Anyone who gets this much into Steely Dan is alright by me.

The mu chord is very old. It was discovered written on a wall, in the Caves of Altamira.

I grew up on 70’s am and early 80’s fm radio and never felt Steely Dan was a “rock-n-roll” band. But I was always stoked when they came on because they were so different and never knew why. As a result Aja was one of the first albums I bought with my own money as a teen. Thank god for that.

after carefully reading these comments, I will definitely sing in more videos

When all my dime dancin' is through I run to mu

"Daniel played a secret µ-chord. He played it loud and it pleased the µ-lord."

And this is why there is KZfaq - came for the chord, stayed for the vid

i can’t understand 80% of this but im still watching it

People who are into The Dan always stay loyal to The Dan.

I feel better knowing that I am not the only one who sleeps in a zippered hoody with a microphone strung though my shirt and wakes up talking about Steely Dan. Wait until I tell my wife about this!

My guitar playing music companions and I just called them “Steely Dan chords.” I knew that there had to be a science behind it. There was too much consistent structure to think otherwise. I’m sure Michael Omartian was hip to all this as a Dan musician. Some of his solo works sneak in a μ or two 😆

If this is the only thing he ever does, he's done enough. Bravo Jackson.

Been playing by ear for 45 years. Several instruments. Can't read a note of music. This makes my head want to explode.

I have been learning the piano and I wanted to improve my knowledge and range of chords. Since I loved Steely Dan and Donald Fagen’s music I thought it might be helpful to learn some of their songs. I selected 3 slowish ones and started to learn them. I started with Home at Last and then moved on to Third World Man. This gave me what I wanted, and pleased with this I went on to my 3rd song, Maxine. I looked it up on Ultimate Guitar, as usual, to find the chords. I was in for a bit of a shock to find that it contained 56 different chords, of which I already knew...5. It took me about 2 months to learn but I’m so glad I did as it’s lovely to hear these chords and even better to actually play them.

I can't understand this without my fez on

There are a lot of players with a lot of theory under their belt but no ears. Becker and Fagen had both in abundance. They are simply one of the most musical acts ever to grace the rock world, and this is in part because they were very clear about what they were going for. They knew how to straddle the line between blues, jazz and rock. Just listen to those chords in "Peg" and "Josie".

Twelve cranes in the crane box.

Many years ago, I read an article in the then superb Guitar Player Magazine (late 70's issue). The write up was by then Steely Dan guitarist, Denny Dias. He wrote on the μυ (Mu) major chord. As soon as I played that chord I knew I was on to something that no one in my area had a handle on. I have to mention, however, that the Beatles were using this chord as early and 1964. I often used it (in either a bold manner, or subtle) to color to songs my band and I already had in our repertoire. I learned to use it enough to where this chord became an integral part of my sound. To this day, it adds a subtle extra texture and I can tell the positive effect it makes on the listeners. Fantastic article, and thank you loads, Denny Dias!

Are you with me, Dr. MU?

This is a Royal Scam, you won’t take me alive.

As a new guitarist, I remember learning about the mu major in the seventies. I loved Steely Dan, one of my all time favorite bands.

Oh My, I’ve been mu chording all these years and never know.

Steely Dan... the band your favorite band listens to... RIP Walter.... and thank you.

Our highlight was 1:13, when Jackson said “boner-fied.”

I never learned to read music, but I love Steely Dan. I just learned something new.

Such a great video. Steely Dan is the perfect example of how jazz concepts can work in classic rock. The perfect combination.

Damn dude! Growing up in the 70s and 80s sure did come back as a huge flash as you played the music. I didn't know why Steely Dan sounded so damn good then and now I do! Thanks for sharing!

Continue on with this kinda stuff. Very interesting especially Steely Dan material. Thanks

"They are like 12 cranes in the crane box."

