Wow, you just released a nearly hour-long iceberg and now you’re uploading again. It isn’t often that one of my favorite content creators uploads regularly. Thank you for the serotonin
Eleanor Rigby is probably my favorite Beatles song, so this is quite fascinating to me. I do miss the more complex string accompaniment that exists in the original song.
I like this exercise, but I'm not so sure that the melody fits well with most of these new progressions. Maybe it's just because I'm already very familiar with the song. Update: I wrote this comment before hearing level 7. I actually think that the vocal melody fits better with the level 7 chords than with several of the earlier levels.
I totally agree. Some new progressions fit better than others, but the original chord progression is brilliant and superior to all the others. Not that David would´ve suggested anything else. Still this is a healthy exercise to do and broadening the mind is always a good thing to do.
It's an interesting dilemma and I agree with you. Part of the problem with this approach is insisting on a new key centre and basing chords around that key. In one instance he says he changes to Gmaj but he's in G dominant, so a mode, which is fine but pointless to say it's a reflection of Gmaj/Emin relationship. Later he does it with A but it's the same issue especially as the meldoy ends on the minor 7th of the A and it's not convincing. I think you are right to say the original harmony influences our opinion because it forms a big part of the song's character, but I think the approach of just looking at chords individually rather than focussing on the harmonic phrasing and how the ideas start and resolve is far more important than what happens in the middle. Done wrong, reharmonization sounds too 'pastel' colours. Some of the ideas don't take us on interesting musical journies. The original harmony is very powerful for its simplicity character and colour.
I think it shows that a lot of chord progressions can “work” with a melody but what separates great artists from average/mediocre artists is great artists pick the most emotive progressions.
That was fascinating. I would have loved a Level 8, where you just chose WRONG chords with no connection with the melody, to see if the wrong chords could still produce listenable music!
@McGeoculus im a little unsure which one you mean by the notes are the same but im assuming you mean the melody is the same but in general it sounds different. it of course is because they changed the chords to make it have a different sound. unless you mean something else then specify cuz im unsure lol
@McGeoculus ah i get that second comment. yeah i personally think it has something to do with like you perception of each chord. i have that too. it's kinda like when i hear the note D in a D minor it may not be exactly the same feeling I get when I play a Dbmaj7 chord. in other words, it's abt the context of the note and how it's used
This is a great exercise and very instructive, but I hope you don't take it amiss when I say that it just points up how elegant the original harmonization was.
The last one was interesting ending with Dsus4 and D. That sort of works pretty well musically with the original song, although it seems to imply that there was a positive resolution to Eleanor's existence, which doesn't really fit with the lyrics. Lots of things to mull over when composing music. Really good content.
Hello! Just want to say that I love your videos so much! When I got into the rock band Queen, I found other rock music that (as we all know) opens so many doors to musical experience. I decided to study music seriously when I knew I felt something with music, and discovered your channel. So far I've learned to understand time signatures such as 6/8, today, chord progression (which I hope to incorporate to my piano playing), and a LOT of music theory. Don't know if you read that or not, but the point is: I really love how you use rock music to give examples of music theory. It's very helpful! Keep it up.
I'm just a beginner at songwriting and this concept is something I really needed to hear about. I think this will really help me express the ideas that my favorite artists have put into my head. Thanks loads, you're a brilliant teacher!
This is a pretty cool exercise and I really do I like how some of these sound, especially level 2 and 3 for me result in the most interesting melody which "makes sense", for lack of a better word. But it also shows, just like with many of George Colier's pieces, than in music complexity doesn't always translate into a better experience, and sometimes less (e.g. less complex) is more, as the levels 6 and 7 don't really sit well with me, to be honest.
@@kristianburys160 Um, yeah, I confused these two ^^. I follow George's youtube channel because he makes interesting and entertaining transcriptions, and this probably why I've mistaken him for Jacob.
You are right level 2 and 3 sounds pleasing and beautiful but eventually after a while you will get bored that's how nature works and you wana level up
Interesting exercise. It's difficult to shake the original harmonies from my head, so naturally I think those work the best but #4 with its descending progression really added a nice dimension to the song and sound near as good if not better than Paul's original conception.
