"Bleed" by Meshuggah EXPLAINED (part 2) 

I know I'm almost a year behind here, but I just wanted to add something. The last section you discuss, with the A B and C patterns, the C patterns aren't placed randomly. Or at least, there's a way to describe exactly where they are and what they're doing. In that portion of the song, every pattern (A, B, and C) all use the same 3 notes: F#, F, and D#. I learned this song on guitar, so for simplicity's sake I'm going to refer to these notes by their positions on the frets of a guitar: F# is 3 (3rd fret), F is 2 (2nd fret), and D# is 0(open/no fret). Within each pattern, the O section and the X section are only ever using 1 note at a time. So for example, if I say that OOOX is the notes 3203, that means the first O is 333-3-, the second O is 222-2-, the third O is 000-0-, and the X is 3---. (In this case the numbers are pick strokes and the hyphens are just the beats where nothing is picked; this is basically guitar tablature notation) You can imagine each pattern as doing a different task. Every B pattern shifts around to a new "home" note each time it's played. Every A pattern except the first one goes back to the same "home" note instead of going to the next one. There are two little rules to this whole section. Every O section will ALWAYS be the note that follows the section immediately before it. Every X section ALWAYS follows an O section, and it is ALWAYS the SAME NOTE as that section. And in this part of the song, the notes are always going in descending order, with 0 going back up to 3 (so, 3 2 0 3 2 0 3 2 0 3 2 0 etc.). So, to put that all into context, the way the patterns work together is as follows (using the O/X structure from the video as a guide): 0 0 0 X, 0 0 0 0 X, 0 0 0 X, 0 0 0 0 X, 0 0 0 X, 0 0 0 0 X, 0 0 0 X, 0 0 0 0 X, 0 0 0 X, 0 0 0 0 X, 0 0 0 X, 0 0 0 0 X, 0 0 0 X 3 2 0 0, 3 2 0 3 3 , 2 0 3 3, 2 0 3 2 2, 0 3 2 2, 0 3 2 0 0, 3 2 0 0 , 3 2 0 3 3, 2 0 3 3, 2 0 3 2 2, 0 3 2 2, 0 3 2 0 0, 3 2 0 0 I'm sure you can see a pattern emerging. Basically, the B pattern moves the song to the next "home" note (the one that gets played twice in a row), and the A pattern just loops back around to the same "home" note again. A simpler way to look at it is that every A pattern is just the last four sections of the B pattern before it. And if you look at the last note from every section, you see the descending order: 3, 3, 2, 2, 0, 0, 3, 3, 2, 2, 0, 0. SO! In this section, after a few repeats of the basic AB pattern, there's a crash cymbal on the first beat of one of the measures. When I'm playing this section on guitar, that crash signals something to me. The VERY NEXT time we get to 2 as the "home" note, when we're about to use the B pattern to shift to 0 as the "home" note, INSTEAD we play the C pattern. It follows all the same rules (except that the A pattern after it is the same as the A pattern before it), and looks like: 0 0 0 0 0 0 X 0 3 2 0 3 2 2 It is played exactly the same way both times, and it's played in exactly the same place within the note structure both times. From the crash cymbal: B______A______B________A_______B_______A_________C_________A_______B________A_______B_______A_______B________A_________C________A________B___ 0 X, 0 0 0 X, 0 0 0 0 X, 0 0 0 X, 0 0 0 0 X, 0 0 0 X, 0 0 0 0 0 0 X, 0 0 0 X, 0 0 0 0 X, 0 0 0 X, 0 0 0 0 X, 0 0 0 X, 0 0 0 0 X, 0 0 0 X, 0 0 0 0 0 0 X, 0 0 0 X, 0 0 0 0 X, [fill] 0 0, 3 2 0 0 , 3 2 0 3 3, 2 0 3 3, 2 0 3 2 2, 0 3 2 2, 0 3 2 0 3 2 2 , 0 3 2 2, 0 3 2 0 0 , 3 2 0 0, 3 2 0 3 3, 2 0 3 3, 2 0 3 2 2, 0 3 2 2 , 0 3 2 0 3 2 2, 0 3 2 2, 0 3 2 0 0, 3 2 0 Interestingly, the C pattern serves the exact same purpose as the A pattern. You'll notice the descending order of the last notes of each section has changed slightly, with the new C pattern almost pausing it. The new order in this part is: 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 0, 0, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 0, 0. The C pattern extends the amount of time 2 is the "home" note compared to the previous measures. And the way it gets back to 2 is kind of this long, meandering group of sections that feels like it lacks resolution, like it's unsure or wandering aimlessly. It sets up the end of this portion of the song beautifully, with the last note being 0, which then resolves fully into the next section (which is an earlier variation of the opening riff, and then the opening riff itself, both of which use 0 as the "home" note all the way through to the end). Anyway, PHEW. Just had to get this out there, as I've done a lot of thinking about Meshuggah over the years, and if anyone else watched your video through to the end I figured it might be interesting to get a little of the melodic context to go along with the rhythmic context you provided so succinctly. Thanks for the video!

