So so so many golden nuggets here to studying music: "follow your goosebumps", "learn to just tread water in the chosen scale" it might be impossible to become a Jacob Collier, but that's not the point, it's possible to become a natural creative musician, with the mindset of one.
Just be yourself Collier discovered his voice. Find yours. Every one can discover something new in music. John Coltrane's son Ravi has his own approach to music.
I was just thinking the same thing because I show my students Victor's TED talk to get them to understand it's much more like speaking a language than learning pedagogy.
Listen to the whole interview at the Topcast podcast. Really one of the best! So much gold! This episode is in my Top 5 best podcast interviews ever. And I listen to a lot of different podcasts.
Playing is very different from real practice.practice more than play. Jacob has a different kind of mind than most, for the average person you should practice and stop trying to be a super star.Learn your instrument, this takes practice.
You kinda missed the whole point. He said he agrees that there are aspects of each instrument that you need to sit and just master, but generally you don't need to practice in the conventional way, as in just sit and play scales over and over. He says he learned music first, and then he knew what he wanted to do, it was just a matter of making the instrument do it. So by learning to make the instrument do that thing he wanted, he was essentially practicing, but it didn't FEEL like practice because he was creating and making music, while technically practicing.
@@APaclin how are they qualified when they don't understand the basics of a language. to be qualified at learning something you need to understand the concept and ACTIVELY learn it. kids learn language passively.
By altering chords so you have 5-1 for every degree of the scale e.g. In C: Amaj leads to Dmin, Bmaj to Emin, Cmaj to Fmaj, Dmaj to Gmaj, Emaj to Amin, Gmaj to Cmaj. You can go between each one of these chords so the bass moves chromatically to every note (besides Bb). Would recommend looking at the circle of fifths and playing a piano :)
Also, you could take any scale and play a harmonic progression using each note of the scale as the bass to a chord. So for a major scale play: I-ii-iii-IV-V-vi-vii0 or play in a different order with those same chords (like a circle of fifths for chords): I -> IV -> vii0 -> iii -> vi -> ii -> V -> I The minor scale would be: i -> iv -> VII -> III -> VI -> ii0 -> V -> i This will give you the most important chords that relate to the scale. You are basically arming your musical brain with lots of tools that are relevant and work together. You could easily sit on each scale and play it for a few weeks before moving on to a different one. It's really great practice if you're serious about learning.
This is good stuff... I've always felt the same way about practice. I've learned so much more by just playing than by practicing. My mom used to teach piano out of our house and would yell at me "you're just playing, you're not practicing!" But I learned more that way. Especially when I got into jazz in high school.
Children are utterly unqualified, but spend every second surrounded by proficient users of the language. Victor Wooten suggests that as musicians we should play with the best musicians we can early on, so we can best learn their language.
Basically, practice isn't practice as long as you're solving problems, creating, and just having fun with it. As a classical musician this is totally different from how I grew up learning. Mindblowing!
This video shows exactly what is important in practice, regardless if music, sport, science or whatever. Passion creates a drive to check out , for countless amount of time, without any pain of “practicing”, cause it’s actually “playing”.
@@natskii7026 I love music. Wasn't born into a musical family, didn't receive the tutorship and guidance JC did as a child, didn't grow up in the same environment... No matter how much I love music, I will never achieve his level of competency.
I have to somehow disagree. Also, the question itself was too unspecific. Surely, the answer was good. But what when asked if he ever practices ear training? Surely, I can only imagine him answering straightly no, because he has perfect pitch. And what was said is right, but also useless to a certain degree. To come back to his example with Logic. I guess NOBODY would ever come to the idea to learn how to use any program, at least not in the same way as motor skills or ear training is learned. You learn it by doing. And that is definitely a big chunk of learning in general, for any skill or domain of knowledge you want to aquire. But you somehow have to reach a certain level to approach things in this playful manner (and also in this "goal oriented" manner, as he was talking about "staying in keys" - you have to have some understanding to do that). Let us go back to the "how children" learn example. Imagine a child that stutters, or has other disabilities that hinder it. Then it has to overcome them in some way and most often this might involve dull repetitional, focused and boring practice. Only a person that never experienced such obstacles can give the advice he has given. His gifts make him prone, in his statements, to what is often called a form of "survival bias". Simply because he started out from a whole different level and cannot, and never has, experienced certain difficulties that others can only overcome by dull practice. However, I like his positive attitude. It is certainly motivating and he is using his talents, inspiring others or giving, straight and plainly, good music to the people. I am glad that he has chosen that path.
