Bruh 8:04 You can't just come out like that and say: "I just built this little synthesizer here myself" without making a video on how you did that. That's awesome! Nice video, I'm all for understanding music theory, but also for doing what *sounds nice*. That's the most important thing. I completely agree with you.
Loved this: "listen" I was overthinking the theory: "oh here I want tension so I have to use a V chord here", "oh I have to write with I-IV-V because it is very common in commercial music". I mean, that's no bad, but sometimes it doesnt sound good, doesnt give me big emotions. So first: LISTEN AND TRUST IN YOUR INTERNAL VOICE!
Mauricio Manino Perrucci for years I spent time making sure my chords were extended or a phrase had sweet modulation. No time on how a melody or message was coming out. You can def get stuck down theory rabbit hole
its commons because all the chords in I-IV-V in major scale are major. this effect how write the melody. So if want song to song happy and do jumps you do when major chord is playing.
Here is something you can totally do with Modern Technology: You can record the vocal melody, then record your vocal harmonies, figuring out the chords after you do so. I've found this approach very intuitive, and I've always ended up with the sound that's in my head. (Usually it's fourths, I don't know why.)
Why should it be different than that? Simple things sound much better to our ears than the complicated stuff. Not convinved yet? The listen to 99% of popular music of of the last 70 years.
@@mrlovalova5059 You do have a point there. But I guess at some point people are fed up with the same old I-VI-IV-V / I-V-VI-IV / I-IV-VI-V structures.
@@mrlovalova5059 I agree that complexity for complexity's sake doesn't make for better music. It's an art form, not a competition. However, personally I just hate turning on the radio or going to the shops and feel like the music is trying SO HARD to NOT challenge me or anyone else. Almost like it's scared to be something other than a Frankenstein made of parts of previously successful music. It's like the corporate minded songwriting committees responsible for this music (and it IS whole teams responsible, not individuals) think we are such weak minded creatures that the slightest departure from comfortable territory would send us running screaming from K-mart. Like any other music would be 'not our kind' like a kind of implied musical racism ... 'If it ain't trite, it ain't right!'
Mr Lova Lova but the really good songwriters can write amazing melodies over more complex chord progressions that add to the emotional content of the song. Both is possible: good songs with simple harmonies, good songs with complex harmonies. Personally, I find the second category more exciting.
5:25 that is exactly what makes the power chord so.... um, powerful. The root and the 5th without any value judgments. 😁 I think that might be one of the reasons why the guitar stays so popular.
There are so many different ways to explain this and I think this is one of the simplest. I can imagine people looking at this without knowing music theory and believing music theory is simple, not realizing that they're learning melodic dictation and figured bass as stand ins for any number of styles of harmonies this could work for. I spent years in school learning functional harmony and ended up unsatisfied that I still couldn't quite get the modal sounds that were going on in my head. I ended up learning modal theory as well, but if I had started with this video, that could have saved me some time.
The biggest takeaway here for me is the 1-3-5, 1-4-6, and 1-3-6. It would be cool if you explain how that is exploring the three main chords in the scale that contain the bass/root note. 1-3-5 is the I chord. 1-4-6 is the IV chord. And 1-3-6 is the vi chord. Cool stuff. Simple way to explore chords.
Not always! It'll give you different chords depending on the bass note. In my case, yes, it was the I, IV and vi. But say my bass note would have been the eb, the chords would have been the ii, V and viio.
I have been watching you for so long and also been on and off studying theory and music my entire life and I really have never heard someone explain chords so well before and how to fill in a melody with chords so simply! This is *totally* understandable for beginners and anyone and I just wanted to thank you so much!
I mean, yeah you are right in some ways, but that's exactly what modern pop songwriters are mostly doing and we all know where that path goes. I mean when was the last time you listened to a 2010 hit "pop" song? This process may be easy and convenient, but the songs which are written in this way mostly will "expire" after a relatively short amount of time. On the other hand, there are deep songs (like Jazz, Classical, Progressive etc.) which we don't get tired of listening to them. I think the whole point is about the harmonic and/or formal complication of the song. When you listen to a simple 4-chord pop song, there's not much really you can get from that. But when you hear a complicated song, every time you listen to it, you find something new about it. A great example of that (in modern music) would be the Tool's songs. I like to know what you think about my comment :) Good luck and STAY SAFE ;)
I mean, I love complex music, but I don't think that needs to be a of a harmonic nature. For example, Tool is complex without being harmonically complex. I still listen to the Chili Peppers. I still listen to the Beatles, even the really simple songs (and there were loads).
@@Holistic-songwriting I get the point you are trying to give, but my real concern is the movement away from complex and rich music. I appreciate the work you are doing and seriously I'm a fan and I have watched your analytical videos so many time, but my fear is that someone without the knowledge of music theory just starts to create some simple music which will be forgotten after a short time. But if people try harder and learn deep theory then we can all listen to their pieces and really enjoy them :)
I agree, I love the channel but sometimes it feels like selling your soul to the devil, write the least surprising thing, don't bring discomfort so the listener is hooked right away, stick to what's proven to work at the least cost etc... I see value in this as a training wheel and to help on uninspired days. And is there really a lot of simple beatles songs? I think I can't name 3 :)
This is what I have been doing all along. After many years of experience with music theory I realized that the one solution to create a piece is to not overthink the chord progression, but create what sounds good and makes sense on an emotional level. Maybe I am wrong with my perception, but I have been much more productive with that. Danke für deine Arbeit! Wie immer sehr gut !
