Spoiler-free review: James Cameron knows how to film underwater. The storyline is ... perfectly fine: it's a movie about family. The music is spectacular. The cinematography and graphics are SO GOOD, you literally forget you're catching feelings about fully CGI characters. I'd give it 4.4 stars out of 5.
Listening to Horner's themes in Way of Water, made me really miss him. His death was so tragic, but the impact he left behind as far as the person he was and the music he wrote cannot be overstated. I hope such an era of music will happen since everything these days sounds like Hans Zimmer. Considering the big shoes to fill, I felt Simon Franglen did a pretty good job carrying the torch for Horner.
@The Creator I don't agree that Hans is overrated. He is a musical genius. He definitely has a different style than for example James Horner had. It's okay to prefer James over Hans, but we should appreciate the craftsmanship of both artists. PS. I Advice you to check out for example his soundracks from Bladerunner or Inception.
We all miss James Horner and considering how closely Simon Franglen worked with him over the years on many past scores, I can only imagine his sorrow as well. He's a very warm and humble person. I don't envy anyone trying to fill Horner's shoes, but I think Simon did some great work of his own on the Way of Water soundtrack. I particularly like the cues Payakan and From Darkness to Light, among others.
@@tronam Yeah, he did phenomenal job on Avatar 2. The sound from Avatar 1 is really there but taken in some new interesting directions. I don't think it would be huge exagouration to say that he and James made soundtrack to first movie together. Yes, James most likely composed chords and most of melodies, but I'm guessing that for example those beautiful arpegiatos and modulations from first movie soundtrack, and now reinvented in second, were strickly Simon's idea and creation. I can't say I know this for sure, but that's what I assume. PS. I think my favorites are "The Songcord" with Zoe, "Cove of the Ancestors" and "Happines Is Simple".
Honestly the story behind this movies soundtrack is kinda sad. They attempted to make a completely new musical system outside of the system we use. They wanted to literally make a musical system that developed completely independently of humanity's. However it was cut down when they realized it sounded *too* foreign. It sounded eerie to audiences so there's none of it in the soundtrack.
A small note: James Horner (R.I.P.) wanted to, even making strides before presenting it to Cameron, but Cameron wanted people to connect to it and ruled it out.
Super sucks that James Horner passed away and especially the way he did. Really a tragedy. He was responsible for some pretty incredible scores over the years and is still regarded as an underrated composer.
The avatar soundtrack will always have a special place in my heart as being the soundtrack that got me into film score. My favourite track is the first one (you don't dream in cryo) for the really interesting vocals at the opening. Super otherworldly.
If you treat C#m as the 1 chord, you'd have a classic 1, 7, 4, 1 Dorian progression. This is a lot more intuitive than suggesting we never touch the tonic, or that the F# major is somehow a modulation and not diatonic to the mode.
That's the way it sounds to me too. Especially when you consider that the 1 and 7 sound nice, but the move to the 4 is (and Charles points this out) the point where it sounds 'otherworldly' and that's exactly the point where it becomes Dorian and not just minor, because the 1 and the 7 are in both Dorian and minor, but the 4 has the characteristic "dorian note" in it.
My musical mentor is a First Call Recording Artist in L.A. He worked under Horner countless times, and respected him greatly. James was not only a pilot, but loved doing aircraft stunts. His death was a stunt gone horribly wrong. My mentor (who is a pilot himself) said there was no body and basically just "plane dust". No complete parts survived. James died on impact and hopefully didn't feel a thing. God bless him. But!! He went doing what he loved doing! The loss is ours. We should all keep that in mind. Peace...
Even the melodic choices and key changes for the *I See You* song were so distinct and stark in difference while connecting the verses and the bridges to the chorus but it all made sense. It was also paired up with the indigenous chants which made the song more haunting, and Leona Lewis' powerful and dynamic vocals that frequently had a lot of transitions from chest voice to head voice. Everything was so intentional.
I always remember seeing this film in the cinema and hearing the trumpet motif/theme and wondering for ages where else I had heard it! Turns out lots of places, most notably from his work on Enemy at the gates! Since then I have always been trying to listen out for a composers signature within a soundtrack
Simon Franglen did Horner proud. He created some beautiful themes, like the Tulkun theme and the theme for the Sully Family. If you're taking recommendations, then please explore the music of James Newton Howard. One of the greatest composers.
I agree with Anirudh. I just saw the new movie and I don't remember any of the new themes and didn't notice them when watching the film. But boy did they use all the old themes, and during all the same story beats too lol.
Another way of looking at chords I discovered was to lay out major and minor triads into a circle. For example, ...FM, Am, CM, Em, GM... . Alternate between 4 and 3 note increments, and alternate between major and minor. This creates two interleved circles of fifths. Chords in this wheel that are closer are more "expected", whereas "god chords" are further apart. It is easy to build virtually all conventional chord progressions by selecting chords from this wheel that are nearby.
