Understanding The Trooper
Вставка
- Опубліковано 30 тра 2024
- Iron Maiden is one of the most iconic bands in the history of metal, and The Trooper is one of their most iconic songs. It's full of signature Iron Maiden techniques like frantic rhythms, syncopation, harmonizing guitars, and of course the operatic screams of Bruce Dickinson. Or one of the other four vocalists they've had over the years, but Dickinson will always be Maiden to me. Anyway it's a very different piece of music from most of the stuff we've looked at before, and it's a great example of a lot of the musical vocabulary that sets metal apart even today.
Patreon: / 12tonevideos
Merchandise Store: 12tonevideos.storenvy.com/
Mailing List: eepurl.com/bCTDaj
Facebook: / 12tonevideos
Twitter: / 12tonevideos
Instagram: / 12tonevideos
Email: 12tonevideos@gmail.com
Last: • The Music Theory Of Ja...
The Trooper: • Video
Script: docs.google.com/document/d/1F...
SOURCES:
guitaralliance.com/instant-so...
www.bigbasstabs.com/iron_maid...
Huge thanks to our gold-level Patreon supporters:
Susan Jones
Jill Jones
Ron Jones
Howard Levine
Gabi Ghita
Kaylor Hodges
Elaine Pratt
Ken Arnold
Brian Etheredge
Josh King
Gene Lushtak
William (Bill) Boston
Tom
Khristofor Saraga
Nicolas Mendoza
Anton Smyk
Wolf Bennett
RAD Donato
Mitchell Fund
Dale Monks
Chris Prentice
Jack Carlson
And thanks as well to Henry Reich, Eugene Bulkin, Logan Jones, Abram Thiessen, Anna Work, Oliver, Jc Bq, Adam Neely, Dialup Salesman, nico, Justin Donnell, Michael Fieseler, Rick Lees, Ben LaRose, rhandhom1, Harold Gonzales, Dakota Williams, Marc Himmelberger, Chris Borland, jason black, StarsServant, Dave Mayer, Thomás, Nick Olman, Joey Strandquist, Daniel Gilchrist, billy roberts, Elliot Burke, Alex Atanasyan, Davis Sprague, Justin Bronstein, Justin Aungst, David Roulston, Amlor, Greg Borenstein, Tim S., David Tocknell, Elias Simon, Paul Quine, Anamol Pundle, Jerry D. Brown, Christopher Wright, blalo'u, Lauren S., Fabian, Josiah R. Hazel, Ohad Lutzky, Bate Goiko, Jon White, Eivind Vatshaug, CodenaCrow, Nikolay Semyonov, Kurtis Commanda, James A. Thornton, Jacob Friend, Benjamin Cooper, Kevin, Joe Galetti, Josiah Scott, SD, Revolution Harmony, Arnas, Paul Apicella, Sarah Spath, Skylar J Eckdahl, Kristian Bredenbeck, John Bejarano, David Barker, Gerhard Blab, drunkwookiee64, Pawel Sit, Craig Smith, Aa Markus, Caroline Simpson, Adam Wurstmann, Dave Wray, Kelsey Freese, Shadow Kat, Nelson Walker, Adam Kent, Lee Rennie, Richard T. Anderson, Thomas Schryver, Angela Flierman, Matthis Knopf, Peter Wells, Kevin Hellon, Zion Suppasan, Dan Lizotte, Michael Alan Dorman, Seth Keller, Mark Feaver, Tyler Lukasiewicz, Kevin Johnson, Brian McCue, Stephan Broek, Richard Walker, and Wú QióngYuǎn! Your support helps make 12tone even better!
Also, thanks to Jareth Arnold and Jade Tan-Holmes for proofreading the script to make sure this all makes sense hopefully!
Hi! If you're coming down here to comment something along the lines of "Def Leppard? I think you mean Judas Priest!" then a) You should know that like a hundred people already have, and b) you should read this basic history of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal: ultimateclassicrock.com/new-wave-of-british-heavy-metal/
12tone most people forget that def leppard had 2 albums before mutt lange made them radio stars.
