Nice breakdown. I play Rhodes, and I must admit that I didn't even notice that this song had an electric piano part in it all these years. Thriller has hidden depths.
When I first heard it, I thought it was a Rock organ, then I heard an interlude in the beginning and thought vibraphone, then when I heard of the Rhodes piano, I instantly recognized it as that mystery instrument (to me) in Thriller
I honestly think that a fender rhodes with a lush chorus is the most beautiful electric piano sound in the world. It was very well used in many ballads in the 1980s, that i recall hearing as i grew up.
I vote for "Off the Wall" & "Thriller" as two of the best R&B recordings of all time. Grooves are phenomenal, chord progressions are SWEET (30+ years later), vocals were EXCELLENT, orchestration/arrangements were TOP-NOTCH, & production was OFF-THE-WALL!
But not all songs and not every bit. MJ allowed his studio musicians to bring in ideas for their parts, pretty sure Greg came up with this harmonization. Anyway mind-blowing pros.
Wow, this is a gift. Thank you for transcribing this. The voicings are so elegant. These Rhodes chords glue the whole track together. Very Gospel-like, going from ethereal Jazz voicings to a blues riff and back again. So perfect for the song. Arigato gozaimashite.
The bit beginning at 4:43 onward kinda helped visualized the creep factor of this song with subtle melodrama. You woke up, looked out the window, and saw a monster standing still in the backyard looking directly at you in the window from a distance. So you run upstairs into an unoccupied regular 80s style bedroom trying to hide. You fall asleep on the carpet under the bed and fortunately wake up in the morning as daylight begins. That’s what this Rhodes with chorus helps me visualize……😬😬😱😱😰
Your Thriller composition/decomposition is so good I always follow up listening to the original and end up with its Indian cover Golimar! Have a nice Sunday doc.!
I love this - the attention to detail of analyzing this hugely significant music is a real joy to watch, it elevates the original music, shows this guy to be a fantastic talent and provides a rewarding insight that we’d never have otherwise - nice work fella !
man, you are amazing! i have watched your whole series on 'thriller'...... you are such a perfectionist. i love the sound of your rhodes also. mine's sort of dead sounding after all these years.
The tines and “works” can be shined up and restored to sound “Crystal Bell” clear! 😁. Just takes a bit of work. And possibly a bit of $ to replace a couple of parts.
Greetings from Brazil! I love your videos of "How to play Thriller", especially THIS rhodes session. So much peaceful to hear! Wonderful job of yours and Greg Philligannes was badass too!
You just opened up my horizons to think about man. Crazy interpretation and I believe you did full justice to one of the best compositions on planet earth. May you be blessed even more with music. Cheers mate \,,/
woody!!! i love your vids, you are doing really great stuff on your channel. I think it's really funny that almost every music related video that I watch on youtube has a comment of yours underneath it. keep up your work
Holy shit... I never even realized a rhodes was in Thriller. Amazing video, as you just get to the heart of things. Anyone who is anyone already knows Thriller, so not giving the song overhead was a very nice approach to the presentation.
This was the sound of early 80s R&B. Then the DX7 Rhodes came along and that became the sound of mid-late 80s R&B. I like both sounds but I understand a lot of people hate the DX7 Rhodes in comparison.
Doctor Mix I honestly think you are a genius, obvious musical genius . My dad was a professional musician and thanks to watching you I have been inspired😊
awesome job... one of my all time favourite...surpised to know that so much chord progression n techniques involved. thank you for your effort to bring this to us.
You nailed it, Greg Phillinganes is one of my favorite keyboard players, his work on Thriller is no doubt a masterpiece. About the chorus on the Rhodes, I believe that he used a Roland JC120, the chorus sound screams JC-120, and to be honest, the tone too...
In the whole album I loved the Rhodes play. Thriller and Baby be Mine have the most. I finally found a video on this. Now I study this for my own music, as I'm not good as Phillingannes yet.
Rhodes piano is what scared me the most when i heard thriller back then. It had that "going into your clean bedroom to look around only to realize that something evil is outside in the yard potentially getting closer to the house as its getting dark" type of feel.
