How Music Works 1 - Melody - Part 1

[Reisgar42]

I hate how he never finishes the goddamn scales. C C# D D# E F G G# A A# B... ONE MORE.

[JJcoopertee]

song at 4:25 ?

[alexandergreenb]

Great explanation of tones!

[lluannr]

The 3rd note of the pentatonic is wrong

[nickcheapp]

thank you for this information.

[jcostello69]

RHYTHM is the soul of music, not melody.........and he doesn't give enough emphasis to the QUALITY of sound........that's because he's a scientist, and quality is almost impossible to measure or describe precisely with words or statistics.......the quality of Aretha's voice is really what distinguishes the beauty of her sound. Jazz improvisation and more recent classical composition take melody far beyond pentatonic parameters. This is still a very intriguing presentation

[alexandergreenb]

@jcostello69 1) If you're going to use the body analogy, rhythm is the skeleton of music, not the soul. 2) The episode is called "melody." I'm sure timbre and tone color will come up in later episodes, if the show continues.

[jcostello69]

@alexandergreenb Thank you for your interesting comment......the skeleton analogy has its pros and cons.....rhythm definitely has a profound structural relationship to music. However, in my personal experience - understandable since I am a percussionist - the role of rhythm goes far beyond structure to the animating essence, the visceral impact that connects us so deeply to music

[MrBlackKing999]

thumbs up for Led Zepplin!

[TFrenchy]

I wish I'd known about these videos before I did my music GCSE...

[Zrokool123]

Chocolate Rain!!!!!



[adrianfarraday]

awesome start. im on to the next

[SuperMelita9]

Very nice video.

[Dominickbmusic]

OK ! So this is How Music Works. Now I'd like Goodall to teach me How Women Works. O_O

[flakelorenz02]

@Dominickbmusic No body knows that. Not even Howard Goodall.

[thousandknivesout0]

ペンタトニックの解説に戦メリは思わず吹いたわ

[islandbuoy4]

@thousandknivesout0

talk is cheap

logic is hard work?

and the Mesopotamians counted to 7 units before 5 too!

they took a quantum leap right into the diatonic

[MrLJblood]

I'm not too sure he's right about the pentatonic being the earliest scale. The facts seem to show that diatonic (seven notes) was the scale used by the ancient Mesopotamians and even earlier by Neanderthal man. Pentatonic may be widespread, but that doesn't make it universal. Chinese music did adopt diatonism later but that doesn't prove that it was invented as an addition to the pentatonic scale (ie, by drilling more holes in the flute, etc). Take with a grain of salt, it's meant for the yoof.

[MaGnAFraG]

I just finished watching the entire series. Wow. Going to watch it again to catch it all. This is must-see for musicians and listeners alike...

[myanusisbleedingyay1]

organ pipes are out of tune...

[jipidibipity]

Wikipedia Music Theory

[cefuhrmann]

PLEASE put this out on DVD!! Howard Goodall is a godsend to the music classroom.

[Chachboon1]

@cefuhrmann Seconded!

[SearchBucket2]

1:26  Tiger Woods on double bass ... LOL!

[Ehinger0]

sounded like a 5-pitch melody to me...

[islandbuoy4]

@gerzartz

you just don't like long haired hippies do you?

nothing greasy about his hair dude, your comment is what is cheesy, the production is good

[Ihatemyusernamemore]

almost all of my favourite songs are either instrumentals or songs with lyrics that I've never looked up or understood

[Pamp509]

OMG thank you for uploading this documentary i have looking for something like this for a long time thank you again.

[AnasTangi]

INTERVALS: they got nothing to do wtih queing at the ladies' loo when you go to the theatre. #LOL

[jimmmyange]

3:44 deeeeeeep river i pissed my self

[asacool123]

I stayed at howards chateau in Chateauneuf, Bergundy, France with AYC

I stayed with him, his wife Val, and his 2 step daughters Millie and Daisy.