I think you mean Jud... only kidding. Just wanted to say that I really think your production skills have increased a lot! The subtle things like playing a bass note after referring to it really helps with following what you're saying.
C pyromania was pretty metal too
Can you do one on Rush?
Yes! YYZ has a really cool story behind the intro (I won't spoil it), but they have many interesting songs!
So basically the trooper is Mary had a little lamb but angrier
Can't be a coincidence that Mary is an anagram for Army or the common association between lambs and slaughter, right?!
Yes if you analyze it like a classical or jazz musician like he did. We dont do that in rock
Yes. And don't forget the musket...
Mary had a very pissed off lamb,
You may take Mary's lamb but she'll take yours too
Not hearing the trills hurts my soul
Yeah, I tried to include them but fast trills on MIDI sound really, really bad and it didn't affect to the reduction so I decided to leave them off for simplicity. That's not to say they're not an important part of the orchestration, just not one that I had room to talk about.
12tone they actually do affect the reduction, since the relevant note is the upper one. The top guitar part basically plays g g g b g g g g e
12tone yeah that's fair. I just can't not hear it
It really really does.
First time in a long time that I laughed *really* hard at a comment.
YOU TAKE MY LIFE BUT I TAKE YOURS TOO!!!!!
YOU FIRE MUSKET BUT I RUN YOU THROUGH!!!!!
SO WHEN YOU'RE WAITING FOR YOUR NEXT ATTEMPT!!!!!
SO WHEN YOU'RE WAITING FOR THE NEXT ATTACK!!!!!
Till Hammer THE BUGLE SOUNDS THE CHARGE BEGINS
AS I PLUNGE ON INTO CERTAIN DEATH
3:00 "Keep an eye out for this riff, it's everywhere (in Iron Maiden's entire catalog) in this song".
basically
Galloped i bVI bVII riffs are literally 95% of Iron Maiden songs :) And I'm a die-hard Maiden fan.
Yeah, I was going to say that the galloping rhythm in the bass is classic Iron Maiden, but then I found this. Still an awesome song.
If people credit James Hetfield with inventing downpicking since he mastered it, does that mean we can credit Steve Harris with inventing the gallop for the same reason?
@@tylercady3985 maybe, if he downpicks a specific pattern in the majority of Metallica songs. Something signature to Lars would be how he often overplays his fills past the one. I'm a drummer and when I do it in my own music, I acknowledge that it is a Lars technique.
I hear people complaining about the midi guitar tone, and I have no idea why. I can tell it's a guitar, the E sounds like an E, and it sounds vaguely like the guitar tone Iron Maiden uses. It's just a theory video, not a cover; the guitar snippets don't have to sound amazing, they just have to get the notes across.
blalo'u but the reverb and distortion is unnecessary and annoying. there's also plenty of much better electric guitar samples out there and these ones are garbage.
The samples aren't important. The message of the video would be exactly the same if he'd recorded and pitch corrected a fart for the samples.
Plus it wouldn't be better to avoid copyright jerks? I'm not even telling that they though of it, just saying it *might be* a fairly nice advantage
It's fine except for the riff between verses where the midi guitar doesn't have the hammer-on's and pullof's which make it sound quite bland compared to the real deal. It's one of the strongest parts of the song.
You're right but people guess you are a musician yourself and perhaps you could take the time to actualy record some proper guitar for this...?
It’s kinda an analysis meme but you should do Master of Puppets. It’d be cool to hear your take on the missing note.
Isaac Twardowski what do you mean by the missing note?
I think he talks about the 4th bar of the main riff, which is mostly notated as a 11/16 signature
Marvyn Nadoll actually it’s 21/32
@@utterdisaster603 The destroyer of Dream Theater, as Jake would put it.
It's an added note tho
You had me when you said The Trooper and Beethoven's Fifth Symphony in the same sentence.
Lol!
200 years Later they will be the same
The Trooper is a great example showing that you do not need overly complicated elements to make good music. Sometimes a more basic approach is all you need.