Lots of people finding level 7 hard to listen to, but it's actually my favourite of all the re-harmonisations! I think having the backtrack always being on strings made some of them less impactful for me, like the bluesy one in E, but I do love the idea of resolving to an E major perhaps right after a Bm7 or Bm6?
7 was my favourite too - it it very different, but I thought it really worked, and I could absolutely imagine listening to a full song sounding along those lines.
Another great vid. Explained in layman’s terms, clearly and precisely. That last one sounds banging and all mate, would love to hear an album full of reharmonised songs from you. Thanks again mate you’re a legend
Genius presentation, thanks. You are an excellent explainer, and teacher. Nicely staged, with regular summaries. And using all these well-known songs anchors is it to music already in one’s head. Some of the jazz songs are … intuitive. I’m just old enough to remember the album coming out as a teenager. It was a modal change what the Beatles were up to, and there was a great buzz in the air at the youth club when Keith brought it in.
Terrific video. I’m studying theory and this was really helpful. Using Eleanor Rigby was brilliant since it’s a song almost everyone on the planet knows. But as a 69 year old super-Beatles fan I have to say on some level this was quite disturbing; I wish I could un-hear the Phrygian-inspired version, and your level 7 is the stuff nightmares are made of. And last but not least, thank you for leaving Locrian out of this: I don’t think I could survive a Locrian Elenor RIGBY.
While copyrights have traditionally just been melody and lyrics, there are definitely songs which are at least as harmonically driven as they are melodically driven. This is particularly true of songs with rather simple 1 or 2 note melodies but very distinct chord changes, riffs and grooves.
Super interesting. I was left with a better understanding of McCartney’s intuitive genius. His choice naturally fits the sentiment. He had no pop contemporaries exploring these possibilities. His match between words, feeling, music is extraordinary. Thanks for this exploration.
Me: bet you can't play the whole song changing keys through each sequential level or reharmonization! David Ben's Piano : hold my beer.... ..... 😬 will he take the bait....!?
That was brilliant David. Loved your ideas, and how you explain them. I especially liked the Dorian arrangement of level 2 (that's my favourite mode, so no surprise there), and the Dsus4 resolution to D on level 7, which is surprisingly beautiful and well resolved. Looking forward to more of these.
I was just thinking about this song while listening to Tally Hall’s “Misery Fell”. Misery Fell samples Elenor Rigby’s verse melody, so the songs sound extremely similar. Spooky
Very strange you chosed a Beatles’song to show example of reharmonization a song ! :-) Your work is as always brilliant. I really enjoy the new version (the last one) of Eleonor Rigby !
Excellent explanation and a great example to start with. I really like the sound of your Level 5 sequence and adding a 6th to the G in bar 4 and the Sus4 in bar 7.
this is super fun and interesting!! i think levels 3 and 4 are my favorite. but this whole project is perfect considering as we know... there are seven levels...
By about the 4th example Adam Neely would have had the tune wrapped in the most discordant polychordal soup imaginable. I'm not saying that's good or bad - it just is.
I've always found myself drawn to pieces using the harmonic minor scales, and this was no exception! Absolutely loved level 3, but I agree with many on here about how well level 7 worked when though it was so far away from the original.
As (a bit of a rarity I know) someone who doesn't listen to or particularly like the Beatles. I liked about half the examples and particularly the last one better then the original. I thought my perspective might be interesting as so many of the comments were from people immersed in the original 🤔
The strangest melody with respect to its chords is Phantom of the Opera. If you start in Dm, the chords go like: Dm Gm C Dm ("in sleep he sang to me, in dreams he came"), Dm Gm C Dm ("that voice which calls to me and speaks my name"), Dm Bb ("and do I dream again?"), when you get to that Bb ("dream again") the notes of the melody are A G G. Neither A nor G are in in Bb, and they are the only notes during that chord. Yet it sounds completely fine (and resolves very nicely to C, where that "early" G belongs to.)
Very interesting. What I would like to know is how James Taylor, for example, manages to turn a three chord tune (Buddy Holly's Everyday) into a much more sophisticated-sounding tune by adding substitutions.
You actually were an inspiration for me to buy a piano and start taking lessons 4 months ago. Funny my Mother did the same thing at her retirement, buying a baby Grand. And she played another 22 years.
