Chord theory epic: functional harmony, secondary dominants, substitutions and diminished 7ths 

Remember to check out my books - How To Really Play The Piano, Seven Studies In Pop Piano and An Introduction To Cocktail Piano! Links here: www.billspianopages.com/how-to-really www.billspianopages.com/cocktail www.billspianopages.com/seven-studies

Im just 13 minutes in and already feel like einstein of music theory thanks bill stay the way you are

That jump from C to E7 to Am7 wooow 🤩 that is magical 🧙🏻‍♂️🦉💣🔥🌚🌝

Feels good to understand what this was all about, considering that 18 months ago I could not play a note and didn't know what a scale is. A slow but steady tool what the human brain is, yeah. Power to all the starting musicians out there!

Seriously man this was frickin incredible! So many things I’ve been searching for. I absolutely loved it. Thank you for doing this and going deep, I’m so sick of people never going into theory because they think people don’t want to hear it. I’m so glad you did. And also great composition, I feel like I can use a lot of these little theory nuggets for my own stuff. Thank you again !!

I've been playing guitar for 30 years, but only started learning music theory 18 months ago. Thanks largely to Jake at Signals Music Studio (his YT channel is worth a look of you're a guitarist) I've got a good grounding on basic music theory and song writing tips. Stuff like Mediant Thirds / Picardy Thirds / Plagal shifts from a maj 4th to a min 4th and such like. But this video is a game changer, for me. A proper game changer. All of the stuff I've previously learned with regard to music theory, I can now apply creatively. I can not thank you enough. Liked and subscribed.

Whoooo-eeeeee! My wee brain is blown! The subject is so huge and complex.....function.....cadences.........tritones, etc. I need to dig deeper into each of these to actually grasp them! Another nice video, thanks Bill!

There are 19 dislikes (at the time of writing)... I honestly cannot understand why. This was a very well described demonstration of functional harmony and song writing in general. More to the point, if there is one over-arching take-away from this well-presented lecture, it's this: it takes hard work and practice. Bravo Bill.

Brilliant. As a piano player who has stopped taking lessons and continues to practice on my own, music theory is one thing that is not so easy to learn without a teacher. Really appreciate these types of videos. Quality content as always!

wasn't expecting quantum mechanics in a piano tutorial :D great stuff!

Great explanation, Bill. Thanks. This brings together exactly what I have been looking for for the last couple of years: how to make 'musical sense' out so many non-diatonic chords. And I'm impressed at how deep your music theory knowledge is!

All of my life as a musician I have been searching for this video, an explanation for "how music actually moves" and how what I was producing sounded good or bad and why.... Thank you for making it!

Amazing! I can understand the Tonic-Subdominant-dominant part just as I play C-F-G on the ukulele. This is the first time ever that I get to know why the chords work. Many thanks! You are my master

Bill, always learn from your sessions. I found it extremely enlightening. Major point being that first comes the improvisation followed by the theoretical explanation of why it works. I always wondered how jazz musicians retained all of that theory and applied it while improvising. LOL Greater understanding of theory than I had before I viewed this. Thanks once again. Love to listen to you talk.

You probably get lots of praise but I am so grateful that I found your videos. I was just a standard scales man playing very basic melodies (not even with chords), but now, you have unlocked my potential. Diatonic and harmonic functions are everything in this trade. Liked, commented and subscribed, you're the best Bill Hilton!

I know that some people may think this was a little too technical, but for someone li me who has been playing the piano for over 20 years, this is exactly the type of thing I have been looking for. I already have the technical knowledge, so this type of functional info is a really good refresher for me. Thanks man, all your videos are top notch. I like that you make vids for all levels as opposed to just beginner stuff

Thank you, I really needed to see that, and just learn more about using non-diatonic chords, and basic chord functionality.

This video was the perfect mix of jumping in there and going full speed without loosing the passengers. Thank you for such a great explanation of some more complex subjects and I hope to see more videos like this!

This is such a good explanation of non diatonic chords for folks with a basic knowledge of music theory, perhaps a beginner composer (me), but looking to for some spice in their song writing

Bill, thanks so much for crystallising almost all of the class curriculum that I've been made to take this quarter in school! I didn't understand it much before watching this video. Definitely saving this for reference!

Excellent explanations. Complex theory explained in a straightforward way.

You're awesome, Bill! I bought your book and am really enjoying it. These videos are a great complement. Keep 'em coming! Thanks!

You are the Vsauce of music theory! As a beginner, I did have to rewind a lot to really internalize everything. But you were incredibly concise and articulate in your explanation, and made it super easy to grasp, with fantastic examples. Thank you, sincerely!

Bill - many thanks. I've listened to a great variety of music from many cultures over the decades, but never really had a systematic exposure to the 'explanatory theory' of any. Your video really helps to pull lots of fragments together, in my head. I was amused by yr reference to 'rocket science' at the end - I did it for a living! And love theory - physics, math, music, anything - as it gives a structure and guide for understanding - and experimentation based on that. Better to choose to break a rule, than not even know it's there! Thanks again. I'll be back!

