DianeB

Just one more: this might take the prize. It’s been staring at me for weeks in, of all places, Steely Dan’s “Peg” — what appears to be a quinary dominant. Peg it will come back to you CM7 G/B A7sus Esus G: IV I II VI Then the shutter falls you see it all in three D it’s your fav'rite foreign movie A/C# C G F#7 Bm7 E7#9 Am7 D7 CM7 Gadd9 G: II IV I V/V/V/V/V V/V/V/V V/V/V V/V V IV I (VII) (iii) (VI) (ii) I'm puzzled about how to analyze the A-E-A; it doesn't seem to qualify as a tonicization as the chords (notwithstanding the C#) are diatonic. The boys used a “Hendrix chord” (E7#9) to create an extension of Michael McDonald’s tonsils. More augmented trivia: Jay Graydon, who played the solo, was the inspiration behind “Wah Wah” in Doonesbury — not that I’m old enough to remember. Go forth, grok those dominants and mu majors.

I understand. Too much to expect, but not too much to ask. What matters is that she's engaged and learning. Good for the whole family.

If you search Amazon for books of "guitar scales", dozens come up. But scales are merely a means to an end. What, exactly, is your musical goal in the near term? The answer will narrow your focus.

@duck There are some with TrueFire. But I strongly encourage your daughter to meet with an instructor in person. Shyness and awkwardness come with being 14 years old. Avoiding personal interaction is a sure route to poor technique and bad habits, especially in the young. She will miss out on encouragement and direction. Look for a community music school near you, if possible, where you are likely to find an instructor with experience with young people. She can always work with recorded lessons as well.

Nashville's loss is Anaheim's gain.

Folded into the memories of those who knew World War II, or at least anyone who recalls the final sequence of "Dr. Strangelove", is the 40s standby “We’ll Meet Again”. Written in 1939 by English songwriters Ross Parker and Hughie Charles and best known as performed by Vera Lynn, its signature harmonic climb reveals a rare but unmistakable sequence of extended dominant function. Illustrated here in D, following the sheet music I have (a couple of passing chords omitted): We’ll meet again, don’t know where, don’t know when, D6 F#7 B6 C7 B7 D : I V/V/V/V V/V/V bc V/V/V but I know we’ll meet again some sunny day. Keep… E7 Em7 A7b9 D6 V/V V I That’s a dominant (A7), preceded by a secondary dominant (E7), preceded by a tertiary dominant (B6 and B7), preceded by a quaternary dominant (F#7). The C is a borrowed chord. As I was culling some charts of songs I don’t play anymore, I was about to toss this one in the recycling, when I paused to study the progression. It came from my former neighbor Don. He played banjo, and invited me to his house a few times to play some of the classic tunes. Don was a Korean War veteran. We enjoyed some pleasant afternoons together until his health began to fail. He’s been gone a few years now, but he’d be pleased to know he still had something to show me.

Blues purists, this one's for you: Smithsonian Magazine visits Bentonia, Mississippi and the Blue Front Cafe to listen in on Jimmy "Duck" Holmes, one of the last of his kind, in one of the last places of its kind.