I knew Meshuggah was all about hugs and kisses!

Please somebody make a "Bleed but it's triplets" cover

Brother, your videos are absolutely insane 😂 that amount of work you put in is priceless! You deserve more views! I am your fan!

Ladies and Djents hahaha

The way he politely shuts down the elitists at the start of the vid was amazing

This is incredible. Anybody who not only wants to understand “Bleed” but also time signatures in general should watch this. It is so much better than any “drummer reaction” video I have ever seen.

"AAABAABAABAABAA!" - my brain trying to follow along. For real though - the level of detail revealed in this analysis is astonishing. Thanks for all your hard work!

yogev: *pretending he bored everyone away* me: *watching this video for the 723rd time*

Massive respect for the work you've put into this!

ITS NOT A TRIPLET!

How can I be so fascinated and so lost at the same time

Meshuggah explained... they did this and that and these are the patterns and then... "I have no idea". Perfect :D

I've reached metal music theory RU-vid and I love it

do you know how many people have come across this song and said “Im not even gonna try and comprehend this shit” and yet here you are doing the impossible

Holy shit, I stopped paying attention for a second and we went from Xs and Os to batmobiles, gonna need to rewind this one a bit lmao. Just found your channel maybe half an hour ago and Im loving it, subscribed with no hesitation lol

the one person disliking this video probably went to watch a kenny g video thinking "i like this jazz better".

As someone who studied music theory and ethnomusicology I appreciate what Meshuggah does so much. There are so many tie-ins with classical music of the modern era (Bartók, Stravinsky, et al using polyrhythmic chains, agogic accents, and phrasing over the barline), Indian music ("talas" / extended beat cycles), Balkan dances (breaking rhythmic chains into long/short steps), and the list goes on. All put into a blender and run through the pure Scandinavian death metal filter. Truly wild.

Dude just power-leveled my musicianship.

best tutorial to play bleed ever

This was so great, really impressed how detailed you were breaking this down. The other day i also was listening to a song a was like "thats a sick triplet pattern... wait thats not a triplet thats a herta." I am now a better human being for understanding what a triple is, all thanks to you!

That C pattern riff actually DOES make sense! It's because they aren't just working with rhythms, but tones too. As the A/B sections repeat, they switch what tone they end the riff on. They add those two sections in order to change what tone the riff ends on, so they can end the last phrase on the lowest of the 3 tones.

This was an incredible analysis, so simple a musically illiterate person like me could understand. Subscribed.

I don't understand Bleed anymore than I did before watching both parts, but this is absolutely incredible to see broken down so well.

finally after 8 months of practice (without a solo ) I can play bleed on a 6 string acoustic

The guitar tones and kick drum tone in this song are just absurd

I really want to know what goes on in Thomas' head while playing this. How does he keep track of all those extremely minor variations.

