I have learned more by watching your videos than I have by taking on online course at Berklee University. Thank you so much for what you're doing on here!
I took undergrad college theory and have been a musician 45 years and I still love his perspective and insights. I've argued with him occasionally but have a hellamount of respect for him. He's top notch.
Your First Melody Turned Negative: Play both the original melody AND the Negative Melody as TWO NOTE CHORDS above Root C ! Becomes a really cool progression (CG) - (DF) - (DF) - (BbA) - (CG) The BbA chord over Root C should be an octave apart !!! Now play that 2 note chordal melody over Pedal Bass Notes of A then Bb then C then D. OR over Pedal Notes F - Bb - C - D... THEN: Vary the chordal melody notes in different two-note groupings for each pedal note. WOW ! I'M A MODERN COMPOSER !!!
Another thing to consider; the description of negative harmony presented only works in the Key of C. Note that in this case the Third "E" translates to Eb.. Why? when you construct the tonic of the key "C - E - G" you first have to spread out that chord so (in C) it's "C - Db - D - Eb - E - F - F# - G" there are now all the notes of the tonic, and the notes between.. There are "8" notes.. then you divide them in half, the halfway point is "Eb - E" note that E translates to Eb.. This is why.. then using the chromatic scale you find all your translated noted (positive to negative) now are layed out.. when you do, that's how you get "A=Bb" "B=Ab" "F = D".. etc.. now you translate your melody in C and diatonic chords in C. Now what everyone is missing here is that if you now are in another key.. THIS DOESN"T WORK.. you have to do the same thing to establish the positive and negative relationships: Starting with the key of "G" in kind: "G - Ab - A - Bb - B - C - Db - D" now that mid point between the flatted-third and the natural third are you pivot point (key of C: it was "Eb-E", in the key of G; it is between "Bb-B", now you use the chromatic scales starting with each and you get the associated Positive=Negative note/diatonic chord schema.. You must do this in all keys.. If you modulate, that's where you can mix, but the destination modulation key, must be re-aligned, else it will not sound right. I tested this, and created Pos-negative notes and diatonic chords for all useable keys, and my theory is correct.. the negative notes and positive notes now work in the current key.. This is something that has been missing from the explanation of Negative Harmony as discovered, again, by "Jacob Collier" (he's on U2B) and one of the most valuable resources about anything involving music theory and also experimental music. (I like to present these ideas, but rarely get reactions or comments - maybe you don't care).
I'm playing guitar for 26 years. I need to watch 1,000 videos to learn something that I don't know already (and I know you hate those kind of people who say that) but that video was that one. Thanks! 🍻
you really explain this clearly. I never thought about transposing a whole song within a song to add complexity, interest. Super cool!! I will try it. Thanks for taking the time to post this.
I made this for myself and thought others might benefit from this more universal info for transposition: All chromatic major/minor chord possibilities should be covered but make sure to remember symmetric property (i.e. if looking for VI remember to read right to left as well) Major and Minor Scales Diatonic Chords I = i ii = bVII iii = bVI IV = v V = iv vi = bIII vii° = ii° Nondiatonic chords bII = vii bii = VII II = bvii biii = VI III = bvi #IV = #iv #iv = #IV
It's kinda hit and miss. Sometimes you find cool substitutions and sometimes not. Sometimes nice and spicy. Sometimes to spicy. It's a very good way of borrowing from the relative key. Also anytime I've been stuck writing a song looking for the right chord. It's a great way of coming up with a bridge. I like it i can tell it has it's benifits. Thanks for the lessons
It took a while to sink in, everything is inverted. The chords convert from a root major or minor to a 2nd inversion minor or major. And the intervallic relationships as well. In the key of C major; C-G= perfect 5th or an inverted perfect 4th, F - D = Maj 6th or an inverted min 3rd, Bb - A= Maj 7th or an inverted min 2nd, Eb - E = min 2nd or an inverted Maj 7th, Db - Gb = perfect 4th or inverted perfect 5th. This will be fun to implement. Thank you....
Maybe this doesn’t have a lot to do with negative harmony but I have two Stratocasters and their colors are negatives of each other 😂 I use Tommaso’s theory tips in my playing, you might enjoy it!
You should do a video in which you play the two guitars in a harmonized solo and call it 'negative harmony'. I'd feature that ;) Bonus point if it's an actual negative harmony of something.
Actually you CAN use this technique to translate chords too.. you just have to rotate the reflection axis from the gap between C and G, to going through C. All major becomes miner, minor becomes major. 7ths become 6ths and sus4 becomes sus2.. so if playing in C, Asus4 becomes Bbsus2 etc.
at minute 5.39 you didn't use the axis! "C D E F G A B", according to the axis, turn into "G F Eb D C Bb Ab", so... you have to re-arrange the notes and there you will have a C minor scale. The arrows you put there are confusing, I think.
