'Learn the Bloody Notes' is such a good title 😂 Man, I love what you're doing here. There are tonnes of great teachers online but your educational content is such a high quality with no nonsense, it reminds me of being back in college getting lessons off incredible teachers for the first time, havin' the time of my life practicing and learning. Hope a lot of youngsters come across your stuff, the future's in good hands
Any chance you could do a lesson on some advanced right hand techniques? Ways to approach cross string ornamentation in practice? I've been making my way through the Chaconne after your book arrived, and while I can generally do these ornamentations, I'm struggling to get a few of the more advanced ones anywhere remotely close to as cleanly as you, no matter how slowly I set the metronome 😅
Absolutely I’ll touch on some of that stuff. Im gonna do a vide “Chaconne Course” that I’m gonna sell on my website where I go through everything in like 10 videos.
@@AlanMearns-YesTheRaven Oh man, that sounds fantastic, count me in! I absolutely adore the book, I've been studying jazz and trying to train my ear for so long now that I haven't bought a proper book of music in years and it's such a nice treat to have something so powerful on paper 🙏 Also, I'm curious about if you've ever listened to Julian Lage? You often mention great guitarists of varying style, classical icons to pop players and the widdly widdlers, what do you make of modern jazz players pushing improv on the instrument in such profound ways?
this relationship has been acknowledged for many decades. it is even stated clearly in the lyric."take a sad song and make it better" what else could that mean?
The relationship between the Bach piece and Hey Jude? I’ve never heard it acknowledged in any books I’ve read. Where did you hear about it? Thanks 🙏 for listening.
Great analysis. I really appreciate you pointing out stuff like the tonic note sung on the dominant chord, melody leaps, etc. Also, I bought all your albums on BandCamp and they’re fantastic. Thanks!
I think you definately have something here. While you played Bach piece I also heard Procol Harum whiter shade of pale. That was no secret that they borrowed from Bach. Whiter shade of... was recorded in 1967 and Hey Jude in 1968. Excellent video !!! Keep them coming.
It could happen subconsciously. I wrote a song that I scrapped because I realized the melody was familiar and figured out it was part of "South Side of the Sky" by Yes ;-)
Same happened to me a few times ! I hadn’t even heard the songs my friend claimed my song idea sounded like but must have absorbed it subconsciously somewhere
@@steffyweffy777 I like that way of putting it -- absorbing. Like a sponge! ;-) And I've been a sponge since I heard Nancy Sinatra on the radio in 1966 (at age 6) and I got that beat! lol
Bless rick beato that i found you..i binged your channel for about an hour and i am simply here to say..You are truly the best person i've heard play an acoustic..there simply isn't anyone with a playing as tasteful as you..they do sound fancy but you have a different charm with your music
It's worth noting Bach himself seemed to be really enamored by this melody. It is also the melody for the Adagio BWV 1059 (oboe). The famous 'Air on a G string' is also reminiscent of this melody. I believe I'm missing a few other incidents where this melody appears in Bach's output. It speaks volumes about the quality of the melody when the greatest composer in history recycled it again and again!
@@AlanMearns-YesTheRaven Good one there! It's definitely an inspiration but I don't think there's much out there since the advent of Rock&Roll that doesn't have some Bach in it.
Brilliant Alan, thank you! I’m reminded of “Echo’s in the Canyon” where Eric Clapton realized his “Let it Rain” was influenced by Stephen Stills “Questions”….
Bach used it himself elsewhere (presumably earlier) too in cantata BWV 156. Called 'arioso'. It has less of the embellishments, making it sound even closer to 'Hey Jude'.
Dude, you're awesome! I totally get you, creative souls are all the same and thinking about things like this. Great opinion and great video too. Thank's to Rick Beato for telling the world about you, you're worth it.
Love it all your getting really good on camera it's very authentic. You are correct in my opinion it's happened to me where I realized later where a chord progression came from and it ruins it for me even if it's really different.