We went on 1st August 2011, left on 8th August 2011 - The guy is a legend

[wtfjaftw]

MELODIES IS FOR PUSSIES!

[RadiiHD]

the tune at 4:25 gives me goosebumps

[andrealeobons]

cool

[SuperFreehugger]

I have been looking for this everywhere - and would definitely buy the DVD if it came out. Thanks for putting it up so I can see it again - it was such an interesting series. Wonder why it's not out as a DVD?

[rawzone1]

The song @ 6:50 is "These Precious Moments" , its the song Jack LaLanne used to sing at the end of his exersise programs and juicer commercial.

[pklinh97]

This video is so amazing! I think I love music more than ever before:))

[crazypianolady]

What an absolute musical genius Goodall is.

[CloggedLacrimalGland]

7:59 Yeah, they're different notes. Can't you tell? I'm just messing with you. I can't tell if they're different.

[flamencodiablo007]

Thanks so much for uploading this brilliant series! As a musician, teacher, and aspiring documentary maker this is amazing!!! Whats also amazing is how many absolutely retarded comments there are...the usual on youtube, lol.

[BunkyOhare]

At 6.50.... Originally called "O solo mio", later done by a certain Mr Presley as "Its now or never" I believe......

[musicchick581]

I may use this in helping me demonstrate elements of music visually for my 7th grade music students...they have a hard time identifying melody instruments over harmony and rhythm instruments.

[pellypates]

What piece is the dude playing at 6:50? it sounds like ragtime sort of

[Sivaks9]

I thought indian music had 12 notes per octave? how many does it have?

[LEDZEPPELINsep25]

8:00  Was that note you were talking about just a tad flater then the first?

[LEDZEPPELINsep25]

4:57 Dude your thumb!!

[IGCentertainmentca]

cool video posting on film blog

[trulynot]

Sorry ? Where is the evidence babies recognise tunes heard in room ?

[sstuddert]

@trulynot in the womb.

[trulynot]

@sstuddert yep and i corrected that if you read the page correctly ;o)

[sstuddert]

@trulynot well obviously I didn't so be silent.

[trulynot]

@sstuddert Lols. Lashing out at the other person because of your own carelessness...nice one.

[ratc1]

Anyone knows where i can find more music theory videos/courses like these?

I mean stuff not only about music theory but also about music instruments, their characteristics and main use.

I'm looking for something practical and resumed, not a college degree/course thing

[Gwyrddu]

Not being British, I didn't quite get the interval joke at the end...

[xFuJai]

I wished TV was as educative in America..

[doomownage94]

@xFuJai you mean educational? lol I'm sure you could find something that satisfies someone of your intelligence (no sarcasm intended)

[Mources]

lol! I watched this guy the other week on the beatles...

[lambofgod661]

i play music bitches

[jamespiperca]

This doc is one of the best. Music Theory is the answers to the question of how music works.

[sppkrew]

this guy doesn not know shit hes got it all wrong

[marmadukesymesparker]

You're a god for uploading.

[ZosoHacker]

This was a great programme. I watched it from start to finish when it aired. The BBC have the ability to make the best programmes in the world yet they import so much garbage from abroad.

[Treblaine]

Wait... how can a (pentatonic) note have several different pitches (frequencies)?

What links any given Note across so many pitches?

[valiantcold]

@Treblaine

Check out Concert pitch and different pitchs used,that should explain it better than I could here

[sppkrew]

@Treblaine there is no such thing as a pentatonic note

[vlaflipgast]

I bet they hate rap and metal , alexi doest count

[ZeppelinFloydRoses]

Question to the uploader..... What musical instrument do you play? :)

Thank you for uploading too! This has made me want to learn everything about music.

[gefnanroolz]

THE best series about music ever made. Period. Goodall, please release these!!!

[chanctonbury63]

Went to school with Howard. The lad `done well.

[yaronimus1]

this is really awesome thanks so much.