@@theaddictofgaming9174 My current order is Bass line first, then a "catchy riff" that compliments it. You can embed this catchy riff everywhere in the song, from the melody of the chorus to the arrangement, to the embellishment effects in the mix.
Great explanation! You could totally make a song with all three of those chords, repeating the same melody. I did: I > IV > vi > V Of course, using that melody over the V chord would sound a little wonky, so I simplified the melody to two notes and it ends the phrase so nicely. Thanks!
Andrew Portess - Friedemann inspired us from day one, we saw his Taylor Swift and Weeknd analysis videos and they improved our perception of music. So this code will be active for a while. We always support his channel and love his videos -Yakov
I love music theory about harmony but yes you are right there's too much focus on it. I want to learn more about melody writing. Specifically vocal melody writing. You were doing it before with the styles of bands/singers which got me totally hooked (yes that was also an intentional pun) and even had me buy your courses. I would love you to do lessons on analysis on lyrical melodies again. Do you do private and or group online lessons? I am interested.
Hey Rene! Thanks for saying that. I want to focus on that again this season. If you have questions, patreon really is the best way to ask them, as you'll get my answers guaranteed: www.patreon.com/holisticsongwriting I'm also working on a mega course right now that will also go in depth on melody writing :)
I think a lot of the harmony videos are for educational purposes more than practical ones. I mean they should be anyways. But many tend to believe that they are constraints you have to follow. (I fell victim to this too) I was trying to write a chord progression just a few days ago that captured the emotion I felt while listening to a song. I was just trying to learn it by ear and I started finding random triads that sounded good together. I just kinda ignored the theory I know at that point and tried to focus on (as you said) what the bass was doing and that the phrasing had a direction and going somewhere then I wrote something pretty cool. Now it’s the base of a song I’m working on. I had an idea what chords I was playing but they weren’t any of the “traditional” shapes, more of just what I invented to get the sound I wanted. I looked it up and as you said it was just about 4 chords total with just different voicings leading the phrase. Em-F#dim-B-C-CMaj7-C6-Gsus-F#6sus.(not the order just what I remember was in it) So at its base all just Em-F#-B-C chords. Theory is great to know to make sense of everything and understand what you are doing but it should never take precedence over something that sounds good just because the theory doesn’t make sense. My opinion anyways.
I love your break downs of song written and music theory. I always learn something new and most importantly I APPLY IT!! Thank you so much for this great channel and keep it up! 🧔🏽🙏🏽👍🏽
After having spent YEARS trying to understand chords and not getting anywhere with traditional music theory, I randomly got the idea to perhaps start with the bass notes and go from there. My reasoning was because the bass line is actually one of my favorite parts of a song and so I naturally hone in on it first. Even over the melody. So although I still don’t know what the hell I’m doing and am looking forward to learning a lot more from you, I feel vindicated in a way because I’ve usually felt like there’s some conspiracy when it comes to learning music. Most make it so goddamn complicated and tedious that you never actually learn anything. So I really appreciate your approach!
You left out a chord. 5 A-flat, C, E-flat. A teacher I had once told me that the "Heart and Soul" chords are in 90% of songs. He wasn't kidding. It's not always true--I've known of some really cool and crazy chords people have thrown in that shocked me and made me want to know what they were playing. But that's way beyond the scope of what you're doing here. I came up with a cool progression, though it ended up being three chords for your five-note melody line... 5, 4, 6. :)
So glad I get emails from you alerting me to your projects and videos! If I had missed this I would still be on some other channel trying to figure out the sub 5 😂
I think it's genius that you're using the little piano toy for this. It really gets me out of my head and makes it obvious that it's not necessary to overthink this stuff.
@@Holistic-songwriting It's a very cool toy but I can't see what notes you're playing. I wish you used a regular piano or showed us on screen the piano notes being played.
I tend to gravitate to finding the bass notes 1st, then figure out if I wanna go major or minor ..not entirely the same as this video but I'm gonna try it out. I think I prefer this. Great video.. extremely easy to understand. Tanx heaps 🙏🏽
There is no must-read about music theory. :) Songwriting theory on the other hand, Andrea Stolpe's book on Lyric Writing is very good and about the only songwriting book I like. No disrespect, just my opinion. I think Stolpe's book is very good is all.
Check out Hook Theory as well. Combing through stuff on there has been incredibly revealing for me. I always wondered what I was missing in terms of driving emotion and interest in my songs compared to the big hits, and there was a lot more that needed fixed than I would've ever thought
I write out the melody notes, then observe the notes in the melody to judge which key the song is probably in. Then I match the harmony chords from that key while repeatedly singing the melody.