James Horner since 1979 has been a part of so many big movies and the 2 biggest, TITANIC and Avatar, what a fantastic talent who unfortunately was taken from us in a stupid plane crash 🤬 RIP
Honestly don’t know why this movie is getting so much hate. I didn’t care much for the first one, but this new one is a really great movie. People should definitely go see it before hopping on the hate bandwagon.
I saw some people mentioning they hope it flops, and I just thought "why? What do you gain if it does? I mean, yeah, you'll be right, but not about something particularly important."
I've never seen this movie. I don't know the music. But as soon as I read "otherworldly" I was like "I bet it's dorian." That major IV chord after the minor i chord is the best way to create that otherworldly sound. You can also look at it as E lydian, but I prefer to think of the C# as the minor i, which would make it dorian. Both scales can be "otherworldly" however. I just think it's more logical to view this as being in a minor key considering it's a loop around C# minor. I believe the Avengers and James Bond both also use that major IV (though I think they blend natural minor with Dorian). I was surprised that connection wasn't made, since you've talked about both before.
This is what I hear also. Don't quite understand Charles' insistence that this is in E, given that the theme never comes to rest on this chord (nor does it even seem to appear at all).
If you look at anything in the relative major, it avoids using 3 unnecessary flats, since we based our entire system of scale degrees on the major scale.
These musical themes by Horner are incredibly alive on the Flight of Passage ride at Disney....and in the pandora area of animal kingdom. Any casual fans of Avatar will find themselves suddenly feeling more strongly for this fictional world after visiting Pandora. The experience made me cry and gave me lasting chills hours after I was done. Check out "Pandora: the world of Avatar" for some great ambience recordings made for the theme park and it's shops. It also features themes written by Horner that didn't make it into the first film. RIP James Horner....the composer of my childhood.
I’d think of that chord progression as belonging C# Dorian, Eg all chords deriving from B major. So it’s 2, 1, 4 if thought of in B or, 1, b7, 4 if in C# Dorian. Agree it’s an ear bender and a powerful sound
Charles, you did something brilliant here that most of your subscriber base prob didn’t notice. I’ve been watching you for a couple of weeks now. UA-cam’s algo threw me a couple of older vids earlier this week that fascinated me as a theory & piano noob. I’m willing to bet you identified some extended watch time on some of those rudimentary concepts, and revisited them while bringing some fresh content. You’ve got something special here, and no one else is engaging with my watch time like you lately. Thank you for sharing your gift! Keep it up!
I know nothing of music but you're right. Those few chords and you immediately know it's Avatar's unique and special sound. Almost magical and otherwordly. It's beautiful and never ceases to amaze. I was very worried after James Horner passed that this beautiful Avatar music would be lost or changed in Avatar: Way of Water. But it was so touching to hear it wasn't lost at all - they just carried that torch. Also I'm mindblown. I would have never realized the first two chords are same with Titanic. It's touching to be honest that these are the two movies Cameron made and are special to him and share this relation.
Me and my brother are about to see the sequel and we were just talking about how underrated the score from the first one is. Thank you sooo much for analyzing it for us!
2 роки тому+9
Mate it's so interesting to see all this! Thanks for teaching us music theory!
This does only half of the work. I think the other half is rhythmic, in fact two rhythmic elements: contrast between a relatively slow chord progression and a very fast rythm and basing the chord progression on groups of 3 (or 9, whatever), while not going into a waltz feel - the music does not feel "in 3/x", but that's the dominating feature of percussion (triplets, triplets, triplets) and the chord progression. Couple this with an out-of-place major chord... and you're on Pandora. Beautiful. Alien, but beautiful. Paired with similarly beautiful but alien visuals - you get a movie that hits hard, even if the actual plot is not that novel. It's not a great movie (plot, characters, etc), it's a great experience - one I will certainly never forget. Thanks to the creators we got to BE on Pandora. The story was far less important.
@@antoinebrg6299 Yeah. After seeing in (both 2D and 3D) in cinema I was really irritated by the criticism of people who watched it early - on a small laptop, pirated, in fact recorded in a cinema by some guy with a shitty camera. Completely missing the point. Their critique was correct, but... unimportant. This is a visual and musical work of art, the role of other elements is just to make it shine. I've seen the movie multiple times. But I've seen the "first flight" scene a lot more (BluRay and a good TV may not be a match for the cinema, but it's good). What happens in this scene? Nothing really. It's just beautiful. And envy-provoking in the most satisfying, escapist way.
That flippin Motif literally brought tears to my eyes nearly every single time it played in the new movie! For some reason it has a profound affect one me!! It was actually quite annyoing, having constant misty eyes, but I love that motif so much. XD
i just love your charismatic, pasionate, explaination, of the music behind one of my fav movies, this really gets me in the mood, to just turn on my old keybord and just play around the cords you are so very amazing
As a choir singer, this progression really pushes memories of whimsical, sparkly sounds through my head - the first piece that comes to mind is 5 Hebrew Love Songs by Eric Whitacre. If you're not familiar, I don't doubt that you'll find it extremely interesting, especially given Eric Whitacre's all-over-the-place, yet drop-dead gorgeous style of composing.
