Jake, I've been playing guitar for longer than you've been alive (unless you're a remarkably preserved 54 year old), but every time I watch one of your videos, I get great new ideas. I'm heading over to your Patreon now to help sponsor. Keep on keepin' on!
I remember writing my first borrowed chord progression in 2002 and trying to explain to the guitarist that he has to play a melodic minor on that chord. Didn't know back then that rock'n'roll guitarists are not only ignorant of anything beyond blues pentatonic - but they also scoff at learning anything outside it
I wouldn't generalize based on one experience. I'll be the first to admit that this can be a little (or a lot) complicated, and therefore that is why I am a rhythm guitar player
This video was copyright claimed before it even went public. I can't monetize it. If it weren't for my patreon supporters this would be on the shelf until the claim is settled, you can thank them for making it possible :). EDIT- No harm done- Claim was removed within hours!
Can you make a video about how to recognize certain time signatures in different genres? Can you cover how to tell the difference between double-time and slow common-time? Also, how is common-time done in R&B/Hip Hop as opposed to in rock?
Your videos are really amazing, I spent 4 years in music school and learned a little, but with this 13 minute video I was like "what sorcery is this?" thank you so much sir, from the bottom of my heart.
I finished a music GCSE course and taking A level music right now, and even with A*s in my composition assessments I still learn from this guy every video he makes
You don't have to memorize that or even have it as a screenshot. If you take a scale, and then start at a different note, realize that it's the same order of notes. You just have to remember that starting on the second note is the dorian, the third note is the phrygian, and so on.
Example: You want G dorian. Dorian is the second note, take the F scale because G is the second note of the F scale, and rearrange the notes to start with G
I don't comment often but i just wanted to tell you that this video is absolutely amazing. The amount of effort put into it is outstanding. I really loved how you showed each of the progressions in an actual composition. I would love if you'd do more videos like this in the future!
yep, the Am to G# maj to G maj works well because the notes CONNECT WELL. They are not disjointed and unrelated and that, I think, is what chord progressions is all about. You look for chords that have a COMMON note or notes and that'll make them seem to go together in a more logical fashion. Nice video!
You’ve actually turned into an influencer for my work. Really very helpful things. Being a rock musician these things helped me a lot. Thank you. Peace. Love from India.
This is one of the best videos I’ve seen on modal chord progressions. I especially appreciate the little mini songs you create with vocals over them. Please give us more of these.
Fun fact, in dorian you can borrow chords from aeolian and it usually sounds totally natural, and if not, it still doesn’t usually sound off. I saw this in a RU-vid comment, then tried it when writing a song in dorian, and was surprised how well it worked.
if you stop calling MODES as scales it would much easier. I'll list the 9 parallel scales...with 7 modes EA. ( 63 modes) Which will give you very possible 7 notes intervals variation within the 12 notes...ALL 12 notes works. You MODULATE using the different scales Basic traids (chords) are just every other note. ( no matter the scale) The MAJOR diatonic is the REFERENCE intervals. In C Major/Amin for less confusion....( KEYS are just PITCH) If you can comprehend it in C MAJOR/Amin...you can play in any keys... These parallel scales also help make keys shifting SMOOTHER. 1...........2.............3...4............5..............6............7..8 b2 ,b3 b5 b6 b7 ( the BLACK keys) Shift ONE note at a time to obtain the other 8 scales. The BASIC..