Lonnie played a mu cord he snuck a two under a three he played for forty-some years the rest is history

Jackson, you should do a class on another Steely Dan classic chord. Don't know the name but its composition is, for example, an F bass note on a C major triad. They used this chord structure in many tunes.

Did someone do the "underrated" comment yet? Very underrated chord. Yes, I finally got there FIRST!

Such a great walk-through of the marvelous Mu. Thanks, Jackson!

Last night I dreamt you taught me something ridiculous and important to my well being and it came true

this was new to me and you explained it adequately and made it useful in some ten minutes with pretty nice renditions of examples to boot. thanks and well done!

Every major mu would know.

I enjoyed this. The "toilet perspectives" were not only a great album title, but humorous and enlightening

I really enjoyed the piano bits with the chords written over the top. Helps highlight the second note of the scale much better than the original song.

11 minutes to say major chord with the 9th a whole tone from the third

Just discovered you .... fantastic Knowledge and presentation style .... intrigued and looking forward to watching many more of your entertaining and uniquely engaging ventures to freely educate ... thanks

I learned how to play Rikki don’t lose that number on guitar around 1985 or so. My teacher taught me the D-A-E progression as Mu major chords. Until about 2 years ago, those were the only Mu major chords I knew and I never heard anyone talk about them. I even had another guitar teacher 25 years ago say there’s no such thing. There is a French guy on KZfaq that does fantastic guitar lesson videos, and he did a Mu major video. It blew my mind and unlocked the rest of the Mu major world. I’ve been playing Rikki for 37 years, and every time I play those chords I still get goosebumps. This was a fantastic video, and nice to see a piano perspective. You proved my personal quote correct that I share with folks posting Steely Dan reaction videos. “When real musicians get off work, they listen to Steely Dan.”

Great video! I could watch hours on end of you talking about Steely Dan harmonies and the way they're utilized in songs

After hearing your cover of Steely Dan I appreciate Steely Dan so much more ... I guess that could be taken Different ways

Explaining music theory while on the throne. Legend.

Imagine running into this guy at a party while literally any song was playing...

this is a great explanation. love the µ. also, at the moment Jackson says "when he was talking about how they would teach Steely Dan songs to their musicians, Walter Becker said this:" it cut to a commercial where a woman said "There is nothing that makes me happier than biting into warm, fresh bread"...I hope, over the years, Becker happened to say that at least once.

This is great! I can’t wait to start sneaking 2nds into minor 7th chords, and also to see you make more videos like this!

Yo I'm glad you did jack of speed even though there's no MU chords one of my favorites 👌

3:59 if you ask 100 guitarists to play a G you will get 4 voicings, open, open with the extra finger, barre, and the overachiever

Cool as hell. I’m a guitarist and you know I’m gonna sit for an hour working this out on the fretboard. Thanks!

Jackson, this was delightful. Well played.

Did he just call my bagpipes a circumcised recorder!?!

This is awesome, thank you. Totally unrelated. When I post videos of me sharing my thoughts from bed and the toilet, they take my videos down.

Thank you for enlightening me. I've always wondered what that unique tonality was that was part of Steely Dan's charm and trademark (besides outstanding lyrics, musicianship, arrangements...etc.). Your video is a delight.

This was fun. From one Jackson to another... thank you. Cheers!

So... did Katie really lie ?

out of the ordinary camera angles. I'll have to check and see if you are often sitting on the commode in your other videos.

Yeah but ... Is there gas in the car ?

In "Peg" it was in with a third in the Bass (3-9-5-1) and using a plagal cadence. F∆ (F-E-A-C) to Cadd9/E (E-D-G-C), C is the Common Tone, the inner two voices descend by a whole step the base voice by a half step. Robert Glasper uses in his composition "Oh Yeah" also.