It’s also the singing style with the brassy, forward placed open vowels. There’s a choral composer who likes to make tribal-sounding songs with gibberish words and I sang one in a women’s chorus in college and our student director for that song was very much like sing differently! Much more brassy and forward and nasally and almost flattened soft pallet/ kinda chant-y.
10:08 I definitely agree that going back to the c#m is what really cements that other worldly feeing. While it’s still an more uncommon sound, that major two chord is much more commonly heard as a secondary dominant leading back the the five. I think using it as the last chord before returning to the home chord defies expectations more so than even the presence of that chord.
It's from the song "I see you" by Leona Lewis from the Soundtrack of the first movie. So those cords sing "I see you" and it's what I hear every time it plays in the movie.
Could this also be seen as the C# minor the base and this being the Dorian Scale of B Major? The F# Major chord fits with C# minor and B Major in B Major Dorian..
watching Avatar 2, I went mainly for Horner’s music even though different composer- it made me sob that Horner is in fact gone and we will never hear his magic again. I love his work in Avatar- “pathway to heaven” is seriously the best. Did you know that Horner invented a few instruments just for this film??
It saddens me that “I See You” was never released as a single when the film came out, I reckon it could have been a huge bit! Leona’s vocals over Horner’s song is just stunning 😭
Original Avatar soundtrack still give me chills every time I listen to it. Horner truly made something beautiful, too bad we lost him in that plane crash...
This was a really interesting video! I had no idea the major 2 was the key to the "Avatar" sound. To me, it's a very beautiful, peaceful, and nostalgic sound. The progression evokes feelings of longing for a better place, and I think that pulled me into the first movie harder than I otherwise might have been. The world of Avatar tends to set its claws in your imagination, and I think the soundtrack has a lot to do with that. The Way of Water's soundtrack is absolutely on point in this regard. If I recall, the movie opens with this exact progression (or throws it out very quickly), and immediately all those feelings came right back. I went into the movie cold (ie not prepping by rewatching the first), and that short progression brought everything from the first movie right to mind and set the stage. I remember being very impressed at how deftly it was done.
Using the F# major chord instead of the diatonic F# minor means that A# occurs in the scale, where it usually wouldn't. This A# makes the E major scale (ionian) into a lydian scale, which is the same one as in Yoda's theme, which gives it a mystical, magical quality.
I agree that the Major 2 is definitely the chord that catches our ear but we are all far more conditioned to Standard Minor progressions and less conditioned to Dorian Minor Progressions but I’m curious if a Dorian conditioned ear would hear it as shocking?
Every single time I hear that chord change I get crazy goosebumps. It's what pulled me into the second movie immediately. That being said, this video playing it so many times in a span of 15 minutes ended with me feeling a little woozy lmao
Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't the score to The Chronicles of Narnia do a similar thing? I seem to remember a similar sound and feel during the opening scene of the train ride and the wide open landscape shots in Narnia
I like that you spend so much time to explain music theory to beginners. I'm missing an explanation though, why the song is in E major and not B major. In B major, all the chords are diatonic. (IMHO, it is in C# dorian...)
Chris, great video. I think there is also the consideration of what inversion of a chord goes to what inversion of the next chord. The intervalic leaps also help with the "otherworldly" vibe. Also direction of intervalic movement, meaning with all root of the chords in the bass, right hand goes from 2nd inversion C#m to 1st inversion B to 2nd inversion F# moving upwards versus moving downwards. If that makes sense. I think it's the openness of the intervallic movement. Similar to how open chords and the intervalic and inversion movement is used in gospel or Americana music.
It's a testament to James Horner's musical brilliance that even though his original, inventive, alien-sounding soundtrack ideas were consistently and repeatedly shot down until the final product sounded like more of a standard Hollywood score, it was still a terrific soundtrack in the end. Bravo to him.
Just started watching but the moment I heard the soundtrack I went home and figured it out on my guitar: the main theme tones are totally Lydian: root, second, sharp 4, 5, 3. In Db maj. Never tried to figure out the chords so this should be a treat!
Really amazing video! Just watched Avatar 2 and that theme gives me chills every damn time! Thanks so much for breaking this down I learned a lot about scales and major/minor chords.
Hey Charles, would love to see you breakdown Cateen’s 7 levels of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (or his happy birthday in every key). Find it on UA-cam, it’s nuts.
While thinking of everything in terms of Major and Minor key centers is definitely the more traditional way of thinking about Western harmony (as annoyed as I am about that; I think exploring modal harmony is worth the headache of learning the modes), I'd like to think that instead, the Avatar progression intentionally invokes a Dorian tonality. E Major vi - V - II - (vi) and C# Dorian i - VII - II - (i) are equivalent, so it certainly wouldn't be an _incorrect_ interpretation.
I love these insights. If you listen closely to “Jake’s First Flight” you can hear elements of what Horner did for Glory (1989) with slight variations. Both incredibly emotional and complex scores.