7:32 so just at this point, you have the cords mapped from the major to the flipped image in your circle of fifths. The axis of inversion being applied to every note of every chord. The resulting mappings create a set of chords in the parallel, harmonic minor. However the functions of the chords are scrambled. The one chord being the only intuitive mapping in the set the rest don’t have the same functions. For example, ii (dm) in C major maps to B flat which is the flatted seventh of C minor not the II of C minor. With negative harmony, do we retain the functional relationships meaning do we progress from C minor to F minor to G minor back to C as in a I IV V progression or do we do something literally mapped in a new functional ordering, more like C minor G minor F minor to mean I IV V in the newly mapped order ? The former would “borrowed”, and the latter would be “transformational”. Toward the end of your video, you talk about transformative process. And in the sense it is almost nothing like borrowing from other modes. If you consider that a transformational process like the 12 tone composers Webern and Schoenberg did in the early 20th century where the transformation brings you into a new territory. So in my example above, if you keep the ordering of the numbers of the map set, it’ll sound nothing like the Base set. If I want to borrow from minor the IV in C major, I can just flatten the A. if I want to alter the five I can flatten the B to get g minor and if I want to use a flattened seventh, I can just flatten the leading tone, and use these cords in place of their functional equivalence. I think these will feel functional but colored differently. With harmony and Melody, you have the opportunity to totally transform the functional relationships as I mentioned above retaining the new order of the sequence, but as you can see on your whiteboard, those cords are not in step wise interval order anymore they’re leaping around the axis of inversion
Yes, you are correct that it's not like borrowing from modes. For the functions in negative harmony, see: ua-cam.com/video/KZzqjHrlugY/v-deo.html For the borrowing vs negative see: ua-cam.com/video/heISdRNnEnw/v-deo.html Check the other videos in this playlist too if you're interested: ua-cam.com/video/qHH8siNm3ts/v-deo.html&pp=gAQBiAQB
Negative harmony can be generative. You can use an understanding of negative harmony to create chord progressions that use "falling tones" rather than leading tones. Consider each negative chord as a functional chord. In C major, the negative i chord is C minor, the negative ii chord is Bb major, and the negative V chord spells an F minor. A negative 2-5-1 would be Bb -> Fm -> C/Cm. The 'falling tone' is the Ab in the Fm chord. It falls to the 1st note of Negative C - which is G! I'm positing that "negative C major" is spelled G Eb C descending. Major 3rd then minor third, only decending.
@@MusicTheoryForGuitar I love your content! Thank you for all that you do! I'd like to share with you the best trick I've found for looking at negative harmony in this way. There is an analog key to C major, with no sharps or flats. It starts on E and descends down to F. It has the interval pattern of Phrygian, but in reverse order (reversing Phrygian's interval order will produce Ionian!). This all white key scale would be called Negative A major - this corresponds with the minor/major connection that you made in the video. All the chords of negative A major come from the normal A minor scale.
Hey, thank you. Your videos about negative harmony from last year inspired me so much I even made a spreadsheet to calculate the conversions 🤣 However, something that I really feel that gives negative harmony its flavour (over simple modal interchange) is that the negative chords are themselves inversions - so for example, in C major, the I chord becomes Cmin/G (or Abmaj7/G if extended). Maybe I'm getting it all wrong somewhere, but it's helped me to come up with unusual chord progressions that I would never have otherwise.
5:36 It’s true that flipping the notes of the C major scale over this axis turns it into the C minor scale, but the starting point then becomes the G. However the visual representation suggests that the C of the major scale is flipped into the C of the minor scale, which is not the case. C becomes G, D becomes F etc.
I'll address the question of the roots/tonic in a future video. For the time being I'm saying that your observation is correct, but there is more to the story than this.
Tommaso, I really appreciate this video. I remember hearing the term "negative harmony" for years, without ever seeking to understand it. Your explanation in this video really made a lot of sense to me, and I found it really interesting, the way you presented it! This gives me some interesting ideas!
5:41 I would argue that all the notes of the C major scale are transformed into the notes of the G Phrygian mode, since C maps onto G (unlike what you wrote on the board there). But granted, those are the same notes in a different order.
Awesome content as always. You're the first person that I initially came across that got me hip to this theory. Extremely interesting and I have been really impressed with the way it has opened up my thinking of harmony in general. Thanks so much ! Ciao
This fact just blew my mind and maybe it's simple to understand but I do not get the connection: In your previous video you used a circle of notes ordered by halfsteps and divided the circle in halfs from the note that makes the major/minor difference, so if C, then you split in E/Eb. In this you are ordering with the circle of fifths and spliting in C/G, AND YOU GET THE SAME RESULT. What's the logic behind that?
Try it on your own compositions. It's very interesting in that the strongest/best parts of your melody (such as particular chord changes) tend to remain the strongest, so it kind of confirms the good parts of your melody are indeed the good parts. It's super cool
I’ve been working on this since I saw your first video on Negative Harmony. I really like what I’m getting! I did notice though when I apply the process to 7th chords or other extended chords it gets a little iffy. But overall it produces some pretty interesting stuff. Thanks for the insight.
Great and clear as always. One question: many songs, although are written in a specific key (even the old good jazz standard All of Me) they change "tonal center", or better they modulate for some bars in another root key. So, when inverting the chords, should I move on the wheel of fifths each time the song has an inner modulation?