This was brilliant because if video wasn't included then audio would have been almost just as well. I'm not a musician, but a close friend of mine is a professional jazz trombonist, so I asked him to check this out and he replied that it was pretty darn good. He said that Parodi's singing wasn't up to snuff, but that's okay because Parodi simply demonstrated in audio how masterful the Steely Dan duo was. My friend said that Steely Dan is itself a separate league of music and that no other music team approaches this level of sophistication in the jazz-rock hinterland. I myself didn't realize it. Good job, Parodi. I don't know if your singing is good, but the music sounded alright to me.

Brilliant offering Jackson. For a penultimate music collector and aficionado for the past 50 years, I have somehow never managed to comprehend the musical "calculus" that was Fagen and Becker. My ear loves their work but my brain could not follow how it was created...until now. I knew I liked what I hear but, I had not a clue as to how their consistent brilliance was created. You shed some light on that and in a way musical troglodytes like myself could never figure out on their own. There is a special place in musical heaven for you. Thank you.

I’m glad you did the songs - you have passion ! Wonderful !!

This is awesome.

My hands are so small, I have been doing Mu chords for decades. I love the sound. ~V~

“Jack of Speed” is phenomenal!!! So is “Your Gold Teeth” (1 and 2)

BTW according to Becker the Mu chord has the third in the bass...

Great explanation. I use this chord excessively :')

what an utterly fascinating video. i don't know what you're talking about, but i now have a slightly higher appreciation for musicians.

Are you sure that the first phrase of lyrics in Peg is "I like your pin shot?" I've always heard that line as "I like your PICTURE". If I'm wrong - and that's entirely possible - just what is a "pin shot"? I've been speaking English for over 60 years and have never heard that phrase before.

My man is sittin' on the crapper, talking music theory .....hahahaha!!!!!

Thanks Jackson. You explain things gracefuly. Best regards from Medellín.

@Jackson Parodi - Still showing this video in my fourth-semester advanced theory classes! Hope you're doing well buddy!

I also really like Jack of Speed! One of my personal favs! Thanks for waffling along and for all the info 🙏🏼💪🏼

Great witty, presentation! 👏

The real over achievers: the 9 isn’t the same pitch as the 2 because the 9 is an octave higher in pitch; it’s the same note name.

That F Mu sounds very Barry Manilow-Mandy-ish!

My first cassette tape was Can’t Buy a Thrill when it was new. Likewise, my first CD was Nightfly. I was going to buy the sheet music book for CBaT, but didn’t as it didn’t have the piano intro for Fire in the Hole. God, I still love that song. During the period when my voice was changing, I did a mean imitation of Donald Fagen’s singing , but could find a band who would or even could do covers of their tunes. The book did have a brief discuss of the mu chord, and I have since kicked myself fir not getting it, but as a 10th grader, money was a challenge.

and Donald and Walter rested and each said, MU make a ME chord. Thanks for the video JP

Great video, I'm glad KZfaq recommended this to me! You wearing sunglasses is really evocative of Donald Fagen, as well

The reason we don't use add2 or add4 chords is pretty arbitrary, but there's more logic to it than just a style convention. The real reason is that, before we decided a chord didn't have to be a triad, the only "legitimate" way to extend a chord was to add more thirds, e.g. 7th, 9th, 11th, 13th. You could still invert those to effectively be positioned as the 2nd, 4th, and 6th, but you'd call them in the way that makes them still triadic. You'd only call something a 2 or a 4 in the case of sus2 and sus4, cases where you're replacing the 3rd with one of those two options rather than coexisting alongside it. In the modern day, 6 chords (e.g. F6, Em6) are generally acceptable in Jazz and Pop, especially in circles where alternative Jazz harmony concepts have an influence. But 2 and 4 continue to mean the replacement of 3 with 2 or 4 due to historical connotations.

I never foresaw the whole KZfaq copyright thing working in my favour one day. Piano and vocal stuff at the end was delightful.

Like your singing Jackson plenty of passion...... sweet MUsic tonight the night is mine.... hopeless Dan addict no interest in going into recovery

there's a detailed article on the subject. It's only mu in close voicing and should be considered add2 and not add9.