Avatar was seeded by a Dream Cameron had back around when he was making Titanic and the film is very "dream like quality" in its many layers of presentation, one need only look to the lyrics of the song "I see you" sung by Leona Lewis..
I was gonna say wait that progression is soo dam common it's literally everywhere since forever, BUT it's not just the 3 chords as usual (C#m, B and 2x F#) - returning to that first chord as the 4th chord in the sequence actually changes the whole vibe. And that is way less common as far as I'm aware :) Definitely gonna use this
Love your work You are truly not only obviously talented Beyond skilled Love someone to do a bio on you and see how you got to where you are today That would be very interesting
Horner has been able to get such heartstring pulling emotions with these type of chords. Another example is a cue from An American Tale: Fievel Goes West that is used as the melody for the movie’s big song, “Dreams To Dream.” In the chorus of that song, there is something about that chord change that is beautiful, yet deceptive emotional piece of music.
I'm not a musician nor claim to be, but as a human you point out something I felt but didn't know how to articulate about the "sound". That sequence you play from 1:19 to 1:27, as you say there is something about it that stirs the heart and soul. Have musicians ever worked with psychologists to try to figure this out collaboratively?
hey Charles really love your videos and the way that you explain music theory, even though i don't have knowledge of music theory, and if possible I would love to hear you analysing the "across the stars" from Star Wars.
I had to sit down to my piano to play around with this, and in a minute realized, that the Cinematic Orchestra's To Build a Home uses the same movement :) But there it's not otherwordly, it's just super warm
WHO SAW THE NEW ONE?? How was it? Also, less than one week left to get 70% off the entire academy!! cornellmusicacademy.com/holidaysale
i’m probably going on friday
I saw it day of, and it was absolutely spectacular.
1 billion/10, would recommend
Spoiler-free review: James Cameron knows how to film underwater. The storyline is ... perfectly fine: it's a movie about family. The music is spectacular. The cinematography and graphics are SO GOOD, you literally forget you're catching feelings about fully CGI characters. I'd give it 4.4 stars out of 5.
@TerryTags i even got to watch it in 3D, and man, does it take things completely over the top visually.
Listening to Horner's themes in Way of Water, made me really miss him. His death was so tragic, but the impact he left behind as far as the person he was and the music he wrote cannot be overstated. I hope such an era of music will happen since everything these days sounds like Hans Zimmer. Considering the big shoes to fill, I felt Simon Franglen did a pretty good job carrying the torch for Horner.
Yes Simon did him proud!
Yeah, I wonder what beautiful pieces of music he would make for Avatar 2. RIP James!
@The Creator I don't agree that Hans is overrated. He is a musical genius. He definitely has a different style than for example James Horner had. It's okay to prefer James over Hans, but we should appreciate the craftsmanship of both artists.
PS. I Advice you to check out for example his soundracks from Bladerunner or Inception.
We all miss James Horner and considering how closely Simon Franglen worked with him over the years on many past scores, I can only imagine his sorrow as well. He's a very warm and humble person. I don't envy anyone trying to fill Horner's shoes, but I think Simon did some great work of his own on the Way of Water soundtrack. I particularly like the cues Payakan and From Darkness to Light, among others.
@@tronam Yeah, he did phenomenal job on Avatar 2. The sound from Avatar 1 is really there but taken in some new interesting directions. I don't think it would be huge exagouration to say that he and James made soundtrack to first movie together. Yes, James most likely composed chords and most of melodies, but I'm guessing that for example those beautiful arpegiatos and modulations from first movie soundtrack, and now reinvented in second, were strickly Simon's idea and creation. I can't say I know this for sure, but that's what I assume.
PS.
I think my favorites are "The Songcord" with Zoe, "Cove of the Ancestors" and "Happines Is Simple".
Honestly the story behind this movies soundtrack is kinda sad. They attempted to make a completely new musical system outside of the system we use. They wanted to literally make a musical system that developed completely independently of humanity's. However it was cut down when they realized it sounded *too* foreign. It sounded eerie to audiences so there's none of it in the soundtrack.
Yes, you watched Sideways.
@@johnlime1469 Where did sideways go anyway :(
@@jonah.mcminn He went sideways.
A small note: James Horner (R.I.P.) wanted to, even making strides before presenting it to Cameron, but Cameron wanted people to connect to it and ruled it out.
Are any of these tracks available to listen to anywhere?
Super sucks that James Horner passed away and especially the way he did. Really a tragedy. He was responsible for some pretty incredible scores over the years and is still regarded as an underrated composer.
His reaction to this would be:
“How did this happen?“
(Bill Wurtz, history of the entire world I guess)
He died seven years ago and I only just find out now. Wtf? 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
@@MegaYoyo911 same i love alot of horners sound tracks but some how never learned that he died till couple of days ago
He will remain one of the greatest composer of all time ❤❤❤
Oh shoot, that would explain why the way of water had pretty sub par music.
I remember going to the cinema for the premier and the score made me tear up. Really effective and beautiful.
The avatar soundtrack will always have a special place in my heart as being the soundtrack that got me into film score. My favourite track is the first one (you don't dream in cryo) for the really interesting vocals at the opening. Super otherworldly.
