Ari, thank you so much for this breakdown. I've been a Todd fan since high school in the 70s. His music is part of the soundtrack of my life! I'm a visual artist not a musician so I have zero knowledge of musical structure or terms but I've always felt something special about Todd's music. It's so interesting to know a little bit about how he composed the songs I grew up with thanks to you; hybrid chords, tonicization (hope I spelled that right), etc. btw, we just saw him in Atlantic City (with Kasim on bass), great show!
The series on Todd Rundgren is a huge help to me in understanding jazz composition. Can you take a look at the Brazilian Ivan Lins? Also Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays?
Ok, so I just watched all 3 parts of your Todd thing. WTH took me so long to stumble onto this? Many, many moons ago, I had high school theory and harmony training (in spite of primarily being a drummer). Thank the gods that I did because when I nosedove into a deep adoration of Todd’s writing, I could never have figured out the chords, otherwise, and some still took me forever, embarrassingly. In fact, he’s such a strong harmonic influence in my own writing, possibly/probably to a fault. Lol For instance, my body rejects NOT playing a V11th for a turnaround, IVmaj and Vmaj triads make me cringe, and I’m positive that it’s all Todd’s fault. Anyway, after all that unsolicited, boring who-gives-a-shit stuff about me, I’m actually writing to say that my hats off to ya! So many times, you had me beating my fist on the table, yelling, “YES! YES! YES!” because finally, someone else appreciates and has taken the time to dig in, break it down, and articulate it. (No pun intended) So bless ya , ma’am, and I SO applaud your excellent taste.
When you played the "anchor chord", I heard the intro to "Courage"... I love that He refers to his old songs, often subliminally. e.g the drum fill at 5.18 of "Past" is the same as from "Intro/Prana" like He was trying to tell us something...
That chord is in a ton of Todd songs. I'd call it his #1 cliche (and it's even featured in the song Cliche!) Good catch about the drum fill. I wonder whether it was an intentional back-reference or subliminal, but either way, it's a cool bit of Conceptual Continuity, as Mr. Zappa would say.
Would love for u to teach me I have his something anything song book& have been looking for u for years Your comparison to my favorite classical composers debussey ravel & nyro& bacharach to TODD IS 1000% right on to beginning theory 1 & understand some not all please how can i get in touch with u
I'm curious why you transposed the song to the key of D before analyzing it? I think it might be easier for people to relate to your analysis if they could compare it to the recorded version in C. In any case, I like your analysis. I was in the process of picking it off the record and was looking for live versions when I came across your video.
I just love her analysis of Todd Rundgren's Genius!
Thank you for your windows of the insight of the rare genius that is Todd!
Ari, thank you so much for this breakdown. I've been a Todd fan since high school in the 70s. His music is part of the soundtrack of my life! I'm a visual artist not a musician so I have zero knowledge of musical structure or terms but I've always felt something special about Todd's music. It's so interesting to know a little bit about how he composed the songs I grew up with thanks to you; hybrid chords, tonicization (hope I spelled that right), etc. btw, we just saw him in Atlantic City (with Kasim on bass), great show!
thank you for your channel, all these years later and you are explaining his techniques.
You are a valuable source of knowledge.
This is Fantastic! Excellent analysis of such a great piece of music. nice job
hope this continues...would be nice to see some breakdown analysis of tracks from Healing
The series on Todd Rundgren is a huge help to me in understanding jazz composition. Can you take a look at the Brazilian Ivan Lins? Also Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays?
Amazing videos
Ok, so I just watched all 3 parts of your Todd thing.
WTH took me so long to stumble onto this?
Many, many moons ago, I had high school theory and harmony training (in spite of primarily being a drummer). Thank the gods that I did because when I nosedove into a deep adoration of Todd’s writing, I could never have figured out the chords, otherwise, and some still took me forever, embarrassingly. In fact, he’s such a strong harmonic influence in my own writing, possibly/probably to a fault. Lol
For instance, my body rejects NOT playing a V11th for a turnaround, IVmaj and Vmaj triads make me cringe, and I’m positive that it’s all Todd’s fault.
Anyway, after all that unsolicited, boring who-gives-a-shit stuff about me, I’m actually writing to say that my hats off to ya!
So many times, you had me beating my fist on the table, yelling, “YES! YES! YES!” because finally, someone else appreciates and has taken the time to dig in, break it down, and articulate it. (No pun intended)
So bless ya , ma’am, and I SO applaud your excellent taste.
would also like to hear your take on "the Waiting Game"
When you played the "anchor chord", I heard the intro to "Courage"... I love that He refers to his old songs, often subliminally. e.g the drum fill at 5.18 of "Past" is the same as from "Intro/Prana" like He was trying to tell us something...
That chord is in a ton of Todd songs. I'd call it his #1 cliche (and it's even featured in the song Cliche!) Good catch about the drum fill. I wonder whether it was an intentional back-reference or subliminal, but either way, it's a cool bit of Conceptual Continuity, as Mr. Zappa would say.
Wow, great work! This one is a tough song. To me it's like lots of chords magically tied together.
Would love for u to teach me
I have his something anything song book& have been looking for u for years
Your comparison to my favorite classical composers debussey ravel
& nyro& bacharach to TODD IS 1000% right on to beginning theory 1 & understand some not all please how can i get in touch with u
All that schooling and theory yet Todd cannot read or write music. He is truly gifted.
Does anybody love you is indeed genius pop.
And of course you always have to remind yourself how young he was when he wrote this stuff.
I'm curious why you transposed the song to the key of D before analyzing it? I think it might be easier for people to relate to your analysis if they could compare it to the recorded version in C. In any case, I like your analysis. I was in the process of picking it off the record and was looking for live versions when I came across your video.
Here is my version in the recorded key of C: ua-cam.com/video/ol0r0MYh7J8/v-deo.html
i think i love you and todd i suppose chord ...
The reason Todd uses so many compound chords is to compensate for the lack of creativity from just about every other artist lol.
Every other artist except Joe Jackson, Steely Dan, Pablo Cruise, Chicago, Earth Wind & Fire, and Level 42.