Reelin In the Rhythm

Tom - I've really enjoyed some of your tutorials and am currently working on Reeling In the Years by Steely Dan. Growing up, Steely Dan was one of those bands that you learn your chops from.

My question: in your section in the tutorial "Reelin in the Rhythm", you play a little blues/swing/boogey type rhythm part. Specifically, how do you [U]hear[/U] it? I can usually learn most parts by ear if I can hear them, but I always thought that part was played on the piano/keyboard. What do you use to hear these different parts? Is there a program you use to filter out certain frequencies or parts?

Maybe my ears are too old to hear these parts I don't know. Any tricks to hear these things?

Thanks for your time and sharing your talent.

Hey there. Yes, sometimes it can be quite difficult to distinguish parts on a recording. Especially with a band like Steely Dan that often has many parts and layers. What I will do in these cases is listen with head phones, try panning the mix hard left and right to see if that helps, and in the case of Reelin' in the Years it was helpful to watch a live performance and see how they did it!

I hope that this helps and I am glad that you are digging the site! Good luck and keep up the good work/play!! :)


Peace, Tom~