( b3, b6, b7 are the SECOND ARPEGGIO of the I, IV, V chord) b6 = Harmonic MAJOR C Maj F min G7 b3= melodic min C Maj F7 G7 b3,b6 =harmonic min C min F min G7 b3, b6, b7 NATURAL min C min F min G min b2, b3 Melodic min b2 b2, b3, b6 Harmonic min b2 b3, b5 melodic min b5 b3, b5, b6 Harmonic min b5 b3, #4 melodic min #4 (lydian b3 or IV of Harmonic MAJOR) b3, #4, b6 Double Harmonic min You can reverse the process PUSH UP from A minor towards A MAJOR A min D min E min A min D min E7 A min D7 E7 A min B7 E Maj7 ( B D#, F#, A) D# dim/B The BASIC.....G7 G, B, D, F.........B dim into C MAJOR or C minor as in.........G7 into C MAJOR or C min ( B dim into C) E7 into A MAJOR or A min ( G# dim into A) The common FULL diminished chord in C Harmonic MAJOR And A Harmonic min AND C Harmonic min And A Harmonic MAJOR II, IV, vi, VII..........vi as in b6 C D E F G Ab B C A B C D E F G# A D F Ab B B D F G# AUGMENTED chords are also symmetrical as in C, E, G# or E, Ab, C There;s different ways you'll use it or remember it, mix maj7 ( Maj7 = leading TONE) mixb6 maj7 aeo maj7 dor maj7 dor b2 maj7 phry maj7 aeo b5 maj7 dor b5 Maj7 The Bb MAJOR from the lesson could be from using the (N6) A harmonic min b2 which will give you Bb MAJOR You can use it to help you cycle down to the 4th Bb maj7 ...lydian (IV to F MAJOR/ D min Bb maj7 IOn Bb Major/ G min Bb Bb7 mix Eb Major/ C MINOR The G# MAJOR...( it's common in many ways) If you play A lydian b3 or A melodic min #4 It's just be G# phrygian b4...which you can make MAJOR , AUG dominant or MINOR... F lydian #2, or F lydian b3....( you can alter to F minor) hence the Ab MAJOR or AUGmented becuase you can also play C,E, G#,,,as in E aug into F minor The F lydian #2...F min/maj7... which is sort of like A harmonic minor or melodic minor you can play Bb7 C7 into F minor...using the (N6) You can also see it as Ab lydian to Eb MAJOR or Bb7 into Eb Major to C minor you can also play G#7 into C# min or E MAJOR A lydian b3 = E Harmonic MAJOR From A wonder world.... The song modulate again.....Dorian with a leading tone. C# dim into D min........then modulate to D diminished ( or FULL dim) G7 into C MAJOR.... or like this...its common in X mas music..( you hear it all the time) C Maj D dim G7 into C Major The D dim is just the II chord of C Harmonic MAJOR D dorian b5 yOU CAN TRY we ARE the CHAMPIONS... It;s in C minor........it'll modulate to F MAJOR/ D minor i personally play.....it'll do C power chords...or whatever. ( less defined) C# dim E dim into the F Maj to C Maj to D min... It'll modulate BACK to C minor... F Maj ( no time for loosers) Bb Maj ( becuase we are) G min......( common chord) to F MAJOR as II or III ( phry) of Eb Major You can play F FULL diminished to set you up to play Ab dim or B dim into C minor Let's do the LYDIAN ish F lydian #2 or F lydian b3 You can alter the F from Maj7 to min , dim or min/maj7 If you play Harmonic min b5..you can make it F7 it'll also overlap with C melodic min so it's F lydian #2, b7.......or ( lydian dominant #2) or Mix #2, #4 Or IONIAN ( reference) #2, #4, b7 F 1, 3, 5 or 1, 3, 5, b7 1, #2, 5 or 1, #2, 5, b7 or 1,#2, #4 1, #2, #4, 6 or 1, #2, #4, b7 Lets say I write a song starting in PHRyGIAN.... it;s like a I, IV, V III VI VII E phry A min (b2) Loc Im a sick bastard.lmao Just for kicks...Im going to play Dorian, b2 #4 over the A chord.lmao or I can play loc b4, ..phrygian b4...or phrygian dominant b5....hahahha over the B dominant into E..lol More dongs that use the (N6) Free BIRD is in G MAJOR/E minor... The F MAJOR chord is the (N6) inserted. A DAY in A LIFE by the Beatles... It's also in G MAJOR G Major.....B min E min.......C B to A sus....( repeat) It;s more distinct here,,,becuase he played the F Maj to E min ( TONIC) Then F MAJOR....E min E min F MAJOR E min C maj7 into G MAJOR... Ticket to ride is going to trick your ears.. It's in B min,,,it starts off with A MAJ..or sus ( A mix).. At the TURN Around it's simply going to play E7 into the A Maj chord. instead of E min... THe E7 is just the IV of B melodic minor.
OneEye Monster Great post but difficult to assimilate as a comment to a comment. It would be great if you did a video explaining it. I would certainly watch it.
@@jasongravely7217 They're probably a troll, i've seen them in many music theory videos and they always post long comments like that that have little to nothing to do with what OP was talking about
The funny thing about playing non-diatonic chords (i.e. typically borrowed chords) is that when you first do it, it sounds weird. But when you hear it in a pop song you don't question it; you accept it. It's only by constantly experimenting with them, including analyzing sheet music for existing songs, that you can break through that. I think I'm getting there and it's quite liberating.