If the change of key is just a short tonicization, then keep the original axis of symmetry. If the change of key is an actual modulation, then change the axis of symmetry to the new key.
Joseph Schillinger did a lot of mathematization (?) of Music Theory, including introducing transformations such as inversions. I'm surprised that this isn't mentioned in the Schillinger System of Musical Composition (1946). (Come to think of it, he might have always reflected across a single note, so some notes stayed in the same place.)
I started using this - thanks for explanations. I just noticed though in your other video about neg' harmony and modal exchange that you draw the axis inbetween different note by drawing a chromatic scale from C, In this video you draw the axis as circe of 5ths. The outcome is the same I guess. If I understand - the chords all end up being the parrallell minor scale. But, the exciting bit is when you have a melody you can rethink it by using neg harmony to re"colour" your melody?
But listening to the music od J. Collier I don't hear that he inverts any melody or phrases - but I know that he uses negative harmony in some of chords. I'm interested how to use n.harmony for any melody without inversion of main theme, but only changing harmony of accompaniament
Please help, I am a little confused. You have another video on NH where you flip notes using a chromatic circle and not the circle of fifths. Flipping results into other notes. Does it just work bothways?
I now understand how to do this for music that is in C major and by extrapolation and other major key. But suppose my chord progression is in Am. Does the axis of inversion lie in the same place as it would if the piece was in Amaj? I think the answer is yes, since Cmaj converts to Cmin, but I wanted to check.
Does key change also include modes? For example, if I'm writing in E Phyrgian, I use the axis for E major (even though Phyrgian is a minor type mode, the parent scale is major)? I'm guessing yes because my root changed (E and 5th is now B), but just checking since it's a minor mode.
I understand the first part, where the chords become different when flipped on the axis. But I don’t understand @05:40. Why do the notes of the scale not line up with their corresponding notes on the axis when going from major to minor using the axis?
Think of the scale as a melody; then inversion takes a rising melody and turns it into a descending melody. (It's a reflection, get it?) Example: A-B-C inverted in C major becomes B♭-A♭-G.
If you do it to Cm, aka Eb, you get the notes of Ebm not C major. Also, why between the one and five? Why not between any 2? You also should consider the formula I-IV, ii-iii, V-vii°, and vi-vi.
No, if you do it to Cm, you do get C major. Remember that the root and 5th of the key of Cm are C and G, not Eb and Bb. Why 1 and 5? Answer here: ua-cam.com/video/qHH8siNm3ts/v-deo.html
Maybe that's a stupid question but: I wrote a short acoustic piece that I now rearranged with negative harmony which worked great! My plan is to use the original part as part A and the new rearranged part as part B. If I just put put the 2 parts next to each other it doesn't sound cohesive. Do I have to transpose the new negative harmony version so that it sounds cohesive to the original version? Have you explained that already in one of your videos how to use both the "original" and negative harmony parts in one piece?
That depends on the song :) If you feel that you need to transpose one of the parts, then go for it. There is no "one rule fits all" when you put together different parts of a song.
@@MusicTheoryForGuitar Thanks!! Just one more question. In another video you used a chromatic scale for the negative harmony conversion. Is there a difference or benefit when using the circle of fifths for it as in this video?
Hi, i have a question: what about bitonality? In case of a pianist: If you have a F major chord in the left hand and A major chord in the right hand? Can you combi this negative harmony?
Is it possible Myxolidian has been really successful because it is the Negative Harmony equivalent of previously popular (in the true sense of the word) Dorian mode? They do mirror each other nicely, with only the Third switching teams. It's like we lived in a post Picardy world now!
Well... Dorian is the relative minor for Lydian and phrigian is the relative minor for mixolydian. Locrian is a relative minor to Dorian..... ect I can see how mixolydian and Dorian could work hand in hand.... dorian is basically mixolydian minor. Or dominant minor. It just isn't a this away with 2 notes different that mirror each other.... anything is possible I guess. Now I have to try it.... if it does work as harmony then do the same thing with every mode. Lydian with Lydian minor 1,2b3#4567. I'm not sure if it needs a b7. Try both. Also phrigian with phrigian dominant. (b7-7?) Locrian with locrian major 1,b2,3,4,b5,b6,b7 (b7-7?) Aeolian with aeolian major 1,2,3,4,5,b6,b7 (b7-7?) I'm gonna try working with these harmonies. Great idea. I felt stupid when I harmonized harmonic minor and harmonic major together for the first time.... huh? Yeah, it works does that mean Hungarian minor and Hungarian major harmonizes together? Melodic minor and Ionian? Hmmm damit. I need another guitarist!
@@MusicTheoryForGuitar I am unable to find it now. If I come across it again, I'll share it with you. In the meantime, are you aware of the guys who copyrighted every potential melody within a one octave range to avoid spurious lawsuits going forward on new tunes in the music industry? ua-cam.com/video/sJtm0MoOgiU/v-deo.html
Can i just look for some old music as a start to my own melody and just change it into negative Harmony technique? And make that as your start off melody? Can you also double or triple the harmonized negative melody?
excellect. I took two more screenshots as I just commented. You will be given full credit for your work, I hope this is ok! I will shout out and link you up
Hello Music Teacher from the Internet 🤣✌️! ... I've been watching now quite a few of your videos. I like to thank you for your time and knowledge you spend and share to do so. It has been altogether with guarantee - and still is every single time - one of the most precious and rare "enlightening" moments to me. Ever single video is a gem! I hope that the muses keep staying with you and wish you loads of power through this challenging time. Stay safe, Res
I don't see how this works - because the scales don't perfectly translate to being parallel! This can be seen when moving the B - it becomes Db, not D! Can anyone explain in case I'm missing something??
