Jacob Collier deconstructs a Stevie Wonder classic
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- Опубліковано 9 тра 2024
- Stevie Wonder's irresistible ode to jazz, explained
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Stevie Wonder is one of the most widely celebrated artists in history. His music is infectious, melodic, and thoughtfully inspired by the jazz musicians who came before him. In his legendary song "Sir Duke," Stevie paid homage to the late Duke Ellington and his other predecessors.
Jacob Collier is a rising star in his own right and is Stevie Wonder's self-proclaimed greatest fan. Here, he breaks down the jazz influences and syncopations Stevie uses to create the magic that is "Sir Duke."
If you’d like to check out more of Jacob’s music check out his UA-cam channel here:
/ jacobcolliermusic
Follow Vox Earworm on Facebook for more: / voxearworm
Some songs don't just stick in your head, they change the music world forever. Join Estelle Caswell on a musical journey to discover the stories behind your favorite songs.
And be sure to check out Earworm's complete first season here: bit.ly/2QCwhMH
Note: The headline for this video has been updated since publishing.
Previous headline: Stevie Wonder's irresistible ode to jazz, explained
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The most challenging part of making this video was visually interpreting the song and Jacob's explanation in a clear way for musical amateurs (just like me). There's one moment around 2:15 where Jacob says "A flat minor." Now, as I'm animating, I'm also learning new things about music theory, and fact checking them. This moment completely stumped me, because "A flat minor" - I learned - is the enharmonic equivalent of "G sharp minor." In clearer terms, they are the same chord, though many people find "G sharp minor" to be the simpler alternative.
So, should he have said "G sharp minor instead?" Please discuss that amicably below. From my perspective, it would have been more complicated and confusing to write "G sharp minor" as he said "A flat minor." Also "A flat minor" needs more love. Please clap for #Aflatminor.
And if you want to help me make even more Vox Earworm videos, the best way to do that is by joining the Video Lab: bit.ly/vox-video-membership. Thanks!
- Estelle
Also another small correction. At 3:21, the chord Collier plays is a G7 chord, or a bVI7 chord. The Roman numeral is correct but "G major 7" is written beneath it. G7 and G major 7 are different chords (confusing I know) so that's another thing to watch out for.
Personally I usually say Ab instead of G# it just sounds better 😌
@@clairebear4126 same
The explanation to this oddity@@bigmoney923 pointed out is that in the first case it is the chord G major with the minor 7 added. The G major part is written just with a G since if it had been minor it would have an m after (Gm). If the chord instead has the major 7 added it is written G major 7 or often just Gmaj7. The major part can also be a capital M (GM7) or a triangle. If the chord is G minor with the major 7 added it is written Gmmaj7 (or Gm(maj7)).
@@clairebear4126 yeah same
Me: *sits on the piano*
Jacob: "And that's actually one of my favorite chords"
Hilarious comment!
@@howtokdj1498 Hilarious comment!
this made me laugh loudly in my room 🤣
it's an a-demolished i believe
“He’s obnoxiously good at music.”
Adam Neely
i love AN!
ya!
a verbal equivalent of the stank face
And did you notice he described a chord progression as "spicy????"
I'd pay good money to see Neely and Collier play Stevie Wonder for an hour.
Song: *misses beat by 0.001bpm*
Jacob: *heavy breathing*
He's used beat displacement quite a lot in his grooves, as anything that can make the music spicy and cheeky, which is rather often a bit much for me. I know it's a joke but he is in fact the exact opposite of a pedant.
@JORAIDER this is funny, but also Jacob has borrowed some electronic styles where exact preciceness is part of the aesthetic.
@JORAIDER you right
I can’t remember which interview he was on, but he spoke about percentages of swing. Jacob is a monster, and a legend.
Jacob: *PHONKY*
Why does Jacob’s drum imitation sounds more like a real drum than the drums in the music
Isabella Camoçato years of doing it
isabella vc por aqui
Isabella vc por aqui
Perhaps bcs the drums in the music were polished to follow Motown's style?
if you mean the drums in Stevie Wonder's song, then they're both real drums :/
Normal Terminology: Blue Note
Jacob Collier Terminology: S P I C Y Note
vroomoon see also: juicy
vroomoon adam neely also tends to call interesting things S P I C Y too, check out his “levels of jazz” video
also jacob: manages to modulate to get half sharp
Spicy is a very jazz musician/music theory enthusiast sayin', it's "the lick" of notation terminology and it's great
Since when did this get so many likes? Cool.