I played some Bach Sonatas on piano for fun and i felt that every 4 to 8 bars could be the beginning or middle part of a great pop song .The modulations are so unique (often becaus of the bassline) that they enable tons of possibilities .You can hear the influence even until the 80s and 90s in songwriting . At the moment , i would say , these kind of influences are rare exept for singer songwriter material. Rhythm is dominating . Hopefully that does not last not much longer . Could be something like a musical reset .And then we can finally enjoy music again that has unique modulations . I think that is the kind of music that truly transforms something within in the audience. Or lets say shifts the atmosphere .By the way - love your songrwriting !
Nae half inchin Laddie! As a Glaswegian I totally get it Mr Mearns! I really enjoyed this postulation and I'm reminded by a quote attributed to Einstein (and disputed) where he allegedly said "i think 99 times and find nothing. I stop thinking, swim in silence, and the truth comes to me". Maybe Johann Sebastian and Paul were drawing from the same universal source?? 😃
Interesting breakdown, McCartney did have a tendency to sing notes that would create a chord suspension, something I also picked up from listening to Curt Cobain's vocal note choices before I found out that he had been heavily influenced by The Beatles.
Great!! Check “ la Cata Musical” if you can understand Spanish. He links “Because” with Beethoven 14th piano sonata. I think the Beatles used classical music constantly to develop their wonderful harmonic universe.
Pete Seeger referred to such things as "the folk process" ... folk singers borrowing/ stealing from each other and putting their own stamp on it. Interesting and fun video, Alan. Thank you 🙏
As soon as you started playing the Bach I heard 'For All We Know' (Karlin, Wilson, James) made famous by The Carpenters. When you showed the "sad song" section, that, to me, demonstrated McCartney's sublime talent. Melodic food indeed! Cheers, Ian
Thanks for the really interesting video. As a fellow guitarist who also learns by ear, I totally can relate to writing something and halfway thru..."oh crap that's....(song). Lol.
I kept hearing the Carpenters 'For all We Know" (the Oboe Solo) when you were picking the Bach melody. I have this point of view with music that you shouldn't be able to copyright sounds - mainly because we didn't invent it and someone else likely played it before you... probably Bach. I don't think many people would agree with me on that though LOL. Love your channel :-)
Yeah Allen Ur an astute observer! An interesting tack to take into the winds of popular music, whether that music be classical or rock-n-roll. Musical genius by any name still sounds sweet. Ahhh, that is beautiful my friend.0
What I think is I enjoyed your thoughts and insights on this. Given the similarity it seems at the very least Bach and Paul shared some similar musical sentiments and thoughts. Did Paul unconsciously regurgitate some of Bachs musical memes in this specific piece? Thats just so hard to say its not an unfamiliar chord progression and Paul often pulled the simple beauty. I say you're right though. It was probably unconsciously translated into his own song
Simple lines, intertwining. The saddest of all keys. A horn part. Baam. Baaaaam. Great video and reference, I learned something - and chuckled! Edit: wait, it’s Mearns and Back, so clearly a Mach piece!
Thanks for the video. I just wanted to mention, in case you were not aware, that it sounds like in many parts of the video you were perhaps "thumping" something with your foot that resulted in a persistent rumble on the mic while you were talking. It's not a big deal, but for viewers can be quite distracting. Thanks again for the video, and best wishes.
Happens all the time. I wrote a song for my new album and it sounded very familiar for a few days. Then I realized I had re-written Take My Breath Away by Berlin. I had to scrap it.
