How Music Works 3 - Harmony - Part 5

[notdacoolest]

"after all, if i had a part of my body enlarged, I'd start behaving differently" .... kudos to those who understood ;P

[talhavai]

amazing series. so glad this came out

[datalal624]

"After all, if I had a part of my body enlarged, I'd start behaving differently." Maybe that's not supposed to sound naughty, but it does to me. :p

[bZbHY]

does anyone know how to buy this DVD series? Thanks

[randomcatzification]

I only came here for the gorillaz <3

[dereksymes]

I love this series. Anyone who calls themselves a musician needs to watch this.

[gregsonfilm]

Look at Miles' neck expand!

[juce101]

"If I had a bit of my body enlarged, I'D probably start behaving differently" ...Lol, so cheeky.

[gummiedux]

"Chordal harmony" most certainly a gift.

James morrison and all he entails musically > N/A

[LlQUlDXTC]

As great as this series is, why is he saying that the 7th note of Cmajor is Bb(it is actually B). Adding a 7th to Cmajor makes a Cmaj7, and lowering the 7th (from B to Bb) is called a Dominant 7th (C7), he completely omits the fact he is lowering the 7th a semitone.

[djnullspace]

@LlQUlDXTC I was wondering the same thing... glad I wasn't the only one.

[TobyEllisSongwriter]

@LlQUlDXTC because the documentary is aimed at everyone, not just the muscially minded. And he is thinking in the key of Fmajor, with C as the dominant. So the 7th in this case is Bb (C mixolydian).

Get it?

[TobyEllisSongwriter]

@TobyEllisSongwriter forgot to say: never never says hes thinking in terms of Cmajor Scale, he always says Cmajor chord.

[galfurion]

I wish I could buy these documentaries in bluray with high def audio!

[wentbackward]

Thanks for this Howard Goodall and the uploader (if you are one and the same then two thankyou's to you!).

Also thumbs up to Universal Music for allowing their content. Expect support from a music buying crowd where others have failed ... Sony I still hate you for taking George Michael away and for blocking Part 4.

[mebetter1234]

save your time skip to around 6:50 thats when feel good inc. (finally) starts playing

[TunesInRune]

OMG! i didnt expect to see Gorillaz in these videos :D

[bloodtypebloodtype]

thank you!!! *subscribed*

[8942712]

"If I had a part of my own body enlarged, I'd probably start behaving differently" lol

[chyorneycat]

@8942712 "And over the last century, they decided to intermingle promiscuously." 6:41

[idmangqn]

I love the way he put all the old-time masterpieces together with the new stuffs. That's wt i hv bn trying to understand the reason y i love some song and hate others

Holy cow! And i thought "feel good" had sth special underlying but just couldnt find it. Now i hv a better picture! ^^

[idmangqn]

I love the way he put all the old-time masterpieces together with the new stuffs. That's wt i hv bn trying to understand the reason y i love some song and hate others

[abyde]

Does anyone know what the first Bollywood song at 7:19 is?

[AnasTangi]

@abyde R.D. Burman - Mehbooba Mehbooba (sorry too late for the answer)

[JimiChristopher]

Simpler harmony's with melodies often imply far more complicated structoral harmony. A chord is basically just a more quantized harmony afterall. And by the way most if not all of the origins in modern harmony you describe as western, were created by the very people that so called westerners took to america enslaved, ie african americans. The significant other being southa americans.

[AcousticUplift]

I don't appreciate your condescension as it happens. What I'm saying is that your answers ring with the stock arrogance often found in an eurocentric perspective of history. So S.Africans singing in close harmonies didn't do so before the advent of European settlers? Really? According to whose account? Where is this documented music of which you speak and who documented it? The indiginous people themselves or by Europeans putting on their own subjectivity and worldview on the music recorded?

[timmy47]

well really, you can still hear old songs from many differen cultures. they still exist. you can tell the difference. most african music is based around rhythm, not so much with complex harmony and/or melody. same with native americn musid. lots of rythm and pedal tones, not very complex harmony if any.

even if other cultures had chordal harmony (i cant think of any), western music was the one who took it the furthest.

[AcousticUplift]

@timmy47 Well I'm West African and I can tell you that you do African music an injustice by suggesting it was as rudimentary as it is. As I said Southern Africa has a long tradition of multiple part harmonies. Thanks for the chords, pedal explanation etc...

[timmy47]

well ill admit im no expert in african music. are you sure these songs werent made AFTER the developement of western harmony came around? how many different notes are in these multiple harmonies? i dont mean to do any injustice, i can only go by what ive heard an read. if you have any examples that would be great.

[AcousticUplift]

I don't have any examples except the vocal traditions that remain today and these are not pop songs rather those sung in indiginous languages. It stands to reason these songs were always sung this way. They don't reflect the western classical tradition or that of pop music. Surely harmonising would be innate to certain cultures?...as Howard said himself humans are naturally musical. It's great to know the technical side but simply enjoying it can be enough.