Much appreciate the love for "Jack of Speed," amazing Dan track.

Fantastic video. Thank you!

This is incredibly well done

μ chord : the sound your steak makes when it's too raw

Really cool to hear 2AN tracks played with just piano. Thanks

"A Steely Dan Bedtime Story" Once upon a time, there was a king, named Richard, who ruled Mizar. He fell madly in love with his darling, Rose. After a short engagement, they were married by a Deacon in a blue suit. They honeymooned near the caves of Altamira and did it again quite frequently without a fez. Night by night, it was a countdown to ecstasy. Soon, they were home at last, and in the months and years to follow, would have a castle full of show biz kids. Their first kid, a boy, was named Charlemagne. Later, daughters, Josie and Peg, would beautify the castle with their French twists. Rikki, their youngest, was a mathematics prodigy who never lost track of her numbers. The parents were strict with their daughters, but the girls didn't seem to care. The family would vacation by carriage to the sea and when the children got too loud, King Richard would say, "keep it down, just until we get out of town." During their holiday, the family would sit under a banyan tree and watch the sun go down on the crimson tide. They let the children play up on the hill near the black cows. The king, however, had a mistress at this seaside Eldorado resort. When confronted by Rose, Katy lied and said there was nothing to it. Katy was only nineteen at the time. Rose knew the fix was in. Later, Rose told King Richard that she knew of the affair and was planning on a trip to Haiti for a divorce. She said, "I can't cry anymore while you run around." Upon hearing this news, King Richard summoned his therapist, Dr. Wu. After a lengthy discussion about the king's infidelity, Dr. Wu responded, "the things you think are useless I can't understand." Rose, still reelin' from this news demanded, "I want to know everything you did." King Richard confessed to an affair with Katy's sister, Pearl. He defended himself by saying, "it was just a fling with a couple of skinny girls." King Richard hastily had his family return to Castle Bravo, coincidentally, at the changing of the guard. He met with his generals to discuss the expansion of his kingdom to new frontiers. He told them he wanted to be king of the world. Rose, however, took a gift from the king, a pair of green earrings, and threw them in the moat. She realized that she had been royally scammed. King Richard went to Rose's bedroom and told her it would never happen again, but she replied, "after what you've done, only a fool would say that." She gave him the goodbye look before she lit the candle and put a lock upon the door. King Richard, in a rage, threatened harm to their children by drowning them in the moat when he said, "I'll throw back the little ones." At that very moment, there was fire in the hole as the castle came under ambush by battle apples! King Richard became suicidal and thought about taking his life with a gun. His last words were, "Don't Take Me Alive!" The day after the king's demise, Rose had lunch with Gina, her best friend. They drank kirschwasser from a shell. Gina advised Rose to sell her home and move to a place called the Custerdome. The next day, Rose put a sign in front of the castle that read: Everything Must Go.

Weird. Yesterday, KZfaq recommended me a video about how Zappa liked to use a 2 instead of a 3 in his chords. I feel like pancakes for some reason.

You did a Mu video - a triad of entertaining, enjoyable and informative, with “easy to follow” slipped in. Nice work!!

Mu, - been doin it for years and never heard that name

The original drummer for Steely Dan was Chevy Chase, the actor

Wow, great short film sir! Fascinating how simple this ear catching chord is. Nicely done.

Very entertaining Jackson thank you. when I was growing up in the '70s I might add there was a lot of mysticism about it. But I don't know much music theory I'm mostly play by ear.

Their secret was using the best studio musicians and a lot of them

Loved it. You are spot on about Jack of Speed. FWIW, Circus Money is one of the greatest records ever. Just perfect. They were geniuses - separately and together.

you're hired amazing work

Wonderful video about a wonderful band. Thanks for posting this.

when your algorithm is recommending you all secrets of music