I just watched the video "ya" and I'd like to say brilliant job, and thank you.

Great explanation as always Bill. As mentioned by various others, your video addressed many issues I've been facing, thanks a bunch!

Thanks Bill! I've been trying to wrap my brain around substitutions for a while; this cleared it up so nicely. I've just stumbled across your channel, but I really look forward to watching more videos.

Before I have my cream of wheat in the morning, I wake up to Bill Hilton. Seriously, you’re more important than breakfast. Thanks for teaching me how music works.

You are brilliant. There has to be a part 2 for this video!

Thank you for the video! Please do more videos like this. This stuff is easy to understand once you are familiar with the function of basic chords. I might be at the moment at an intermediate-ish level of harmony and had never heard of secondary dominants or resolutions of diminished 7th. This video has straightforwardly enrichened my improvisation a lot. Please more vids at this level!!!

This guy is underrated! He is brilliant!

Holy smack, I've been doing this through trial and error since I started playing music but I never understood its theoretical underpinnings. I always thought of it as "jazz it up", along with randomly adding sevenths and ninths. This will save me a ton of time since I don't have to sit there randomly mashing chords anymore. Subbed! :)

appreciate your work mr. hilton

Wow, that was really useful, I was wondering for a while many things you explained, rlly appreciate your work Bill. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for the fundamental particle analogy. I was quite confused until you said that

Oh man...I’m gonna have to rewatch this a few times 😅 Love your accent, Bill!

Thanks so much for this tutorial! I am a music major/piano teacher but am classical and contemporary, no jazz. I start glazing over when playing with those who play by "ear" because I have no idea what they are doing, especially during a "jam" session. I do know about the blues riff and how it progresses but this explains all the other strange chords I've seen on a chord chart! I would love more videos about theory and composition. Hope to return to college some day and take those classes! I love teaching what I do know about theory to my students so they have a better foundation than I did!

This is amazing! Thank you. You are so eloquent in your description-very clear and build very carefully.

This video is EXACTLY what I've been searching for, thank you so so much!!

loved the way you explained this. Thanks Bill!

This video helped me soooo much. I've been searching for videos on non diatonic chord progressions for soo long.

This is absolutely amazing.

You are amazing Bill. I loved how you compared decondary dominants to temporary fundamental particles!

You're great! You explain music theory so well. Thank you! This helped me a lot.

Absolutely wonderful instructional video! Also, I finally understand tritone substitution. Thank you!

the diminished 7th part at 23:00 is nerve-racking, so much tension, hehe amazing lesson, such enlightening explanations. the way you call a chord progression a journey away from home and back again. and that a dominant chord is just the V and the vii put together. so many breakthroughs in my muddled theory knowledge. thank you!

This was exactly what I was searching for such a long time, thanks man🙏 great job👏👏

Fantastic lesson! some great new concepts to explore and very well explained.

I just subscribed to your channel simply because you explained the diminished seventh chord in a way I can understand. 😄 Looking forward to more of your theory- explained videos.

So much theory...new pianist... cannot handle... the power *head explodes* ;) Thanks for your vids.

this is the best explanation i've seen! thank you. I particularly liked the reference to virtual particles, this will surely make playing music more enjoyable.

Good talk...it takes me back to my music theory days with my best teacher.

Thanks Bill! Really appreciated this thorough deep explanation.

This is really really really great to listen to. Thanks so much. Diffusing the confusion!

Splendid! I enjoyed this one.

Dope lesson brah, way heavy with the 7 diminished sauce

Great explanation! Now I suddenly understand a lot of stuff and terms that I've heard about in some videos that analyze different pieces. I'm definitely going to try and improvise some chord progressions with the information I got here to better get it in my mind. This was just the video I was looking for :)

Great video. Very helpful!

Such an amazing lesson! Thank you so much for your generosity!

Nice, thorough, succinct, multiple interpretations. It's not my style of progression but I realise that wasn't the point - it was very educational and a tour-de-force of info.. I don't often add subscriptions but if this is the usual standard then I'm in! Great stuff.

I think these diminished and other "in-between" chords that I didn't understand when I was younger were what I began to call "transitional" chords. I first encountered them long ago in a Beatles song book and my simple mind simply said, "What on earth is that chord?", Playing it slow sounded out of tune because I was going so slow just learning the chord that I didn't understand its context. So I thought, "Well I won't be tackling that one" for my teen band and just stuck with "Gloria" etc. I think your great verbalization of their purpose really clarifies their use in a way that extends beyond music theory in a way that enlightens us musically by justifying their use in a way that perhaps is beyond music theory's capability to do so. You must be a genius. I'm a guitar player learning piano and have seen these chords more frequently in what I am learning for piano. Sometimes I do find it possible to eliminate some of these chords so I can make it simpler to play smoothly, especially if there are other instruments or vocals I'm playing with.. They seem to really shine the most for solo performances like Joe Pass' jazz guitar tunes because solo music can get boring to me really fast if there's not something very special going on. But playing pieces with these chords demands that you play them flawlessly otherwise it can really be awful sounding.