*dont let this distract you from the fact that guy is wearing CROCS*
Finally ! This comment deserve a like !
WITH SOCKS
What has been seen cannot be unseen.
lol. when you're that talented, you can pull off even crocs.
☹
He doesn't say
-I am Jacob Collier a musician god graduated in the god music school
He say
-I am Jacob Collier, the biggest Stevie Wonder fan
🤣
No the rest of us schooled musicians can call Jacob a music g d
I wanna fight Jacob for that top spot in biggest Stevie Wonder fan, but how could I win against a guy that is this legendarily talented?
@@povi7098 Ghost pepper, my friend. It's all about ghost pepper.
He is a jealous musician god
Anyone else appreciate the camera person laughing as Jacob goes “oh yeahh” at 5:43?
great ear, dude
I appreciate the socks and crocs
Scottily doot just normal ones lol
I laughed too 😂
The best part is that the camera man laughs
How did I go from learning about calculus to jazz on UA-cam
Brace Pobo - That's one of the beauties of UA-cam. Diverse subject matter.
@@Simba______ that's needed and is getting less and less likely nowadays
I was studying stock market strategies, close enough.
That's actually not far, music is math
I went from a video game memes video to this
yall should start a series call music theory with Jacob Collier lol. By far the most informative musical theory video ive ever watched> gr8 jobbbbb
A great job on this video. I also watch Polyphonic and Rick Beato both do a equally good job.
Have a look a Adam Neely he is great
@@tomb4639 I'm going to check him out, thanks.
David Bruce Composer is a really good music theory source too.. !
You should watch the interview with Jacob collier and June Lee 😂
I like how Jacob introduces himself as Stevie wonder's biggest fan, giving people who don't know about him no hint that he is a genius
not a genius
@@KMcirca82 Objectively a genius. You can call him a boring musician if you want (taste based, i suppose) but facts are facts and he's innately in sync with music as a whole like very few people are.
He is genius
@@rayres1074 Something like "objectively a genius" doesn't exist. People have their reasons for not calling someone so.
@@marcrchz actually he is objectively a genius. he is 100% on top of all the music theory, performs great and can articulate what he does and how he thinks about music. very very very few people are able to do that, even the ones who can play instruments or sing like gods won’t most of the time be able to articulate and basically synthesize an explanation that you are able to understand that easily
Stevie Wonder: uses blues scale
Jacob Collier: there's some pretty heavy stuff going on
Yeah I remember learning that when I was 7 I’m not even good at all haha
As he modulates to g half sharp major
No blues scale here my friend...
Simple in construction but the method behind it has much more to it. That's why stevie sounds like stevie, and you sound like, well...
Blues scale can’t be used in a unique and special way to make it “heavy”? I’ve heard it used that way without a doubt.
casually: "I'm Stevie Wonder's greatest fan."
Vene Lincvit well, he absolutely is. he started his career by posting covers of stevie wonder songs (with more harmony of course)
@@allesundmehr it was meant as a joke on the notions that it's difficult to quantify exactly how much anyone is a fan of anything and to verify that there doesn't exist anyone who is any more of a fan. I don't doubt he is a big fan :)
Vene Lincvit I know you don‘t doubt it! I didn‘t mean it 100% seriously!
Vene Lincvit. Well he IS Jacob Collier ..
"Hi, I'm Stevie Wonders greatest fan and possibly the greatest musician of the 21st century"
I love hearing from passionate, eloquent musicians. They truly make our world bright. Thanks Vox!
I agree...
This Jacob fan guy should start a career in music!
Aloysius Solas he been in music.. he’s a two times grammy winner
@@auburnfour8034 r/whooosh
Auburn Four WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH
Nah he wont make it
Still needs more practice
Vox: Hey Jacob can you come to explain Sir Duke for us?
Jacob: Sure but I am going to wear crocs.
