I find it so impressive when people are able to just play shit. I think too much I'd never be able to just sit there and play which is one of the many reasons why you're becoming one of my favorite people to watch. Not only is your personality and humor addictive, but watching you sight read or just go off a theme is hypnotic.
I'm helping write a musical right now, and it's pretty similar. The entire plot of the musical is focused on the young prince of this underground world, and so his theme comes up pretty freaking often, and since I'm writing the orchestrations and co-writing the lyrics with the composer, I decided to take Wagner's approach to themes and give each theme to a specific instrument, so the young prince's theme is almost always played by a glockenspiel. The prince as an adult and the queen have very similar themes that you can actually play together that gives the end of their themes a very nice harmony, which signifies their closeness (also the queen's theme, or just anything she has, is usually played on an oboe). However, while the king's theme is also of a similar nature, if you try to play it at the same time as the adult prince's and queen's themes, it's rather unpleasant, as the notes and chords don't line up, showing how the king wasn't close with his son, who ended up passing away before he could teach him the ways of being a king, and his wife, who left him for being a dictator (his theme is played on a bassoon). There's lots of other examples, but it's really fascinating to see the royal family in this. I freaking love this show.
I know you've said that you don't particularly enjoy the simpler musicality of Hamilton, but have you noticed the themes of the characters within the music? It's not as complex as Sondheim or the older composers, but it's present. Also, Next to Normal is fucking brilliant and needs more recognition.
Sondheim IS Lin-Manuel Miranda's mentor. Lin worked with Sondheim to adapt lyrics for the Spanish version of West Side Story, so it's pretty much guaranteed that he learned those tricks from the legend himself.
I feel like I'm listening to a high-end musical professor in college. There's not a lot on RU-vid about how to write a musical, but this was exactly what I was looking for! Thanks!
excuse me while I learn more from you than any of my former music teachers. I listened to Something Rotten on your recommendation and haven't heard a smarter musical in years. I loved the incorporation of themes and references from other musicals in 'A Musical'! :)
I love for this kind of video! This is the reason Music History and Music Theory were my favorite classes in music school! Hearing how themes show up in operas and musicals are my favorite things ever. Please do more like this!
Listen I know that you hate Hamilton and such but Lin does a lot of the musical theme stuff that you are talking about throughout the play, such as Angelica's theme played first at the beggining of "Satisfied"
I would actually bloody love to hear/perform/see a musical you write. Because the short clips of you improving songs are incredible you’re so talented.
Yes!! I love Sondheim!! What's a really cool show to me is Preludes by Dave Malloy. Malloy is recently famous for Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812, and I like Great Comet a lot, but honestly Preludes is just as good if not better. It's based on the life and work of Sergei Rachmaninoff, and where Malloy really comes through is that his theme for the show is Rachmaninoff's composiitons. Basically all of the music is Rachmaninoff's, appropriated and set to lyrics by Malloy. It really pays homage to the man himself while also honestly telling the story of his three-year depression following the debut of his first symphony. A lot of the cast recording is just dialogue set over Rachmaninoff's compositions while other parts (like The First Symphony and Lilacs) involve a lot more singing. Either way, it stays true to the source material and provides this really cool outlook on classical composition. God! I love Preludes! I'll plug it basically any chance I can get, and I can't do it justice.
I don't know if you've seen the series on Sweeney Todd from Into The Hoods youtube channel, but he covers much of the same thing. What a phenomenally crafted musical, and my absolute favorite.
I love this video so much! I related a lot to your bursts of “IT’S GENIUS, IT’S AMAZING” because if that isn’t me, I don’t know what is. It’s what I love about musicals, they’re so thought-out, all the themes and motifs and underlying countermelodies and reprises, it’s genius. I love how musical composers are just able to translate drama into music. It’s the same with movie scores, you know that something is an action scene, that something is an emotional scene, a happy scene, a where-all-shit-hits-the-fan scene, etc. You can tell all of that just by listening to the score alone. But what I want to know is HOW to do that 😂
I have never seen someone swear so much in a video about music XD This was fantastic, though, and also hilarious, but very educational at the same time
I'm ALL about this! Rotational thematic organization in particular is what I liiiiiiive for. I come from an operatic background, which is full of this. I was just in Suor Angelica by Puccini and the musical themes in it are soooo genius and they are used perfectly at just the right moments. There's a beautiful mix of gorgeous legato lines and really biting and downright scary music depending on the character and the situation. Suor Angelica's big aria Senza mamma brilliantly displays a few of the big themes you hear throughout the opera in many forms. In one case, the theme is introduced fast in a moment of agitation by another character interacting with Suor Angelica and Suor Angelica brings the theme back in the aria half speed in a moment of longing. Or how about (spoiler alert) during her death how she's going through suuuuch a struggle because she's killed herself to be with her dead son, but she realizes that in killing herself she's committed a sin and will never see her son and she laments and laments (while the prayers from the beginning of the opera by the chorus return behind her, but the chords clash what she's singing) but then... ah, I won't spoil it. But anyway, this opera is SO CLEVER! I could talk about Suor Angelica forever, it is so underrated and deserves so much more love. Also Gershwin does a lot of this in Rhapsody in Blue, Porgy and Bess, the list goes on and on. Awesome video! I don't know Sweeney Todd very well, only a few songs here and there, I've never listened to the whole thing or have seen it live, so it was really cool to see you point out Sondheim's structure of the thematic material and using themes in different ways throughout the work, makes me wanna listen to the whole thing now! So so cool.
Thank you for sharing! You are so intense and hilarious! I too think that music should be visual without the words. l've been working on a musical...gettng bits and pieces....I definitely NEED HELP!!
