How CORY HENRY Crafts a SOLO (Snarky Puppy LINGUS) 

One more thing to add to this solo analysis - harmonically, melodically and timbrally I always felt it's influenced by the choices Chick Corea would make, especially in the tune Song to the Pharoah Kings. Snarky Puppy is basically millennial Return to Forever with more horns. Great video!

Lol, that moment when you're watching a youtube video and your own comment from two years ago is quoted at the end! Great video David!

Two years ago i attend to a Q&A with Cory and he said that this wasnt his favorite take of lingus solo (of other 3 takes), imagine that!

That freeze frame of Corey's face right around 1:36! That's my favorite face ever made by any human being anywhere, ever. I was so psyched to see that you froze that face. So worthy of it.

“What do you want to be when you get big?” “I’m gonna eat my food!” Already thinking like a true jazz musician. Mainly focused on just making it to his next meal.

is no one gonna talk about that cute clip at the end? Cory’s really eating his food now ❤️

11:19 THE _L I C C_ _wait, wrong channel_

I know everyone has their own “requests” of video topics, so here’s mine: Whatever you find interesting at a given moment.

Wow he was literally a child prodigy, very cool! I think Larnell Lewis was playing Drums from a similar age. I'd imagine most of Snarky Puppy were very capable musicians by the time they hit double digits in age. Massive props

This is the song that made me fall in love with Snarky Puppy

Thoroughly enjoyed your analysis. I majored in Jazz Theory and Composition, and have transcribed many solos too, and followed them up with the analysis, and you nailed the details. a simpler way to break it down is just the standard jazz improvisation technique known as "inside|outside" for the purpose of tension|release The E minor/pentatonic/blues material is the inside, so it can start or finish the phrase in a cozy or familiar way that eases the tension every other technique is just his way of going outside to create tension, before releasing the tension with another inside scale. It almost doesn't matter if the outside is quartal, chromatic, phrygian, diminished or whatever, it's there for tension, so he can just endlessly toy with our emotions by how long he stays outside versus how often he lets us off the rollercoaster to go back inside. The structural stuff is there to build energy, and golden mean proportions tell us about 2/3 is where you want to peak, then you descend back to the normal flow and it seems like you performed a magic trick, but its all premeditated at the macro level. His technique is so virtuosic, that he can zoom out, read the crowd, and hype them up, scare them, and then delight them at will with his choices of when to change up the structure. Chick Corea does tons of this with Minimoog solos across his career. I do however love this particular solo. My favorite part is how the other keyboardist is both loving it, and dismayed simultaneously in his reactions. I understand and concur.

Lingus was one day randomly recommended to me by youtube and, after listening to two other tracks, I just had to buy the album. This is one of the rare occassions that I have to thank the youtube algorithm!

I’m sorry. But mini Cory Henry is so friggen adorable I can’t believe it

The drumming on this piece is outstanding as well. I love Lingus😋

Amazing video, thank you!!! 😊

See, the real trick is in the beginning when he looks up all dreamy. That's when the lord came down just for him to show him some sheet music he was working on. Kidding aside, the fact that he was able to pull something like this of with so much passion is great! The only one that could explain the madness is a calm British man :)

Watching little 4 year old Cory playing makes me believe that God put music in this man. His soul just shines through those keys.

This is one of the most important videos of our times.

I love how this is going down in history as the solo of a whole generation of musicians (not just keyboard players).

I clicked so damn fast. I love the respect you give jazz musicians. A lot of us have chips on our shoulders from the blatant disrespect we’ve received from the classical world.

Love this analysis. I like that you mention some of the pre-explored and semi composed passages in the solo. I was in the audience for this recording and he had been working on this solo over the course of the session taking some of the best bits. When it all came together you could see how happy he was.

Thank you for analyzing this piece. I love Snarky Puppy, too, so that made it all the more enjoyable. Also, I think Cory summed up the true aspirations of all musicians when he answered the question about what he wanted when he grew up; 'I want to eat my food'; yep! we all just want to eat. Love it!

i was intending to transcribe and analyze that solo (mostly for that block chords thing) but i kept postponing it for weeks, due to laziness... I would rather watch my favorite RU-vidrs than doing some serious work on my own. Than, one day, just like that, this video showed up and solved that for me. It's a win-win... So, thank you dearly.

Another thing I noticed is that the notes DGAB, often replacing D with E, seems to be an important motif that he comes back to frequently. It's in the top voice of the very first thing he plays, and he often plays them at significant places like around the turnaround. He also gives that big excited smile when he plays it at 7:55 in the original. Timestamps below are all referencing the original video. DGAB 4:23 GABD 4:41 BAGE 4:59 BAGE 6:03 DGAB 6:17 BAGE 6:19 BAGD 7:55 BAGE 8:11

7:24 Hearing this out of context sounds like I'm In The Mood For Love! The line "simply because you're near me."