There is something that I dont know. Laws of copyright has no power in this composing technique. Right?? 'Cuz notes are not the same from a original melody.
Vicino Venezia. Ora vivo in Canada. Non so se siamo parenti, ma il mio cognome e' "Zillio" con due 'l' - non ho mai trovato nessun altro (eccetto parenti stretti) con lo stesso cognome.
Maybe you could also consider doing a video about converting to negative harmony regarding seventh chords and others with higher extensions. The fact in the negative harmony theory that the generator and root of the resulting chord are a fifth apart is confusing, and all the madness about the root progression happens begins with seventh chords. (For example, in C, G7 turns to Fm6 and not Dm7b5, the root is f, the generator is c. And how such a transformation turning the fifth down motion from 251 to fifth up motion)
I'm considering doing it. At the moment, though, I have several theoretical objection at the concept of 'generator' - first of all if it's even needed. I don't want to start a discussion here - it's impossible to have a constructive discussion in YT comments - I'm just starting my position at this time.
In my view, what makes 7ths and extensions beyond the 7th challenging in negative harmony is these notes would appear in the bass for all negative chords in root position. Harmonically speaking, the chord gets weaker and weaker as extensions are added unless you add them in the treble - i.e. some other inversion of the chord. In this way, Fm6 would be a stronger chord in the key of negative C major than its inversion Dm7b5 because there is a stronger harmonic association between F and C (but reversed) than between D and C.
![TUTORIAL: Writing Melodies With NEGATIVE HARMONY and Modal Exchange [Practical Examples]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/heISdRNnEnw/mqdefault.jpg)
I have learned more by watching your videos than I have by taking on online course at Berklee University. Thank you so much for what you're doing on here!
I took undergrad college theory and have been a musician 45 years and I still love his perspective and insights. I've argued with him occasionally but have a hellamount of respect for him. He's top notch.
Your First Melody Turned Negative:
Play both the original melody AND the Negative Melody as TWO NOTE CHORDS above Root C ! Becomes a really cool progression (CG) - (DF) - (DF) - (BbA) - (CG)
The BbA chord over Root C should be an octave apart !!!
Now play that 2 note chordal melody over Pedal Bass Notes of A then Bb then C then D. OR over Pedal Notes F - Bb - C - D... THEN: Vary the chordal melody notes in different two-note groupings for each pedal note.
WOW ! I'M A MODERN COMPOSER !!!
Another thing to consider; the description of negative harmony presented only works in the Key of C. Note that in this case the Third "E" translates to Eb.. Why? when you construct the tonic of the key "C - E - G"
you first have to spread out that chord so (in C) it's "C - Db - D - Eb - E - F - F# - G" there are now all the notes of the tonic, and the notes between.. There are "8" notes.. then you divide them in half, the halfway point is "Eb - E" note that E translates to Eb.. This is why.. then using the chromatic scale you find all your translated noted (positive to negative) now are layed out.. when you do, that's how you get "A=Bb" "B=Ab" "F = D".. etc.. now you translate your melody in C and diatonic chords in C.
Now what everyone is missing here is that if you now are in another key.. THIS DOESN"T WORK.. you have to do the same thing to establish the positive and negative relationships: Starting with the key of "G" in kind: "G - Ab - A - Bb - B - C - Db - D" now that mid point between the flatted-third and the natural third are you pivot point (key of C: it was "Eb-E", in the key of G; it is between "Bb-B", now you use the chromatic scales starting with each and you get the associated Positive=Negative note/diatonic chord schema.. You must do this in all keys.. If you modulate, that's where you can mix, but the destination modulation key, must be re-aligned, else it will not sound right. I tested this, and created Pos-negative notes and diatonic chords for all useable keys, and my theory is correct.. the negative notes and positive notes now work in the current key.. This is something that has been missing from the explanation of Negative Harmony as discovered, again, by "Jacob Collier" (he's on U2B) and one of the most valuable resources about anything involving music theory and also experimental music. (I like to present these ideas, but rarely get reactions or comments - maybe you don't care).
I make those points in other videos in the series, but it's true that they are missing from this video.
In case of transposing C major scale to C minor scale "the axis of symetry" goes through notes C and "opposite" F#
I'm playing guitar for 26 years. I need to watch 1,000 videos to learn something that I don't know already (and I know you hate those kind of people who say that) but that video was that one. Thanks! 🍻
you really explain this clearly. I never thought about transposing a whole song within a song to add complexity, interest. Super cool!! I will try it. Thanks for taking the time to post this.