I listened to this soundtrack so many times during my teenage years.
“I started having these dreams of flying… I was free”
this might be one of the most beautiful movie soundracks ever...truly amazing
Plays a few seconds of the Avatar soundtrack... immediately have goosebumps and tears in my eyes.
I miss James Horner's score style.
Thank god you didn't play for a minute, otherwise you would have tears from your ass 😂
If you treat C#m as the 1 chord, you'd have a classic 1, 7, 4, 1 Dorian progression. This is a lot more intuitive than suggesting we never touch the tonic, or that the F# major is somehow a modulation and not diatonic to the mode.
I agree
Thank you, I was just wondering about it in the comment I just posted a minute ago
As a Bachelors of Music, While that works, the function doesn't really make sense in that context.
That's the way it sounds to me too. Especially when you consider that the 1 and 7 sound nice, but the move to the 4 is (and Charles points this out) the point where it sounds 'otherworldly' and that's exactly the point where it becomes Dorian and not just minor, because the 1 and the 7 are in both Dorian and minor, but the 4 has the characteristic "dorian note" in it.
Exactly what I was thinking 😂
I like how you provided a clear explanation of basic theory for those viewers that do not know theory. Basically a free theory lesson for anyone!
My musical mentor is a First Call Recording Artist in L.A. He worked under Horner countless times, and respected him greatly. James was not only a pilot, but loved doing aircraft stunts. His death was a stunt gone horribly wrong. My mentor (who is a pilot himself) said there was no body and basically just "plane dust". No complete parts survived. James died on impact and hopefully didn't feel a thing. God bless him. But!! He went doing what he loved doing! The loss is ours. We should all keep that in mind. Peace...
Hopefully you mention the song - the songcord sung by Zoe. Such a beautiful song, probably the best in the movie!
I love that moment.
Here before the vid gets copyright claimed for mention of "My heart will go on"
How can you tell if it's been copyrighted or not?
@@TheUnderscore_ claimed you mean? It will say in the description that the music in the video is licensed by xyz
Even the melodic choices and key changes for the *I See You* song were so distinct and stark in difference while connecting the verses and the bridges to the chorus but it all made sense. It was also paired up with the indigenous chants which made the song more haunting, and Leona Lewis' powerful and dynamic vocals that frequently had a lot of transitions from chest voice to head voice. Everything was so intentional.
I always remember seeing this film in the cinema and hearing the trumpet motif/theme and wondering for ages where else I had heard it! Turns out lots of places, most notably from his work on Enemy at the gates! Since then I have always been trying to listen out for a composers signature within a soundtrack
Simon Franglen did Horner proud. He created some beautiful themes, like the Tulkun theme and the theme for the Sully Family.
If you're taking recommendations, then please explore the music of James Newton Howard. One of the greatest composers.
Second this, please do anything by James Newton Howard. Also the Finding Nemo score by Thomas Newman.
@@wyattcoe8825 that was Thomas Newman, but JNH is amazing
@@CTRNCC1701A *edited, good catch. I mix those two up constantly.
But it's not as recognisable and emotionally loaded as the first one. James Horner had truly created the soul of the first movie.
I agree with Anirudh. I just saw the new movie and I don't remember any of the new themes and didn't notice them when watching the film. But boy did they use all the old themes, and during all the same story beats too lol.
Another way of looking at chords I discovered was to lay out major and minor triads into a circle. For example, ...FM, Am, CM, Em, GM... . Alternate between 4 and 3 note increments, and alternate between major and minor. This creates two interleved circles of fifths. Chords in this wheel that are closer are more "expected", whereas "god chords" are further apart. It is easy to build virtually all conventional chord progressions by selecting chords from this wheel that are nearby.
You forgot to swarm away captain
The soundtrack of Avatar is just so magical, I love listening to the main theme everyday
I really appreciate the visualization of what you are talking about
James Horner since 1979 has been a part of so many big movies and the 2 biggest, TITANIC and Avatar, what a fantastic talent who unfortunately was taken from us in a stupid plane crash 🤬 RIP
Which plane crash bro
The Rocketeer
@@DenxityXNoWay James Horner was flying his own plane in socal.
@@jcjohnson0 🥲
RIP James Horner 🌹 One of the greatest.
Honestly don’t know why this movie is getting so much hate. I didn’t care much for the first one, but this new one is a really great movie. People should definitely go see it before hopping on the hate bandwagon.
I saw some people mentioning they hope it flops, and I just thought "why? What do you gain if it does? I mean, yeah, you'll be right, but not about something particularly important."
@@FlyingFocs they must be pressed especially because it grossed enough money to make another one 🤷🏾
i have had this soundtrack on repeat for the last week and then this video comes out... aaaaa i cant get enough of james horner's music its too good
i watched avatar 2 recently, and rewatched the first one right before. and this chord progression... it was just so good, every single time.
