Pat Metheny Group First Circle: The Rhythmic Pattern 

One of the best musical compositions of the last 50 years.

I’ve always considered “First Circle” to be the most satisfying and complete composition I have ever encountered. And as a percussionist, the rhythmic layering and complexity is so addictive.

..i still cant clap along with the intro!!

Talking about the rhythmic pattern (with its unusual 11/8 time signature), one of the things that makes it so legendary to me is that the hand-clapping at the beginning (and so the whole tune) starts with a pause, so you are "fooled" by the hand-clapping that the weak beat is the strong one, and vice-versa. So, when the "single note melody" played by Pat on the guitar starts on the true first/strong beat, followed by Pedro's singing the main melody, the whole thing seems to become a totally different pattern! This has a truly displacing and somewhat mesmerizing effect, which makes it very difficult to follow or learn for the untrained ear (like mine...), and at the same time so fascinating to listen to. The same happens with the Lyle's melody over the Pat's solo, I think, and again on the hand-clapping at the end (which makes one end up with his hands hanging idle, cause the tune actually ends before he can clap for the last time! :D) (Ah, I forgot: thank you so much for sharing!)

Fascinating, I could watch Dr Guy all day!

R.I.P Lyle......

This has become my favorite song of all time. I tear up at the end every time I listen to it. I am 74.

In P.M. music I feel a constant sense of tension (where I am? where are we heading to?) and then resolution (oh I'm back home...which isn't the one I used to be before). This is what I like besides technical (but useful) considerations... First Circle is an amazing composition....but I like also the "easier" Last Train Home...and "Close to Home" (by Lyle Mays)... It is no accident that I have used the noun "home" lots of times here...this music sounds to me like a JOURNEY to WHAT WE ARE...to WHERE we belong to...

Beautifully explained and beautifully played.

I hear Pedro Aznar singing over this :)

I first heard this song and thought Pat Metheny was our Mozart! I still think this every time I hear this song. Very nicely explained (in both videos)!!

For years I cracked my head trying to figure out this song!!! My all time favorite Metheny song. Thanks for the video.

Enjoyed this very much!

Guy, This popped up in my feed today. One man cover of First Circle. Very enjoyable.

Holy smokes that demonstration is awesome. Thank you. Brilliant. Any age. Music lives. Peace.

I love this tune!!! Want to hear the chord progression over and over again.

Thank so much sir to make Pat and Lyle's music that inspired us through the years with deep emotions so easy to understand .

I like this song more after this lecture! Thank you.

PM has no peer when it comes to sense of melody, body of work, tenure, curiosity, virtuosity, and whatever else it is that made him the most important musical genius of our time.

In the 1970s I watched the Norton-Harvard lectures by Leonard Bernstein on PBS. Although I was not a musician, I thoroughly enjoyed them. Your musical analysis of Pat Metheny/Lyle Mays First Circle reminded me of portions of those lectures especially the lecture where Mr. Bernstein analyses sections of Igor Stravinsky’s Right of Spring. Thank you for sharing your insightful analysis. I can tell you enjoy teaching.

I have been in love with this piece for a long time. Yes, the piece is in 11/8. This can be seen in Pat's book of compositions. It starts on the &1 not 1. The explanation given in this video is really interesting to me. It does come out to 22 pulses. However its writen as the 8th note getting one so, count half as fast.

Pat Metheny and Jerry Goldsmith working together....never knew, but makes it even more awesome!

That is some serious music right there. I always love your playing Guy, and hearing you explain it is like a drink of water in the desert. So impressive. Perhaps it's because on one hand I don't know one damn thing about music, but on the other hand something in me knows everything about music as I am passionate about what I like and what sounds good to me. PMG hits that nerve every time. After 40 yrs it still sounds fresh and current. Thanks Guy!

Amazing! thank you for this!

This is pure gold. Instant subscribe. That parallel to Close to You was something I always felt but could never explain - until now.

Thanks so much for this brilliant analysis especially your thoughts about the alternative progressions that Pat chose not to use! Each time he seemed to have taken the "road less travelled". It's the progressions he uses that makes this piece so interesting to listen to. However, there is a name missing from this analysis and that is Lyle Mays. Do you think It's Lyle who has composed these progressions because they seem for me to fall more in the sphere of the piano rather than the guitar and also they seem very typical of Lyle's compositional approach. Listening to the PMG live on a number of occasions you can hear these in Lyle's solo's with the group. BUT having said that what it is so clear is that it is the combination of these two brilliant musicians is a synergy that is quite exceptional. I am revisiting Pat and Lyle's work after some years of listening to other musicians and find it still exceptionally brilliant including of course the other musicians they played with over the years. Finally, I wonder if in his work with the pianist Gwilym Simcock (on the 2020 CD "From This Place"), Pat has found another almost perfect fit? Thanks again.

I listened to this in 1985 and couldn't go back. It's funny how music that speaks to you can really alter your life and perception. I travelled far to see PMG in the day. Now with Lyle gone a year ago it's hard to imagine PMG could never happen again.

one of my favorites...thank you!! superbrilliant analysis as ever!!

