jacob collier visited Stavanger recently and he had this masterclass and im sorry for the quality and filming, it was just meant to rewatch on a facebook livestream later.
His understanding of music is so intuitive and experiential and it resonates on a fundamental level for him like language. He speaks in music and is trying to show us how he speaks but I think the real gift he offers is we get to listen to him speak in music.
How I understand the "Georgia On My Mind" (10:50 - 25:00) part is this: - The home key, G major, is the introduction of a nostalgic memory, the song's namesake, Georgia. It starts the story. - The B7 chord is stating the sadness felt from being away from the place. - E minor is the elaboration of why the person feels homesick about the place. - D | C | C# min is the turning of the singer's emotions to a more hopeful outlook. - G | F# min | E | D | C | A back to G is the realization that home isn't far away from the heart even though they may be physically far away and that things will be okay in the end. The part after this where he talks about the writing in steps part for the bassline in the song is great bc looking at what he did to the main melody line right after that, going up with the notes, playing those at the same time emphasizes the feeling of deep separation and longing the singer feels when they wrote this (Ray Charles in this case) as the bassline is getting darker in feel at the same time as the melody is getting brighter in feel. What a great thing!!! *Chords listed loosely follow general popular arrangements of this song not the extended chords version Jacob uses in this video.
Part of creation and improvisation is being unattached to what comes out. That's the only way to truly, freely improvise, and get the most out of your personal voice.
So I don't have as much formal theory training as he does but what he says about the "Georgia On My Mind" part makes a LOT of sense omg! I have synesthesia so I can perceive what he's doing with the chords and understand it that way, whereas he attended jazz school and understands it more on an academic level. I also love the part about the audience singing the D note and going up a semitone each time he says to...That part gave me chills bc * wow * is that an effective songwriting device, not to mention the colors I get from that!!! This is a really cool video. Thanks for sharing! :D
axeslinger94 Hey man , I totally agree on the way youve taken this video and learnt from it.. For me , the part with the D note (which you spoke about ) held as a constant , is one of the most beautiful things ever. I've always been inclined to descend chromatically from the 5th so this has opened a new gateway for me (and my ears!) anyways, Peace man hahah wow music is life
So great he is getting just intonation and microtones out there - you have musicians who don't know about this stuff which is crazy when you think of it.
How does he arrive at G half sharp? I know that a just interval of a major 3rd is 14 cents flatter than equal tempered. Not sure which key he began in, was he in F? Then he could use the major 3rd (A) but in just intonation (A minus 14 cents), and then keep the rest of the piece 14 cents flat until returning to equal tempered tuning? Quite clever however he arrived at it.
First, he plays the E major and B major combined, on top of the A major chord. The B major is on top in first inversion (I think the voicing is B, E, F#, G#, B, D#, F#, G#, B from bottom to top). This represents the bright side of the cycle of fifths, viewed from A. The he changes it to the dark side, so instead of E major and B major, he plays D major and G major. Here, D major is on top in root position (I think I heard D, E, G, A, B, D, F#, A from bottom to top)
What does he mean when he says that E is a "bright" key because it has 4 sharps and F is a "dark" key because it has 1 flat? I would think that in equal temperament no note or key would have an intrinsic, objective feeling or property, and that brightness and flatness are relative terms. So how is E brighter than F?
Ethan Starr He makes the point later that we can only say that kind of thing in context. In this particular example, if you're starting at F, E is 5 steps up the circle of fifths. That said, I also think he must havr a tendency to hear C as being the neutral key to which other keys are compared, which I think must be a subconcious thing that's borne out of our tendency to treat C as the standard key in music education. But that's just speculation on my part.
Bebopopotamus are you telling me I don't have a right to complain about a publicly posted video? I'm offering input. Hopefully the OP will flip his/her way gone the right way next time.
Now _that's_ how music theory and composition lessons should look like! (Or should I say, sound like? :q ) Shame on you, music schools! If you can't do what this dude does, you simply suck at teaching and you should be banned from doing so, for the sake of your students' mental health :P Because I learnt more about composition from this short video than for several years of traditional way of learning :P
Well, if you think you can do a better harmony lessons than this dude (and better still than my crappy music teachers), then go on, make your own video instead of throwing your crap at people who enjoy this video. Be civil. And do something useful for a change.