As you mentioned the "galloping" effect & cavalry feel, its entirely appropriate as the song is based on the poem Charge of the Light Brigade .TY for this video,
Steve Harris is famous for his galloping bass style.
6:45 I won't get mad, I have Peace of Mind
Jari Satta it's actually written as Piece of mind xd
Yes
Meanwhile, others have piss of mind.
Wow
That's true if you don't have Fear Of The Dark
Omg never clicked on a video so fast. The Trooper is one of my favourite songs and I've seen Iron Maiden play it live four times. Like all your other videos - by exploring the magic behind how the song is composed you've made me love it even more than I already did. ❤️
ARTiculations the trooper is the reason why I picked up the guitar, I can play the song without the solos. I love the song.
@@MrLump the trooper is their most mainstream song and it makes me sick when someone says:hey do you have any maiden song? Play the trooper man,but i never felt more hyped than the day i heard it live,i headbanged like never before! Song is awesome but i heard it billion times,they have more songs than just The Trooper. Don't get me wrong,i feel proud when i hear on street or bar somebody blasts the trooper but i want people to realize that is not the only song they have.
NEVER CLICKED SO FAST
Rudy?
The bass on this is one of my favorites.
The bass in any Maiden song is one of my favorites. It's Steve Harris's band after all, and he writes most of the songs.
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE B STRI--oh, he said it. It's cool.
Same lol
I'd like to understand what you guys mean. It wouldn't go out of key. So what are you guys talking about?
There's a 5 half notes interval between every two strings except between B and G so to make an octave you can go 2 strings away (10 half notes) and 2 frets away (10+2). A lot of powerchords add the (fifth?) to the mix by going 1 string 2 frets away. B messes it up by being 4 half notes away from G but it is necessary in order for the guitar to be E and E on both ends.
@@M0rzone OOOOooh this... thank you for answering.
"I just needed to say it or the guitarists would get mad..."
Funny and true
what does it mean?
+WatuMeister It just means that standard guitar tuning has each next higher-pitched string tuned one fourth higher than the lower one (in pitch of course), except for the 'B', which is a third higher in pitch than 'G'. The reason is physical: You can play barre chords with 3rds in them, and then the low and high strings are the same note on the same fret. Of course, anyone is free to tune their guitar any way they like, but I'm not aware of anyone who actually tunes their 'B' string to 'C', making their logical choice of high 'E' an 'F' (although 6-string bassists will add a low B and a high C, preserving the series of forths across the whole instrument).
I can only think of Tom Quayle who tunes his guitar fully in 4ths, and plays it like that consistently. And maybe the guy from Coldplay on certain guitar parts (the Scientist comes to mind). The last case makes playing around in D minor really nice since for all the chords you only fret the last 4 strings and leave the thinnest strings to ring out.
I was just about to congratulate you on the advances in your sonified score (fade-ins, snappy single notes over the narration), scrolled down and saw loads of people bitching about it! Come on guys, if you want to listen to the music, play the album. Standard piano MIDI would have served the purpose, but 12tone went the extra mile with overdriven guitar and reverb. Sampling tiny snippets of the song would sound awful and very unclear. This was clear, metronomic, but still kept some of the feel of the music.
Thank you. I really enjoyed it. I've seen Maiden live last month. So you missed in your analysis that the main theme is accapellad by 25000 fans in the beginning in addition to the guitars.
Shardar 1 haha in 9 days im seeing them live. So pumped
Now I've gotta go listen to some Iron Maiden
Oh yes you do...
Always a good idea.
Liem Macneil you should listen hallowed be thy name= best metal song ever, just right amount of metal.
@@ankitacharya8993 The existence of Hallowed Be Thy Name is what will allow me to day happy.
I’ve seen them live 3 times. Sound the same every time.
When the solo section progression shifts up a fourth, it doesn't follow the E minor key anymore since F doesn't belong in the E Aeolian key. It's now in E Phrygian or A minor.