I've always thought that listening to 'high information' music sharpens one's instinct, which is the driving force behind all great music (all art, really). Furthermore, I wonder if my own melodies are misremembrances (and/or collations) of melodies from other songs/pieces; and all I'm doing is going with the flow (trusting my instinct) by weaving or stitching them together in a new form. When my ear hungers for new sounds and atypical structures, I follow that desire by consuming different kinds of music; and this difference soon becomes reflected in what I compose. So, in that way, you can sort of guide your composition by continuing to absorb new and different music, and then by allowing yourself to trust your own instinct when you write. This might sound odd or confusing to some, but to me it's come very naturally and makes sense; and I've composed songs that have surprised my own ear, which is more than exciting and especially motivating. However, it is essentially a mystery - and that's the magic of it all! Thanks for the knowledge and wisdom, Alan. Best wishes from the south of England :)
It's easy to accidentally re-cycle other people's work without knowing so I could believe your analysis as a possibility. I've sat down to improvise something at the piano and noticed something very familiar that I struggle to identify the origin of. I've also got a simple five chord fragment on guitar that I haven't figured out what to do with but like the sound of but I'm convinced it is someone else's but have no idea whose! Maybe it's something that Bruce Cockburn wrote cos I've listened to him a lot but I still can't identify it. I tend to listen to most of the classical music I like live through orchestral performance but have had somewhat of a break from that due to COVID. Very partial to the music of Jean Sibelius and Arvo Part.
Hehe. I "came up" with freebird. I can't say for sure that the chord progression sounded good to me because I had heard it many times before, or if it sounded good to me for the same reason it sounded good to the originators. Good thing I heard it on the radio soon after.
It's, by the way, one of Bach's more reused pieces. You have the same melody and harmony in an oboe concerto and in one of the cantatas. Obviously, they're all reworked, not just copied, but you can easily hear it's the same piece. Here's the cantata version, which I personally like best: ua-cam.com/video/drFcH_WwK7Y/v-deo.html It's also a ravishingly beautiful melody. No offence to Maccartney, whom I hold in great esteem (though Hey Jude is not one of my favourite Beatles songs, TBH), but Bach outdoes him by a mile in this case.
For me, it's Bach's use of a first inversion dominant on the second chord that makes the opening so distinctive, while McCartney just goes, rather baldly, to the dominant in root position. Yes, then he plays his ace with that leap of a sixth. Not that there is anything blindingly original about Bach's use of a descending bass line for the first two bars, but those descending bass lines can pack one helluva punch emotionally, especially when they are used as well as Bach uses them. (I never liked the scansion of the lyrics of Hey Jude - they sound awkward to me, not to say lazily put together. Well, you can't please everybody.)
There are some significant similarities. General harmonic movement can account could account for some of that. Subconscious harvesting of themes, motifs, etc. could easily play a role in the similarities. It might be interesting to hear simultaneous, tempo matched versions panned left and right, to get a better idea of just how similar they are.
Both Hey Jude, and Yesterday are derived from Neapolitan song melodies. Specifically: Hey Jude = O Sole Mio Yesterday = Santa Chiara Listen to these song on line and you’ll see. Remember the boys had no musical training.
Thanks Alan, I’d love to hear more like this. Musically do you think you can take a sad song and make it better? Do you think the Bach piece was sad? I know these are loaded questions and ignoring the context of lyrics. It also implies that a sad song is somehow bad. Anyway, I loved the vid, keep posting. 😀
Sad songs are always better. Nimrod by Elgar. Best piece of music ever. Short circuits past the ears and hits you in the emotions. Starts kind of sad and peaceful, continues swelling and twisting the knife, kicks to the ribs and stomping on head. It is so sad you have to think of it as triumphant to be bearable.
Hi Alan, I wanted to ask you if you ever found similarities on a Bach minuete with Yesterday. My classical guitar teacher teach me a piece that he claims was from Bach, that was in the 90’s and he pass away a long time ago, and I never found it in the Bach catalog. Your are an amazing guitarist BTW. Take good care of yourself.
Well yesterday has a lot of circle of 5ths progressions happening that are common in Bach. I think Paul must have subconsciously absorbed a lot of these types of changes.
Great discussion Alan and definitely hear a lot of similarities. What can you say about the song "Blackbird"? I can hear a lot of baroque influences on it. Would appreciate if you could expand it into a video!
@@AlanMearns-YesTheRaven When I heard Paul say that about the E minor Bouree I thought maybe he was also messing around with Carcassi Andantino op 241 no. 5. Great channel Alan!