1:45 Someone, how do I as a keyboard player learn this technique of staying in the key? Is it just playing 10s (root and 3rd one octave above) in the scale?
What he was kind of saying was to make each scale degree a 5-1 progression, ie G7-C, A7-Dmin, B7-Emin and so on and so forth through the scale, then apply that to all the other scales
@@aris_chalin quick question, A7 and B7 are not diatonic to C major, but Dm and Em are. I understand that the V chord is a dom7 one, but if you're just going V-I you are not practicing the chords of the current key, no? What I mean is, what I thought you were going to say was G7-C, Am-Dm, Bm7b5-Em etc... why is that wrong?
I think it's just C, C6/C# Dm, Dm6/D# Em, Emb6/E F, F6/F# G, G6/G# Am G (second inversion) / B C ? That might look complicated but hopefully yogu et the general gist
I don't really practice guitar in any formal way, but I can play acoustic guitar in the way folks like Andy Mckee, Antoine Dufour, Michael Hedges, Don Ross, ect can. I end up wanting to play a song of theirs and I "practice" the specific techniques and sounds needed to achieve that song, and along the way I end up better because of it. I think structured practice can definitely be helpful, but just playing and creating like Jacob suggests often ends you up with a good amount of skill on it's own.
In the cadence exercise starting at 1:00, doesn't he mean "back to C via G"? He says via B. Isn't he playing the fifth of each following chord as he ascends?
You use any dominant chord you like. Here he uses B/G. B is drawn towards C, just like every bass he transitionned with from a chord to another was drawn towards the next fundamental (apart from the 2nd chord, but that's a detail). Is that clear enough or would you prefer a more developped elaboration ?
@@Pacipejo thanks. I think understand the theory but what are the actual mechanics of the exercise? What's he actually playing? I like these kinds of exercises. I think they inform the ear enormously. I've been doing 251s and various turnarounds in all keys as part of my jazz studies. They're drills but I don't really find them boring as I can almost feel the neural pathways forming as I do it!
@@jimharris6389 You understand it perfectly, it's actually simpler than a 251, it is a 51 on every note of a given scale, in order to be able to modulate in any tone from another. So, the exercise is to take your scale, here a major one, and resolve on every tone with a 51. Moreover, here, he doesn't play the 5 chord on its fundamental, which would produce a discontinued bassline (C A dm B em C F D G E am G C), but instead slides with a chromatism, using inversions on every 5 (C A/C# dm B/D# em C/E F D/F# G E/G# am G/B C). You can of course practice it with your 251 routine (C eb5 A dm f# B em gm C F...) or any sequence you find interesting to practice in your routine. The purpose is to give structure and flexibility to your understanding of a scale, seeing how the chords interact with eachother and learn how to guide the ear towards any given tone. Once, you've understood it, you can add as many extensions or arrangements as you wish on the given structure.
The way he explains the difference between playing and practicing is brilliant. I have that problem too. I play a lot more than practice which in my opinion is a problem
This is totally how I learned and tell people how to learn tech stuff.. "How do I learn how to program?" "DO PROJECTS!" (When you self-motivate you work harder and learn faster. And when you fail you learn intensely!)
He is talking about a perfect cadence which is a V-i or V-I movement (pronounced five one) So you should practice how to play G7 to Cmaj7, A7 to Dm, B7 to Em7... All while still voice leading, of course... Meaning don't lift up your entire arm to 5 notes higher, but only move the necessary notes. For example, G7 is GBDF while Cmaj7 is CEGB. To do a V-I cadence, you only need to know the B from G7 one key higher (which is C) and the F one key lower (which is E). You could move the D to C or E, but in jazz it's not considered out or wrong to play D note on top of C major. (Google the table of available tensions, you'll see that C major chords' main notes are CEG, but there are notes that work with it such as B, D and sometimes F#.
