Dylan's skeleton keys

[Mr Jinx]

Zollo: "Do you have favourite keys to work in?"

Dylan: "On the piano, my favorite keys are the black keys. And they
sound better on guitar too."

(Dylan in interview with Paul Zollo for Songwriters on Songwriting -
Da Capo Press 1991)

This little exchange seems to me to sum up Bob Dylan. It's the reason
I love the guy. I came across it in a 1998 copy of Acoustic Guitar
Magazine this morning.

Mr Jinx

[Janice]

On Nov 20, 6:15 am, r...@zedat.fu-berlin.de (Stefan Ram) wrote:

> Mr Jinx <vernon__bris...@hotmail.com> writes:

> >Dylan:  "On the piano, my favorite keys are the black keys.  And they

> >sound better on guitar too."

>

>   Only black keys =

>

> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentatonic_scale

This was so much fun! Thank you Stefan.

I know nothing about music theory & pathetic little about reading or
playing music, but I have tuned my dulcimer to pentatonic keys --
because the instructions told me to -- and because I love the tones.

Here are some Yotube examples given for music using pentatonic
tuning...

Temptations My Girl:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltRwmgYEUr8

Leona Lewis Summertime:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FP8HOcBxDYQ

Jeff Beck:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f-mzWy-lT0

Inuit version (with northern lights):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtNuELl5he0

Sukiyaki:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCCB2dixm4c

Dr. Lao Theme:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkIT8Fgj5E8

Close Encounters - The Conversation (transcribed score):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8_7r45wl2s

Herbert Midgley playing on just the black keys:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIkIPU8JZtc

Herbert Midgely is a nerd:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6P_wuosGaPc

~`~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'll get a job
that'll pay more than yers
I am a nerd

[Janice]

> >   Only black keys =

>

> >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentatonic_scale

So which Bobsongs have pentatonic melodies?

~`~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[M. Rick]

If you read the interview, Dylan is talking about playing in flat/
sharp keys, e.g. Bb in lieu of A. It's not a joke (as you might
suspect from the out-of-context quote) and it has nothing to do with
playing pentatonic scales on guitar. On keyboard, Dylan is more
inclined to play in flat/sharp keys. On guitar these keys involve a
capo or (more commonly in rock) barre and altered chords. The latter
can be difficult if you're singing, and Dylan is no Chuck Berry. Also
some of Berry's key choices were influenced by his piano players,
notably Johnnie Johnson.