"ladies and djents" ... it took me 3 times watching this video before I finally figured out what pun you were talking about! xD

This is the channel ive been begging the lord for

I think my brain just melted processing this information

MORE MESHUGGAH PLEASE!!!

I knew it. Meshuggah take our money for something this easy.

"You can still headbang to this so easily" - uhhhh it was me and two other people headbanging at one of their concerts.

I'd love to see Tomas' reaction to this

I have tried to learn this song a couple times,this really helped to solidify the structure. your videos are insanely good, thank you.

The hanger for the ching rings though!! GENIUS

im so grateful u sacrified ur viewer retention for this😭

Opening statement, Preach!

12:24 of course we're here. That's EXACTLY why we're here. Great breakdown!

why is this not number one on trending make this man famous youtube

Dude, these two videos are CRIMINALLY underrated! I think Bleed is honestly one of the greatest metal compositions because of its cunning use of rhythm. I knew it was 4/4 and used the herta rudiment, but I didn't realise just to what extent it went into with the intricacies of the subdivisions. The thing that gets me is they not only had to write it and remember it, but they had to practise the hell out of it to pull it off (especially Tomas Haake). There's two geniuses here: the ones who wrote the damn thing and the one figured the damn thing out. I shall appreciate it much more now that you've demonstrated it in real time. One day - yikes - I may even have a go at playing it. Subscribed man. Keep up the great work, because you're like the Rick Beato of rhythm!

Looks like a chance to learn the damn thing start to finish.

Listening to Bleed a whole different level, but playing it is another experience. I have zero clues in theories and polyrhythms. Bleed, while difficult to play, has suspiciously easy patterns that you just got the hang of it once you see the patterns. I was pretty mindblown. I love Meshuggah.

great stuff, YES we're still here geeking out with you lol check out these comments people be diving in

holy shit, this is so cool and finally i understand this crazy song

You are not alone

This is called erudition and dedication.

I may be 4 years late, but this is truly informative and educational and helped me better understand what was going on in this astonishing piece. Many thanks! (PS. I thought it was a triplet!). No wonder it took Tomas 6 months to learn this! How complex it all is!

So helpful having it written out like I’m in kindergarten (I’m not kidding, thank you)

Man. It's so awesome that you took the time to make this two-parter! I watched it entirely. This song has perplexed the shit out of me since I first heard it -- specifically, the two parts where they play circle 6 times. It always felt so cool to listen to, but I could never really seem to pin down exactly when it would happen. Listening to the song as you've laid it out, it makes total sense, but the end result of listening to the song without sitting down to figure out exactly how it's composed, really feels magical. Anyway, thanks again for investing all the time and effort that you did to make these videos. It's shame this is almost too niche of a topic and band, musically, to get all the views you deserve for this effort. Thanks again; I will definitely be revisiting these in attempt to tackle this song on guitar all these years later. =)

I’m bleeding through my mind and my ears are flooded with the blood of dissonance.

The production level and informational value you are able to cram in your videos is simply amazing! I have a very basic undertanding of rhythms, notation and time signatures as I used to study music and playing drums as a kid. The way you're breaking this down is incredible, I mean this is a highly complex arrangelent, yet I can very well understand how how to follow. There's no way I would have ever, ever in a million years understood and break this down without your video. Big thanks and thumbs up from Finland 👍👍👍

The solo is such an underrated guitar solo

Meshuggah is one of the most fascinating bands, for me. I've always liked how breaking down one of their songs feels a bit like decoding a crypted message. Once you have it it's so satisfying to play along ! And the way they focus on the pure rythm with very little melodic variation makes it quite hypnotic and pleasant to listen to. Thank you for making those videos, it's always very clear and entertaining at the same time.