Always found the statement "practice is boring" to be ridiculous. It's your own fault for not making it fun, heck, 80% of music making is spent practicing. Will you really doom yourself to think that way about 80% of your passion?
A minor is in the C major scale, it's made up of A, C, and E which are all notes in the scale. As he was playing, he said 'you go to D' but he was sort of speaking a little shorthand - he's actually playing a D minor there. Same when he says 'you go to E' , it's actually an E minor I think he's saying it that way to focus his description on the pattern of moving the bass, and assuming that tim understands which chords are appropriately major or minor based on the key.
@@TheEndorDragon basically it's playing the dominant of the chord built on the scale degree. So in C major (C D E F G A B) : G7 goes to C, then A7 > D, B7 > E, C7 > F, for all the scale until you get back to C ("via B" which is a G on its third)
@@andreatonero8553 But he's physically playing: C triad, A note, Dm triad, B note, Em triad, C note, F triad, D note, G triad, E note, Am triad, G note, C triad (mssing out the dim, aka 'the wonky chord' :o) ) an octave above. Is that correct? I'm a guitarist mainly so my ears aren't great for piano.
@@jimharris6389 the bass goes up chromatically so it's A/C# aka A7 on its third > D, B/D# aka B7 on its third > E, etc. Didn't listen back, will confirm later :)
So so so many golden nuggets here to studying music: "follow your goosebumps", "learn to just tread water in the chosen scale" it might be impossible to become a Jacob Collier, but that's not the point, it's possible to become a natural creative musician, with the mindset of one.
Great comments Tom ❤️👍🎹
"Follow the spark" is an advice he always mentions. I love it.
Just be yourself Collier discovered his voice. Find yours. Every one can discover something new in music. John Coltrane's son Ravi has his own approach to music.
Why become a Jacob Collier? He's already there.
Do what you can do!
so true!
jacob collier needs to have a conversation with Victor wooten... they're talking the same thing!
I was just thinking the same thing because I show my students Victor's TED talk to get them to understand it's much more like speaking a language than learning pedagogy.
This would be an amazing collab/conversation!!
He’s amazingly brilliant yet humble and unfailingly generous. He exudes joy, which is intrinsic to his being, and he leaves the world a better place.
This Guy's knowledge of music is both inspirational and daunting. I hope one day I can catch up to him
He sure is on another level!
What a profoundly mature answer. Love this guy.
Talking about the most important and fundamental things in life in a very simple and comprehensible words.
Listen to the whole interview at the Topcast podcast. Really one of the best! So much gold!
This episode is in my Top 5 best podcast interviews ever. And I listen to a lot of different podcasts.
Wow Kade. Thanks so much!! Please do share and leave us a review on iTunes if you have time ❤️👍😎
@@topmusicco Sure, will do :)
Thank you for the beautiful gift Tim!
Inspiring!
So...short answer: "No, I don't need to practice."
🤣🤣
I can use Jacob's logic on my children. I'm not asking you to practice, I just want you to spend another 10 minutes doing fun problem solving!
Yeah, and you don't also :)
😂😂
JUST PLAY, MAN. Imagine it's "Halo" or "GTA Vice City"
Ah. This makes sense!
not me reading it as Jacob Collier's practice tips with DEMONS
Hhaha someone else said that too!
Musicians and the battle between the left and right brain
What synthe is he using
What kind of chords are at 0:40👀👀??
Nutritious chords
I read James Collier's Practice Tips with Demons
It can seem like he’s a little possessed! 🤣
@@topmusicco Possessed by enough talent for 6 people
Jazz chords are n u t r i t i o u s
yummy!
Playing is very different from real practice.practice more than play. Jacob has a different kind of mind than most, for the average person you should practice and stop trying to be a super star.Learn your instrument, this takes practice.
Bruh the way he defines practice is wrong, practice is whatever you do behind the scenes, playing is when theres people watching. SIMPLE AS THAT
You kinda missed the whole point. He said he agrees that there are aspects of each instrument that you need to sit and just master, but generally you don't need to practice in the conventional way, as in just sit and play scales over and over. He says he learned music first, and then he knew what he wanted to do, it was just a matter of making the instrument do it. So by learning to make the instrument do that thing he wanted, he was essentially practicing, but it didn't FEEL like practice because he was creating and making music, while technically practicing.