Yea or nay? Well ... either McCartney was processing Bach, as you suggest ... or ... McCartney "stumbled" on a musical shape (key, tempo, melodic quality) that bears VERY VERY close comparison to this Bach piece. ;) Question: any sense whether it makes a difference whether it's a "solo" version (as you played on guitar here), or in its concerto setting? The latter makes for a slightly different listen: ua-cam.com/video/QzOYMTT_xx8/v-deo.html and maybe even brings the melodic quality into greater prominence? And a trivial thing I learned from this video: Alan Mearns and Jack Stratton both pronounce "piano" the same way. Fact. (For the latter, as prominently featured in his "Holy Trinities" video treating Aretha Franklin rhythm sections.) Make of that what you will.
Interesting hypothesis. Bach and McCartney obviously had different approaches in composing, but I think their musicality is similar. Even if Paul 'translated' Bach's music to a modern version (consciously or not is hardly relevant, i.m.o.), it was a great achievement. As most pop musicians know, it's best to steal from the best. I love Elvis Costello for his defense of an artist accused of plagiarizing some of his work.
Yey Cove, that was interesting your spot on a lot of stuff in music is multi generation and not original. There allways seems to be someone suing someone, I wonder who Bach ripped 😱👍🥃Respect to you mate. Is that a capeo or overtone killer on the peg head?
Not saying you are wrong. But I think that it is also entirely possible that Paul developed this entirely from a melody out of his head. The problem we have is that there are only a finite set of musically pleasing melodies and chords that can be achieved on a musical instrument. None the less, I am impressed by your musical understanding and ability to transcend time and see the analogy. But I don't believe Paul lifted it from Bach.
==== Yep! Just like Jimmy Page stole a lot of ideas from black blues players and others, Paul McCarthy stole songs from Bach. == No doubt about it. =====
Makes perfect sense...When you feed yourself with great input, the chances are better, that something special comes out.Great thought!
Thanks so much. Wonderful thoughts and advice.
Cheers 🙏
Interesting analysis. I'd be interested in more "musical forensics" episodes!
'Learn the Bloody Notes' is such a good title 😂
Man, I love what you're doing here. There are tonnes of great teachers online but your educational content is such a high quality with no nonsense, it reminds me of being back in college getting lessons off incredible teachers for the first time, havin' the time of my life practicing and learning. Hope a lot of youngsters come across your stuff, the future's in good hands
Any chance you could do a lesson on some advanced right hand techniques? Ways to approach cross string ornamentation in practice? I've been making my way through the Chaconne after your book arrived, and while I can generally do these ornamentations, I'm struggling to get a few of the more advanced ones anywhere remotely close to as cleanly as you, no matter how slowly I set the metronome 😅
Absolutely
I’ll touch on some of that stuff.
Im gonna do a vide “Chaconne Course” that I’m gonna sell on my website where I go through everything in like 10 videos.
@@AlanMearns-YesTheRaven Oh man, that sounds fantastic, count me in! I absolutely adore the book, I've been studying jazz and trying to train my ear for so long now that I haven't bought a proper book of music in years and it's such a nice treat to have something so powerful on paper 🙏
Also, I'm curious about if you've ever listened to Julian Lage? You often mention great guitarists of varying style, classical icons to pop players and the widdly widdlers, what do you make of modern jazz players pushing improv on the instrument in such profound ways?
My first listen here, referred over by Rick Beatto.
What a treat!
Thanks 🙏
Always great stuff. Thank you. But it's the bananas that bring that extra special something
Enlightened commentary. I especially agree with you about enriching one's musical environment. It will bear fruit somewhere down the road.
Incredible!
❤️🙏
I'll rewatch this. I hear it Thanks for inspiration.
That was an incredibly enlightening analysis of the songwriters tricks of the trade.
this relationship has been acknowledged for many decades. it is even stated clearly in the lyric."take a sad song and make it better" what else could that mean?
The relationship between the Bach piece and Hey Jude? I’ve never heard it acknowledged in any books I’ve read. Where did you hear about it? Thanks 🙏 for listening.