Yeah, I debated talking about that, but I didn't really have room so I left it out. Thanks for bringing it up!
Something is still in E minor if it includes accidentals, ie, the F. It's all about the tonal centre, which is still E. Most songs include accidentals (notes that don't fit into the original scale) LIKE ENTER SANDMAN
Adrian's solo is in Em, Dave's is in Am, although I would have liked to have seen a little blurb on the harmonized run in H's solo =D Most Maiden songs with consecutive guitar solos will have a key change between them (Fear Of The Dark), or over different riffs/chord progressions (Rime Of The Ancient Mariner). And most Iron Maiden songs (outside of solos or a passing tone in a vocal melody) rarely have accidentals.
Can you do a series on prog rock?
I second this notion
AND I FUCKING THIRD IT
*A N D. I. F O U R T H. I T*
I mean, Maiden is pretty proggy as far as NWOBHM goes. They certainly took a lot from Gabriel era Genesis and Jethro Tull. Plus they have a killer cover of Cross Eyed Mary on the b-side of The Trooper single. They also got a so-so cover of Hocus Pocus by Focus
Big yes!!
I just finished listening to this song when I got the notification for this video!
Always lovely to see some Maiden covered!
A question, would analysis of guitar solos be a bit outside of the scope of this channel or could it be something for the future? All the bits with keys, modes, notes, etc. The techniques themselves feels like they belong more on a guitar focused channel.
Up the tones!
We've done a little bit of that at times but yeah, I tend to agree that the real, deep ins and outs of a guitar solo are probably best done by a guitarist. In fact, the times where I've looked at them I've usually asked my guitarist roommate to help walk me through them, because I don't have a lot of practice thinking about solos in the way a guitarist would and there's no sense reinventing the wheel.
1:14 This elephant should sport an afro
I love this song it was one of the first songs I learned on the bass and the best part about it is that the part has a technical feel without being technical. Even though the bass has that galloping drive and anchor to the song, the chord progression has enough flare up make it feel like a song all of its own. That is what I love about iron maiden songs is that all of them have that feeling through their respected guitar parts.
Please please please do an analysis of Zappa's It must be a camel
C D E means metal to me ;D Damn I love Maiden. Great video as always!
the Common Desktop Environment means Metal :p
I’ve been playing this song for years and knew none of this. I love how songs you play for seemingly your entire life can still teach you so much without you even recognizing.
skip to 1:06 for Mary Had A Little Lamb
I usually prefer my music on the more complicated side, but there's something awesome about Maiden...just enough to keep you thinking, but raw enough to really get you.
Man, it just gets better and better. You always pick a huge hit, but at the same time it's something we didn't expect at all.
Maiden's music is often regarded as "too simple". It is not. It's very well-written and performed, making such a juicy subject for analysis.
Thank you so much and keep them coming!
WHEN I LISTEN TO MAIDEN MY NEIGHBORS LISTEN TO MAIDEN!!
lolo.....people hate my Telecaster even more
I did some practice for the first time with an Iron Maiden cover band today and this goes up on the same day. And The Trooper was one of the THREE songs we played. This is some witchcraft right here.
Man, I'd love to see you and Rick Beato break down songs together.
The Trooper is a work of genius. Mastery of the genre imho.
This is the most awesome, most in-depth musical analysis that I have ever seen. Thanks!
This was very instructive.I especially like how it places one of my most favorite songs from one of my most favorite bands under the microscope. I can just imagine what you might have to say about Heart's' "Barracuda'.
This channel is becoming one of my favorites. Good stuff ✊🤘
This is an absolutely brilliant harmonic breakdown of The Trooper. I am extremely impressed.
Terrific great video, i've been playing this song over 2 decades and thanks to this video now i see it with fresh eyes again.
My mind is satisfied - like hearing Iron Maiden with a glass of wine, in your best dressing gown, with a pipe waiting next to you, and shelves filled with the oxford encyclopedia behind you. Reminds me of experiencing french fries in haute cuisine. But it's tasty nonetheless. I liked this. Good vid.