@@caseylockwood5512 Dude you are overcomplicating it as well playing is practice
@@famouscryp4130 So its impossible to "play" unless there are people watching? Yeah, don't agree.
He said children were unqualified to learn language and now my mind is blown 🤯
That line gave me goosebumps!
Children are more qualified than adults at learning anything, their brain is more pliable, so it isn't true.
@@APaclin how are they qualified when they don't understand the basics of a language. to be qualified at learning something you need to understand the concept and ACTIVELY learn it. kids learn language passively.
@@APaclin
You didn’t get the point buddy.
He's saying you learn something just by doing it. That line is really inspiring.
I love everything Jacob said here! It’s so refreshing!
Thanks 😊
“You cadence to each degree of the scale of every scale note is a bass note”
Is anyone able to explain this? I’m not sure I quite understand
By altering chords so you have 5-1 for every degree of the scale e.g. In C: Amaj leads to Dmin, Bmaj to Emin, Cmaj to Fmaj, Dmaj to Gmaj, Emaj to Amin, Gmaj to Cmaj.
You can go between each one of these chords so the bass moves chromatically to every note (besides Bb).
Would recommend looking at the circle of fifths and playing a piano :)
Also, you could take any scale and play a harmonic progression using each note of the scale as the bass to a chord. So for a major scale play:
I-ii-iii-IV-V-vi-vii0
or play in a different order with those same chords (like a circle of fifths for chords):
I -> IV -> vii0 -> iii -> vi -> ii -> V -> I
The minor scale would be:
i -> iv -> VII -> III -> VI -> ii0 -> V -> i
This will give you the most important chords that relate to the scale. You are basically arming your musical brain with lots of tools that are relevant and work together. You could easily sit on each scale and play it for a few weeks before moving on to a different one. It's really great practice if you're serious about learning.
@@Samhoneyfield why does cmaj and dmaj lead to other maj chords and not min?
This is good stuff... I've always felt the same way about practice. I've learned so much more by just playing than by practicing. My mom used to teach piano out of our house and would yell at me "you're just playing, you're not practicing!" But I learned more that way. Especially when I got into jazz in high school.
I think there’s a time and place for both but I totally understand what you mean 👍
Children are utterly unqualified, but spend every second surrounded by proficient users of the language. Victor Wooten suggests that as musicians we should play with the best musicians we can early on, so we can best learn their language.
I certainly learnt a lot more about musicality from playing with other people than playing alone.
Basically, practice isn't practice as long as you're solving problems, creating, and just having fun with it. As a classical musician this is totally different from how I grew up learning. Mindblowing!
Thanks Christina - glad you enjoyed!
I love how these are almost more compositional tips than practice tips
This video shows exactly what is important in practice, regardless if music, sport, science or whatever. Passion creates a drive to check out , for countless amount of time, without any pain of “practicing”, cause it’s actually “playing”.
👏👏
Cool, so step 1: be a genius.
Step 2: keep on going.
Got it.
Step 1 : Stay open and try various things to find what you love
Step 2 : Do what you love
@@natskii7026 I love music. Wasn't born into a musical family, didn't receive the tutorship and guidance JC did as a child, didn't grow up in the same environment... No matter how much I love music, I will never achieve his level of competency.
I have to somehow disagree. Also, the question itself was too unspecific. Surely, the answer was good. But what when asked if he ever practices ear training? Surely, I can only imagine him answering straightly no, because he has perfect pitch. And what was said is right, but also useless to a certain degree. To come back to his example with Logic. I guess NOBODY would ever come to the idea to learn how to use any program, at least not in the same way as motor skills or ear training is learned. You learn it by doing. And that is definitely a big chunk of learning in general, for any skill or domain of knowledge you want to aquire. But you somehow have to reach a certain level to approach things in this playful manner (and also in this "goal oriented" manner, as he was talking about "staying in keys" - you have to have some understanding to do that). Let us go back to the "how children" learn example. Imagine a child that stutters, or has other disabilities that hinder it. Then it has to overcome them in some way and most often this might involve dull repetitional, focused and boring practice. Only a person that never experienced such obstacles can give the advice he has given. His gifts make him prone, in his statements, to what is often called a form of "survival bias". Simply because he started out from a whole different level and cannot, and never has, experienced certain difficulties that others can only overcome by dull practice. However, I like his positive attitude. It is certainly motivating and he is using his talents, inspiring others or giving, straight and plainly, good music to the people. I am glad that he has chosen that path.
