New Frontier - Donald Fagen
-----------------------------
From the album "The Nightfly"
Transcribed by Howard Wright [howardw (at) jmdl (dot) com]
and Chris Davis [theaceofbass (at) hotmail (dot) com]
Notes:
-------
Many thanks to Chris Davies for sending me his transcription of
this song and getting this started. I've made some changes here and
there to chord voicings and names, but a lot of the chord shapes
are as Chris sent them. Most of what I've done is to expand out
what Chris sent to fit my usual format.
I've also added some tablature for the superb solo by Larry Carlton
(some of his finest guitar work is to be heard on this album).
Nearly all of the chord sequences in the song translate comfortably
over to the guitar. The main exception is with the first two chords
at the start of the intro - the chord shapes themselves are easy
enough but it's hard to change between them at the required speed.
Pretty much all of the other chord changes work fine on the guitar.
The chord names G#m/B, F#m/B, Bm/D, Am/D etc describe the required
voicings nicely, but you'll probably hear these chords as 6 and 9
chords. For example G#m/B is a B6 chord (with no 5th) and F#m/B is
a B9 chord (with no 3rd). So the opening sequence is essentially B6
B9 D6 D9. Using the "minor triad with bass note" name makes this
sequence of 6 and 9 chords a bit less obvious, but it does give
a fairly neat way to specify the correct chord voicings without
having to write (no 5th), (no 3rd) etc..
In the intro and outro sequences there's an extra chord squeezed
in between the F#6 and A/B. The chord is an E/F#, but the change
from this to the A/B is too quick to be manageable on the guitar.
I've just left this E/F# chord out, though you could try playing
just the top G# note before the A/B to give a hint of the change.
The usual tab symbols apply:
b = bend up
r = release bend
p = pull-off
h = hammer-on
/ = slide
vib = vibrato
Intro
------
G#m/B F#m/B Bm/D Am/D
C#m7 F#6 A/B
A/E E7(no 3rd) A/E E7(no 3rd)
G#m/B F#m/B Bm/D Am/D
C#m7 F#6 A/B
Em7 E7 E7sus4 E7
This last sequence of Em7/E7/E7sus4 is played as:
E------------------------------------------
B--------3-----3----------3-----3----------
G-----0-----1----1-----2-----1----1--------
D------------------------------------------
A------------------------------------------
E--0-----------------0---------------------
Verse
------
F#m/A Em/A
Yes we're gonna have a wing-ding
Em7 E7 E7sus4 E7
A summer smoker underground
F#m/A Em/A
It's just a dugout that my dad built
Em7 E7 E7sus4 E7
In case the reds decide to push the button down
Amaj7 D9b5
We've got provisions and lots of beer
C13sus4 C7 C13sus4 A/E E7(no 3rd)
The key word is survival on the new frontier
A/E E7(no 3rd)
Verse 2
--------
(chords as verse 1)
Introduce me to that big blonde
She's got a touch of Tuesday Weld
She's wearing Ambush and a French twist
She's got us wild and she can tell
She loves to limbo, that much is clear
She's got the right dynamic for the new frontier
Bridge
-------
Db/Eb D/E Dmaj7/E D/E Eadd9#5 Amaj7*
Well I can't wait 'til I move to the city
Amaj9/E Dmaj7 D#7b9 G#m7
'Til I finally make up my mind
C#7#9#5 F#m7 C9b5(no 3rd) A6/B
To learn design and study over - seas
Bb9b5(no 3rd)
Do you have a steady ...
Verse 3
--------
(chords as verse 1)
... boyfriend
Cause honey I've been watching you
I hear you're mad about Brubeck
I like your eyes, I like him too
He's an artist, a pioneer
We've got to have some music on the new frontier
Solo
-----
(chords same as verse except for Em7/E7 section)
This is probably one of Larry Carlton's finest moments.
A superb solo, built on simple blues phrases - but what
phrases! The solo is also a great example of how to use
dynamics. It's really worth listening to the solo a few
times over while just focussing on the dynamics used. A
lot of the solo is played at a soft dynamic, which makes
the small number of strongly accented notes really have
an impact.
There are also quite a few places where a rapid slide up
the fretboard is used to finish a note off. These are marked
in the tablature as a slide up with no end fret noted
(e.g. --14/--). Quite often the note is held for a short time
before the finger is zipped up the neck. These aren't played
very loudly, but they give a nice end to some of the notes.
F#m/A Em/A
hold bend.....|
E---------------------------------------------------------------
B---------------------------------------------------10----------
G-12b14-14--14--14r12p9--------------------------------/14--14/-
D------------------------12b13-12-10----9------9/11-------------
A------------------------------------12---9-12------------------
E---------------------------------------------------------------
Em7 E7
vib.....
E--14b15b16------12-12-12-12/-------------
B-------------15--------------------------
G-----------------------------------------
D-----------------------------------------
A-----------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------
^^^^^^^^^
Bend this note up in two stages - the first semitone bend
is fast, then you hold the bent note for a while, then bend
up another semitone a little before the note finishes.