[bigsis144]

Wow! Thanks for putting this up!! I've never heard of this and am now so glad to have stumbled across it...

[Lizster88]

Yeah, this has cleared some things up for me so far, awesome vid!!!

[JonBrooksComposer]

Interesting!

[angelik999]

I'm subtitling this episode taking your videos a s starting point, so thank you very much for uploading! ;)

[ilikeyouallot]

wow! you have an andromeda alesis. FAT! And BOLD! wow!

[Compooky121]

@ilikeyouallot Haha, I was thinking just the same thing. :D The alesis has a great analog sound.

[FretboardToAsh]

Damn, white guy had to sing out of tune again.

[kswone1]

good video--thanks for posting. very helpful.

[MaximumExperience]

whats the song at 4:25 ?

[ModNF]

That's the theme from Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence. I shat myself when I heard it, because I just watched that movie last night

[derreth]

Thanks for this. I loved his Big Bangs series. I haven't seen these.

[musicaldawnful]

Wow this is fantastic stuff. THANKS A MILLION

[sophryu]

Hey dudes, you need to understand there exist many developed, sophisticated systems outside of western civillization. About chinese scale? It's consist of 12 notes as we use today. Though the frequencies are a bit different. The 5 notes are universal. When you perceive the difference between the west's and the other, it's because the direction of development or the philosophy is quite different.

[quagswag]

Much respect for taking the time to present this series on youtube. It is great television, and until they get around (if ever) to releasing a DVD this is one of the few places where people can catch it.

[claus93Sethsen]

Wait wait.. i'm confused. so the Chinese deny that there is over/under 12 notes? should't be possible cause we all are dealing with the same chromatic scale, its psychics. or are you people just talking about a scale?

[Str8Blast]

here's the difference:

there is value in Hz for C1 and a value in Hz for C2, its physics, as you said. however, you can however many tones you want in between that. western music puts 12, chinese and some middle eastern cultures put 11, 13, even 14 tones in an octave. as long as you have an equal interaval in Hz between tones, you could have a theoretically infinite number of tones in a scale.

it all depends on what your ears are used to hearing.

[claus93Sethsen]

Ah okay thanks :)

[capedcamish]

Yeah, Str8Blast is right. You should look up "equal temperament" and compare it with "just intonation."

It'll give you a sense of how our standard chromatic scale (as seen on a keyboard, for example) is actually a human method of making transposition into different keys easier at the expense of natural ratios.

[l3xbi]

They don't deny it, they just don't use the western chromatic 12 note scale.

The Indian scale has 24 intervals.

[FluidDelusions]

this is interesting.

but i´m confused. if the distance between a same note (from one A to another) is called an interval, then what´s an octave? i thought that was an octave, distance between two same notes with diff. pitch.

i reckon it´s a dumb question, but that only makes the answer easier...

[jimmyrich1]

@FluidDelusions

no thats an interval, an octave is twelve notes apart, for e.g.

A up to A again (or down) because there is only 12 notes in western culture, just different octaves of the notes.

Hope that helps...

[FluidDelusions]

right, right. i get it. thanks :D merry christmas :D

[pyrioni]

wait! not quite accurate, we Chinese notes had only 5 notes apart in our scales: Do Re Mi Sol La ~ far less than western 12 notes, same as Japanese notes. We don't have chromatics, this is known for 5000 years.

[barnumeffect5]

this is solfege for the pentatonic scale. There's no half steps Fa and Ti.

Do the instruments have 5 notes to the octave or do they only use 5 notes? because if they only have 5 notes, then there are only 5 pentatonic modes that Chinese music's written in.

[pyrioni]

5 notes in one octave, also there are 5 modes in Chinese music 宮,商,角,徵,羽

start from Do Re Mi Sol La, there is no chromatic scale nor Fa and Ti in Chinese music.

[pyrioni]

so it is a mistake to generalise Chinese music with Indian music

[drylips1]

what is the order of the videos?