I'm always glad to hear yet another point of view
1:45 Someone, how do I as a keyboard player learn this technique of staying in the key? Is it just playing 10s (root and 3rd one octave above) in the scale?
What he was kind of saying was to make each scale degree a 5-1 progression, ie G7-C, A7-Dmin, B7-Emin and so on and so forth through the scale, then apply that to all the other scales
@@aris_chalin quick question, A7 and B7 are not diatonic to C major, but Dm and Em are. I understand that the V chord is a dom7 one, but if you're just going V-I you are not practicing the chords of the current key, no?
What I mean is, what I thought you were going to say was G7-C, Am-Dm, Bm7b5-Em etc...
why is that wrong?
SHZF SHZF because in jazz V7 chords can come from anywhere inside or outside the scale
@@Wick3DSteely The dominant chord, i.e. A7 and B7, is ALWAYS major
@@dengris457 Got it!
Can someone explain me what chords he is using at 1:10? The last one back to the C gives me some goosebumps and I would love to recreate that sound :)
I think it's just
C, C6/C#
Dm, Dm6/D#
Em, Emb6/E
F, F6/F#
G, G6/G#
Am
G (second inversion) / B
C
?
That might look complicated but hopefully yogu et the general gist
@@EpiCuber7 I listened to it again and heard:
C
A/C#, dm
B/D#, em
D/F#, G
E/G#, am
G/H, C
@@nikodemus7900 Ah yes, if anyone was going to play the note H it was definitely going to be Jacob xD
@@EpiCuber7 Sorry man. I am German. Our H is your B xD
@@nikodemus7900 Oh haha sorry for the mixup, that's cool though didn't know Germans use different notes!
I don't really practice guitar in any formal way, but I can play acoustic guitar in the way folks like Andy Mckee, Antoine Dufour, Michael Hedges, Don Ross, ect can. I end up wanting to play a song of theirs and I "practice" the specific techniques and sounds needed to achieve that song, and along the way I end up better because of it.
I think structured practice can definitely be helpful, but just playing and creating like Jacob suggests often ends you up with a good amount of skill on it's own.
Lol loved this but he really didn't answer the question asked. I wonder if he practices drums and things like that to maintain skill.
The answer is there, it depends on how you define “practice”. In dumber terms its a “yes”
Answer is "yes, if I'm using it to make something"
@@pttj9947 That's a good way to put it.
Oh my god I read demons 😂
Hahahaha 😂😂
Wow, that's got to be the longest piano I've ever seen behind him!
In the cadence exercise starting at 1:00, doesn't he mean "back to C via G"? He says via B. Isn't he playing the fifth of each following chord as he ascends?
I think he means using a B diminished as sub for G7.
@@alejofar What's he actually playing then?
You use any dominant chord you like. Here he uses B/G. B is drawn towards C, just like every bass he transitionned with from a chord to another was drawn towards the next fundamental (apart from the 2nd chord, but that's a detail). Is that clear enough or would you prefer a more developped elaboration ?
@@Pacipejo thanks. I think understand the theory but what are the actual mechanics of the exercise? What's he actually playing? I like these kinds of exercises. I think they inform the ear enormously. I've been doing 251s and various turnarounds in all keys as part of my jazz studies. They're drills but I don't really find them boring as I can almost feel the neural pathways forming as I do it!
@@jimharris6389 You understand it perfectly, it's actually simpler than a 251, it is a 51 on every note of a given scale, in order to be able to modulate in any tone from another. So, the exercise is to take your scale, here a major one, and resolve on every tone with a 51. Moreover, here, he doesn't play the 5 chord on its fundamental, which would produce a discontinued bassline (C A dm B em C F D G E am G C), but instead slides with a chromatism, using inversions on every 5 (C A/C# dm B/D# em C/E F D/F# G E/G# am G/B C). You can of course practice it with your 251 routine (C eb5 A dm f# B em gm C F...) or any sequence you find interesting to practice in your routine. The purpose is to give structure and flexibility to your understanding of a scale, seeing how the chords interact with eachother and learn how to guide the ear towards any given tone. Once, you've understood it, you can add as many extensions or arrangements as you wish on the given structure.