That F-Sharp Major just does something man. I’m glad i’m not alone 0:27 Yes, Dude that IS the chord. and it might be my favorite
yes! james horner's avatar soundtrack getting the love it deserves!
I've never seen this movie. I don't know the music. But as soon as I read "otherworldly" I was like "I bet it's dorian." That major IV chord after the minor i chord is the best way to create that otherworldly sound. You can also look at it as E lydian, but I prefer to think of the C# as the minor i, which would make it dorian. Both scales can be "otherworldly" however. I just think it's more logical to view this as being in a minor key considering it's a loop around C# minor.
I believe the Avengers and James Bond both also use that major IV (though I think they blend natural minor with Dorian). I was surprised that connection wasn't made, since you've talked about both before.
I also heard this as i VII IV i in c# dorian.
This is what I hear also. Don't quite understand Charles' insistence that this is in E, given that the theme never comes to rest on this chord (nor does it even seem to appear at all).
Everything you said, but I arrived later. Lol
If you look at anything in the relative major, it avoids using 3 unnecessary flats, since we based our entire system of scale degrees on the major scale.
@@althealligator1467 on a different note - highly recommend the movies lol (especially the 2nd one in 3D)
These musical themes by Horner are incredibly alive on the Flight of Passage ride at Disney....and in the pandora area of animal kingdom. Any casual fans of Avatar will find themselves suddenly feeling more strongly for this fictional world after visiting Pandora. The experience made me cry and gave me lasting chills hours after I was done. Check out "Pandora: the world of Avatar" for some great ambience recordings made for the theme park and it's shops. It also features themes written by Horner that didn't make it into the first film. RIP James Horner....the composer of my childhood.
the Major IV chord is absolutely lovely in a minor key. I use it oft in my own compositions.
The best progression.
Yes, me too! And in some cases you can throw a IV7 to add that extra flavor 🤌
I’d think of that chord progression as belonging C# Dorian, Eg all chords deriving from B major. So it’s 2, 1, 4 if thought of in B or, 1, b7, 4 if in C# Dorian. Agree it’s an ear bender and a powerful sound
Charles, you did something brilliant here that most of your subscriber base prob didn’t notice. I’ve been watching you for a couple of weeks now. UA-cam’s algo threw me a couple of older vids earlier this week that fascinated me as a theory & piano noob.
I’m willing to bet you identified some extended watch time on some of those rudimentary concepts, and revisited them while bringing some fresh content. You’ve got something special here, and no one else is engaging with my watch time like you lately. Thank you for sharing your gift! Keep it up!
I am just amazed by how you explain these complicated topics so easily. We should all learn from your teaching style
I know nothing of music but you're right. Those few chords and you immediately know it's Avatar's unique and special sound. Almost magical and otherwordly. It's beautiful and never ceases to amaze. I was very worried after James Horner passed that this beautiful Avatar music would be lost or changed in Avatar: Way of Water. But it was so touching to hear it wasn't lost at all - they just carried that torch.
Also I'm mindblown. I would have never realized the first two chords are same with Titanic. It's touching to be honest that these are the two movies Cameron made and are special to him and share this relation.
James Horner is incredible and his soundtrack to "Sneakers" is a masterpiece.
You should take a look at it!
Me and my brother are about to see the sequel and we were just talking about how underrated the score from the first one is. Thank you sooo much for analyzing it for us!
Mate it's so interesting to see all this! Thanks for teaching us music theory!
the avatar chord progression is one of the few 'i can't believe i hadn't thought of that before'
I love it how they also made the song I see you with the same melody sung beautifully by Leona Lewis. She was just perfect for this song.
This does only half of the work. I think the other half is rhythmic, in fact two rhythmic elements: contrast between a relatively slow chord progression and a very fast rythm and basing the chord progression on groups of 3 (or 9, whatever), while not going into a waltz feel - the music does not feel "in 3/x", but that's the dominating feature of percussion (triplets, triplets, triplets) and the chord progression. Couple this with an out-of-place major chord... and you're on Pandora. Beautiful. Alien, but beautiful. Paired with similarly beautiful but alien visuals - you get a movie that hits hard, even if the actual plot is not that novel. It's not a great movie (plot, characters, etc), it's a great experience - one I will certainly never forget. Thanks to the creators we got to BE on Pandora. The story was far less important.
yeah I remember watching it in cinema telling me "yeah whatever the conventional plot, it's really pleasing my senses"
@@antoinebrg6299 Yeah. After seeing in (both 2D and 3D) in cinema I was really irritated by the criticism of people who watched it early - on a small laptop, pirated, in fact recorded in a cinema by some guy with a shitty camera. Completely missing the point. Their critique was correct, but... unimportant. This is a visual and musical work of art, the role of other elements is just to make it shine.
I've seen the movie multiple times. But I've seen the "first flight" scene a lot more (BluRay and a good TV may not be a match for the cinema, but it's good). What happens in this scene? Nothing really. It's just beautiful. And envy-provoking in the most satisfying, escapist way.
I'm getting goosebumps just hearing this.. Just a crazy good sound track
I'd love for you to dive into Casper's Lullaby by James Horner. Might be one of the most underrated cues of the last 30 years.