I own the keyboard you're talking about. I bought it in 1984, at Mel's Sound of Music, Hacienda Heights, California. This is the keyboard that played that bell sound..
The two original (and only, really) electric pianos. Besides the Yamaha CP70, that is. LOL They both use reeds or tines, and both were played a LOT in the 70's and 80s in pop music, usually with a chorus effect.
Hi Doctor Mix. I really love what you did here! I keep coming back to this rendition. Is there any way I can just get this sheet music? Is it included in the Thriller pack; I don’t really need all the other amazing stuff in there haha! Hope to hear from you. 👊🏻😃
Did Michael Jackson actually play an instrumnent ? I've never saw him play anything ever and this track Thriller he didn't write at all. I really think MJ is totally over-rated as a musician.
Francis Maxino - "the four-chord basic string vamp on “Billie Jean” - Michael Jackson himself played that part on a CS-80 in one take. No punches. No repairs. No sequencers or time correction. Seven minutes. Perfect performance." This quotation is from session keyboardist Michael Boddicker, interviewed in Keyboard Magazine, September 2009. So yes, Michael Jackson could play keyboards...
heee man! i tottaly get where you are coming from, but I think you could not be more wrong. You should google michael jackson beat it demo. He doesn't play an instrument but he can perfectly sing every part of every song. The session musicians tune their instruments to michaels vocal ideas. because michael knew in his head what pitch every song should be. I dont think their are many musicians with a better sense of pitch and rhythem than michael jackson.
To be honest I watched the Rhodes part last, because I thought it was the one that was least interesting for me. But: That ist the best part of the series :) what a genius
Hey doctor Mix. I was just wondering if you by any chance have the sheet music for the brass wind line. I can't seem to get it by ear, so I was wondering if you add the sheet music for it. Love from Jamaica🔥🎇
Very cool videos! been following this channel for a while now! bravo! I was wondering if there's anywhere I can get the rhodes part sheet from? Many thanks, Alex
I’d like to know what amp you use? I’m buying a rhodes MarkI 73 now and I am not sure what amp I should connect it to? Thx so much in advance for your reply..
It would be sooo great, if you could do these Deconstructions in Compostion and Sounddesign for a lot more Songs in R&B, Pop, Funk & Soul Hits !!!!! You've done a great Job with Thriller man!!! Please go on!
Wow, this is beautiful. What chorus are you using? It sounds like they use a CE-1 on the original. Also I must admit to being jealous of people who can read sheet music lol.
Nice breakdown. I play Rhodes, and I must admit that I didn't even notice that this song had an electric piano part in it all these years. Thriller has hidden depths.
funkmike me too, I thought it was one of those 80s organ sounds 🤦🏾♂️🤦🏾♂️🤦🏾♂️🤦🏾♂️
When I first heard it, I thought it was a Rock organ, then I heard an interlude in the beginning and thought vibraphone, then when I heard of the Rhodes piano, I instantly recognized it as that mystery instrument (to me) in Thriller
The Fender Rhodes has the most iconic sound in Keyboard history. PERIOD.
jonathan wright Together with the Hammond B3 and the Mini Moog. PERIOD.
The Wurlitzer's up there too lol
It's a fantastic instrument but only an idiot would dismiss other key instruments. Sorry, this is the comment of a moron
I honestly think that a fender rhodes with a lush chorus is the most beautiful electric piano sound in the world. It was very well used in many ballads in the 1980s, that i recall hearing as i grew up.
well… that’s the most obvious thing to say
I vote for "Off the Wall" & "Thriller" as two of the best R&B recordings of all time. Grooves are phenomenal, chord progressions are SWEET (30+ years later), vocals were EXCELLENT, orchestration/arrangements were TOP-NOTCH, & production was OFF-THE-WALL!
SoundScientist1 both written by Temperton
@J Fingers Music. Thank You for sharing.
But not all songs and not every bit. MJ allowed his studio musicians to bring in ideas for their parts, pretty sure Greg came up with this harmonization. Anyway mind-blowing pros.
