As soon as I heard this song I wanted to learn this on the wooden box. There have been no tutorials or covers. And now, Aaron decided to post a lesson himself. Very cool. Awesome band. With probably the greatest lyrics of the year.
There are some folks wondering about the key of 'England'. Aaron is totally correct when he says it's in Bb major. If you wanted to get like SUPER technical you could say it was Bb mixolydian (the difference being that when he goes to the dominant chord (in this case F minor) he lowers the 7th degree of the scale (in Bb major it would be A natural) and another totally sweet thing he does is further solidify the mixolydian mode when he goes to the full Ab chord later in the song.
@Tinerix Well, this is only notation matter. Chordwise Aaron plays: | Bb | Cm | Eb | Fm | Eb | Cm | Bb | So indeed, he begins and ends on Bb, but Bb is not the tonic. The correct key notation here would be Eb major, since the note A also is flattened to Ab. If he played A natural instead of A flat, the would've been Bb major, and the fourth chord, Fm, would have been an F. You can clearly tell the difference if you play F instead of Fm. There you go :)
Very nice! This should remind us how powerful some simple chords can be. I like the pause between each progression, as it adds some kind of bitterness to the song. The National is a nice band. Thanks Q TV for adding this video!
It never ceases to amaze me how camera men have zero clue how to actually shoot videos like this...hey man nice camera angle...now we can't see what he's doing with his fingers anymore but hey cool camera angle!!!
I always thought both songs are like siblings, both share the atmosphere and of course some parts sounds almost the same. Actually I knew about Sufjan's "Concerning(…)" song after randomly stumbled upon it in UA-cam's suggested videos.
I am sorry but while you have such an amazing musician, your camera man has failed miserably to capture what his fingers are doing. There are thousands of videos available here which have a better camera angle to see what keys are being pressed. I am trying to learn from this video and after a point it becomes irritating
He seems like a pretty great teacher ...but i don't think i have any hope to play, me and notes do not mix!!!! i have no problem just enjoying to listen other people play especially the National!!!!!
It's so great to have one of your favourite musicians teaching you how to play their song. It feels so intimate!
As soon as I heard this song I wanted to learn this on the wooden box. There have been no tutorials or covers. And now, Aaron decided to post a lesson himself. Very cool. Awesome band. With probably the greatest lyrics of the year.
There are some folks wondering about the key of 'England'. Aaron is totally correct when he says it's in Bb major. If you wanted to get like SUPER technical you could say it was Bb mixolydian (the difference being that when he goes to the dominant chord (in this case F minor) he lowers the 7th degree of the scale
(in Bb major it would be A natural) and another totally sweet thing he does is further solidify the mixolydian mode when he goes to the full Ab chord later in the song.
@Tinerix Well, this is only notation matter. Chordwise Aaron plays: | Bb | Cm | Eb | Fm | Eb | Cm | Bb |
So indeed, he begins and ends on Bb, but Bb is not the tonic. The correct key notation here would be Eb major, since the note A also is flattened to Ab. If he played A natural instead of A flat, the would've been Bb major, and the fourth chord, Fm, would have been an F. You can clearly tell the difference if you play F instead of Fm. There you go :)
This is awesome. Complete beginner but I can make my way through this beautiful song.
Thank you all so much!
i love your music,
it really touches me.
- british columbia canada van island.
Very nice! This should remind us how powerful some simple chords can be. I like the pause between each progression, as it adds some kind of bitterness to the song. The National is a nice band. Thanks Q TV for adding this video!
This reminds me of Concerning The UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois. No wonder The National and Sufjan are pretty tight. Beatiful playing.
It never ceases to amaze me how camera men have zero clue how to actually shoot videos like this...hey man nice camera angle...now we can't see what he's doing with his fingers anymore but hey cool camera angle!!!
Seriously.
And he'd move the camera at a certain point, ALL the time!
Does anyone know where I can learn how to play "About Today" on the piano?
Can anyone please put the whole song notes here? thankyouverymuch
Just because I can, let me correct the wonderful Aaron Dessner by saying that this song is actually in the key of E flat major, not B flat major :P
I always thought both songs are like siblings, both share the atmosphere and of course some parts sounds almost the same. Actually I knew about Sufjan's "Concerning(…)" song after randomly stumbled upon it in UA-cam's suggested videos.
omg I love that song so much
What is he playing at the one minute mark?
I am sorry but while you have such an amazing musician, your camera man has failed miserably to capture what his fingers are doing.
There are thousands of videos available here which have a better camera angle to see what keys are being pressed.
I am trying to learn from this video and after a point it becomes irritating
He's playing octaves, and he says what the notes are, so I'm not sure what the problem is.
this is pretty radical is you ask me!
what's he playing at 0:56?
It sounds kind of a slowed down version of Wake up your saints by the national. Its from high violet as well but only on the expanded edition
I think it's The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down by The Band
sounds like that one sufjan song
Could it be more annoying when the camera goes away when you want to see what hes playing. In the same part over and over again.
He seems like a pretty great teacher ...but i don't think i have any hope to play, me and notes do not mix!!!! i have no problem just enjoying to listen other people play especially the National!!!!!
I agree, but FYI those aren't chords
you should so much slower, I am so confused right now. :(
Waste of time. Just as when he tried to show us how to play Slow Show on guitar. He played the riff so fast it was impossible to follow.
Too bad he behaves like he's still in highschool...too cool for the lesson/awkward/emo/total hipster.
Yeah if only he could change his entire personality just to suit you.