understand

CHORUS:
Are you reelin' in the years
Stowin' away the time
Are you gatherin' up the tears
Have you had enough of mine

You been tellin' me you're a genius
Since you were seventeen
In all the time I've known you
I still don't know what you mean
The weekend at the college
Didn't turn out like you planned
The things that pass for knowledge
I can't understand

CHORUS

I spend a lot of money
And I spent a lot of time
The trip we made in Hollywood
Is etched upon my mind
After all the things we've done and seen
You find another man
The things you think are useless
I can't understand

CHORUS]]> Easy Songs Wes Inman https://guitarnoise.forum/easy-songs/reelin-in-the-years-steely-dan/#post-2382