Outstanding. Thanks Bill. Well done.

This was fantastically helpful in numerous places. Thank you!

Thanks for another great video. I find myself moving back and forth from these and guitar videos and finding something useful in both. One trick I believe will help me step into other keys easier is using WWHWWWH to find the right notes I need in a major key. Next stop, Key of D. I believe the composer Andrew Zimmer said he writes in D.

I learned sooo much from this lesson! Wish I could thumbs up 100x. Thank you sir!

My brain is fried lol This tutorial is amazing, I play guitar and new to piano but It has really helped my understand why I was doing various chord progressions on the guitar just happening naturally. I am so glad I have found you. Thanks John

Over my head - for the moment. I am still getting my brain and fingers to work together... Great share.

Now this was truly good.

I really like it. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much for explanation! This gave me a lot!

Bill, I really appreciate that you made this video. It inspired me to look deeper into different kinds of chord progressions because I like to label what the chord progressions are in my fake book songs that I'm learning, in order to memorize and understand them better. Also, I'd like to be able to alter and/or substitute chords in those songs as well and it will help me with that too!

Thanks a lot!!! Really helpful stuff and you're a genuinely funny guy as well! Keep it up!

Thank you so much.....no one explained this better than you and those progressions where soo meltingg✨✨

Thanks for this! A super helpful refresher... it's been a while since my college theory days. I LOVE THIS STUFF! If you have more in depth theory tutorials, I'm looking for that!

Awesome video man helped a lot

Bill, you are addressing the EXACT questions I've had the last few months. THANK YOU!

i've been out of music education for a few years now and this was fantastic to help me reunderstand everything!

That progression sounds like it could make a good Christmas carol .

Thank you Bill. Your videos are great!

Great video. You did a great job explaining all that.

Totally didn't a physics analogy when watching a music theory video, but it was radical. I appreciate the fact that you are treating theory proper, and not as something that isn't "cool" or "fun" to learn,

Thank you so much for this i actually play guitar but this made me consider a lot of other aspects to apply on soloing and chord progression

Thank you for mentioning that although theory is a mind opener, what's important first is the spontaneous character of the composition /musical performance. This point is often forgotten by theorists ;) great and complete lesson thanks!

Very helpful tutorial! Well done

Man this has been SO useful. One of my favorites album is "Euphoria Mourning" by Chris Cornell, which was written along with two great musicians as Alain Johannes (guitar) and Natasha Schneider (keys). In that album there is a lot of this "freak chords". I have learned to play most of the album, but never knew why or how these chords were put in there. This gives a very good explanation. Thank you very much for your time. Is there any other of your videos referred to this topic? Already subscribed to your channel. Thanks.

Just finished watching this tutorial. Wow, man. AMAZING, you rock! I’m 13 and I don’t have much musical theory knowledge, most stuff I’ve done is just from ear and it’s pretty basic compared to your compositions, man! You rock! And to tell you that I’ve really only watched your other video on basic piano chords last night AND this one tonight, and I understood them all! You’re a WONDERFUL teacher! And yeah, they’re both like 20 minutes long, but I maybe took some easy 1-2 hours learning each. It’s totally worth it. May this be an example for those who want to achieve something but don’t feel like working for it. And yeah, I’ll be definitely be buying your book soon! 👍🏻💪🏼🤙🏼 🎹

Sir your tutorials are really well and very easy to understand. I am getting better in playing jazz chords and progressions only by learning from your videos... Sir keep uploading videos on some bebop progressions and more jazz chords...

I was literally thinking that thing about particle physics a moment before you said it! :D

Superbly explained! Thank you!

Very clear and informative.... Thank you!

Loved this .. thank you x

this man said "give me 29 minutes and I'll make music theory make more sense to you than any of your teachers did"

24:10 gave me a good laugh. “Well yeah, you can say THAT again.”

Thank you for this video. Really great!

23.04 to 23.28 is a lady being tied to train tracks by a man with a black cape and moustache in an old movie

This is exactly what I need thank you! Subscribed.

This video was awesome thanks for sharing your talent

get em bill! awesome!

Each RU-vid video on chords has it's way of highlighting certain points. Bill, yours is great to cover from basic to 'colourful' chords. Colour is the term and reason I would say is why we go boldly [and often too briefly] into another dimension or key, mode etc. Using the simplest chord progressions can sound 'bland'. 'Vanilla' - another term I like. I replayed section. You mentioned the leading note [US-tone] from B into C. Yes, because of the great invention of the equal-tempered piano keyboard, I find it similar as to how you say it, our hands will naturally find pleasing note combinations on the keyboard, as with the In a friend's music studio many years ago, I was drawn to the language used to describe musical phenomena between the composer and the sound engineer. That was more about 'texture'. Things could be 'muddy', or 'too thin'. In musical composition - as well as with chords - I'm learning to be more 'Japanese' and leaving out what isn't needed. With Oliver Prehn's RU-vid video, I was astounded that chords could even be 'rootless'. This RU-vid has been really helpful in integrating some concepts that make more sense when explained in one video. Thanks.

Super well explaned!