Man, your knowledge is astounding. Hey, if you didn't already, can you make a video explaining how you gained all this knowledge? Such as, schooling, lessons, and such.
I learned all of this from music theory classes. I would highly recommend if you take music theory classes to do so in conjunction with piano classes/lessons. Piano is the best instrument to apply music theory to because all the notes are laid out in sequence and there is only one piano key per note (as opposed to guitar, where it is possible to play the same note in many different places even in standard tuning, for example: B3 can be played on five of the six strings)
Well at 58 years of age with a guitar in my hand, till this video, I have discovered the most ground breaking way to think of modes and the “borrowed chords. Thank you kid, your absolutely a beast. My new source for my new sounds. Wow
My favourite part about this RU-vid channel is is that you went to school to know this and now you are teaching me for free what you had to pay for. Hope you got a scholarship
Thanks so much for this video Jake, I never understood why in some songs there would be a chord that wasn't in the key that the song supposedly was. I figured that the people writing the songs thought it just sounded cool, now I know that there is some theory behind it. Again, can't thank you enough
Radiohead and Beatles tracks are pretty much built on borrowed chords and modal interchange! Good catch. Very rarely does the former write progressions without them - they also tend to start on a chord that's not the root.
Quite possibly the greatest guitar tutorial ever produced. There's enough information in this video to keep one busy for quite some time. I've been playing by the seat of my pants for 30 years and I feel like I just walked into an advanced theory class that I somewhat understand. This is killer! Thank you! MK
Love this!!! Explains why I struggle to understand why certain chords are in certain songs and have chords that do not belong in the key. What a great video. And a great tool to use!!
There’s got to be a way to tell the world how awesome Jake is… like a picture of his face as a bumper stick … like the “who is John Galt” shtick. This videos are all gold if you’re a song writer
Jake, I gotta hand it to you. I've been studying theory since I was in school band (3rd grade) but you really do break it down well. I'd say you're better than Rick Beato at teaching music theory. Keep up the great work, bro.
Yeah, he is didactically the best I have found so far. No need to single out Rick Beato here though. Rick is energizing his viewership by infusing them with his general love for and of music plus taking the anxiety out of learning music theory. Rick is doing a great job in this regard. Music needs both kind of people.
@@TheHesseJames sure. Agreed. But for me, Jake's the man for interesting and hands on teachable content. Rick's great too but he'll go off on a tangent alot. Like u said. There's room for both. Depends on your taste and what u wanna learn.
In my knowledge, half-diminished chords are marked with “ø” which has a diagonal slash through it and diminished chords should be marked with “º”, so I think the diminished chords are not written correctly in the video. Btw, I learnt a loooooot from it, appreciate that!!!!
*Thanks Patreon Supporters!* This was to the point. Well done Jake. Thanks. For any would-be song writer, this one video unlocks the secret vault of songs waiting to be written that are hidden your minds even now.
Great lesson! Terrible about the asinine copyright claim. Angry old lady mini rant: In _my_ day, "finger style" and "finger picking" were different things! Next you'll try to tell me language is an evolving thing. HAH. I'll go back to petting my cats on the porch now. PS: I'll take my II chord back please.
Still cannot completely comprehend how such high quality educational content is on the internet, completely free. A click of a button away for anyone wanting to learn. Thank you for the video!
This channel is so underrated Also this video is great. I loved how you showed all sorts of different genres, it gives more perspective on how to use the technique and keeps the examples interesting I like how your videos are much more practical and down to earth. I feel like I can immediately hop on a piano and try them out rather than let it sink in for days like Adam Neelys stuff which is meant to be more abstract. Anyways Great work and keep doing what youre doing
I spent almost twenty years in local top forty juke-box-style bands and didn't know anything about any of this cool stuff. I just had to learn my parts, having no idea how it all goes together. When I watched this vid (again) I decided to play along and, woah, I learned some really cool maneuvers. Starting over after a seventeen year hiatus with a focus on songwriting, you're helping me to break out of the four-chord box I've found myself in. I'm seeing the possibilities while at the same time having no idea how things actually go together, with nothing more to go on than just trying things. If it sounds good, it stays. Thanks for making this reasonable and fun!
