"Gaucho" Bass Line Analysis / Steely Dan

[@walterbeckermedia3134]

This guy gets it.

[@debrapearce1852]

Love this analysis. What a great track Gaucho is. Complex and brilliant.

[@danielaronowitz1]

I love this. This is exactly the kind of video that KZbin was made for

[@recondo1947]

Well done, Drake. "Gaucho" is one of the most, if not the most, remarkable songs in S.D.'s canon. Jeff's drum part alone is a work of art. The bass part (done after the fact) is totally right for the song. And let's not forget his guitar part as well. It's sad that he is so unacknowledged as a musician. Thanks for a great video.

[@TheRobWay1]

This is amazing! Incredible bass line. I never realized what a great bass player Walter was. As good or better than any player they’ve had

[@thomasnelson5758]

The part at 6:07 (right after the part you said was your favorite) is MY favorite, where the horns descend and he doubles that on the bass (AND he's the one shredding on the guitar in the background). It's just so so good

[@StormyDay]

I actually love when Walter played. So much easier to figure out! Walter was a straight up musical genius. Great job on the transcription! PS I love your passion for this music. Very sweet.

[@mkwilson1394]

This is just fantastic! All the little things I've caught over the years are here, and more. I always heard this as a kinda vocal-bass duet. The voices don't ever clash or fight for the spotlight. Everything has its space. I really appreciate you and what you've created here!

[@roytheship]

Never realized how cool this baseline was before, wow! Great video 👍🏼

[@TheQuellerDrive]

Great video, Drake! I love Steely Dan! (This is Brian-o, by the way!)

[@rayjpfeiffer]

That was fantastic! I love how much you love this music. Thanks for doing the transcription with such precision and for the really entertaining commentary!

[@cgawainf4785]

Thank you so much. The Gaucho bass line knocked me out from the very first time of hearing. Walter was an amazing musician, bassist as well as guitarist. Even early Steely Dan albums show this. Thanks once again.

[@coreyghayes]

Wise beyond your years. Keep the content coming.

[@adrianvazquez6708]

great video dude! You help me appreciate all the little nuances that make steely dan recoords so special and that I wouldn´t have noticed otherwise. Keep up the great work :D

[@BringBackThePawpaw]

I found this just looking for things about Gaucho and realized you're the guy who made that vaporwave Disco Ulysses mix! Awesome channel - all your stuff is well done and right up my alley!

[@alexe8375]

Keep these videos up! Fascinated to see what you have to say about more Dan tracks

[@gabinojesusamarfil4187]

NIce essay! Gaucho might be one of my favourites bass lines ever, I uploaded a cover a couple of weeks ago (screw up some of the marvelous note lenghts). That slide in the outro (F to C to F to Bb) its a beautiful touch

[@subschool5]

I was watching a zoom party of Steely Dan's studio players on The Dan Vault's channel. Anthony Jackson brought this track up stating what you had said. Yes I love AJ's work and would love to hear the original cut but I love what Walter plays on this. I appreciate your detail like the precise note cutoffs. Kudos on your research as well. Thanks for the video!

[@PanSemSousa]

Excellent video!!

[@williamrobinson7435]

Great analysis! Thanks for this. 🎶⭐👍

[@thomasweiland2093]

Drake gets it!

[@kh2freek]

Great job dude, glad I stumbled across this video

[@bobs1613]

You have it...

[@alessandroscola]

great job man! thank you for your transcrption too. this song is a masterpiece.

[@evanlucas3]

Really spot on commentary. 🙌

[@Gubgubgoober]

yes i love these videos

[@rudykaufman7104]

fire video bro this is awesome

[@iankr]

Love this song. I'm trying to put together a solo acoustic guitar arrangement of Gaucho (to accompany vocal). No mean feat to do it justice with 6 strings. Your playing is great, and I like the way you speak about WB's playing. RIP WB.

[@sspringNG]

This is really sweet, man!

[@savedbyzero8340]

Great job! I agree ☝️

[@66TJP]

Great video, Drake!

[@meatwad61]

Wow, fantastic work!

[@whiplash2718]

Nice video Drake!

[@johnwatkins4363]

This is awesome content

[@PuddleBooks]

Oh hell yeahhh

[@socialtortoise852]

Really interesting stuff!

[@j.masonbrown6216]

Great video! One tip is that you may need to adjust the audio levels of your voice with the playing. I found myself turning it up when you were playing and turning it down when you were talking.

[@matheusafrancez]

wow, great!

[@arthuraraujo258]

This is great stuff as usual! Coincidentally this week I started learning this song by ear, but I couldn't find isolated tracks so I truly appreciate this, a bit hard to pick all the minor details from the full mix. I will check the transcription as well, later on, to see what I've missed. Any reason for that particular tuning?

[@Zenju__]

Please credit "Fiore" by Jacob Mann being used at the background at 7:27

[@Fabio_Enne]

Woooow! I love you!!!

[@michaelcaplin8969]

Amazing! Thanks :)

[@benh5699]

Nice video. Where do you get that pickup tape stuff? I have a sterling 4 H with low action and the clicking sound it makes sucks.

[@DrakeMartin]

it's just gaff tape. you can get it at most hardware stores.

[@leeosborne123]

Did you drop your tuning a tone? So you could play in “G” when the track playing is in F.

[@DrakeMartin]

yeah, I play in D standard tuning. the lower range isn't really used on this track, but I still play in it as a default

[@YouCanCallMeDon]

Pointing out the importance of the duration of notes and rests is critical to playing this correctly. Anybody who likes this album should give Walter Becker's solo record Circus Money a close listen. The production is insanely great as is the playing.

[@12cancen]

Are you you tuned to D standard for any particular reason?

[@DrakeMartin]

for this tune, not really. I use it a lot on other things and have my bass setup for it, so I just play in it as a default.

[@charlieruisseau2476]

Loved it! And if you mention Joe Dart whatever the reason, you get a like from me! (well you already had it anyway but still)

[@weakinduhknees]

Sick Joe Dart bass dude!

[@LarryDog-q5n]

Hard to hear the bass

[@Brainded-z4q]

Can't hear sh*t