I love your art style😍
I'd been ignoring your videos for months but now that I've actually watched one I realise that in 7 mins I have learned more theory than three years of music class in school (and about the same amount of practical lol)
Hey, thanks for making this video. I enjoyed watching it and will come back to it because of your style of getting to the point and teaching people things. Again, thank you
I really enjoy your style and format. This the first on many videos I will watch from you. Great job!
This was entertaining, and informative! I enjoyed this video and appreciate your work. Please make more understanding metal in the future.
Out of everything you could be doing, you do this.
I love you man.
I smiled the entire video! Awsome analysis, legendary band!!!! (Cheers from a brazilian bassist)
In the part after the intro, when the second guitar jumps the octave, the quarter note is actually a trill from F to G (if I remember correctly.)
Alexander Eddy
F# :)
arcdelta4 oh, okay. I was close. 😂😂
Alexander Eddy haha yeah 😂😁
This video is one of the best thing ever done on UA-cam. Great work! Defenetly better then all those "reaction" (0 effort) video.
Love your channel, love Iron Maiden....this is pure heaven for me right now!
For someone that knows this song on guitar like me, this video is awesome to watch
I just got casted on this for my junior headliners program at school of rock Cleveland! Wicked timing!
I know its mainstream, but this has to be my favorite Iron Maiden song! I cant believe I never found your channel though, it's really helpful!
This is the video I have been waiting for
Love this analysis especially bc it will help me with my own music notation ability that I am trying to improve. THANK YOU!
I'm seeing them live at June 20th for the first time. Couldn't be more pumped.
Great analysis of a classic jam. You even got the midi bass to hit the fills in the solo section. Nice work, Lefty!
I thought this would be little boring,but in fact it was so fun to watch and you can even learn something,when video ended i was surprised it was a whole 7 and a half minutes i thought it was like 4,i like the technique with drawing to make it more pictured and help to memorize all of this better and in global explain it with more ease,and i subscribed because you deserve it.Good Job man!
Thanks for this video! I wish Iron Maiden would get more attention on the popular music youtube channels. They're one of the most influential bands in history and there's so much to discover in their music. The Trooper might be one of their most popular songs but it is also one of their simplest. I think Steve Harris wrote it in a day. They have many other amazing (and in my opinion more interesting) songs and are still putting out quality records. They have evolved a lot musically since the early 80s, but I think they have aged very gracefully and are today a lot more skillful than in their so-called 'prime', especially Bruce. Of all the big metal acts out there (Sabbath, Priest, Metallica etc), I think Maiden are still the best and as good as or better than in the early days.
Wow, a channel that helps me understand why I love the songs that I listen to?
UA-cam recommendations sometimes hit the spot
Awesome analysis! LOVE this song! it's very challenging to play on bass.
Hello, I was wondering if you could check out the piece: 'Fossegrim'. You just have to search the name on youtube, and you'll find it.
Great video mate :)
I feel like now I have to go back and listen to the trooper like 100 more times after watching this
Thanks for the video. It really helps as all of the other videos I have watched in your channel! One request: Could you make an analysis based on Cynic's Veil of Maya? It would be awesome. Once again, thanks for your videos. They really teach a lot!
Wow...if been listening and playing the trooper for 35 years and haven't notice any of this.
A new approach to an old favourite. Thanks :D
3:02 the song is based on the famous calvary charge of the Crimean War called the Charge of the Light Brigade, so this makes even more sense.
That was awesome to watch. Nice breakdown.
Ok wow. 1. I wish you covered this back in March when I covered the trooper and the charge of the light brigade (the reason the song sounds like a gallop it’s about a Calvary charge) 2. You just got a new subscriber.
Another great video man keep it up
what a great video! amazing job.
Thanks for clarifying that bit about the B string on a guitar. I almost got mad.
THIS IS THE TYPE OF CONTENT I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR!