1:09
SOO NUTRITIOUS
The way he explains the difference between playing and practicing is brilliant. I have that problem too. I play a lot more than practice which in my opinion is a problem
First
This is totally how I learned and tell people how to learn tech stuff.. "How do I learn how to program?" "DO PROJECTS!"
(When you self-motivate you work harder and learn faster. And when you fail you learn intensely!)
Yes yes yes. And consciouly try to improving it every time you do.
this dude is a genius
Actually helpful thank you!
You are an extremely good listener.
Superb. Enjoyable...thanks.
Someone needs to transcribe this
We already have the episode transcribed at topmusic.co/episode200
@@topmusicco they probably meant musical transcription
can someone explain what he means by cadence to every chord
He is talking about a perfect cadence which is a V-i or V-I movement (pronounced five one)
So you should practice how to play
G7 to Cmaj7, A7 to Dm, B7 to Em7...
All while still voice leading, of course... Meaning don't lift up your entire arm to 5 notes higher, but only move the necessary notes.
For example, G7 is GBDF while Cmaj7 is CEGB. To do a V-I cadence, you only need to know the B from G7 one key higher (which is C) and the F one key lower (which is E).
You could move the D to C or E, but in jazz it's not considered out or wrong to play D note on top of C major. (Google the table of available tensions, you'll see that C major chords' main notes are CEG, but there are notes that work with it such as B, D and sometimes F#.
@@pttj9947 Great reply, thank you!
Thanks TTj 👍👍
This guy is amazing. Great musician
I misread the title as “practice tips with DEMONS” and for some reason i did not find that to be surprising at all
HAHAHA It's almost like he's possessed, right?!
oh my gosh he's posh
Always found the statement "practice is boring" to be ridiculous. It's your own fault for not making it fun, heck, 80% of music making is spent practicing. Will you really doom yourself to think that way about 80% of your passion?
Legend
01:45
How am I now finding this channel??? OMG
Welcome 😊
IF you explain every single nuance of your creativity, there can be no wonderment left over.Less talkin,more rockin.🤔😇🥸
Start now!
🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶
Everybody: Jacob is so talented look at what he does with Logic! Jacob: 14 years. 😲
Everytime I see him online I’m blown away. He was playing bass the other day and totally killing it!
1:15 Why did he go CDEFG then to A minor when a minor isn’t in the c major scale?
A minor is in the C major scale, it's made up of A, C, and E which are all notes in the scale.
As he was playing, he said 'you go to D' but he was sort of speaking a little shorthand - he's actually playing a D minor there. Same when he says 'you go to E' , it's actually an E minor
I think he's saying it that way to focus his description on the pattern of moving the bass, and assuming that tim understands which chords are appropriately major or minor based on the key.
words so valueble. lol
0:41 what are these cluster chords?
Basically chords with a shit ton of extensions. 9/11/13
Practice is play
Play is practice
Yup. Trying to look at practice as play is a great approach 👍 that’s why we ‘play’ instruments after all
Classically trained pianist here just to say : amen, dude. Amen.
Can you explain what he means by “cadence the key”?
@@TheEndorDragon basically it's playing the dominant of the chord built on the scale degree. So in C major (C D E F G A B) : G7 goes to C, then A7 > D, B7 > E, C7 > F, for all the scale until you get back to C ("via B" which is a G on its third)
@@andreatonero8553 But he's physically playing: C triad, A note, Dm triad, B note, Em triad, C note, F triad, D note, G triad, E note, Am triad, G note, C triad (mssing out the dim, aka 'the wonky chord' :o) ) an octave above. Is that correct? I'm a guitarist mainly so my ears aren't great for piano.
@@jimharris6389 the bass goes up chromatically so it's A/C# aka A7 on its third > D, B/D# aka B7 on its third > E, etc. Didn't listen back, will confirm later :)
Brilliant advice. In stark contrast to the drudgery that is being espoused by 99% of all music people.