That flippin Motif literally brought tears to my eyes nearly every single time it played in the new movie! For some reason it has a profound affect one me!! It was actually quite annyoing, having constant misty eyes, but I love that motif so much. XD
Can we all take a moment to appreciate the editors who do the keyboard at the bottom and the highliting of notes when a scale is shown on screen
I love how you went from the guy who made memes musical to music theory lecturer.
I do, however, miss musically memes
I love how I can see the title and music in the thumbnail and immediately hear what you are talking about. Horner is a legend
i just love your charismatic, pasionate, explaination, of the music behind one of my fav movies, this really gets me in the mood, to just turn on my old keybord and just play around the cords you are so very amazing
As a choir singer, this progression really pushes memories of whimsical, sparkly sounds through my head - the first piece that comes to mind is 5 Hebrew Love Songs by Eric Whitacre. If you're not familiar, I don't doubt that you'll find it extremely interesting, especially given Eric Whitacre's all-over-the-place, yet drop-dead gorgeous style of composing.
It’s also the singing style with the brassy, forward placed open vowels. There’s a choral composer who likes to make tribal-sounding songs with gibberish words and I sang one in a women’s chorus in college and our student director for that song was very much like sing differently! Much more brassy and forward and nasally and almost flattened soft pallet/ kinda chant-y.
Man the goose bumps I get from this chord progression
10:08 I definitely agree that going back to the c#m is what really cements that other worldly feeing. While it’s still an more uncommon sound, that major two chord is much more commonly heard as a secondary dominant leading back the the five. I think using it as the last chord before returning to the home chord defies expectations more so than even the presence of that chord.
It's from the song "I see you" by Leona Lewis from the Soundtrack of the first movie. So those cords sing "I see you" and it's what I hear every time it plays in the movie.
Really interesting how you explained the basics of harmony in a short video! Well done!
Could this also be seen as the C# minor the base and this being the Dorian Scale of B Major? The F# Major chord fits with C# minor and B Major in B Major Dorian..
The Avatar theme is definitely in C# Dorian. Thinking about this in E dismisses C#m as the tonic.
Yes, but then there wouldn't be anything to talk about for 10 minutes.
this was an awesome video. i love the way you explained the music theory so clearly. gained a sub!
I'm focused on Latin Jazz but really enjoy the way you break all of this down. Kudos!
Dude, you know more about music than I’ve ever known in my life 😂😂❤ Stay awesome!
watching Avatar 2, I went mainly for Horner’s music even though different composer- it made me sob that Horner is in fact gone and we will never hear his magic again. I love his work in Avatar- “pathway to heaven” is seriously the best. Did you know that Horner invented a few instruments just for this film??
I actually like the video before watching it, knowing I will be amazed by it. Best piano reaction videos ever. Thanks Charles❤️
It saddens me that “I See You” was never released as a single when the film came out, I reckon it could have been a huge bit! Leona’s vocals over Horner’s song is just stunning 😭
As always, super fascinating and educational analysis. Your enthusiasm is very catchy :) all the best!
Glad I wasn’t the only one that loved those chords when it first came out in the trailer release
This progression kinda reminds me of the theme for Andor, except where F#(maj) goes back to the C#m, it instead resolves to a F#m. Love the content!
The soundtrack makes the film the way it is, no explanation around it, it feels right. Very otherworldly, I love the music.
Love your video and how you’re able to always have genuine energy throughout!
Fan from 🇬🇧 thanks for your hard work. Love the videos. Music theory was always my favourite subject at school. 20 years later I still love it.
The Avatar Soundtrack is so beautiful 😭💙
Original Avatar soundtrack still give me chills every time I listen to it. Horner truly made something beautiful, too bad we lost him in that plane crash...
This was a really interesting video! I had no idea the major 2 was the key to the "Avatar" sound. To me, it's a very beautiful, peaceful, and nostalgic sound. The progression evokes feelings of longing for a better place, and I think that pulled me into the first movie harder than I otherwise might have been. The world of Avatar tends to set its claws in your imagination, and I think the soundtrack has a lot to do with that. The Way of Water's soundtrack is absolutely on point in this regard. If I recall, the movie opens with this exact progression (or throws it out very quickly), and immediately all those feelings came right back. I went into the movie cold (ie not prepping by rewatching the first), and that short progression brought everything from the first movie right to mind and set the stage. I remember being very impressed at how deftly it was done.
Using the F# major chord instead of the diatonic F# minor means that A# occurs in the scale, where it usually wouldn't. This A# makes the E major scale (ionian) into a lydian scale, which is the same one as in Yoda's theme, which gives it a mystical, magical quality.
I agree that the Major 2 is definitely the chord that catches our ear but we are all far more conditioned to Standard Minor progressions and less conditioned to Dorian Minor Progressions but I’m curious if a Dorian conditioned ear would hear it as shocking?
Every single time I hear that chord change I get crazy goosebumps. It's what pulled me into the second movie immediately.