As a hobbyist musician who plays gigs to supplement my income as well as being an electrical engineer by trade, I was blown away at the fact that you built your own mini synthesizer.... 8:05. So, how do I get those schematics ;)
If your melody is in a minor key your 1-3-6 will give you a diminished chord which is great as most people ignore them. They are so powerful for adding interest or setting up key changes, so this is a great way of making sure they are in the list of possibles...
Hey I've been watching your videos since 2018, I've enjoyed and learned so much from your videos that I just want to say thanks! Also, is there a way you could look into an artist by the name of lil peep. I've been listening a lot to his song structure, melodies, and writing styles. I was hoping you could cover him since he was so talented (especially in his early work). Thank you!
"you are overthinking chords" then goes about giving you a butt ton of stuff to think about which would more simply be explained by actually learning some theory.
Your videos are tottally amazing, and congrats. I would like to make a constructive critic, when you are singing, and doind harmony, It would be better, in my opinion, to lower the volume of the background music... :D Besides that, you content is the Best!
I find that thinking in chords can be quite limiting, I find I come up with much richer songs if I 'imply' the chord in the melody and use rhythmic ideas to spice it up... then you can add colorful chords (bass notes) underneath to change the feeling depending on where you are in the song for example to create even more contrast
the challenge of music theory is that you need a to learn a complete set of theory in order to begin applying it. If you give someone 2 % of the theory they will be at a loss for the other 98% Why are you saying that melodies only need to be accompanied by the I, ii, and IV chords? How are you supposed to make interesting music like that?
Here is the problem: the gap between the complexity of chord progressions in pop music compared to (most) jazz, classical and progressive music is staggering. Most people either know to little about the topic or they know to much and get sucked into this pit of music theory that basically has no bottom. I appreciate the practicality of your tips and believe it is really, really important to encourage young songwriters to just go and listen and try to test things out. On the other hand we shouldnt be delusional and show the complexity and the possibilities of our western music in it's entirety. Theory is a way to explain phenomena of sounds that we conceive and not the other way around (although there also exist sounds that have their origin in numeral concepts). Knowing how the things that you hear relate to other things is absolutely necessary to understand how music conveys emotion! If you think to much about theory then just go and try to listen and test things out! If you just listen and don't know theory at all then try to understand how what you hear translates into different concepts and what musicians and composers have thought about it over the past several hundred years! Believing that you are the first person that encounters a certain sound that no one before you heard or tried to put into words is far from reality! We need to optimise the education of musicians that are new to the topic in a practical way so that the more advanced concepts are easier to grasp in a useful manner. (cause in fact - they are useful!!!)
I think many likes to learn and understand weird and complex music theory they probably won't use because they are nerds. Or that's how stuff is for me, I enjoy figuring out and understanding stuff even if they aren't of any use to me.
Well, yes but for the same reason as yours most people need to learn it from the ground to be able to write better songs and improve themselves. Half of the fun is to think and use your brain when writing music, don't you agree? Think of all those who can't even draw a human hand but mix and throw colors on a canvas and call themselves for artists. Of course it can turn beautiful by luck but if you really wanna learn something one needs the basics. Afterwards it's fun to let go of it as you do now since you already have that basics and can just listen and figur things out, or? I also thought of another thing, our music universities and other music colleges in west focous way too much on harmony and melody while many of us believe that the rhythm should be what we learn first and most. You mention the importance of repetition in song writing, that also has to do with the rhythm. Small changes in the rhythm only can make songs very exciting and beautiful Friedemann dear! It was just a little thought I had. Keep up the great work. Cheers from Sweden!💕🎸🎶🥂
@Friedemann, I understand that you're proud of your little piano build. But, I suggest you drop the ego for future videos. It's as difficult to hear and see what your playing, as it looks awkward to play. Stick with a standard midi keyboard, it's far more intuitive and educational. Thanks for your videos.
If by "easy" you mean taking this much time to figure out tomething you could in a second if you have put half an hour to learn basic theory, then yes, I guess you don't need theory.
This "Holistic Songwriting..." channel has the most annoying 'intro' sounds of any I've EVER heard! For such a professional 'teacher', I would think this guy could do a better job with something as simple as an intro.
Sir can you just tell my about these lyrics of one of my song......... It's about how I fell in love with a girl who would make me feel like she loves me too but would never say that by her own mouth and would also make me feel like its all just one sided but I wrote it all in a sexual feeling where it's about how The boy is asking his girl to do that thing, the girl would arouse him and then would leave him with no sex it's clear she wanna do it too but due to some sort of ego prob she wants him to say that he is needy and she isn't.... Verse1:-Touch... Lemme touch your hips babe Bounded Why I can't go in there Why You play puzzles naked? Why Why you drop from top ó cliff Pre chorus:- Why don't you spit the words? You want explicit love Do you think i am a fool I just want you to say it.......... Chorus:- cos I dont wanna kneel tonight And i want you head to head If this equation is right I want you to say that thing Fuck me x4 And I deserve what i want tonight Mah treatment should make you say Verse 2:- Love You know I love you like daddy Why Can't you Lemme be the same thing? But your ocean Blue Eyes babe And Dry lips say somethin' Bridge:-Lemme touch Lemme kiss you Lemme fuck you Lemme tease you You want you want baby Don't say Lemme do its ohk