Great video - easy to understand, entertaining and very informative
Well someone was awake during music theory class,well done sir,well done enjoyed the shit out of this and you picked a killer song to do.🤘🤘
I was just playing Jim Croce's Time In A Bottle this morning, and looking at the chords, melody, and even the key signature I couldn't figure out what it was doing and why. I immediately went to your channel, but you didn't have a video on it, so here's my friendly request!!
Just stopping by to say there is an a cappella cover of this song and it's not awful. Great video!
Love to see some Maiden! My first choice would have been Hallowed be thy Name, though, and my second likely Brighter than a thousand Suns, though. Hope you'll be covering more Maiden and more Metal!
*Sees title* you just made my day.
*Watches video* you just made my week
Dude, ive learned to read music just by watch videos by you, thank you
Awesome video. Gonna go blast the trooper now
this is so awesome!
these videos are amazing
Haven't finished it, but my immediate question is, at 2:41, why does the inversion of the harmony part change the harmony to a 6th, instead of an 11th? Is it basing the interval on the fact that the root sense has changed because the current lower note is actually what WAS the third before, so now we base the interval off of the G major scale?
I am still having trouble understanding some of the interval based music theory stuff like this, so I tried to spell out my thought process there, so if it's common sense in theory, please forgive me.
Love this video so far!
It's the interval between the two guitars. In the beginning the lower guitar is playing an E and the higher guitar is playing a G. This creates a minor third. But in the second part the lower guitar plays a G and the higher guitar plays an E and this is a major sixth. It's not about scales, it's about intervals, though you could count the scale up from G and you would notice that E is 6 notes up from G.
E F# G is a third.
G A B C D E is a sixth.
We are still in the key of E minor and it's still the E minor scale. But we are talking about the intervals between the two notes played at the same time (i.e., harmonic intervals), not about the intervals in relation to the key center. E is still the root of the key and G is still the third of the key. But the interval between these two notes is a sixth if G is the lower note.
Think about it this way, G-E is always a major sixth, regardless of the key we are in, because the distance between those two notes is 9 half steps.
BTW, when it comes to the actual root of this interval, it's still E. This may sound a bit confusing, but you will hear the E as the root, even though it's the higher note. Sixths are most of the time heard as inverted thirds, and since the root of the third interval is the lower note, then the root of the inverted third needs to be the higher note. This is most of the time, but not always. For example there are 6th chords where the lower note of the 6th is heard as the root.
Monday - Wednesday (2 days)
Wednesday - Monday (5 days)
lower guitar plays g major, higher guitar plays e minor, bass plays e minor.
I suck with music theory but still was able to understand most of this with your great explanation
Quite impressive! Great work :)
Ha ha, I came from Hamilton to heavy metal but I've definitely found a new UA-cam channel I like!
Lewis Hamilton ?
Blue oyster cult Hamilton the musical.
Saw em with Ghost in Nashville recently. They haven't lost a step. Bruce still runs around the stage and he hit every high note like it was 1987.
I love these videos! Do the artists write these songs with all of this stuff in mind or are you over analyzing for the sake of it?
Awesome job!!!!!
That A - G - E - F G A chord over a relatively static melody is kind an iron maiden trademark, they use it a lot and its lots of fun. Ive heard one other band use it well, surprisingly a non metal band, cardiacs in "gibber and twitch". In dact you'd almost want to accuse them of swiping it from maiden, cept the song was written late 70s.
There’s 2 ways to go about this -
1: completely over-analyze the song and find the tiniest details that many (even the writer) may overlook, or…
2: it sounds cool, les to wit dat
this was so entertaining!
dude you rock!! I love the video game-like midis
great drawing
Excellent dissection, and like understanding why an engine works, it makes this piece (for me) even greater knowing how the bits work to work together.
PS: Dickinson, the best lead for Maiden, without him or Murray IM would be an entirely different sound likely not as good.
Excellent video! Love your chanel
I’d love to hear your analysis of something from liquid tension experiment. Maybe acid rain or another dimension.
Keenan Bartlome Keep in mind much of both LTE albums was improvised.