I made this for myself and thought others might benefit from this more universal info for transposition:
All chromatic major/minor chord possibilities should be covered but make sure to remember symmetric property (i.e. if looking for VI remember to read right to left as well)
Major and Minor Scales Diatonic Chords
I = i
ii = bVII
iii = bVI
IV = v
V = iv
vi = bIII
vii° = ii°
Nondiatonic chords
bII = vii
bii = VII
II = bvii
biii = VI
III = bvi
#IV = #iv
#iv = #IV
It's kinda hit and miss. Sometimes you find cool substitutions and sometimes not. Sometimes nice and spicy. Sometimes to spicy. It's a very good way of borrowing from the relative key. Also anytime I've been stuck writing a song looking for the right chord. It's a great way of coming up with a bridge. I like it i can tell it has it's benifits. Thanks for the lessons
Also....I find it interesting to maintain the inventions....so (in C) the mirror image in Cmajor is C minor / G.
It took a while to sink in, everything is inverted. The chords convert from a root major or minor to a 2nd inversion minor or major. And the intervallic relationships as well. In the key of C major; C-G= perfect 5th or an inverted perfect 4th, F - D = Maj 6th or an inverted min 3rd, Bb - A= Maj 7th or an inverted min 2nd, Eb - E = min 2nd or an inverted Maj 7th, Db - Gb = perfect 4th or inverted perfect 5th. This will be fun to implement. Thank you....
The _Axis of Symmetry_ explanation is super helpful. Thank you. ^-^
Maybe this doesn’t have a lot to do with negative harmony but I have two Stratocasters and their colors are negatives of each other 😂 I use Tommaso’s theory tips in my playing, you might enjoy it!
Luke at music just saw your delay challenge videos! Great idea 👍🏻 Keep it up 😊
You should do a video in which you play the two guitars in a harmonized solo and call it 'negative harmony'. I'd feature that ;) Bonus point if it's an actual negative harmony of something.
Oh I definitely will! I’ll think of something cool, thank you! 😁
@@MusicTheoryForGuitar you are an awesome teacher.....
Are your Strats what you used in your N-H "Hotel California" guitar solo? It sounds very good- I've watched that one!
6:45 That's exactly why negative harmony uses the axis of reflection that it does!
Actually you CAN use this technique to translate chords too.. you just have to rotate the reflection axis from the gap between C and G, to going through C. All major becomes miner, minor becomes major. 7ths become 6ths and sus4 becomes sus2.. so if playing in C, Asus4 becomes Bbsus2 etc.
at minute 5.39 you didn't use the axis! "C D E F G A B", according to the axis, turn into "G F Eb D C Bb Ab", so... you have to re-arrange the notes and there you will have a C minor scale. The arrows you put there are confusing, I think.
You're right. My bad!
7:32 so just at this point, you have the cords mapped from the major to the flipped image in your circle of fifths. The axis of inversion being applied to every note of every chord. The resulting mappings create a set of chords in the parallel, harmonic minor. However the functions of the chords are scrambled. The one chord being the only intuitive mapping in the set the rest don’t have the same functions. For example, ii (dm) in C major maps to B flat which is the flatted seventh of C minor not the II of C minor.
With negative harmony, do we retain the functional relationships meaning do we progress from C minor to F minor to G minor back to C as in a I IV V progression or do we do something literally mapped in a new functional ordering, more like C minor G minor F minor to mean I IV V in the newly mapped order ? The former would “borrowed”, and the latter would be “transformational”.
Toward the end of your video, you talk about transformative process. And in the sense it is almost nothing like borrowing from other modes. If you consider that a transformational process like the 12 tone composers Webern and Schoenberg did in the early 20th century where the transformation brings you into a new territory. So in my example above, if you keep the ordering of the numbers of the map set, it’ll sound nothing like the Base set.
If I want to borrow from minor the IV in C major, I can just flatten the A. if I want to alter the five I can flatten the B to get g minor and if I want to use a flattened seventh, I can just flatten the leading tone, and use these cords in place of their functional equivalence. I think these will feel functional but colored differently.
With harmony and Melody, you have the opportunity to totally transform the functional relationships as I mentioned above retaining the new order of the sequence, but as you can see on your whiteboard, those cords are not in step wise interval order anymore they’re leaping around the axis of inversion
Yes, you are correct that it's not like borrowing from modes. For the functions in negative harmony, see: ua-cam.com/video/KZzqjHrlugY/v-deo.html
For the borrowing vs negative see: ua-cam.com/video/heISdRNnEnw/v-deo.html
Check the other videos in this playlist too if you're interested: ua-cam.com/video/qHH8siNm3ts/v-deo.html&pp=gAQBiAQB
Negative harmony can be generative. You can use an understanding of negative harmony to create chord progressions that use "falling tones" rather than leading tones. Consider each negative chord as a functional chord. In C major, the negative i chord is C minor, the negative ii chord is Bb major, and the negative V chord spells an F minor. A negative 2-5-1 would be Bb -> Fm -> C/Cm. The 'falling tone' is the Ab in the Fm chord. It falls to the 1st note of Negative C - which is G!
I'm positing that "negative C major" is spelled G Eb C descending. Major 3rd then minor third, only decending.
Great observation, and I agree.