I've watched many of your videos, and every single one has been educational AND entertaining, but I found myself actually having FUN with this one! That is, until Level 4, when the fun was replaced with the mind-blown emoji...
Interesting. Only goes to show that while from a music theory perspective all of this might work and that tunes are arranged for a number of reasons-many of them very pragmatic A vocalists range for example. Most songs are written in a key that helps to express a mood or feeling. Aside from the extensions and other ornamentation Eleanor Rigby in A or D major just sounds….idk silly.
Thanks for the reply and making me aware of this David. So-there is _NO_ definitive version. Just the one chord structure that says what you want to say, on the day
wow! i thought the b3atles stuff was extremely copyrighted, really nice topic though, i was thinking on studying on it, and i found this video quite on the right timing
Re/harmonization is one of my favorite things to do in music so seeing you creating video regarding this subject is a joy to me :) As for the harmonies, i prefer the original (even though i'm not familiar with the song, my apologies 😅) simply because of the chord voicings employing the chromatic scale -which to me at least wasn't noticeable when i first heard it here.
would love to hear more of this.... I always imagined what would happen if the beatles and the beach boys composed their melodies, yet were not so clever with the chords underpinning their songs.... its seems sometimes that the chord progression can really make or break a melody, and hence, a song....
Level 5 confused me a bit as you referred to it being G mixolydian which matches the chords you had but then you reference G major and E aeolian being relative which I understand as well BUT G mixolydian wouldn’t be relative to E aeolian would it? Wouldn’t that be A aeolian? Love the videos. You have definitely turned some lights on for me!
Wow, you just released a nearly hour-long iceberg and now you’re uploading again. It isn’t often that one of my favorite content creators uploads regularly. Thank you for the serotonin
Thanks!
I hope he doesn't overwork himself
@@kevincronk7981 We love music!
This needs to become a series with many songs. This is such a good way to learn about writing music
Eleanor Rigby is probably my favorite Beatles song, so this is quite fascinating to me. I do miss the more complex string accompaniment that exists in the original song.
oh it’s beatles
"Find a chord with an A, for example...A" brilliant delivery there lol
I like this exercise, but I'm not so sure that the melody fits well with most of these new progressions. Maybe it's just because I'm already very familiar with the song.
Update: I wrote this comment before hearing level 7. I actually think that the vocal melody fits better with the level 7 chords than with several of the earlier levels.
I totally agree. Some new progressions fit better than others, but the original chord progression is brilliant and superior to all the others. Not that David would´ve suggested anything else. Still this is a healthy exercise to do and broadening the mind is always a good thing to do.
It's an interesting dilemma and I agree with you. Part of the problem with this approach is insisting on a new key centre and basing chords around that key. In one instance he says he changes to Gmaj but he's in G dominant, so a mode, which is fine but pointless to say it's a reflection of Gmaj/Emin relationship. Later he does it with A but it's the same issue especially as the meldoy ends on the minor 7th of the A and it's not convincing.
I think you are right to say the original harmony influences our opinion because it forms a big part of the song's character, but I think the approach of just looking at chords individually rather than focussing on the harmonic phrasing and how the ideas start and resolve is far more important than what happens in the middle.
Done wrong, reharmonization sounds too 'pastel' colours. Some of the ideas don't take us on interesting musical journies. The original harmony is very powerful for its simplicity character and colour.
I think if the descending semitone line in the original changes (D C# C B) isn't there, it doesn't really sound like "Eleanor Rigby" any more.
@@cgideas Agree.
I think it shows that a lot of chord progressions can “work” with a melody but what separates great artists from average/mediocre artists is great artists pick the most emotive progressions.
You are literally mentoring the rising generation of musical artists! And you don’t ask for anything else in return!
Just to sign up for Nord VPN 😅
The original harmony is the best.
That was fascinating. I would have loved a Level 8, where you just chose WRONG chords with no connection with the melody, to see if the wrong chords could still produce listenable music!