[timmy47]

again, im not denying harmony, but im interested in the complexity of the harmony and if there is a progression that goes more than just a drone note or maybe a movin drone. also, western harmony ideas can be used in non western music. they gave an example with indian music. it still sounds very indian even with western harmony ideas. also, we are talking a few centuries ago. its very possible these songs had western influence. i'd have to hear it though.

[AcousticUplift]

Excuse my ignorance but is it right to attribute so many of these chordal 'discoveries' to the West when its possible they existed in other cultures for centuries but Europe were merely the first to 'institutionalise' them, record them and give them their technical terms?

[timmy47]

@AcousticUplift most music from other areas were very modal. he kinda goes over it in the first parts and how the harmony was more basic. their chords were usually two notes or just a drone. the proressions where either just the drone or perhaps two chord movement. western culture advaced chords and progressions further than any other culture i can think of.

[AcousticUplift]

What about kids from non-musical families who harmonise instinctively?They haven't had time to consider these theories, they just sing.The adage 'History is written by the victors' comes to mind here.There's a smugness of certain western historians that because Europe influenced so much through colonialism+ were the 1st to document a thing they there4 'invented' it.The west might have got there first in regards to institutionalising and notating music but hesitate2 take credit for creating it.

[timmy47]

well harmony isnt chords or chord progressions really. in this series he talks about how harmony moved on to a moving pedal. that is where the pedal tone simply moves with the melody. its on its way to chordal playing but not quite.

there is plenty of documented music throughout the history of other cultures as well. as far as we know, western music was the first to use chordal harmony and progressions. you can speculate all you want but its just that, speculation.

[AcousticUplift]

I wouldn't call it mere speculation I'm just being inquisitive and not simply believing everything I am told without question; a good way to learn. I also didn't get the impression from this episode that he was differentiating harmonies from chords in the way your comment suggests.

[timmy47]

he does though earlier in the episode. he talks about basic harmony and basic moving harmony and how its not quite chords yet.

[timmy47]

well sorry i should have been more clear. harmonies arent neciessarly chords. for example with the moving pedal, thats only two notes. chords by defintion require at least three different notes. the had an example in this series of this. they had two guys sing the moving pedal and two sing the melody. its harmony, but not chords technically. sometimes people call them chords though or mini chords or chord fragments.

[xxpolyrhythmxx]

Awesome series!

Thank you so much.

[poutybean]

Miles! I loooooooove you :)

[IpkisStanley]

sounds like "god put a smile upon my face"

[Estebanfuturo]

how much for the piano classes?, i dont have much money but i can coock, be your personal trainer, drive, and clean the house.

[poutybean]

Lol!

[DEVIMON111213]

thank you thank you... you have enlighten me

[BearWindAppleyard]

Politics, one of coldplays masterpieces, from the time when they were still able to make beautiful music.

[AcousticUplift]

@BearWindAppleyard I don't think they've lost it, just evolved.

[BearWindAppleyard]

I can't explain why, but I think they have kind of lost it. Parashutes and a rush of blood to the head just seems so great and after that I really don't think it's that good anymore. maybe it's just because I link their early stuff with some memories or something, i don't know.... just how I feel.

[AcousticUplift]

@BearWindAppleyard I understand what you mean about memory association. I don't know, I always respected them but I have been particularly impressed by their last couple of albums. They seem to have grown with each project.

[BearWindAppleyard]

well, maybe it's just a matter of taste....

[adamknight]

Thank you for the amazing series!

[fakemail2x]

Genius... genius..

[BearWindAppleyard]

sorry, gave you a 'poor comment' but wanted to give you a 'good comment', my bad.

[Holidayfunk]

THANKS POSTER!!!!

[Pahis1]

Thanks for the video. That was a new way for me to look at diminished chords. Remowing from the bottom.

[ken131]

Thanks so much. These videos are wonderful. :'-)

[theaphotic]

@ken131 i agree these are wonderful, however I didn't get to see part 3 because sony music is a ugly big brown smelly asshole.

[StratMatt777]

@theaphotic watch?v=R0IcvVF-p_k

[PeterInglisGuitar]

Chordal harmony is one of the most spectacularly successful achievments of Western Culture!

Seventh chords introduced. This generated more forward movement. Rock and Roll uses many seventh chords (Isley Brothers "Twist and Shout"). Jazz ambiguity of harmony (Miles Davis: "So What".)

[PeterInglisGuitar]

Augmented and Diminished chords are explained, this adds volatility, ambiguity and unpredictability to music. (John Coltrane: "Impressions").

Bach and pop (Feel Good Inc "Gorillaz").

Harmony is still evolving (Bollywood).

[guitaress1]

@PeterInglisGuitar that was "My Favorite Things" not "Impressions"

[PeterInglisGuitar]

@guitaress1

Good call. Hard to tell them apart once they get into it ; <)