And this is why certain 80s pop songs are so goose bumpy magical. They went that extra mile. Mind blowing songwriting, that is.
Not to mention a lot of talent, between the musicians and writers and producers/engineers. That is barely existent these days.
*Doc Brown:* _"Where we're going ... we don't need rhodes"_
*Doctor Mix:* _"Well actually, we kinda do!"_
why this comment isnt pinned to the top,....has me baffled lol!
This is heavy
Brilliant :)
well-played (y)
GREAT SCOTT!!!
Wow, what a complex part! Never noticed it in such detail before. Well done - and a very nice tribute to Greg Phillinganes!
Omg, these chords man. I get goosebumps all over. Its like God came down on earth and said, "Hey, let me show you some slick chords we use up there"
You should listen to more jazz
Yeh, shivers!!
It's quite a guitar-ish part.
Well, I mean ...if a guitar had 10 strings .. and _hammers_ .
I think the sound of Rhodes is one of the nicest in music.
Bob james does a really good job with Rhodes in alot of his jazz tracks
Whenever you beatbox the drums it reminds me of how MJ used to beatbox his drum rhythms. Great video! :)
I WISH!
Greg Philliganes is such an outstanding keyboard player. I bet he did this in one take.
7:46 that fill is absolutely beautiful ❤
Whenever musicians gather inside the studio and think of making a great song, they first take blessings from this album.
Actually, truly agree 💯
Wow, this is a gift. Thank you for transcribing this. The voicings are so elegant. These Rhodes chords glue the whole track together. Very Gospel-like, going from ethereal Jazz voicings to a blues riff and back again. So perfect for the song. Arigato gozaimashite.
Without the rhodes, Thriller would be completely different... Nice work!
The bit beginning at 4:43 onward kinda helped visualized the creep factor of this song with subtle melodrama. You woke up, looked out the window, and saw a monster standing still in the backyard looking directly at you in the window from a distance. So you run upstairs into an unoccupied regular 80s style bedroom trying to hide. You fall asleep on the carpet under the bed and fortunately wake up in the morning as daylight begins. That’s what this Rhodes with chorus helps me visualize……😬😬😱😱😰
Your Thriller composition/decomposition is so good I always follow up listening to the original and end up with its Indian cover Golimar! Have a nice Sunday doc.!
hahahaha...indian thriller. i love that vid. lol
Killer, killer, killer
I love this - the attention to detail of analyzing this hugely significant music is a real joy to watch, it elevates the original music, shows this guy to be a fantastic talent and provides a rewarding insight that we’d never have otherwise - nice work fella !
If you would've told me 10 mins ago that there was a Rhodes being played on Thriller, I'd have called you insane..
Rightfully so. You can only really hear it in very small portions of the song.
Same
It becomes part of that big ensemble sound though!
You can hear it much more clearly in the Dolby atmos version of thriller. I was surprised.
I'm a paid up member of the Greg Philliganes appreciation society! Thank you for these fascinating insights Dr. Mix!
man, you are amazing!
i have watched your whole series on 'thriller'......
you are such a perfectionist.
i love the sound of your rhodes also. mine's sort of dead sounding after all these years.
The tines and “works” can be shined up and restored to sound “Crystal Bell” clear! 😁. Just takes a bit of work. And possibly a bit of $ to replace a couple of parts.
I really appreciate this series. its been an incredible breakdown of this song. Thank you
I dont even understand music nor it isnt my hobby, but I find these videos interesting. Great work
I almost cried how beautiful the Rhodes sound
Nice job, explaining this. It's a brilliant part, very jazzy! Ingenious work of mr. Phillinganes.
Oooooooooooooooooh, that chord at @6:53 with the A on the bottom. LOVE IT!!!
Greetings from Brazil!
I love your videos of "How to play Thriller", especially THIS rhodes session. So much peaceful to hear! Wonderful job of yours and Greg Philligannes was badass too!
I love your enthusiasm! :D
You just opened up my horizons to think about man. Crazy interpretation and I believe you did full justice to one of the best compositions on planet earth. May you be blessed even more with music. Cheers mate \,,/
This is such a great composition by Rod Temperton...