' why I keep trying... or have I just not brave to begin? NICE catch!

Sorry for just finding this..amazing breakdown

Great stuff, Dr! Keep it coming 👌🏻

indeed, Pat has cited Bacharach as one of his influences .

I love major 3rd and minor 3rd modulations. Good teaching Doc!

Only after your analysis that I realize this piece is so interesting!

Perfect, Guy. Thank you. Much love!

Beautiful soul 💖

Wow. Thank you.

Your videos are so rich of informations thank you

This is so simple concept but at first glance it looks so complex amd complicated. Wow thanks for this video I'll incorporate this concept in my playing

Gracias genio esa música es una maravilla 👏👏👏👏

'VERY effective teaching/study! ...i've listened to another once but his was just a few minutes long. IF I can get through this beautiful forest to the other side, I think I'll feel good walking through it! ....and Jerry Goldsmith, DEEP

Brilliant! Finally an explanation of the ambiguous rhythm’ is there a transcription of the score for solo piano.?

inspiring!

Thanks!nice video.

Awesome!

Grácias por esto Dr

תודה רבה!!

You’ve outdone yourself on this series! Great work👍 Probably would be asking too much for a breakdown of Lyle’s solo too?

This has been the first introduction to PMG to my kids, from the vid, always called the Birdy song, if you have seen the DVD you will know. Thank you for breaking this down. This has always been a fav.

Hi, that's an interesting analysis and observation of the syncopated rhythm(s) that Metheny employed. What struck me when I first heard this work was the influence of Steve Reich.

Thanks for a great analysis.

GÉNIAL

As usual very accurate. I notice every time I play a PMG song where are the major/minor modulation. In Phase Dance the Bm7/Bbmaj7 is a D/Dm modulation. In First Circle the G/E is a Em/E modulation and there are plenty of that stuff in the PMG compositions.

Great analysis

excelente doc!!!

this guy knows

this is the best composition ever!

I just realized that when I listen to the main part of First Circle (This guy plays it at 2:35) my body will automatically react by closing my eyes. This guy's body reaction is exactly just like mine. Is it only me and this guy? Or anybody here have the same body reaction as ours?

Nice👏👏👏👏 Very nice👍👍👍👏👏👏👏😀

DR Guy, hello from Greece...wpnderfull job...

No way... I have been playing my self-taught (ie Ear transcription) for 25 years... just heard the BB within it... nice

well done Guy!

clap-clap clap clap-clap clap clap clap-clap clap-clap clap clap ... it's very surprising that some seasoned musicians can't follow First Circle's clapping. i got it after only a few listens.

Really interesting thinking of this being in G rather than C. I thought of it as being in C because not only does the main theme start in C, but it's also the first note of the piece. On the other hand, the piece ends on G. I think it's a G5 chord that implies major? The last chords of the piece are incredible, and I hope you will explain what's going on there!

Your videos are amazing. I want to ask You if you can analize the song "If I could" from Pat. I think it is one of his most beautiful pieces. Thanks a lot for the knowledge you keep spreading

When are u gonna release an album - Piano versions of Metheny tunes....?

35 שנה, אחרי ששמעתי לראשונה את האלבום בהופעה חיה, שהיווה שיר הערש שלי במשך תקופה ארוכה ויושב לי בפלייליסט כשאני על האופניים החשמליות, אני פוגשת את הניתוח שלך. לא אכביר במילים לגבי קוצר הניתוח (לטעמי), אבל כן אודה לך, על שבכלל טרחת, העונג היה כולו שלי. ברכות. נ.ב. לא בדקתי את שאר הסירטונים שלך, אך אודה לך אם תואיל להקדיש זמן לניתוח של straight on red

Yummy. So yummy.

...you are carrying the legacy of orijginal collective. Ah'd been to a few other teachings of this composition. The element of your gentle soul through, (until tecognized) a rugged domain remains almost UNN-believable!

the clap at the beginning is a flamenco? (a friend said that in Sevilla every one in the crowd clapped in time)

I tried doing the clapping at other times unsuccessfully, and your explanation was helpful and did the trick. But it's really hard. I wonder if Pat's musicians had to practise it...

1:21

whos playing that goddamed tambourine off camera, got me bugged

Dr. Guy, how to learn the clapping 😉? You're to fast haha

I really wish you hadn't made the connection to Burt Bacharach. Regardless of how apt it might be, Close To You is cringingly sappy, whereas First Circle opens into something transcendent. IMO.

3+2+3+2+2+3+3+2+2=22

You overcomplicate. It’s a 6 followed by a 5. All you show here is the first subdivision of the basic pattern. It falls so easily into that “11” when you think of it in terms of the quarter note (I assume the meters in 6/4 + 5/4). I know you’re trying to capture the clapping pattern, but it’s just simple subdivision and accents.

Wow. Thank you.