@@MusicTheoryForGuitar I love your content! Thank you for all that you do!
I'd like to share with you the best trick I've found for looking at negative harmony in this way. There is an analog key to C major, with no sharps or flats. It starts on E and descends down to F. It has the interval pattern of Phrygian, but in reverse order (reversing Phrygian's interval order will produce Ionian!). This all white key scale would be called Negative A major - this corresponds with the minor/major connection that you made in the video. All the chords of negative A major come from the normal A minor scale.
Hey, thank you. Your videos about negative harmony from last year inspired me so much I even made a spreadsheet to calculate the conversions 🤣 However, something that I really feel that gives negative harmony its flavour (over simple modal interchange) is that the negative chords are themselves inversions - so for example, in C major, the I chord becomes Cmin/G (or Abmaj7/G if extended). Maybe I'm getting it all wrong somewhere, but it's helped me to come up with unusual chord progressions that I would never have otherwise.
5:36 It’s true that flipping the notes of the C major scale over this axis turns it into the C minor scale, but the starting point then becomes the G. However the visual representation suggests that the C of the major scale is flipped into the C of the minor scale, which is not the case. C becomes G, D becomes F etc.
I'll address the question of the roots/tonic in a future video. For the time being I'm saying that your observation is correct, but there is more to the story than this.
Hi Thommas, what if you use circle of 4ths ?
Wait, so then It's in G Lydian?
Anry L. Studios You mean g phrygian...
@@MusicTheoryForGuitar Hi Thommas, thank you very much for the great information and videos , 👍👍👍
Tommaso, I really appreciate this video. I remember hearing the term "negative harmony" for years, without ever seeking to understand it. Your explanation in this video really made a lot of sense to me, and I found it really interesting, the way you presented it! This gives me some interesting ideas!
THANKS A LOT, the only video on youtube that relates both concepts clearly
Steve Cruickshank has several negative harmony covers on his channel- that's mostly all his videos are now!
5:41 I would argue that all the notes of the C major scale are transformed into the notes of the G Phrygian mode, since C maps onto G (unlike what you wrote on the board there). But granted, those are the same notes in a different order.
Awesome content as always. You're the first person that I initially came across that got me hip to this theory. Extremely interesting and I have been really impressed with the way it has opened up my thinking of harmony in general. Thanks so much !
Ciao
Wooooooooow you are the best teacher in the world. Thank youuuuuuu.
This fact just blew my mind and maybe it's simple to understand but I do not get the connection:
In your previous video you used a circle of notes ordered by halfsteps and divided the circle in halfs from the note that makes the major/minor difference, so if C, then you split in E/Eb.
In this you are ordering with the circle of fifths and spliting in C/G, AND YOU GET THE SAME RESULT. What's the logic behind that?
Try it on your own compositions. It's very interesting in that the strongest/best parts of your melody (such as particular chord changes) tend to remain the strongest, so it kind of confirms the good parts of your melody are indeed the good parts. It's super cool
Yes!
I’ve been working on this since I saw your first video on Negative Harmony. I really like what I’m getting! I did notice though when I apply the process to 7th chords or other extended chords it gets a little iffy. But overall it produces some pretty interesting stuff. Thanks for the insight.
Thank you so much for the consistently great music theory videos!
Thank you Tommaso! Great video.
Great and clear as always. One question: many songs, although are written in a specific key (even the old good jazz standard All of Me) they change "tonal center", or better they modulate for some bars in another root key. So, when inverting the chords, should I move on the wheel of fifths each time the song has an inner modulation?
If the change of key is just a short tonicization, then keep the original axis of symmetry. If the change of key is an actual modulation, then change the axis of symmetry to the new key.
Très intéressant et superbement bien expliqué, comme toujours, merci.
Great explanations!
- By the way...I don’t mind “Piano Examples” 🎹😎👍
Man it's the same thing lol... just pullout a piano and follow theory
@@kellykennedy8401 Triangle examples wouldn't be bad ether though
Fascinating. Thanks for the lesson
Its like singing do re mi but gradually down in pitch.
Hello Tom, at 5:40, it looks like the mirror axis is C-F# so B should map on Db, no? Cheers anyway: straight, clear and dynamic!
The mirror axis is C-G. If it seems otherwise, it's my mistake!
Hey Tommasso, Love the show dude, hope all is well with you, forza 🇮🇹, 🦉✌🦉
Loving your lessons!
Joseph Schillinger did a lot of mathematization (?) of Music Theory, including introducing transformations such as inversions. I'm surprised that this isn't mentioned in the Schillinger System of Musical Composition (1946). (Come to think of it, he might have always reflected across a single note, so some notes stayed in the same place.)
thank you love all of your video lessons...
I started using this - thanks for explanations. I just noticed though in your other video about neg' harmony and modal exchange that you draw the axis inbetween different note by drawing a chromatic scale from C, In this video you draw the axis as circe of 5ths. The outcome is the same I guess. If I understand - the chords all end up being the parrallell minor scale. But, the exciting bit is when you have a melody you can rethink it by using neg harmony to re"colour" your melody?