Great analysis. I really appreciate you pointing out stuff like the tonic note sung on the dominant chord, melody leaps, etc. Also, I bought all your albums on BandCamp and they’re fantastic. Thanks!
Thanks 🙏
I think you definately have something here. While you played Bach piece I also heard Procol Harum whiter shade of pale. That was no secret that they borrowed from Bach. Whiter shade of... was recorded in 1967 and Hey Jude in 1968. Excellent video !!! Keep them coming.
It could happen subconsciously. I wrote a song that I scrapped because I realized the melody was familiar and figured out it was part of "South Side of the Sky" by Yes ;-)
Same happened to me a few times !
I hadn’t even heard the songs my friend claimed my song idea sounded like but must have absorbed it subconsciously somewhere
@@steffyweffy777 I like that way of putting it -- absorbing. Like a sponge! ;-) And I've been a sponge since I heard Nancy Sinatra on the radio in 1966 (at age 6) and I got that beat! lol
Very educational, no doubt 🙂
Bless rick beato that i found you..i binged your channel for about an hour and i am simply here to say..You are truly the best person i've heard play an acoustic..there simply isn't anyone with a playing as tasteful as you..they do sound fancy but you have a different charm with your music
Thanks 🙏
Here from Rick Beato ! love your sound mate
Cheers
It's worth noting Bach himself seemed to be really enamored by this melody. It is also the melody for the Adagio BWV 1059 (oboe). The famous 'Air on a G string' is also reminiscent of this melody. I believe I'm missing a few other incidents where this melody appears in Bach's output. It speaks volumes about the quality of the melody when the greatest composer in history recycled it again and again!
Plus, Bach was a huge Beatles fan. (Think it’s in the Forkel book)
@@AlanMearns-YesTheRaven :) Yeah yeah yeah!
@@AlanMearns-YesTheRaven Good one there! It's definitely an inspiration but I don't think there's much out there since the advent of Rock&Roll that doesn't have some Bach in it.
I enjoyed that thanks. More of these investigative dissections please🙏🏽
Thanks 🙏
Brilliant Alan, thank you! I’m reminded of “Echo’s in the Canyon” where Eric Clapton realized his “Let it Rain” was influenced by Stephen Stills “Questions”….
Bach used it himself elsewhere (presumably earlier) too in cantata BWV 156. Called 'arioso'. It has less of the embellishments, making it sound even closer to 'Hey Jude'.
Very cool analysis!
Love the way UA-cam subtitles puts Macca being at the height of his 'powers' as 'pars'. Lol
😂
melonic foood and harmonic fooood - brilliant!
Yesterday is an interesting study too. It's basically a neapolitan style song.
In the annuals of music we all must acknowledge the greats: Bach, Beatles, Big Bottom by Spin tap.
😂
Astute, indeed.
Thanks 🙏
Makes sense!
Really love your analyze, and perhaps Paul will confirm it sometime in the future.
Dude, you're awesome! I totally get you, creative souls are all the same and thinking about things like this. Great opinion and great video too. Thank's to Rick Beato for telling the world about you, you're worth it.
Love it all your getting really good on camera it's very authentic. You are correct in my opinion it's happened to me where I realized later where a chord progression came from and it ruins it for me even if it's really different.
Yeah - that’s it!
I played some Bach Sonatas on piano for fun and i felt that every 4 to 8 bars could be the beginning or middle part of a great pop song .The modulations are so unique (often becaus of the bassline) that they enable tons of possibilities .You can hear the influence even until the 80s and 90s in songwriting . At the moment , i would say , these kind of influences are rare exept for singer songwriter material. Rhythm is dominating . Hopefully that does not last not much longer . Could be something like a musical reset .And then we can finally enjoy music again that has unique modulations . I think that is the kind of music that truly transforms something within in the audience. Or lets say shifts the atmosphere .By the way - love your songrwriting !
Interesting thoughts, either yes or no I think Sir Paul would be pleased with this discussion.