This dude is no slacker. Has mastered all the aspects of production and on top of that uses this no-nonsense funny approach to it all. In terms of hard info to video length ratio this has got to be one of the best on YT
I'll say this right now. You are the best music teacher I've ever had. I went from not knowing how to write chord progressions to how to use borrowed chords in my progression to make it sound more unique. And just like you said in the first video I watched, ' how to write major chord progressions' , I also always felt like the skill of writing cool sounding chord progressions was something only the talented songwriters had, I didn't want to learn music theory because the musicians I listened to like Jimi Hendrix didn't know either. Learning music theory gave me much more appreciation for him. He used instinct and passion to write music that helped define 60s rock music.
1:57: This sounds to me like something John Lennon would have done. 7:13: You're "attempt" to arrange here is quite excellent. 9:59: This progression is really nice!
Someone who is surprisingly good at this (without him knowing it I’m sure) is Noel Gallagher. Songs like Champagne Supernova, Live Forever, Dont Look Back In Anger, and Some Might Say (amongst others) all borrow chords to really highlight sections and boost their songs. Great video! Love your stuff
@@sammonroe31 indeed they are, but I wouldn't call it a skill. There's a video on you tube somewhere with all his plagiarism examples. It's quite a long video.
One of my favorite borrowed chord is in Dream Theater's The Ministry of Lost Souls. It's in Am and the chord progression is Am Fm9 C Em Am F C G G+ With the "Am Fm9 C" you get a really nice chromatic descent "A Ab G", I love it!
I understand about half of what you're saying with regard to theory. However, I can't stop watching because of your laid back, come with what you have and learn something attitude. Love the way you explain things with the expectation that I might know, but it is okay if you don't know.
I already know more than enough theory to start writing my own songs but things just wouldn't sound good, I just found your channel yesterday and so many things came together now, thanks! Can you do a video on creating and harmonizing melodies?
Thank you for making music theory so easy and exciting to understand. Coming from a guy who has been playing guitar for past 11 years and knows very less about music theory. Is theory more important than emotions you want to convey through your music?
Theory helps you to convey the emotions you want through your music, it is not a competition between theory and emotions, theory is a way to understand the logic behind emotions in order to use them more easily ;)
yep... took me ages to find you. So many others give fly by tasters and leave you puzzled and tempted to pay for their course. I cant afford that! Thank you very much. I just could not figure out how to fit in chords outside the diatonic. Your video re secondary dominant chords got me to write Cmaj-Amaj-Dm-Gmaj-Emaj-Am-Dmaj-Bmaj-Em-Amaj-Dm-Fmaj-Cmaj and play nothing but white notes over the top on my first attempt! lolol... and now you have given me borrowed chords to use as well! Thanks again dude. You have a great spirit and personality.
Thanks Jake, I was struggling with a song I'm writing, should I stick to one mode or go rogue, but now I have ideas on how to develop my writing. Thank you so much ❤️
Excellent video sir. An explanation, then straight to an example. Anybody who studies with you is certainly getting their money’s worth. Jake, you’re a wealth of knowledge, and a very talented musician 👍
In "what a wonderful world" I kinnda "see" the borrowed bVI chord as a tritone substitution of V7 (in this case secondary V7) of the diatonic V7 chord! But in the end, both interpretations are "correct", with the "borrowed-one" to be just the "simplest" one. I think the "key" is "how deep" in theory you dive to find the "correct" answer and how you "see" the "function" of a specific non-diatonic chord... Thank you for the video and your effort to provide such a stellar content!
Dude!! the light bulb just came on!! wow. what a simple concept. So much more interesting when one of those borrowed chords hits. This takes so much of the struggle out of it.
Does this apply to other scales ? If I take E Harmonic minor, can I borrow from E phrygian dominant ? And can I borrow from E locrian (that isn't a mode of E harmonic minor) ?
You can borrow from ANY scale really, but it might not be called "modal mixture" any more since it's no longer a mode. I personally enjoy bringing in chords that are diatonic to weird scales, you've heard me rant about Mixolydian b6 and I really enjoy borrowing the IVminMaj7 from that scale, shifting to that tonality over that chord.
@@SignalsMusicStudio Wow thanks for the answer ! That really gives a lot more freedom to the writing process ! Also thanks again and again for all these videos ! This really REALLY is excellent teaching ! Really ! SOME RANDOM NOTE TO ANYONE READING THIS : Hungarian scale is awesome.