Thanks for sharing this gem.
❤
So badass, thank u for this awesome breakdown on your lovely sounding 73
This Rhodes part sounds so amazing ... Truely, what a Genious MJ was!!! We miss y'all Mickäel.
MJ was only involved in voices though
amaziing sounds i love the fender rhodes, so much flavour during the soung
nice playing doc and a cool vid.
woody!!! i love your vids, you are doing really great stuff on your channel. I think it's really funny that almost every music related video that I watch on youtube has a comment of yours underneath it. keep up your work
Love your enthusiasm and your videos are always interesting.
Awesome video! Incredible track, These guys were just magic and Michael was the greatest!
So many tutorials get the fifth chord on the Synth lead intro wrong, they play a C#m instead of a C#m7, drives me nuts. Great work man!
Holy shit... I never even realized a rhodes was in Thriller. Amazing video, as you just get to the heart of things. Anyone who is anyone already knows Thriller, so not giving the song overhead was a very nice approach to the presentation.
This guy has superb ears to dismantle songs this complex part by part to this level of detail.
Rhodes sounds genius excellent
Where did you get the sheet music for this? I'd love to get it. Great stuff as always ❤
This was the sound of early 80s R&B. Then the DX7 Rhodes came along and that became the sound of mid-late 80s R&B. I like both sounds but I understand a lot of people hate the DX7 Rhodes in comparison.
Like me lol. The well known electric piano sound from the DX7 I’m almost POSITIVE is a Rhodes with chorus!!! Nothing is like the original
Excellent analysis and transcription...I love this guy's musical personality!
Mmmm. I love the shimmering sound of a chorused Rhodes piano. Has that super slick early 80’s jazz fusion sound that I love so much.
Doctor Mix I honestly think you are a genius, obvious musical genius . My dad was a professional musician and thanks to watching you I have been inspired😊
awesome job... one of my all time favourite...surpised to know that so much chord progression n techniques involved. thank you for your effort to bring this to us.
I absolutely love how Claudio beatboxes/counts/sings whilst he plays , brilliant
You nailed it, Greg Phillinganes is one of my favorite keyboard players, his work on Thriller is no doubt a masterpiece. About the chorus on the Rhodes, I believe that he used a Roland JC120, the chorus sound screams JC-120, and to be honest, the tone too...
João Paulo Padilha de Aquino JC 120 huh? Interesting...
It has Boss CE-1 vibes to it.
Yeah the original chorus from like 1975. Super cool
Thanks, all your videos are very nice. A hug.
Great deconstruction work
In the whole album I loved the Rhodes play. Thriller and Baby be Mine have the most. I finally found a video on this. Now I study this for my own music, as I'm not good as Phillingannes yet.
Rhodes piano is what scared me the most when i heard thriller back then. It had that "going into your clean bedroom to look around only to realize that something evil is outside in the yard potentially getting closer to the house as its getting dark" type of feel.
I remember hearing several songs in the 80s and late 70s that use those jazzy little breaks like he used in this. On the fender rhodes.
Loving these series guys! Hopefully you break down more Michael Jackson songs
You have to mention Rod Temperton, he wrote that
5:35 - Shove a tremolo on that keyboard and you have Sheep by Pink Floyd ;-).
awesome and well done!
Another MJ song you could recreate/walk through would be one of smooth criminal/bad/jam. Love this
Far out - good job, and I love your presentation style too. You must have an excellent ear to be able to figure all that out just from the recording!
I own the keyboard you're talking about. I bought it in 1984, at Mel's Sound of Music, Hacienda Heights, California. This is the keyboard that played that bell sound..
I love this series man. well done.
Your rhodes sounds fantastic, is almost a very funky wurli
The two original (and only, really) electric pianos. Besides the Yamaha CP70, that is. LOL They both use reeds or tines, and both were played a LOT in the 70's and 80s in pop music, usually with a chorus effect.