I think you’re right. Great explanation.
Nae half inchin Laddie! As a Glaswegian I totally get it Mr Mearns! I really enjoyed this postulation and I'm reminded by a quote attributed to Einstein (and disputed) where he allegedly said "i think 99 times and find nothing. I stop thinking, swim in silence, and the truth comes to me". Maybe Johann Sebastian and Paul were drawing from the same universal source?? 😃
Interesting breakdown, McCartney did have a tendency to sing notes that would create a chord suspension, something I also picked up from listening to Curt Cobain's vocal note choices before I found out that he had been heavily influenced by The Beatles.
Wow that was a great discussion. Keep these coming!
Thanks 🙏
Great!! Check “ la Cata Musical” if you can understand Spanish. He links “Because” with Beethoven 14th piano sonata. I think the Beatles used classical music constantly to develop their wonderful harmonic universe.
Pete Seeger referred to such things as "the folk process" ... folk singers borrowing/ stealing from each other and putting their own stamp on it.
Interesting and fun video, Alan.
Thank you 🙏
Thanks Scott 🙏
"you will remember when this is blown over", that's what i hear 1:43
As soon as you started playing the Bach I heard 'For All We Know' (Karlin, Wilson, James) made famous by The Carpenters. When you showed the "sad song" section, that, to me, demonstrated McCartney's sublime talent. Melodic food indeed! Cheers, Ian
Thanks for the really interesting video. As a fellow guitarist who also learns by ear, I totally can relate to writing something and halfway thru..."oh crap that's....(song). Lol.
I kept hearing the Carpenters 'For all We Know" (the Oboe Solo) when you were picking the Bach melody. I have this point of view with music that you shouldn't be able to copyright sounds - mainly because we didn't invent it and someone else likely played it before you... probably Bach. I don't think many people would agree with me on that though LOL. Love your channel :-)
Yeah Allen
Ur an astute observer! An interesting tack to take into the winds of popular music, whether that music be classical or rock-n-roll. Musical genius by any name still sounds sweet. Ahhh, that is beautiful my friend.0
What I think is I enjoyed your thoughts and insights on this. Given the similarity it seems at the very least Bach and Paul shared some similar musical sentiments and thoughts. Did Paul unconsciously regurgitate some of Bachs musical memes in this specific piece? Thats just so hard to say its not an unfamiliar chord progression and Paul often pulled the simple beauty. I say you're right though. It was probably unconsciously translated into his own song
Awesome video great detective work. Some of the theory left me a bit bamboozled and superficially smart feeling, but in a very pleasant way. 😆🤘
😂
Apologies
Simple lines, intertwining. The saddest of all keys. A horn part. Baam. Baaaaam.
Great video and reference, I learned something - and chuckled!
Edit: wait, it’s Mearns and Back, so clearly a Mach piece!
😂
Thanks for the video. I just wanted to mention, in case you were not aware, that it sounds like in many parts of the video you were perhaps "thumping" something with your foot that resulted in a persistent rumble on the mic while you were talking. It's not a big deal, but for viewers can be quite distracting. Thanks again for the video, and best wishes.
Happens all the time. I wrote a song for my new album and it sounded very familiar for a few days. Then I realized I had re-written Take My Breath Away by Berlin. I had to scrap it.
I've always thought that listening to 'high information' music sharpens one's instinct, which is the driving force behind all great music (all art, really). Furthermore, I wonder if my own melodies are misremembrances (and/or collations) of melodies from other songs/pieces; and all I'm doing is going with the flow (trusting my instinct) by weaving or stitching them together in a new form. When my ear hungers for new sounds and atypical structures, I follow that desire by consuming different kinds of music; and this difference soon becomes reflected in what I compose. So, in that way, you can sort of guide your composition by continuing to absorb new and different music, and then by allowing yourself to trust your own instinct when you write. This might sound odd or confusing to some, but to me it's come very naturally and makes sense; and I've composed songs that have surprised my own ear, which is more than exciting and especially motivating. However, it is essentially a mystery - and that's the magic of it all! Thanks for the knowledge and wisdom, Alan.