F#m/A Em/A
E--------------------------------------------
B-------12b13--10-------10-12b13b14--10------
G-----------------12b14----------------------
D--------------------------------------------
A--------------------------------------------
E--------------------------------------------
E7sus4 E7
E------------------------------------------
B------------------------------------------
G-12p9----9------------------11b13-11p9--9-
D------12----10h11--12b14------------------
A------------------------------------------
E------------------------------------------
Amaj7 D9b5
E-------------------------------------------
B--------------------10b12r10p9-------------
G--11b13r11p9--11--9------------------------
D--------------------------------9b10r9-----
A--------------------------------------(10)-
E-------------------------------------------
C13sus4 C7 C13sus4 A/E E7(no 3rd)
vib...
E----------------------------------------------
B-----------10----10---------------------------
G--------11----12----12-11b12--9---------------
D-----12-------------------------12b14-14/-----
A-(12)-----------------------------------------
E----------------------------------------------
A/E E7(no 3rd)
E-------------------------------------12------------
B--------9-10-11-12---------------------------------
G--11b13------------9--11b13-11b13--9---9-9-----9-9-
D--------------------------------------------12-----
A---------------------------------------------------
E---------------------------------------------------
Bridge
-------
(chords as before)
Well I can't wait 'til I move to the city
'Til I finally make up my mind
To learn design and study overseas
Verse 4
--------
(chords as verse 1)
Let's pretend that it's the real thing
And stay together all night long
And when I really get to know you
We'll open up the doors and climb into the dawn
Confess your passion your secret fear
Prepare to meet the challenge of the new frontier
Outro
------
G#m/B F#m/B Bm/D Am/D
C#m7 F#6 A/B
A/E E7(no 3rd) A/E E7(no 3rd)
(play 4 times)
Repeat 2 more times with extras:
(the octave jumps aren't really designed for the guitar
but I've written them in anyway).
G#m/B F#m/B Bm/D Am/D C#m7 F#6
E---7---5--5------7---5--5----4---16--4--2---14-------
B---9---7--7------7---5--5----5---17--5--4---16-------
G---8---6--6------7---5--5----4---16--4--3---15-------
D-----------------0------0---------------4------------
A-----------------------------4-----------------------
E---7------7------------------------------------------
A/B A/E E7(no 3rd) A/E E7(no 3rd)
E--2--0---0-0--------------10-------------------------
B--4--2---2-2----2--3-3----8h9--3-----2--3-3----------
G--3--2---2-2----2--4-4---------0h1---2--4-4----------
D-----------------------------------------------------
A-----2---2-2-----------------------------------------
E----------------0--------------------0--0-0----------
G#m/B F#m/B Bm/D Am/D C#m7
E-------------7---5--5----7---5--5----4---5--4--------
B-------------9---7--7----7---5--5----5---5----5------
G-------------8---6--6----7---5--5----4---4------4----
D---6---7---8-------------0------0--------------------
A-------------------------------------4---------------
E-4---5---6---7------7--------------------------------
F#6 F#aug A/B
E--2---2-----0----7------14--12-----------------------
B--4---3-----2-----7---------------12--10----7--5-----
G--3---3-----2------9----14--13----12--11-------------
D--4---4-------------9-------------12--12----7--6-----
A------------2----------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------
^^^^^^
This bit should be played one octave higher, if
you can manage it that high up the neck.
Chord shapes
-------------
G#m/B F#m/B Bm/D Am/D
7xx897 7xx675 xx0777 xx0555
C#m7 F#6 A/B
x46454 2x4342 x2x220
^^^^^^ ^^^^^^
You could leave out the D-string note in the C#m7
chord and just play x4x454. Similarly, you can simplify
the F#6 shape by leaving out the F# on the bottom string.
A/E E7(no 3rd) F#m/A Em/A
0xx22x 0xx43x x0x675 x0x453
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Best to use thumb and two fingers to play these two chords.
Em7 E7 E7sus4 Amaj7
0xx03x 0xx13x 0xx23x 5x77xx
D9b5 C13sus4 C7
x54554 8 x 8 10 10 x 8x898x
Db/Eb D/E Dmaj7/E Eadd9#5
x6666x x7777x x77779 x7657x
Amaj7* Amaj9/E
5x665x x 7 11 9 9 7
^^^^^^^^^^^^
This chord is a bit of a stretch, though it does give
just the right sound. It's easier to use a slightly
different voicing to make the chord change more
manageable, so try x7x697 or x7x657 instead.
Outside of the context of this song, these chord shapes
would probably be called E6. But coming after the Amaj7,
they function as a kind of extension and inversion of the
Amaj7 sound, hence the name Amaj9/E.
Dmaj7 D#7b9 G#m7 C#7#9#5
x5767x x6565x 4x444x x43455
F#m7 C9b5(no 3rd) A6/B Bb9b5(no 3rd)
2x222x x3x332 x2x222 x1x110
^^^^^^ ^^^^^^
You could add the third (2nd fret/open D string) to these
9b5 chords, but I prefer the slightly cleaner sound of the
4-note voicings.