Non-functional harmony! A very interesting way to make music from a melody
Something, something no wrong chords... Something, something jazz. 😏
@McGeoculus im a little unsure which one you mean by the notes are the same but im assuming you mean the melody is the same but in general it sounds different. it of course is because they changed the chords to make it have a different sound. unless you mean something else then specify cuz im unsure lol
@McGeoculus ah i get that second comment. yeah i personally think it has something to do with like you perception of each chord. i have that too. it's kinda like when i hear the note D in a D minor it may not be exactly the same feeling I get when I play a Dbmaj7 chord. in other words, it's abt the context of the note and how it's used
Great work man. Imo tends to show how they got it right in the first place
This is a great exercise and very instructive, but I hope you don't take it amiss when I say that it just points up how elegant the original harmonization was.
Wow dude I would nvere have thought to to take this this song too D Major. impressive
The last one was interesting ending with Dsus4 and D. That sort of works pretty well musically with the original song, although it seems to imply that there was a positive resolution to Eleanor's existence, which doesn't really fit with the lyrics. Lots of things to mull over when composing music. Really good content.
ending on the dsus with that hanging G may have worked better, ironically
Hello! Just want to say that I love your videos so much! When I got into the rock band Queen, I found other rock music that (as we all know) opens so many doors to musical experience. I decided to study music seriously when I knew I felt something with music, and discovered your channel. So far I've learned to understand time signatures such as 6/8, today, chord progression (which I hope to incorporate to my piano playing), and a LOT of music theory. Don't know if you read that or not, but the point is: I really love how you use rock music to give examples of music theory. It's very helpful! Keep it up.
😊😊😊😊
You're very good Dave.
6 and 7 are tough to listen to for very long.
I agree on 6, but I thought 7 was actually quite listenable.
I'm just a beginner at songwriting and this concept is something I really needed to hear about. I think this will really help me express the ideas that my favorite artists have put into my head. Thanks loads, you're a brilliant teacher!
This is a pretty cool exercise and I really do I like how some of these sound, especially level 2 and 3 for me result in the most interesting melody which "makes sense", for lack of a better word. But it also shows, just like with many of George Colier's pieces, than in music complexity doesn't always translate into a better experience, and sometimes less (e.g. less complex) is more, as the levels 6 and 7 don't really sit well with me, to be honest.
Which pieces by George Collier you know? Do you mean Jacob Collier?
@@kristianburys160 Um, yeah, I confused these two ^^. I follow George's youtube channel because he makes interesting and entertaining transcriptions, and this probably why I've mistaken him for Jacob.
You are right level 2 and 3 sounds pleasing and beautiful but eventually after a while you will get bored that's how nature works and you wana level up
I always thought the part after "Where do they all belong?" was adopted into a late 1970's McDonald's commercial.
Interesting exercise (particularly level 4) in proving McCartney's original instincts were bang on.
That's how the group "Dirty Loops" became famous: Reharmonising well-known pop songs with jazzy harmonies.
Level 5 sounds like IV-I-V in C to me, especially with that F natural.
Its crazy how changing the chords to the relative major key suddenly makes the melody sound so joyful without changing a single note.
Circle of 5ths version: Am9 D13 / G13 C7 / Fma7#11 B7#5b9 / Em E7 ://
Interesting exercise. It's difficult to shake the original harmonies from my head, so naturally I think those work the best but #4 with its descending progression really added a nice dimension to the song and sound near as good if not better than Paul's original conception.
I think it is very clear that John and Paul got it right.
Some interesting sounds and brilliant analysis as usual, but the Beatles hit jackpot.
this is a video i've been looking for for a long time just never knew what to title it. great job! thanks!
Lots of people finding level 7 hard to listen to, but it's actually my favourite of all the re-harmonisations! I think having the backtrack always being on strings made some of them less impactful for me, like the bluesy one in E, but I do love the idea of resolving to an E major perhaps right after a Bm7 or Bm6?
7 was my favourite too - it it very different, but I thought it really worked, and I could absolutely imagine listening to a full song sounding along those lines.
Another great vid. Explained in layman’s terms, clearly and precisely. That last one sounds banging and all mate, would love to hear an album full of reharmonised songs from you.
Thanks again mate you’re a legend
The Greatest song of all time and the song that got me into The Beatles.
It was an instant classic and VERY ahead of its time!
Genius presentation, thanks. You are an excellent explainer, and teacher. Nicely staged, with regular summaries. And using all these well-known songs anchors is it to music already in one’s head. Some of the jazz songs are … intuitive. I’m just old enough to remember the album coming out as a teenager. It was a modal change what the Beatles were up to, and there was a great buzz in the air at the youth club when Keith brought it in.
