I absolutely love when people break down lyrics and music in songs, especially in musical theatre and also hearing about foreshadowing, why a composer puts certain musical lines together and why a lyricist puts certain words into certain phrases, it's just really fascinating to me :)
"You just have to know how it sounds and go with it." So true. I was wondering why the Simpson's theme came to mind while listening, especially the ending of the 2021 version. What a great tip, listen to the thumb notes. Thank you for that.
Thank you so much for breaking down West Side Story! It is such a beautiful show with arguably one of the most thoughtful scores in musical theatre and EVERYONE could use a little more WSS in their day 👍
Two of my friends from my theatre camp actually wrote a musical. It’s coming out in October. When the Soundtrack comes out “if it does it be great if you reviewed it.” When it comes out.
Hey Kevin, I really loved this video and i was wondering you could one for Defying Gravity, in the UK it's one of the set pieces we have to analyse and study for our Music GCSE (exams) and it would be the most amazing help to me and i'm sure many other people if you uploaded one! xx
I really like these breaking down the score videos! They are super cool and informative, and I have learned so much just from the two that you have already done. I hope you make more of these, I am definitely going to watch all of them! :)
Lydian mode/Maria- Yeah, that tritone is ubiquitous in WSS. The whole piece really revolves around that interval. It's the very first thing you hear at the beginning of the show. (After the overture- although I don't have the score in front of me and I don't remember exactly but there might even be a tritone in the opening chord of the overture.)
Man .. You are hilarious ! Yes, , that song also hits very high on my likes, funny enough, you mentioned Jazz quite a few times, why do you think that this song is seldom performed by Jazz performers ? BTW. Thank you for the Lydian explication and examples, also why is there a broom leaning against your wall ? I think you did a great job, however I still did see some spots .. something ...there .... Who Knows ? Anyways, kidding aside, thanks for being here and presenting a very entertaining "Break Down" something .. UUGG !
"I heard they're having a hard time finding a Maria" - 2018 What are your thoughts on Rachel Zegler? I think she has the ability to do a really great job
Hi! You should check out Ordinary Days, you might be turned off at first by the whole people living in NYC shite but idk the music is really exciting and sounds dangerously familiar to You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown although there’s no connection
So you could play the song on piano without ever hearing it? Just from the sheet music, that’s amazing. I’m saying I know absolutely nothing about music except I love listening to it.
Well done! I'm just starting the accompaniment on this musical this week...dang it's difficult. If you have any tips for playing the opening section to America with opposing rhythms that would be awesome. I'm finding it to be fairly awkward to play.
Can you react to Rachel Zegler's channel?? (to see if you think she'd be a good Maria? Because she auditioned for it and has played Maria before and she does have videos of it on her channel) :)
Hi Kevin 🖐️ I'm doing a presentation about theatre prices and whether theatre is accessible to everyone ( considering price) I wonder if you have any opinions on this subject. I would really appreciate it if you could help me out, many thanks
I just listened to Ansell what's his name sing this. It was... not great IMO. It was just his vocals, so I didn't see him, but there was no excitement or anticipation or drive behind his words. It was like he was just trying to get the song over with. And, about halfway through, he was fully one eighth note ahead of the orchestra. It was rough.
Oh boy!! So they made the decision to do West Side Story and then had auditions and even though (very talented) people of color auditioned, they cast white people in all the leads. It was all over Facebook for a few days and I thought that was one of the reasons you chose west side story for this week. Either way: opinions?!
