I guess I like minor chords better than major ones, in general.
I've had problems with my throat over the years, playing with loud bands for years, and I've had bruised vocal chords and nodules.
With 'Under the Pressure,' I just found two chords I liked, and built it up, did like a ten-minute drum pattern.
When I was on the air a lot my throat and vocal chords got tired. If you don't vary your tones you can't get pretty tired of your own voice.
I use a lot more chords than most organists and I'm careful to phrase them with the guitar.
Teachers want to teach you theory, and that's fine, but when it comes to rock and roll, you only need three chords. There's something comforting about that.
When I was first learning songs, I'd have a favorite song, and I'd take the chords and twist them around. I'd learn the chords and then play them backward. That was my first experimenting with writing a song.
I knew if I wanted to improvise over chord changes, I'd have to figure out all the scales that went with all those chords.
I grew up playing the saxophone. I joined the jazz band in high school, but somewhere along the way I realized the guys who strummed acoustic guitars at parties were the ones who got the attention. So I asked a friend to show me a few chords, and when I moved to L.A. I spent a lot of time practicing my guitar.
Music was my first love, and at Marlborough we put bands together and sang the pop songs of the day. Although I couldn't read or write music - I still can't - I taught myself to play the guitar and piano by listening to songs and working out the chords.