It’s amazing when you realise how intricate this song is
That's literally every Stevie Wonder song
Much like McCartney's music seems simple but oh, here's a bit of flavor here and there.
Brian Miller Most of McCartney’s theory would be pretty normal with some intricate bits whereas Stevie kinda goes off the deep end with some of his tunes.
@Tyler Hackner Just a question, why does the song being in B major make the song sound different to you? I doubt it would sound all that different if it were in, say, C major.
every song is infinitely intricate under a microscope, you can analyze anything to death. There is nothing to be analyzed about this song, it's a piece of art, you won't benefit one bit by knowing how the sausage was made, mostly because you will never know how it's made, it comes from someone's soul, the notes ,techniques, words, etc are nothing more than a tool that anyone has access to. A good musician can play 2 "wrong" notes and makes amazing music. I have seen it done.
Yesss you got Jacob! He’s just so talented and perfect to describe music theory.
First Adam Neely now this! Vox is killing it!
@@charliek115 adam neely made a whole video mocking the "christmas chord" ebmin11 video, i doubt hes gonna appear on here again ahaahaha
VinnieSmyyth he already has
You’re purdy
talented doesn't even do him justice. the Man is 24 years old and literally a genius.
B-R-I-L-L-I-A-N-T. Stevie’s music, Jacob’s enthusiasm, and the author’s clear direction. Well done, top drawer, spot on.
Couldn’t have said it better myself !!!!
Word
Stevie’s genius is even more astonishing when you take into consideration that he wrote this whole song in the dark .
I see it the opposite. Stevie learned the world through his ears, full stop. Many musical engenues are blind. I'm not saying this diminishes his awesomeness, but being blind has a boon, not a detriment.
Michael - Are you being cheeky!?!?
And Beethoven wrote while deaf.
And he never saw apenny of the money he earned
If you were blind you wouldn't get this "joke"
My brain: "I'm watching this as a result of an impulse click and will probably move on to something else."
"Hi, my name is Jacob Collier."
My brain: "Well, I guess I'm watching this all the way through."
Facts
Why don’t I know who he is? I do know who Adam Neely is. This guy is talented and a sharp dresser.
@@christiangasior4244 I hope by now you've scoured YT for anything Jacob Collier (not hard to find). I'm a fan.
Songs in the key of life is an amazing album
One of the greatest.
I saw him play the whole album live in 2015. I was astonished, dumbstruck, floored by how Stevie performed the whole concert as if it were his latest, freshest music. I was also astonished by how comfortable and quick-witted and likable and energetic and generous and loving he was. He easily and comfortably filled the arena with his personality.
Yess
Collier's enthusiasm for music in general and Stevie in particular is infectious.
I absolutely love the way Jacob breaks things down. I wish he would do a Masterclass.
That was a masterclass.
he did a few classes, if you look into it you can find hours and hours of class, desconstructing his own projects and everything
He puts a ton of tutorials on youtube for his own music! You should check them out.
Hearing about how much detail was put into this song makes me happy because I remember playing it in middle school.
noone composes like this, though. lol
The chorus for Sir Duke ALWAYS makes my emotions get intense. The amount of genius in that progression is unfathomable. If you're learning about the circle of fifths, this is definitely the perfect application for it.
EM P why is it perfect. Break it down. 😉
I wish I could hear it for the first time again. So beautiful
As a bass player this has always been one of my favorite songs to play, ESPECIALLY the shout chorus. This song is beyond fun and it makes me happy that I know how to play music.
I cannot play an instrument but because of Vox earworm I'm really intrigued by the science of music! Love this series!
Yuppers!!! 🙂
try music theory 💀👍🏽
Rick Beato does similar type of decompositions. Checkout his "What makes this song Great"
I've been playing and writing music for 75% of my life and earworm brings back the excitement and reminds me why I fell in love with music in the first place.
@@jakeharvey6692 😂 you'll make him hate life come on now
any youtube channel: wants to know literally anything remotely concerning music
Jacob Collier: 0:31
Me: Hi th-
Jacob Collier: this is where the *spicy* comes in
Jacob Collier is one of the only people allowed to wear crocs
well technically it isn´t forbidden for anyone to wear them
THE only. Please:)
@@sakushey they sold bout 69 million pairs last year,which means one of your family members or friends have a couple
@@kaza818 what do you mean
@@kaza818 i will not be able to sleep thinking that someone that i know of might be using crocs right now
Dear Estelle, earworm is the best thing ever on UA-cam. Please keep doing this, if just for us.