Hi Doctor Mix. I really love what you did here! I keep coming back to this rendition. Is there any way I can just get this sheet music? Is it included in the Thriller pack; I don’t really need all the other amazing stuff in there haha! Hope to hear from you. 👊🏻😃
39 session musicians for the triller album
Did Michael Jackson actually play an instrumnent ? I've never saw him play anything ever and this track Thriller he didn't write at all. I really think MJ is totally over-rated as a musician.
Francis Maxino all his does is moonwalk all over the place 😀
Francis Maxino - "the four-chord basic string vamp on “Billie Jean” - Michael Jackson himself played that part on a CS-80 in one take. No punches. No repairs. No sequencers or time correction. Seven minutes. Perfect performance." This quotation is from session keyboardist Michael Boddicker, interviewed in Keyboard Magazine, September 2009. So yes, Michael Jackson could play keyboards...
Francis Maxino his instrument was his voice :)
heee man! i tottaly get where you are coming from, but I think you could not be more wrong. You should google michael jackson beat it demo. He doesn't play an instrument but he can perfectly sing every part of every song. The session musicians tune their instruments to michaels vocal ideas. because michael knew in his head what pitch every song should be. I dont think their are many musicians with a better sense of pitch and rhythem than michael jackson.
Totally enjoyed the video. Thanks!
So satisfying to hear the Rhodes of the Thriller on solo! Where I can buy the MP3 of these?
To be honest I watched the Rhodes part last, because I thought it was the one that was least interesting for me. But: That ist the best part of the series :) what a genius
Sheet music link please.
Excellent job, man.
awesome video my dude!
very impressive
I wish you a nice Sunday evening
friendly regards Frank
Muy muy bueno...excelente explicacion !!!
Ufff you play the Rhodes very nice ❤❤❤
How do we get that sheet music?
where can you find the sheet music for the rhodes??
Did I miss the Rhodes in your kontakt library. Just got it recently. Man this song is busy (in a good way) just harder than I thought it would be
Great video - one could smell your enthusiasm behind it! ;)
8:39 B-sus 5th on the top.
Great . Some more plz !
Can you get the PYT's piano rhodes original versions? Please
sheet music?
A link to the sheet music would be great 👍🏻👍🏻🎹🎹😄😄
Hey doctor Mix. I was just wondering if you by any chance have the sheet music for the brass wind line. I can't seem to get it by ear, so I was wondering if you add the sheet music for it.
Love from Jamaica🔥🎇
Very cool videos! been following this channel for a while now! bravo!
I was wondering if there's anywhere I can get the rhodes part sheet from?
Many thanks,
Alex
I’d like to know what amp you use? I’m buying a rhodes MarkI 73 now and I am not sure what amp I should connect it to? Thx so much in advance for your reply..
very good analysis..👍👍👍..it's very interisting to see differents parts of this track ...thank you...sorry for my english written😁
Big Genius! Saludos desde Veracruz México!!!!
This has to be one of the most beautiful keyboard sounds ever created! Wish I could play a rhoades
Get ready to pay about 3-3500 dollars for it! LOL
It would be sooo great, if you could do these Deconstructions in Compostion and Sounddesign for a lot more Songs in R&B, Pop, Funk & Soul Hits !!!!! You've done a great Job with Thriller man!!! Please go on!
Great video, thanks!
I never new 😂 but amazing man you’re so talented wish I could do this 😂 I can play bass lines of the mj songs that’s bout it lol
amazing... and fantastic
hi :) excellent , i had never played thriller before your video :) thx amigo :)
Great Job! Thanks!
Hi Doctor Mix.
I only have a Yamaha ypg-250.... What's the closet available thing to a Rhodes piano?
Is it possible to get the score you’re using ?
Wow, this is beautiful. What chorus are you using? It sounds like they use a CE-1 on the original. Also I must admit to being jealous of people who can read sheet music lol.
I take that back..it probably was a Dyno. Baby Be Mine sounds more CE-1.
Excellent ! ♪
Where can I find this sheet music?
The constant C# in the bass feels exactly like the mist hanging over the gravestones, not shifting at all, just looming there.
Any idea on where to get the sheet music?
Muy bueno! no sabia que el Thriller fuera tan interesante