Great work. I learnt something today :)
But listening to the music od J. Collier I don't hear that he inverts any melody or phrases - but I know that he uses negative harmony in some of chords. I'm interested how to use n.harmony for any melody without inversion of main theme, but only changing harmony of accompaniament
This is awesome!
amazing!! Thanks a lot
Please help, I am a little confused. You have another video on NH where you flip notes using a chromatic circle and not the circle of fifths. Flipping results into other notes. Does it just work bothways?
It works both ways :)
IS there a reason the axis goes between the root tonic and fifth? I saw you use a chromatic chart in another video on this topic.
I now understand how to do this for music that is in C major and by extrapolation and other major key. But suppose my chord progression is in Am. Does the axis of inversion lie in the same place as it would if the piece was in Amaj? I think the answer is yes, since Cmaj converts to Cmin, but I wanted to check.
Yes. The axis always changes the 1 of the key into the 5 of the key and vice versa.
Thanks al lot
You are really a good teacher sir
Salute
Hei, Tommaso, why don’t you produce a video with two melodies (the original and the “negative”) scoring at the same time?
Can this basically be explained as transposing the melody by the same degree we are "flipping" the notes? My brains trying to understand I swear.
Does key change also include modes?
For example, if I'm writing in E Phyrgian, I use the axis for E major (even though Phyrgian is a minor type mode, the parent scale is major)? I'm guessing yes because my root changed (E and 5th is now B), but just checking since it's a minor mode.
Answer: ua-cam.com/video/1b4tImOwBI4/v-deo.html
don't get how the c major to c minor thing works could you explain that in more detail.thanks for all your help
I understand the first part, where the chords become different when flipped on the axis. But I don’t understand @05:40. Why do the notes of the scale not line up with their corresponding notes on the axis when going from major to minor using the axis?
Think of the scale as a melody; then inversion takes a rising melody and turns it into a descending melody. (It's a reflection, get it?) Example: A-B-C inverted in C major becomes B♭-A♭-G.
If you do it to Cm, aka Eb, you get the notes of Ebm not C major. Also, why between the one and five? Why not between any 2? You also should consider the formula I-IV, ii-iii, V-vii°, and vi-vi.
No, if you do it to Cm, you do get C major. Remember that the root and 5th of the key of Cm are C and G, not Eb and Bb.
Why 1 and 5? Answer here: ua-cam.com/video/qHH8siNm3ts/v-deo.html
make a video on chromatic harmony
What would happen if, say, you play the melody harmonized with the “negative chords” and vice-versa?
Is there a video with chord examples? Please give me a link.
Maybe that's a stupid question but: I wrote a short acoustic piece that I now rearranged with negative harmony which worked great! My plan is to use the original part as part A and the new rearranged part as part B. If I just put put the 2 parts next to each other it doesn't sound cohesive. Do I have to transpose the new negative harmony version so that it sounds cohesive to the original version? Have you explained that already in one of your videos how to use both the "original" and negative harmony parts in one piece?
That depends on the song :) If you feel that you need to transpose one of the parts, then go for it. There is no "one rule fits all" when you put together different parts of a song.
@@MusicTheoryForGuitar Thanks!! Just one more question. In another video you used a chromatic scale for the negative harmony conversion. Is there a difference or benefit when using the circle of fifths for it as in this video?
No, it's the same :)
I don't understand how the notes on C Major scale becomes the notes kn C minor when the circle is flipped
Hi, i have a question: what about bitonality?
In case of a pianist: If you have a F major chord in the left hand and A major chord in the right hand? Can you combi this negative harmony?
i didnt get why you get c min scale when you invert c maj scale. when I do it i get the phrigian scale
Is it possible Myxolidian has been really successful because it is the Negative Harmony equivalent of previously popular (in the true sense of the word) Dorian mode? They do mirror each other nicely, with only the Third switching teams. It's like we lived in a post Picardy world now!
It's possible! I'm not a historian of music, so I don't know if this is plausible or not, but that's fun to think about!
Well... Dorian is the relative minor for Lydian and phrigian is the relative minor for mixolydian.
Locrian is a relative minor to Dorian..... ect I can see how mixolydian and Dorian could work hand in hand.... dorian is basically mixolydian minor. Or dominant minor. It just isn't a this away with 2 notes different that mirror each other.... anything is possible I guess. Now I have to try it.... if it does work as harmony then do the same thing with every mode. Lydian with Lydian minor 1,2b3#4567. I'm not sure if it needs a b7. Try both. Also phrigian with phrigian dominant. (b7-7?) Locrian with locrian major 1,b2,3,4,b5,b6,b7 (b7-7?) Aeolian with aeolian major 1,2,3,4,5,b6,b7 (b7-7?) I'm gonna try working with these harmonies. Great idea. I felt stupid when I harmonized harmonic minor and harmonic major together for the first time.... huh? Yeah, it works does that mean Hungarian minor and Hungarian major harmonizes together? Melodic minor and Ionian? Hmmm damit. I need another guitarist!
Thank you Soo much for video
Unfortunately, I've read that big music companies are suing against melodies written using inverted melodies and winning.
Have a source? I'm interested
@@MusicTheoryForGuitar let me see what I can find. I don't remember the source off the top of my head.