Best wishes from the south of England :)
Thanks for participating 🙏
Let it rain vs.It don't come easy.
Im not sure if anyone has mentioned this in the comments but Paul admittedly stated Black Bird was inspired from Bachs Bouree.
It's easy to accidentally re-cycle other people's work without knowing so I could believe your analysis as a possibility. I've sat down to improvise something at the piano and noticed something very familiar that I struggle to identify the origin of. I've also got a simple five chord fragment on guitar that I haven't figured out what to do with but like the sound of but I'm convinced it is someone else's but have no idea whose! Maybe it's something that Bruce Cockburn wrote cos I've listened to him a lot but I still can't identify it. I tend to listen to most of the classical music I like live through orchestral performance but have had somewhat of a break from that due to COVID. Very partial to the music of Jean Sibelius and Arvo Part.
Hehe. I "came up" with freebird. I can't say for sure that the chord progression sounded good to me because I had heard it many times before, or if it sounded good to me for the same reason it sounded good to the originators. Good thing I heard it on the radio soon after.
Not sure ofthe title but starts "Love, lookat the two of us, strangers in many ways." Close as well..
The Carpenters - For All We Know
What keeps me up at night is thinking; where did Bach get it from?? :D
It's, by the way, one of Bach's more reused pieces. You have the same melody and harmony in an oboe concerto and in one of the cantatas. Obviously, they're all reworked, not just copied, but you can easily hear it's the same piece. Here's the cantata version, which I personally like best: ua-cam.com/video/drFcH_WwK7Y/v-deo.html
It's also a ravishingly beautiful melody. No offence to Maccartney, whom I hold in great esteem (though Hey Jude is not one of my favourite Beatles songs, TBH), but Bach outdoes him by a mile in this case.
For me, it's Bach's use of a first inversion dominant on the second chord that makes the opening so distinctive, while McCartney just goes, rather baldly, to the dominant in root position. Yes, then he plays his ace with that leap of a sixth. Not that there is anything blindingly original about Bach's use of a descending bass line for the first two bars, but those descending bass lines can pack one helluva punch emotionally, especially when they are used as well as Bach uses them. (I never liked the scansion of the lyrics of Hey Jude - they sound awkward to me, not to say lazily put together. Well, you can't please everybody.)
What I hate about that song is the long ending. Otherwise not a bad song.
Every musician borrows from Bach one way or another.
There are some significant similarities. General harmonic movement can account could account for some of that. Subconscious harvesting of themes, motifs, etc. could easily play a role in the similarities. It might be interesting to hear simultaneous, tempo matched versions panned left and right, to get a better idea of just how similar they are.
Both Hey Jude, and Yesterday are derived from Neapolitan song melodies. Specifically:
Hey Jude = O Sole Mio
Yesterday = Santa Chiara
Listen to these song on line and you’ll see.
Remember the boys had no musical training.
😊
At least JSB won't be filing a copyright law suit. 😆
😂
Thanks Alan, I’d love to hear more like this. Musically do you think you can take a sad song and make it better? Do you think the Bach piece was sad? I know these are loaded questions and ignoring the context of lyrics. It also implies that a sad song is somehow bad. Anyway, I loved the vid, keep posting. 😀
There are very few happy songs that are good.
Sad songs are always better. Nimrod by Elgar. Best piece of music ever. Short circuits past the ears and hits you in the emotions. Starts kind of sad and peaceful, continues swelling and twisting the knife, kicks to the ribs and stomping on head. It is so sad you have to think of it as triumphant to be bearable.
Well this one made me smile although you could argue the original was maybe not that happy.
ua-cam.com/video/fZ9WiuJPnNA/v-deo.html
It came from an Italian song written in the 1890's. It's pretty much verbatim.
Two lines of "Hey Jude"may have been inspired by Bach. The rest of the song is a 100% original melody from Paul McCartney`s head.