I find almost every one of Stevie wonder's songs Wonderful!
Steve is musical genius
Pranav Joshi almost every one?!
@@lisaleuschnerandersen3906 yep, ALMOST
Pranav Joshi have you heard every song of his?
Secret Life of Plants is roooouuugh
I'm not sure you guys can ever make another video without Jacob. Brilliant analysis
There's this guy and he's explaining one of my favourite songs to me and he seems so respectable but also he seems to be wearing crocs unironically.
Jacob does what he wants 😂
@@revangerang True! Before this video I didn't know who Jacob was and shortly after I watched it I started looking into his stuff and started listening to his music and I just came back to watch this video again and I found my comment and I laughed out loud 😅
@@miss.chessur9554 🤣🤣🤣 omg I can only imagine aksjskckmv
Oh this guy was in that Wired video where he did 5 levels of explaining harmony
He is an amazing musician named Jacob Collier check him out
His new song "It Don't Matter" is a good introduction to him!
His takes on don't you worry bout a thing and fascinating rhythm are really good as well, specially for that age he was when he made them
Yes, he was! Try looking for any of the three (so far) interviews that June Lee has done with him as well
He's truly a God.
Thank you so much for spreading the word about Jacob Collier. He deserves all the credit he can get. He works ridiculously hard, with heart, soul, and brain. A true modern genius. Except as nerdy as he is, he is equally well-adjusted and gracious with everyone he meets. A truly exceptional human being and musician. He will be remembered as one of the best things that happened in the 21st century. Check him out if you haven't (including his first album "In My Room"). Research him and you will not be disappointed.
Headphones recommended ;)
More of these analyses please. This was amazing, very in depth and educational to watch.
So nice to learn about this from Adam Neely, and now from Jacob Collier!
Now we need Rick Beato next :)
“The horns play in unison, now to understand what that sounds like..”
*plays cotton tail and isn’t in unison
Only the first chord of the line wasn't unison. The riff was unison, not counting different octaves. But in Sir Duke the instruments are also unison but not all in the same octave.
There's nothing better than musical geniuses gushing about other musical geniuses. It's so interesting.
okay. This guy so deserved the 4 Grammys he won.
My music theory teacher gets mad whenever I add spicy notes to chords and I'm just like "bro, I'm just tryna add a lil bit of paprika to this song." I should send this video to him and be like "See, professionals add spice." Side note, I love how much that guy called notes spicy in this video.
Your teacher just wants you to learn the base chords before you start experimenting with them, I would think. He sounds a little bit annoying but I get the reasoning at least
You're too spicy for your teacher. Get a better one.
Music teacher in the room next to mine at the school I work at is doing the opposite and using Jacob Collier to try and inspire his students to add spice to their music.
I love how passionate Jacob is about Stevie Wonder's music, he makes learning music theory so easily approachable.
I wish I had such passionate music teachers such as Jacob! His passion is absolutely infectious, eloquent and so easy to understand.
Thank you, @Jacob Collier, for sharing a bit of your world with us!
he is very passionate, but as such, as any bright eyed kid, he misses the forest for the trees
Every episode is just fantastic in this series! Your analysis on these songs and genre is just jaw dropping and so entertaining. I wish you had your own proper channel so that I just binge watch them all on repeat until the new video dropped.
I really enjoy the Vox Earwig videos! Thank you for making them!
From a young age Stevie has meant the world to me, and still does and always will. Not only musically, but in how I developed as a person and how I view the world. His music and the lyrics have always felt truly brilliant and resonate with me all the time. Thank you for making insightful how it is constructed and what it is based on. It makes it even more brilliant to me.
It’a amazing how this song just jumped and appeared into my life these days. Got to hear it after a long time then a band played it in a concert and now this video. Pure bliss.
This is the greatest youtube video I've ever seen, I live for these types of videos. I love the deconstructs!!
imma need at leasst 10 more episode like this with jacob desconstructing,what a genius!