@@MusicTheoryForGuitar I am unable to find it now. If I come across it again, I'll share it with you. In the meantime, are you aware of the guys who copyrighted every potential melody within a one octave range to avoid spurious lawsuits going forward on new tunes in the music industry? ua-cam.com/video/sJtm0MoOgiU/v-deo.html
I tune my guitar EADGCF - Can I use your guitar courses then?
Sure. You will have to adjust the fingerings of the scales and chords. Some of them will be easier, and some of them will be harder.
Ah yes , my favorite music Radude Stromsand
Can i just look for some old music as a start to my own melody and just change it into negative Harmony technique? And make that as your start off melody?
Can you also double or triple the harmonized negative melody?
Yes and yes.
Mirror harmony
How about scales other than the ionian scale?
ua-cam.com/video/5Z2MUPXG5tA/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/1b4tImOwBI4/v-deo.html
excellect. I took two more screenshots as I just commented. You will be given full credit for your work, I hope this is ok! I will shout out and link you up
So unless I’m missing something. Negative Harmony is basically just transposing a Major key into its relevant Minor & vice-versa?
Not really: transposing into minor is a different thing. I explain the difference with examples here: ua-cam.com/video/heISdRNnEnw/v-deo.html
당신은 정말 최고야!
At 5:52 you say the c minor scale is c, b flat, a flat, g, f, e flat and d. Where does this come from? what kind of c minor scale is that?
C natural minor.
Great video but how would this concept work in a modes like locrian and super locrian where the 5th is flat?
Good question! I'm writing now a video on modes and negative harmony.
Hello Music Teacher from the Internet 🤣✌️! ... I've been watching now quite a few of your videos. I like to thank you for your time and knowledge you spend and share to do so. It has been altogether with guarantee - and still is every single time - one of the most precious and rare "enlightening" moments to me. Ever single video is a gem! I hope that the muses keep staying with you and wish you loads of power through this challenging time. Stay safe, Res
Thanks! 😃
@@MusicTheoryForGuitar ❤️😎✌️
That's so weird. The music actually sounds like it has been flipped across an axis.
I don't see how this works - because the scales don't perfectly translate to being parallel! This can be seen when moving the B - it becomes Db, not D! Can anyone explain in case I'm missing something??
The axis of rotation is NOT the tonic note. Instead it's between min 3rd and maj 3rd.
@@MusicTheoryForGuitar I see the light!! Thank you for responding and your videos on music theory are kickass - been learning a bushel and peck.
Great! :-)
👍
Дякую! )
There is something that I dont know.
Laws of copyright has no power in this composing technique. Right??
'Cuz notes are not the same from a original melody.
That's a question for a lawyer. I have no expertise in the matter of copyright law.
Hey, that’s a really good point! I wonder what a music lawyer would have to say about it!
Ciao Tommaso! Di dove sei in Italia?
Sono brasiliano e mi chiamo Osmar Zilio. Siamo parenti?
Abbracci.
Vicino Venezia. Ora vivo in Canada. Non so se siamo parenti, ma il mio cognome e' "Zillio" con due 'l' - non ho mai trovato nessun altro (eccetto parenti stretti) con lo stesso cognome.
@@MusicTheoryForGuitar
Il mio bisnonno, Napoleao Zilio, veniva da Piazzola Sul Brenta, a soli 54 km da Venezia.
Ma dai! Dovro' chiedere la genealogia e vedere se abbiamo parenti in quell'area!
Maybe you could also consider doing a video about converting to negative harmony regarding seventh chords and others with higher extensions. The fact in the negative harmony theory that the generator and root of the resulting chord are a fifth apart is confusing, and all the madness about the root progression happens begins with seventh chords. (For example, in C, G7 turns to Fm6 and not Dm7b5, the root is f, the generator is c. And how such a transformation turning the fifth down motion from 251 to fifth up motion)
I'm considering doing it. At the moment, though, I have several theoretical objection at the concept of 'generator' - first of all if it's even needed. I don't want to start a discussion here - it's impossible to have a constructive discussion in YT comments - I'm just starting my position at this time.
In my view, what makes 7ths and extensions beyond the 7th challenging in negative harmony is these notes would appear in the bass for all negative chords in root position. Harmonically speaking, the chord gets weaker and weaker as extensions are added unless you add them in the treble - i.e. some other inversion of the chord. In this way, Fm6 would be a stronger chord in the key of negative C major than its inversion Dm7b5 because there is a stronger harmonic association between F and C (but reversed) than between D and C.
One question, could we apply Negative Harmony to melodies and chords written in Harmonic Minor scale? Thanks
ua-cam.com/video/5Z2MUPXG5tA/v-deo.html
@@MusicTheoryForGuitar thanks a lot. Gracie! Ciao
y
We can't find right, if a composer used negative harmony
Short of asking the composer, no. And this is true for any compositional technique.
@@MusicTheoryForGuitarwhich means this is aptable for any compositional technique
Yes
Yea seems its only useful in motion i.e going from one to the other
the negative Thomas the tank engine theme sounds great
100th
Damn it i got darude sandstormed'
There are better ways to get clicks.