[caucazoidandroid]

Melody 1, rhythm 2, harmony 3, bass 4.

[DrShpilev]

@caucazoidandroid

Nah. Some of these overlap somewhat. Rather something like this:

1. Frequency (notes and the combination of notes)

2. Rhythm

3. Timber

It can be even simpler - just rhythm and frequency, because if you can combine any frequency you want then you can create any sound with any timber you want. This however means that you would need to use frequencies that are outside notation.

[harpmad1]

Can anyone tell me what the piece of music is at 4:25 - I can't place it and its really bugging me! I think its from a film..... Mike Oldfield???

[modoZaffa]

Sakamoto Ryuichi - Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence

[Dave41264]

Bump I want to know what this music is too!!!

[DACM4N]

Great stuff.

[top1couk]

Thats very condescending - little Monkey!

[OurenV2]

The second note at 8:04 is sharper.

[denim98]

this is a very "western" kind of approach to music.

[mortson978]

by western, do you mean advanced?

[zeemonkey187]

not necessarily.

we turned music into science to a degree whereas eastern music has more tonal range while the music is purely music.

still love western music tho :D

[mortson978]

but you haven't considered the fact the western music is the only music to incorporate chords. That alone shows how much more advanced western music. There is a reason western harmony has worked its way into every facet of music. Even traditional Indian music has incorporated western chords. And it sounds a lot better too.

[denim98]

western music is chordal-based but eastern music is melody-based. western music's approach is very theorectical, while the east approaches it philosophically.

[mortson978]

that's correct, except that western music uses melody too

Western harmonies have been found to resonate the human mind, and even non westerners can perceive the emotions conveyed through chords. It all started with the Pythagorean circle of fifths.

[bassbacke]

@denim98 philosophical is not theoretical how? Could you please elaborate on this one?

[barnumeffect5]

we use 12 tones in the western world. eastern music uses the same 12 tones plus quarter steps inbetween every step.

we use 12 tones that every half step increases at the same ratio, the 12th root of 2.

eastern music uses 24 notes to the octave at a quarter step ratio of the 24th root of 2.

[bassbacke]

@barnumeffect5 12? I believe there are only 11 different notes in western music. 12 would be coounting the octave. Same with scales. 7 different notes, not 8.

[arkhamreleased]

are actually 12 notes. 13th is the octave

[bassbacke]

Ouch! You're right, of course. Counting from 0 to 11 still gives 12. Sorry for the confusion.

[barnumeffect5]

a musical system includes every note to an octave. sometimes stretched octaves. a scale is basically the relationship of the division of the frequencies in notes and the relationship they have with the tonic and octave.

[pyrioni]

He said Chinese music has more steps that the western 12 steps, that's not true, we have far less, Indian music maybe, but Chinese not.

[Dave41264]

Your comment doesn't make sense, you've contradicted yourself. "Chinese music has more steps that the western 12 steps, thats not true, we have far less"

Well if we have far less, then Chinese has more - correct? in which case your statement makes no sense.

[timmy47]

i think he says "we" because he is chinese.

[gbraae]

Couldn't stop watching when I'd started - fabulous series!!!! And the examples he draws on made me realise that I hadn't yet found all the great music there is to find out there. And...erm, is it just me, or does he seem to be a tad impressed by a certain Mr. Wonder?? ;)

[sorePenis]

I love how the only guy that sounds shit is the white dude singing that crap shitful song "sailing" what a dirty bugger for singing so badly

[clothearednincompoop]

Heh... So I'm not only one who found him a bit annoying. To put it in a milder way. ;-)

[FretboardToAsh]

He is failing, he is faaaailliing.

[skaleewag]

Excellent. I learned a new meaning of the word "interval" - @grazer770: men tend to just hold it so there is rarely a queue ;-)

[memepasvraii]

ce mec est 1 véritable fils de pute

[cheekylotte]

I've just spent a week at Howard's hose on a Young Carers trip. We performad a concert with his daughters Daisy and MIllie and his wife Val. It was AMAZING!!!!