Harmonic minor was mainly developed (at least in Western classical music) so that composers could borrow its dominant V and fully-diminished vii chords for music in minor keys. So why not? And borrowing the bVI+ to I cadence from Mixolydian b6 is a really nice way of resolving regular Mixolydian progressions, IMO.
I jumped in joy to see you using reason.. and what's more is that you make it easy to.learn music.theory and don't waste time.expalining it .. it's a joy to see your videos ..
Friends will be friends is great to analyse as well. It goes G major B7 , E minor and G7 then C major then F major back to C major then G. It’s analysed as being in the key of G major, but it borrows so many different cords from other keys.
Holy moly....years of questions are finally getting answered by your videos....why does this chord sound good if its not on the major/minor scale? Which chords to play? Etc. Etc....youre awesome man! So grateful to have found your channel!
In the first 25 seconds of this video you're talking about how you're going to explain a concept, but I also hear a description of how some great music is made: by starting simple and then building the complexity. I really appreciate the way you teach, Jake.
Such a nice dude. I’ll probably never use any of this in my music and i knew that coming in but it’s nice to not have to read about theory again when RU-vid is out there. This guy is in my top 3 favs.
I've been playing for over 20 years and I know modal chord/scale theory very well and many weird jazz chord substitutions and progressions but this borrowing concept almost completely new to me...Mind blown :o
Thanks Jake. This is the second time I watch this video. First time was a year ago but I wasn’t ready to fully grasp the concept. Today, different story. Thanks again. 🙏
Awesome video, one thing that helped my understand borrowed chords are sandwiches. Diatonic chords are like your staple toppings, your "I chord" is your bread and each of the other degrees are toppings. The "V" would be peanut butter, the IV might be butter, so combining the I, IV, V makes a tried and tested combination... Which, while perfectly acceptable, can get a little boring as it's so common. The borrowed chords are kind of like exotic or strange toppings and using the right combinations can create something new and exciting, while still being a sandwich.
I love your way of explaining things. The way you try to first explain the REASONS why things happen. You make us feel how unnecessary and, at the same time, tremendously worth everything is.
Thank Jake coz now know how to use modes despite of knowing its scale intervals there most teachers taught us but never teach how to implement these modes. Nice lesson keep it up Jake. From Tanzania (East Africa)
The most insightful description of borrowed chords/modal interchange/modal mixture I've ever seen. Thank you !! Choosing two chords from a parallel mode, like a 4 and 5 from another mode, it will help solidify the modal change feel, especially in the case that the modal chord you choose is found in more than one mode, just put two chords from that mode, to solidify the exchange.. take the 2 and 5 chord from the other mode, regardless of quality.. like a 4 chord, 5 chord from Lydian would be a #vi dim and a Major V chord, locks you into Lydian for that moment, then you go back to your tonic key.. I find this fortifies the switch.. cool?
Thanks. Wrote my latest song inspired from this video. Slid from the I Maj7 into the i7, then the ii9-ii7 to the V7. Then the v7, i7, then the IV7 lead to a temporary key change a step down from tonic. A 2 5 1 in that key, then the iii9-iii7(which is the original ii7-ii9) to the V7 took us back to the tonic. Used the iv7 as well.
Perfect constant referencing to actual music and covering different styles in these videos. If you don't have a background in theory it makes you understand what you've been doing for years and fills in the blanks by confirming or clarifying things you thought you noticed. Great stuff.
A lot of composers will borrow the (dorian) IV chord when in the minor mode, in order to give a brief moment of wondrous hope to an otherwise melancholy tune. Game of Thrones composer Ramin Djawadi did this beautifully in the tracks "Mhysa" and "Winds of Winter."
Wow. I've been trying to find good videos on chord progressions for a while. There's a lot of good stuff, but your videos are up there among the top ones!
as a self taught guitarist (and a very young one at that), music theory is getting more and more complicated and intimidating as i continue to progress as a guitarist. your channel makes me understand everything with great clarity so like what i mean to say is thanks man
I have watched a million RU-vid guitar / music teachers. The quality and how well you teach a concept is a head above the rest. I don’t say this lightly, you are the best on RU-vid.
Not only do your video lessons make the murky waters of music theory crystal clear and pragmatic, you're also entertaining as hell; the genre parodies had me falling about, thanks for sharing your knowledge so freely.
![Writing Progressions with Borrowed Chords: Songwriting Lesson [MUSIC THEORY - MODAL INTERCHANGE]](/img/logo.svg){kind=logo}