Terrific video. I’m studying theory and this was really helpful. Using Eleanor Rigby was brilliant since it’s a song almost everyone on the planet knows. But as a 69 year old super-Beatles fan I have to say on some level this was quite disturbing; I wish I could un-hear the Phrygian-inspired version, and your level 7 is the stuff nightmares are made of. And last but not least, thank you for leaving Locrian out of this: I don’t think I could survive a Locrian Elenor RIGBY.
Fascinating! Thanks, David.
Thanks!
Thank you David for giving of your time.much appriciation
I liked how you turned Eleanor Rigby into Gangsta's Paradise in level 2
While copyrights have traditionally just been melody and lyrics, there are definitely songs which are at least as harmonically driven as they are melodically driven. This is particularly true of songs with rather simple 1 or 2 note melodies but very distinct chord changes, riffs and grooves.
Super interesting. I was left with a better understanding of McCartney’s intuitive genius. His choice naturally fits the sentiment. He had no pop contemporaries exploring these possibilities. His match between words, feeling, music is extraordinary. Thanks for this exploration.
Wow I love what you did with level 7. Great work!
Whoever is dubbing Paul's voice does a nice job.
My favorite Beatles' song, great maestro!
Very interesting as a demonstration of the potential of reharmonising. I think Sir Macca probably nailed it with the original, though!
I don't know if I'll ever get your level of understanding, but I love your approach to describing these different ways of looking at music.
Another great lesson. 😃Thank you, David!!!
Thank you 😊
Brilliant! I enjoy your videos David. Thank you for sharing your music theory knowledge with us.
Me: bet you can't play the whole song changing keys through each sequential level or reharmonization!
David Ben's Piano : hold my beer....
.....
😬 will he take the bait....!?
Thanks for the simple and clear explanation of reharmonization! Well done!
Thanks 😊
That's exactly why I love your channel!
That was brilliant David. Loved your ideas, and how you explain them.
I especially liked the Dorian arrangement of level 2 (that's my favourite mode, so no surprise there), and the Dsus4 resolution to D on level 7, which is surprisingly beautiful and well resolved.
Looking forward to more of these.
David, this is your best video so far - I really enjoyed it, thanks.
I was just thinking about this song while listening to Tally Hall’s “Misery Fell”. Misery Fell samples Elenor Rigby’s verse melody, so the songs sound extremely similar. Spooky
yay tally hall
Very strange you chosed a Beatles’song to show example of reharmonization a song ! :-)
Your work is as always brilliant. I really enjoy the new version (the last one) of Eleonor Rigby !
David just casually reharmonising like an absolute maniac!😝
Very enlightening, thanks very much!👍
Excellent explanation and a great example to start with. I really like the sound of your Level 5 sequence and adding a 6th to the G in bar 4 and the Sus4 in bar 7.
To be completely honest, the first harmonization sounded the most interesting, simple or not.
Amazing examples, thank you!
😊😊
David at it again, reharmonising is cool cool saw it first from jacob collier. Pls do a vid on him
Amazing video man, I am truly grateful for these high quality videos you upload.
Wow! I was just working on reharmonizing old songs Ive written, thank you. Ps I love the frequent uploads
I really love this video. Thank you :)
Thanks!
this is super fun and interesting!! i think levels 3 and 4 are my favorite. but this whole project is perfect considering as we know... there are seven levels...
I learned so much from this. Will take some time to unpack.
Excellent teaching, beautifully done.
By about the 4th example Adam Neely would have had the tune wrapped in the most discordant polychordal soup imaginable.
I'm not saying that's good or bad - it just is.
I've always found myself drawn to pieces using the harmonic minor scales, and this was no exception! Absolutely loved level 3, but I agree with many on here about how well level 7 worked when though it was so far away from the original.
As (a bit of a rarity I know) someone who doesn't listen to or particularly like the Beatles. I liked about half the examples and particularly the last one better then the original.
I thought my perspective might be interesting as so many of the comments were from people immersed in the original 🤔
What I'm getting from all that is that you can basically choose any chord you want and you'll figure out a reason why later 😅
To be perfectly honest, everything beyond level 2 sounded quite odd to me 😉
7 was good
The strangest melody with respect to its chords is Phantom of the Opera.