I got into RU-vid some years ago. I liked jazz and funk etc but hadn't listend to much for a while. As time went on I explored the music I liked and the bands that I saw in my 20s. I remember looking for a bassist called Dil Katz who was in every second band I saw in the 80/90s. Scotts Bass Lessons appereared in my feed, this led to Adam Neely and Rick Beato and then to Michael League and thence to Snarky Puppy. Sometimes the algorithm does GOOD STUFF!

Really interesting analysis, thanks. One thing though is you missed to incorporate the gospel background of Henry in your analysis, the core of his sense of harmony. This is where a standard jazz approach cannot find proper convenient explanation. All the intro section is a good demonstration of the gospel harmonic thinking. And it is very interesting. Look for "gospel reharm" and "walkups", these musicians can do very amazing things.

Awesome! More of these types of videos! I think the de-mystifying of the playing of masters prevents people from going "welp....I'll never be able to do that." Good stuff my dude.

I love that you don't just explain what is going on but why. The structure, the principles and the stacked 3rds and 4ths and where the phrases come from - Peterson, Hancock, Corea - the modal feels, the chromatic movement. Also how he's clearly taken phrases and chunks of harmony and notes he's clearly worked out before and pulls them in to such great effect. Thank you for your analysis.

Fantastic idea for a video and masterfully executed 🙏🎹👍🏻

how damn singable the whole thing is is also important to note, i remember every note of this incredibly complex solo, not because i have a good memory, but because its so memorable

This is the only video I've watched that actually gives a reasonable explanation to this solo and his approach to improvising. Thank so much.

David that was EXCELLENT. You took what was obviously very beautiful and artistic and explained it very thoroughly. I am a jazz pianist/private educator/arranger. When I 1st heard that solo it blew me away. I literally just took it for what it was and could barely comprehend anything about it. I only knew in fact that I loved it. I've learned in college that if it sounds good, that there is always hard theory underneath to support the sound. I just didn't have much of a clue until watching your EXCELLENT video. I'm 64 years of age and originally a voice major when I was much younger. Went back to college in my 40's and majored in Jazz piano performance so I'm relatively new. Whenever I'm teaching I always tell my students there are 3 stages to learning a concept, lick, solo, song, progression, etc. 1. I don't know what you're doing and I can't do it. 2. I know what you're doing, but I can't do it. 3. I know what you're doing and I can do it. Thanks to you, I'm now closer to stage 2, whereas though I loved what I was hearing before, I was certainly at stage 1. Thank you. You have a new subscriber and a thumbs up from me for sure. Peace to you.

*CAN'T BELIEVE YOU MADE A VIDEO ON SNARKY PUPPY. MORE SNARKY PUPPY PLEASE!*

You have this child-like and joyous approach to music as well as (it goes without saying) a deep understanding of theory and your videos are always refreshing, keep up the great work.

Those “sliding chromatic chords” are used by gospel musicians every Sunday at church lol

This solo is a landmark....I have held it in awe since my first(of many!) listens! Not to mention the solo sound used on the Korg!

This is one of the great keyboard solos in the history of jazz if you ask me. I can only listen to it every few months - too devastatingly amazing... Fun to hear it "explained" but it does go well beyond a logical dissection:) Love it.

Thanks for the shot of Cory playing at 4 years old. Reminded me of Amadeus. I would have to guess his technique has much to do with being a prodigy and playing constantly. Also as you say building into his brain and muscle memory a catalog of what be enjoys and finally having a great ear and friends to play with.

This is really awesome! I love being surprised by the topics you choose to make videos about.

Thanks for this David. Incredible video about an incredible track.

This video is incredible. It's amazing not only to see a very well-done transcription of this rollercoaster of a solo, but also explanations on how it "worked." Thank you David!

I can't stop watching that solo, thanks for breaking it down. Awesome job!

superb! as always

Your explanation of the chromatic chordal movement in Cory's solo was so illuminating. Thank you so much for breaking that down!

I don’t know if he’ll ever top this moment. Magic moment.

This provides a much more practical approach to understanding a solo. Thanks Dave!

You know what a brilliant piece of music this is ,when people who are technically wise to what he was doing and then the people who have no idea what he did technically 🤔, we just know it sounds freaking awesome and we Love it!!🙂👍

Solid analysis of an instant classic. I love the visual cues within the score as well as not overly explaining the theory - enough to grasp the concept, but leaving enough there for the student to wander through. Great approach.

I watch joyfully your videos even though I know almost nothing about music theory. Great work!

Wow, this was so much helpful jazz knowledge for a lazy pianist like me. Already knew about the quart chords but have to try these block chords in the maj bebop scale. Thank you a lot David!