Hi Alan, I wanted to ask you if you ever found similarities on a Bach minuete with Yesterday. My classical guitar teacher teach me a piece that he claims was from Bach, that was in the 90’s and he pass away a long time ago, and I never found it in the Bach catalog.
Your are an amazing guitarist BTW. Take good care of yourself.
Well yesterday has a lot of circle of 5ths progressions happening that are common in Bach. I think Paul must have subconsciously absorbed a lot of these types of changes.
Great discussion Alan and definitely hear a lot of similarities. What can you say about the song "Blackbird"? I can hear a lot of baroque influences on it. Would appreciate if you could expand it into a video!
Supposedly the origin of blackbird came from him messing with Bach’s Em Bouree.
@@AlanMearns-YesTheRaven When I heard Paul say that about the E minor Bouree I thought maybe he was also messing around with Carcassi Andantino op 241 no. 5. Great channel Alan!
Is the beginning of the Bach piece also where ABBA derived the beginning of 'The Winner takes it all' from ?
Was that a Spinal Tap reference at the end of the 7th minute?……lol 😂
Probably
The resemblance is uncanny
Billy Shears
I hear 'Evergreen' that Streisand made famous here more than 'Hey Jude'.
Yea or nay? Well ... either McCartney was processing Bach, as you suggest ... or ... McCartney "stumbled" on a musical shape (key, tempo, melodic quality) that bears VERY VERY close comparison to this Bach piece. ;)
Question: any sense whether it makes a difference whether it's a "solo" version (as you played on guitar here), or in its concerto setting? The latter makes for a slightly different listen: ua-cam.com/video/QzOYMTT_xx8/v-deo.html and maybe even brings the melodic quality into greater prominence?
And a trivial thing I learned from this video: Alan Mearns and Jack Stratton both pronounce "piano" the same way. Fact. (For the latter, as prominently featured in his "Holy Trinities" video treating Aretha Franklin rhythm sections.) Make of that what you will.
Let’s have some Radiohead fella
Yep, Exit Music is actually Chopin.
And there+s a load of stuff that was built upon some classic.
Interesting hypothesis.
Bach and McCartney obviously had different approaches in composing, but I think their musicality is similar. Even if Paul 'translated' Bach's music to a modern version (consciously or not is hardly relevant, i.m.o.), it was a great achievement.
As most pop musicians know, it's best to steal from the best. I love Elvis Costello for his defense of an artist accused of plagiarizing some of his work.
Yey Cove, that was interesting your spot on a lot of stuff in music is multi generation and not original. There allways seems to be someone suing someone, I wonder who Bach ripped 😱👍🥃Respect to you mate. Is that a capeo or overtone killer on the peg head?
Capo
"Originality is the novel combination of pre-existing elements." Will Durant
I think it might be time for Bach’s people to talk to McCartney’s people.
😂
Not saying you are wrong. But I think that it is also entirely possible that Paul developed this entirely from a melody out of his head. The problem we have is that there are only a finite set of musically pleasing melodies and chords that can be achieved on a musical instrument. None the less, I am impressed by your musical understanding and ability to transcend time and see the analogy. But I don't believe Paul lifted it from Bach.
Absolutely!
I wouldn’t say he took it from Bach. I would suggest it might have happened subconsciously as that is the way of things : )
+++++
I wonder what kind of music someone living on a desert island or who has never heard any music would compose..
Which Bach Concerto is this?
Fm Keyboard
Hey Alan scope out David Bennett on UA-cam
He seems a clever guy but cant figure billy half inched it
O sole mio wasn't written by Bach
Nope
George Martin
==== Yep! Just like Jimmy Page stole a lot of ideas from black blues players and others, Paul McCarthy stole songs from Bach. == No doubt about it. =====
sorry melodic!
‘Great artists steal, bad artists copy’ - wonder who Bach stole from…
There’s a few sources that describe Bach as a huge Beatles fan so…..
@@AlanMearns-YesTheRaven well that explains it then! Lol I guess the quote is ‘good artists copy…’ I stole the quote and changed it…
Meh.