Five minute song, takes at least 20 minutes to explain its surface level concepts, and worth it. When it first came out, I just thought it was a banger of a tune. The more thought I've devoted to it, the more I'm prepared to call it a masterpiece.

That random C pattern in riff 3 HAS to be some kind of math puzzle! Wonder who could solve it...

the little riff at 3:20 or so song time right before riff 2 is one of my favorite meshuggah riffs ever, sad we didnt go over it

Thank you for this!❤️

That was a great breakdown

you are a legend man! not gonna say more cause you know it ;D

I subscribed just because of this video

This makes me love the song even more.

And to think, all of that got cut out of the music video. What a slap in the face.

Wow man - I'm mind-blown - That's the best way anyone has ever explained anything in history.

Awesome!

Really nice breakdown!! Thank you :)

yeeeeessss thank u so much i never really understood why everybody loves tomas til now... insane polyrhythms with max accessibility... i always thought i was a groove man but now i realize chops mean something to me

Thank you for the opening statement

Hi Yogev… at least I’m here… I’m from Mexico City and I appreciate your efffort,, keep doing it, it’s worth it. You’ve ease my approach to Messhugah’s music and I’m grateful. Keep it going! You’re not alone! 🤟🎸😎

hahaha, I can allmost imagine how it went when they wrote the song. "Yeah, guys I have an idea, grab your calculators" and then starts writing on a clipboard for an hour

Man this almost made me feel sick. So mind blowing

מדהים! תודה. ותפסיק לשאול האם מישהו עדיין רואה אותך.😜 בטוח כולם נהנים. 🙂

This is an amazing video dude, thanks so much

I now understand why Tomas Hakke was worried he was never going to able to play this live.

"hope you are still here, I feel so alone" my dude, this work will be being referenced long after we are dead and gone:) you are with us forever now

You definitely cracked the code of this song!

So I was studying for my math exam. Needed a break and went to YT to relax my mind a bit. Halfway through this video now and I think I'll better be heading back to math now.

Honestly I'm super impressed. Not in a million years did I think that I'd be able to make a lick of sense of what's going on in bleed. I'm shocked that it's all in 4/4, hadn't picked up on that. Thank you, great work and big ups!

You, sir, have earned yourself a new subscriber this day

your channel is so incredibly underrated, keep on going man

The amount of music theory you have to know to be able to simplify this so easily is insane, great work man

My favorite thing about this song is that the building blocks are incredibly basic, but how they are put together makes it one of the most rhythmically complex metal songs I have ever heard.

Top notch content!

cool, it only took me 10 years to fully understand this song.

The song is about a aneurysm or bleeding in the brain. I think the growing you talked about is to symbolize the blood spreading until the person dies. Just a thought! Awesome video sir! Please keep it up!

Very clear now because of your visual explanation , thank you so much !

You’re the music teacher I never had

I subscribed to this channel purely because of this video and part 1 + you seem like an awesome guy and teacher.

Wow! That opening statement about the vocals is so crucial! I almost missed out on a life changing artist because of it, but I learned to both like and respect him big time. Thanks for the professional breakdown. You are very good explaining to where we all can understand. The song deserves this type attention.

Anyone else laugh in delight as elements are explained? So cool to have the mechanics broken down like this, sort of like seeing how a magic trick works. And in the process gaining even more respect for the magician.

Man, the sheer amount of effort you put in to the visuals, editing chunks of the song and so on for this video blows my mind. So does the breakdown. That blows my mind too >.< Thank you man.

I learned a decent amount from this. Not just about Meshuggah but about music theory in general. I have barely looked at music theory since high school, I actually might get back into it.

Great ending to a great 2 part video

so far, after many years, this is the best explanation! well fucking done mate!

You have just earned a new subscriber. Epic breakdown of an epic song

I know practically nothing of music theory - I love your videos. These make me understand that I really do like complicated music.

Thank you for explaining that riff!

this is gold!!!

Much respect

Really nice video! ;)