Excellent vid, David! The insight and depth of analysis makes it such an interesting watch

This video is excellent! You have a real knack for knowing which information is important to the essence of a piece of music, and that comes through in this superb breakdown of a solo that leaves a lot of people (me included) a little dumbfounded on where to begin understanding it. Loved this style of video, going through a specific piece of music and talking about what makes it tick, and I would definitely want to see more of this kind of thing from you on any music you find fascinating!

Great video , I love watching people breakdown this marvellous solo with their own interpretation

I've watched this three or four times now, it's definitely my favourite video by you and I think it's one of your best so far.

Great video! I appreciate the citations and homages to other's work (transcriptions, related work, etc.). Feels very academic and respectful.

This is definitely the best analysis of this solo, if not any solo I've ever seen. Thanks!

This is really a well stated and fantastic technical explanation of Henry's playing. I've been mesmerized by the incredible musicianship he provides for this piece, and it's wonderful to see/hear it dissected into such root formulations. Well done, sir. Well done!

I love these analyses, they really open up new possibilities in my playing. Thank you for your fantastic channel

My new favorite channel. Great analysis!

Really appreciate the effort to deconstruct one of my current favourite solos, but also your video production! Takes huge amounts of time so thanks for saving me a bucket load of it! More of this, particularly any Chick Corea!! :)

LOVE Snarky Puppy! This is the song that introduced me to them. It’s incredible!

Your musical videos are top-notch. This one is fascinating. Thank you so much - it is enriching my life!

Thank you for covering my favorite improvisor of all time

David Bruce: "I hear what you've done there". This is pure gold.

I remember my general music teacher and the jazz director showing my class Lingus, I loved it from the very beginning, and this was 7 yeas ago!

9:27-9:38 blew my mind! This is an amazing explanation of everything!

Excellent Interpretation and breakdown. Excellent. Gives what sounds complex clarity with patterns of harmonies with intervals that capture quartal harmonies that exchange simplistic chromatic combos. Dave, your ear is pristine. Cheers!

Great analysis! Love it! I have seen a few analysis' of his solo, but in my honest opinion, your analysis gives the most meaning. Thanks for the great content.

In awe of your transcription skills.

I'm speechless this is amazing omg

Thank you so much. Very enlightening! Now I know a bit better why I was overwhelmed after first listening to Lingus, and particularly Cory Henry’s solo. And I am still bedazzled every time I listen to it.

David Bruce, I could watch your videos even if they were five times as long. AWESOME!

Thank you, i'd almost forgotten about this masterpiece solo !

thank you so much for your very clear and intelligent explanation David Bruce. Very informative!

Thank you Mr. Bruce. This analysis expanded my mind.

Our Hats off..That's the right way to learn to love music.When structure detail, harmony are showed in this way in the other hand you could just only be attracted and motived to understand how it is done. Simply GREAT !!

Awesome, just awesome! Thank you!

What a brilliant video! Thanks a lot!

Brilliant work, as always. Thank you David :D

Best video on this solo BY FAR

Yes, thanks for this amazing analysis!

Excellent analysis, thank you for sharing.

I’m working on learning this solo currently but not on a piano, and can’t play the full chords. This is amazing stuff, and helps fill in gaps for me! Thank you so much!!!

Thanks David, thanks so much. Awesome analysis. I too am a jazz pianist. I've known for a long time in a general sense as most jazz musicians do that if some thing sounds good/cool there is always underlying theory within in it. With that blazing solo of Cory' s though I only knew this in a most general sense. But now, thanks to you I now understand more about his solo in a specific sense. As a private music educator myself that means quite a lot to me. thanks again, and extremely well done.

Great analysis! Surely this must be one of the greatest solos in jazz ever?!

Was just waiting for one of you youtube music nerds to analysis this solo, and this song. I've been psyched about this song and that solo for months! Even played it on a music quiz. Nobody got it!

Excellent analysis! I'm having fun working through some of the things you pointed out (Major Bebop chord scale for example.. AMAZING!). Thanks =D

you're truly one of the best music channel out there

Amazing! Any Robert Glasper solo would be great. Cheers!

Amazing video! Thanks for that one

Excellently excellent.

Great video! Thanks, David!

I don't know who were crazier... Henry by being able to play that or you by killing on your mind boggling explanation. Amazing work! Keep it up

Thank You. You are both amazing.

Wow Just learning Piano and CH inspired me to keep practising. I am going to have to watch this video many times to get all the good info out of it ... cheers for the knowledge !!!

I'm so grateful that you exist.

Is this especially for me David, my favourite band of all time you know, I hope Cory keeps playing with them! The technical stuff is way beyond me but I like the idea that when he is performing he is in the moment... the homework was done beforehand. All the best D

loved this

Thank you very much. This video is also kind of historic in it's own way. I feel much more in contact with the solo now. And I think a lot more rational about it now. Thank you, David.