If you start in Dm, the chords go like: Dm Gm C Dm ("in sleep he sang to me, in dreams he came"), Dm Gm C Dm ("that voice which calls to me and speaks my name"), Dm Bb ("and do I dream again?"), when you get to that Bb ("dream again") the notes of the melody are A G G. Neither A nor G are in in Bb, and they are the only notes during that chord. Yet it sounds completely fine (and resolves very nicely to C, where that "early" G belongs to.)
Absolutely fascinating!! I love this kind deconstructive stuff!
The Beatles - Eleanor Rigby
Level 0: 0:43
Level 1: 1:23
Level 2: 3:20
Level 3: 4:02
Level 4: 4:50
Level 5: 7:10
Level 6: 8:17
Level 7: 9:00 9:55
holy fuck the sound of IV-i is incredible
Interesting reharmonisations. Reminds me of a Adam Neely video. Convince me that you can't choose pretty well anything!
Absolutely brilliant. Somewhat twisted, but brilliant.
You made an excellent work !! Keep it going 👏👏👏
So fun! I found the new chords quite difficult to hear tho, because of 50 years of my brain being bent upon the original.
Very interesting video. Thank man!
Very eye-opening 👏🏻
Another excellent video. Thank you, David.
Very interesting. What I would like to know is how James Taylor, for example, manages to turn a three chord tune (Buddy Holly's Everyday) into a much more sophisticated-sounding tune by adding substitutions.
Fantastic!!!!
😊
I liked the last one the most
As always writing a comment to support the channel
You actually were an inspiration for me to buy a piano and start taking lessons 4 months ago. Funny my Mother did the same thing at her retirement, buying a baby Grand. And she played another 22 years.
Great stuff! Keep it up!
I love that outro music! I want to add it to my youtube music playlist but I don't know if I can fine it by it's self
What a great video! I would love to hear more examples like this... and also on how to do it :) tnx!!
I've watched many of your videos, and every single one has been educational AND entertaining, but I found myself actually having FUN with this one! That is, until Level 4, when the fun was replaced with the mind-blown emoji...
4:50 Eleanor Rigby, Moby version
I love watching these videos and pretending I have any idea what's going on
Interesting. Only goes to show that while from a music theory perspective all of this might work and that tunes are arranged for a number of reasons-many of them very pragmatic A vocalists range for example. Most songs are written in a key that helps to express a mood or feeling. Aside from the extensions and other ornamentation Eleanor Rigby in A or D major just sounds….idk silly.
Thanks for the reply and making me aware of this David. So-there is _NO_ definitive version. Just the one chord structure that says what you want to say, on the day
wow! i thought the b3atles stuff was extremely copyrighted, really nice topic though, i was thinking on studying on it, and i found this video quite on the right timing
Level 7 is really cool!
Wow this is a really good tutorial more on this please
Re/harmonization is one of my favorite things to do in music so seeing you creating video regarding this subject is a joy to me :) As for the harmonies, i prefer the original (even though i'm not familiar with the song, my apologies 😅) simply because of the chord voicings employing the chromatic scale -which to me at least wasn't noticeable when i first heard it here.
I m considering buying nord vpn only to thank you about the quality of this video
Cool Stuff! Thanx!
would love to hear more of this.... I always imagined what would happen if the beatles and the beach boys composed their melodies, yet were not so clever with the chords underpinning their songs.... its seems sometimes that the chord progression can really make or break a melody, and hence, a song....
Would love to see this done withsomething I"m more familiar with, maybe a I-V-vi-IV or a I-vi-IV-V or a i-bVI-bIII-bVII song
How do you make this type of animations? They look super clean
Thanks! It's just screen capturing Musescore and then upping the contrast and saturation to make it look better 😊
Level one instantly gave me a very strong memory of the track Porcelain by Mobe. Its not the same but something triggered a memory.
Fantastic vid. I don’t even play piano.
Level 5 confused me a bit as you referred to it being G mixolydian which matches the chords you had but then you reference G major and E aeolian being relative which I understand as well BUT G mixolydian wouldn’t be relative to E aeolian would it? Wouldn’t that be A aeolian? Love the videos. You have definitely turned some lights on for me!
Same obsevation. Lol.