Ask and you shall receive apparently. Thank you so much for uploading this! I'm out of compositional shape thanks to a two year break (long story) and you just reminded me of all the options available to me with thematic writing and from outside sources. Music is so much easier to write (and often times better) when starting from some kind of source. Also, by the way, loved listening to your EP, I'm glad RU-vid's algorithm finally brought me to a channel I like!
Recently I watched your Carrie the musical reaction, and this video reminded me so much of it. Like, I agree, Carrie should have all these themes and chords and shit that just gives you chills and just, yeah, it's just in your face like you said, not those super sweet songs that sound just like every other broadway show out there right now. Just, imagine Carrie the musical with the examples you just gave! It would be fantastic!
Hi Kevin , I’m Jackie.... and I loved your videos. So, I have written 2 musicals ( meaning songs and script) but since I don’t play an instrument I just have all the words sitting with no music to some and to other songs the music is in my head....please tell me how I can put music to all these songs down on paper🤪🤪..... any bunch of notes that go together or easy chord progressions???
God damn get it. Also, Next to Normal. I could talk about that god damned musical for ages. Such a well thought out video, obvious dedication and passion put into what you obviously love. SO good.
Dude you're fuckin amazing you're brilliant on the piano and I appreciate your opinion on musical theater and things like this. I absolutely love Sondheim
YES. Next To Normal is amazing. Should have ran longer! Been praying for it to come to London. What do you think about the Broadway staples: Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, et al?
Not sure if anyone has said it before but,He reminds me a lot of "James the angry video game nerd", with a bit of "Tyler Mount" (the way he says "Bye-ee!"It's "Kevin, the angry musical theatre nerd!"
I've always really admired the fluidity and almost conversational feeling of Bill Finn's music and how it compliments the same aspects in his writing style. I was wondering, what do you think of his work?
Hey, Kev, ever heard of The Drowsy Chaperone? came out late 2000s on broadway and I personally find it a great show. It makes fun of musical theater a lot too, but in a clever way, and it's got what I consider to be some pretty good music. If you haven't heard it, give it a listen
There's more to it than that too, the beggar woman's theme is the same as the minuet when his wife goes to judge turpin's house, also when he's singing in epiphany, it's meant to show him going insane by playing the same theme for killing everyone as the theme for him seeing johanna again.
Jeez!! You're my inspiration!! I would love to write music, but I need to learn an instrument (piano) and some basic chords... sadly,,, i suck. You give me inspiration though! Thank you!!
Dude, you're awesome. I have tons of questions, and would love to pick your mind. You're (from the videos I've seen) super talented and super smart. (I'm subscribing nonetheless) but seriously, I would love to ask you some questions, especially about themes- I have a love/hate relationship with musicals. They all sound the same. I hate them and love the weird ones for that reason. Rambling done. *awkward shrug*
I'm a composer myself (at the age of 15) and I just finished watching the anthem of the heart... Now I suggested my friend and composer that we could write a musical.... Do you think it's a good idea?
I'd really like to hear your thoughts on 'The Great Comet of 1812'. I've only been able to listen to the cast recording but I've really enjoyed it so far!
See I have a love hate relationship with themes, because I can usually pick them out real well. And when I do, the music just starts getting boring and repetitive to me. However, I do agree it is GENIUS to be able to do something like that and connect the story to what is happening in that exact moment.
I love this video and I love the thing about “in your face.” Gershwin said, "I'd like my compositions to be so vital that I'd be required by law to dispense sedatives with each score sold."
It's been my dream to star in a musical film with my family ever since I was 5 years old. I have always loved the vintage style kind. When I was 12 years old, when my baby brother Jeremiah was just born, I thought of doing a family musical film just like The Sound Of Music since there are 7 Duggan children and The Sound Of Music people also have 7 children. When I first saw that movie when I was 5 years old, Daddy said, "wow. 7 children. We probably won't have 7 children." But he was wrong. Now Mommy and Daddy have 7 children. Me and all of my 6 little brothers. Yes. Ages 22, 19, 17, 16, 14, 12, and 10.
I was about to change channel after he played with the banana cuz i thought he was joking, i'm like "oh just another dumb video from a bored person" Hell no. So glad i watched till the end. So talented! Thank you, very helpful tips!
I'm playing in the pit for our high school production of Legally Blonde, and I just wanted to hear your opinion on that musical. It's really predictable as a story, but the music is just so much fun to play (at least for guitar)
What do you think of Heathers (or movie to musical adaptations in general)? I'm wanting to write a musical based on a book/movie (that I'm not going to mention because 1] I don't want anyone to take the idea 2] you might think it's dumb) and am really inspired by how Heathers was turned into a musical. I would want to put a lot of reoccuring themes in the musical I'm thinking about but I'm not much of a musical composer, more of a director/plot structure/writing person. Do you think that it's trashy or weak to take a fairly popular late 90s movie and a less know mid 90s book? Is there a song structure formula to when/where/WHAT a song should be (like the I Want song goes HERE and the villain motif goes HERE, and the reprise goes HERE, and the intermission quartet smashing of all the themes together goes right before the intermission HERE, etc.)?
Agree with most of the stuff in this video but something was bothering me the whole time, you called it a theme to do with character or idea... the word your looking for is “leitmotif” it means a musical idea tied to a character or place or thing or whatever, and in fact it originated in theatre, so yeah
For my senior project in humanities I have to "learn a new skill". Am I absolutely crazy to think I can write a 15-20 minute musical in 8 months? Especially since my knowledge of music theory is...limited?