[fromwkfsmouth]

Holy Handel, dude - I am so speechless to hear that you met Howard and his family in person! (I have his brother, Adrian, and his two nephews, Barney and Leonardo, on the social networking sites.) Gosh, I'm sooooooooo jealous right now - I want him to be my social network friend at the least!!! =D

[cheekylotte]

It was so much fun, I played in a concert with him. He was like a dad to me!

[blofal]

This is an absolutely brilliant series. It should be standard in all music schools.

[gilleslouisroy]

re: pentatonic scale segment... what do you guys make of the imagery in the background? i.e. rotating pentagram, alchemical symbols, perfect snowflake, euclidean geometry, etc.

[cgrob6502]

This is an excellent series. Great examples of concepts, and the narrator is a real musician.

[yakooza]

4:15 made me laugh

[bmilsk99]

I didn'r know some non-Western cultures have 24 notes in an octave. That's interesting

[ojideagu]

Of course, where have you been. Lots of Eastern sounding music has a lot of half notes in it which are quarter tones and some have even smaller.

[JazzChriss]

this is by far the greatest video on Youtube ive stumbled upon :D

[wilkyx]

i remember this being on british tv a few years ago.sadly, ive heard that it will never be released on dvd because of copyrights.

[grazer770]

i have a question also. why would he want to queue at the ladies loo at the theatre (9.55).

is he a cross dresser in his spare time!

[dxkuk]

he was tryng to joke about interval being break in music and also a break during a concert both called intervals

[grazer770]

i understood the joke.

you didnt understand mine. why would he, being MALE, want queue at the LADIES toilet.

[jackhoefnagel]

At 4:27, there's a melody I'm really curious about...

I know it's derived from the soundtrack to Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence by Sakamoto Ryuichi, or at least I recognise the tune from this song.

My question is, why is this used in the video?

Is it a commonly used theme, does it have something to do with the earlier mentioned pentatonic scale or is it just a fitting tune (and if so, why?)

Hope you can help me out, thanks!

[timegrinder]

Not too sure tbh, the tune is predominantly in a minor pentatonic, so maybe that is the reason.

[blagmusic]

Yes, because of the pentatonic!

[PhilBarnes12]

@jackhoefnagel

It's "Forbidden colours" by Sylvian & Sakamoto. It's used here because it's an example of a melody in a pentatonic scale that is familiar to many fans of pop music.

[3sixsex]

@jackhoefnagel sounds like x files

[JaredChacon]

this is the best discription of music theory ive ever heard!! this is so good. EVERYONE LEARN FROM THIS GUY!! thanks for posting this btw, and dont let the evil copyright mosters take this vid!

[wilkyx]

this was a brilliant series.why dont they put it on dvd!!!???

[civilboy7]

It is, you have to email him directly though, at least that was the case a few years ago. Go to his website.

[flairbird1965]

How did I manage to miss this?

[gefnanroolz]

Brilliant post! Haven't seen this for a while- shame it's not on a DVD. Howard is a brilliant analyst, and makes this a fascinating series of programmes. Check out the one about soundtracks, especially the score from 'psycho'- very interesting.

[ryanmeursing]

Great post!

[bohobelle]

Fabulous! Thanks for posting this, I've been trying to find it for ages!

[eerieyellowlights]

lol, yeah. why are you guys raggin' on brainac0cult?

he's totally correct, music theory is just a guideline!

[brainac0cult]

music has no rules just foundations!

[fagottist]

nobody likes a smartarse

[ApsisApocynthion]

Rules based on perspectives are still rules.

[Gredran]

ur so right lol. u get the rules and then are told to break every one lol

[ken131]

Thanks so much :'-)

[PeterInglisGuitar]

A very well produced and well explained introduction to the fundamentals of music.