That being said, this video playing it so many times in a span of 15 minutes ended with me feeling a little woozy lmao
Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't the score to The Chronicles of Narnia do a similar thing? I seem to remember a similar sound and feel during the opening scene of the train ride and the wide open landscape shots in Narnia
I like that you spend so much time to explain music theory to beginners. I'm missing an explanation though, why the song is in E major and not B major. In B major, all the chords are diatonic. (IMHO, it is in C# dorian...)
I was wondering this too
Same. Seems like B major is a possibility given the context we have and that it "fits".
Don't do it, it's a trap!
the moment you played the chords i got put back to the cinema 13 years ago, instantly goosebumps! its something different
If your soundtrack its recognizable just for some notes, you hace done a good work
Also think James Horner did a great job composing for Braveheart too. His music is so emotional and so beautiful!
Chris, great video. I think there is also the consideration of what inversion of a chord goes to what inversion of the next chord. The intervalic leaps also help with the "otherworldly" vibe. Also direction of intervalic movement, meaning with all root of the chords in the bass, right hand goes from 2nd inversion C#m to 1st inversion B to 2nd inversion F# moving upwards versus moving downwards. If that makes sense. I think it's the openness of the intervallic movement. Similar to how open chords and the intervalic and inversion movement is used in gospel or Americana music.
It's a testament to James Horner's musical brilliance that even though his original, inventive, alien-sounding soundtrack ideas were consistently and repeatedly shot down until the final product sounded like more of a standard Hollywood score, it was still a terrific soundtrack in the end. Bravo to him.
Just started watching but the moment I heard the soundtrack I went home and figured it out on my guitar: the main theme tones are totally Lydian: root, second, sharp 4, 5, 3. In Db maj. Never tried to figure out the chords so this should be a treat!
loved this video. you are completely right... those chords give it the immediate 'avatar' bloom in a dark room
Really amazing video! Just watched Avatar 2 and that theme gives me chills every damn time! Thanks so much for breaking this down I learned a lot about scales and major/minor chords.
When you start playing Titanic's My Heart Will Go On you triggered a core memory and I knew INSTANTLY what you were playing
James Horner created an incredible score, and I'm really happy that Simon Franglen did him proud in the Way of Water with an amazing soundtrack.
Hey Charles, would love to see you breakdown Cateen’s 7 levels of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (or his happy birthday in every key). Find it on UA-cam, it’s nuts.
While thinking of everything in terms of Major and Minor key centers is definitely the more traditional way of thinking about Western harmony (as annoyed as I am about that; I think exploring modal harmony is worth the headache of learning the modes), I'd like to think that instead, the Avatar progression intentionally invokes a Dorian tonality. E Major vi - V - II - (vi) and C# Dorian i - VII - II - (i) are equivalent, so it certainly wouldn't be an _incorrect_ interpretation.
Literally came here to listen to this because I can’t find the track of the theme. Those chords are moving man gives me chills Fr
I love these insights. If you listen closely to “Jake’s First Flight” you can hear elements of what Horner did for Glory (1989) with slight variations. Both incredibly emotional and complex scores.
Avatar was seeded by a Dream Cameron had back around when he was making Titanic and the film is very "dream like quality" in its many layers of presentation, one need only look to the lyrics of the song "I see you" sung by Leona Lewis..
The 4 chords which are C#, B, F#, C# are the same as the best rock song " Sweet child o mine" of Guns and Roses
I was gonna say wait that progression is soo dam common it's literally everywhere since forever, BUT it's not just the 3 chords as usual (C#m, B and 2x F#) - returning to that first chord as the 4th chord in the sequence actually changes the whole vibe. And that is way less common as far as I'm aware :) Definitely gonna use this
Love your work
You are truly not only obviously talented
Beyond skilled
Love someone to do a bio on you and see how you got to where you are today
That would be very interesting
Horner has been able to get such heartstring pulling emotions with these type of chords. Another example is a cue from An American Tale: Fievel Goes West that is used as the melody for the movie’s big song, “Dreams To Dream.” In the chorus of that song, there is something about that chord change that is beautiful, yet deceptive emotional piece of music.
i know all this stuff, but i still enjoy the way you explain it to people who have no idea lol. love the content.
I'm not a musician nor claim to be, but as a human you point out something I felt but didn't know how to articulate about the "sound". That sequence you play from 1:19 to 1:27, as you say there is something about it that stirs the heart and soul. Have musicians ever worked with psychologists to try to figure this out collaboratively?
dude you are such a legend for making this video
hey Charles really love your videos and the way that you explain music theory, even though i don't have knowledge of music theory, and if possible I would love to hear you analysing the "across the stars" from Star Wars.
The music on the first teaser has only 3 chords yet it still takes you to another world
Acabo de aprender muchísimo gracias a tu video. Excelente trabajo amigo!
I had to sit down to my piano to play around with this, and in a minute realized, that the Cinematic Orchestra's To Build a Home uses the same movement :) But there it's not otherwordly, it's just super warm
great voicing on the chords, beautiful spread.