You GOTTA cut the distracting background music if you want more folks to understand the theory at hand!
yes
Agree! I'm trying to hold one example in my head while he explains the next example and there's an unrelated song playing in the silent gaps. Poor editing there. Otherwise a really great video.
ADD
Exactly! That was so distracting.
100%
I love it when Vox post their Ear Worm series! Thank you!
I love these kinds of breakdown videos of great musicians. It's the breakdown that shows you the true genius of these artists.
For the next video like this, it could be really nice if you captured the direct audio from the piano. It's oddly quiet/muffled in this video, and that's a shame since it's such a big part of the audio explanation of what's going on.
i figure most of that is because its an electric keyboard, so it has to be mic'd in order to actually make noise lol. i do agree a real piano would have made this video even better
it would have been so easy to do that too lol. also it oughta have been a rhodes.. but I enjoyed it either way!
the number of times he said "spicy"
Love this series! So insightful. Can't wait for more
I absolutely love Vox earworm series, the perfect material for music geek like myself. Thank you Vox and keep up the great work!
Finally an explanation based on music theory specially harmonic interchange, explaining that Fm in the chorus! I’ve been wondering why that felt so natural to my ears, and it was 2 notes that fit in Fm... WOW! I love you Stevie
Just saw Stevie Wonder live for the first time today, and this in combination with that makes me appreciate him even more than before
What a sweet treat of a video. Thank you Jacob and Vox. Keep up the magnificent work all around
Brilliant video. So inspiring for us musicians. Thanks VOX! Please keep more videos like these coming!
I love this video. Jacob is probably another great genius of contemporary music. Stevie Wonder is a living legend. Thanks for explaining the magic behind this musical masterpiece guys. I love this channel and all your videos.
Played this in high school jazz band. Three years into college jazz band and that shout chorus is still the hardest thing I've had to play on trumpet.
Wow it’s the most interesting video I’ve ever seen in UA-cam!
You explain it so good, good job 🙌🏻🙌🏻
For some reason, I feel like Stevie just heard this entire song in his head and made it come to life in a much more organic way than the technical method described in this video.
YEAH dude, but this is the magic of this music, Jacob did a great job showing us how a brilliant mind work with a lot of technic, even doing this just with the heart, you know?
Stevie is one of the most talented musicians of all times, with alot of technic and knowledge.
even if he didnt consider the theory behind it, its still there and its fascinating to talk about
It's why Jacob Collier's music is usually a little jarring and why computers haven't had and hit singles
no doubt in that. That's how all great musicians write. But there is theory behind everything, and it is fun to record it because what comes in automatic thoughts to them, is something that will give us a good book to read.
Rob C. Yup!
Adam Neely broke this song down really well also
Bass
Love his channel as well.
This was great, really comprehensive break-down for those of us without musical theory. I knew Stevie was underpinning his jazz and soul licks and hooks with familiar blues and rock patterns like on Superstition or Higher Ground but this really demonstrated his musical mastery and broke it done for us all to understand, giving a wonderful insight into his genius.
I saw Stevie live in Auckland NZ back in 2008. I still have my merch shirts lol, he truly is a lagend
Stevie’s genius hands down to Jacob! Thank you for this very instructive and easy to underatand in-depth analysis of this masterpiece.
I've always loved this track. I had no idea it was so clever.
Music theory pedantry alert! 🚨 Jacob says G dominant 7 at 3:20, not G Major 7 as the graphic incorrectly states.
Precious Flower this bothered me to no end
Was searching for this comment haha 😂
Precious Flower also, the "motown" backbeat has bass and snare on 1 and 3 of the bar, not 2 and 4 like stated
@@petterrong1590 G dominant 7 is GBDF, and G major 7 is GBDF#
@@phintze Of course, don't know what I was thinking 😅
I love the way you visualize the music. It's the perfect depiction of how I see them in my head
this HAS to become a series!! please :)
0:46 Jacob Collier on Vox Earworm talking about Stevie Wonder *SWOON* the video could end here and my day would be made.
First of all: amazing video. Loved it!
Everytime I see one of this videos where someone deconstructs a song I wonder what the real mental process for the musician was. Jacob explains perfectly why those little changes make the song, but I think artists don't usually think music that way. Like "I'm not gonna use the classic pop four chords, I'm gonna use this one chord here instead". I think they go with what they feel, and maybe try some options while thinking chord progressions. That's what's fascinating to me about music, even though musicians have all this theory, they go with their gut, and use their knowledge to get themselves out of situations when composing. And when they just use theory it feels more like a game or a puzzle, rather than an artistic expression.
Or maybe I got it all wrong and that's how Stevie thought about this song. Idk.
I'm loving this, I love Stevie Wonder. To hear his song being deconstructed (OR broken down ) is very cool ‼️ thanks so much for sharing, I'm A JAZZ lover.😀 And Happy Holidays to you and yours!!!🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄💜♥️💯💯💯‼️.
As far as enharmonics, recently I saw somewhere that jazz musicians tend to always think in flats.. may or may not be true but it's a valid perspective.
8:12 just casually throws down an epic bass line don't worry about it.
its the bassline of the song he's describing
@@terryzuniga2473 Well, yea...
',:)
With no click either on either instrument and no accompaniment, AND STILL very very nearly nails the tempo. The kid is literally a machine
superb editing. the sequencing of jacob and commentary is perfect.
Okay, you got me! I already subscribed! So much stuff to learn. Love it! So I am curious about your other content!
Much respect with the motion design/ animation on this video, especially if you tell yourself you're a musical amateur I don't know if I could have pulled this off this well with After Effects. Can I ask how much editing time you need and what kind of program you used?
Great video! Now can you do another one on what makes this song so great RHYTHMICALLY as well as harmonically? Especially in that shout chorus! Stevie chooses SUCH interesting beats to make those transitions on...not what you ear is expecting. Such a fresh sounding line, like nothing else in pop.
Big Stevie fan for 50 years. - vocals, keys, harmonica. - amazing talent. I enjoyed Jacob’s exposition of this piece. I’ve seen other vids of Jacob and he is quite an accomplished musician.
9:51 is a great breakdown of pentatonic vs blues scale conceptually and a good spot for guitar players especially to watch. Cool video.
I love music theory! Please make more of these videos!
Jacob Collier in the video.
Me: 5:47
thanks to this video i met jacob and i cannot emphasize how much i lov you for that
Love this! Thanks for sharing. Best wishes from The Netherlands
I think that Jerome Kern also wrote quite challenging music at times. "All the things you are" is a good example. Although not the greatest expert on music, I am always amazed at what appears to be three changes of key swivelling on one note in the middle. I recall reading that he sometimes worried that his music was too hard for the majority of folk to enjoy/understand. And I find the middle of Gershwin's "My Man's Gone Now" impossible to get right, so tricky is it. But I love it! And finally, if you want music that goes off completely in a different direction from what you expected, Ivan lins, the Brazilian songwriter/singer's your man!
at 03:22 jacob is playing a G7 chord and not a G major 7 chord as the animation suggests.
Indeed, which can be explained as a tritone substitution leading to the next chord !
@@eclair404 Yeah, that's the thing with chromatic stepwise motion. You could explain it as a tritone substitution but then you have to explain how chord resolution works.
if you made a whole series of this animation and jacob collier
, you may leave a serious impact in the music community / teaching the magic of music. Incredible job visualizing this lesson/bridging the gap between juicy story/giving music conceptualized imagery!
Amazing video thanks a lot! I would like to point out that I had the chance and honor to see sir Stevie Wonder Live in Locarno and it was an amazing experience that I'll remember for the rest of my life. ;)
When historians look at the great musicians and composers of the 20th centuries, Stevie's name will be there along with Gershwin. He is truly a musical genius.
Highest Caliber man so will Collier’s lets be real.
This video just makes me feel like I don’t understand what music is at all because I was confused 100% the way through
You don't know theory. Who cares? Learn it if you want, but there are literally no rules to creative expression. Experiment and enjoy.
Have always loved the Duke and Stevie as just a music nut listener, thanks for explaining some of the the wonderful things that I hear. I always got it, now I better understand why.
This is a brilliant video. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Earworm is so good. Cool seeing Jacob Collier on it.
Take a shot every time he says "spicy"
Love it by the way