0:01 Introduction 0:14 Fugal Elements in a Pop Song 0:31 Why Composers Use Forms like the Fugue 0:42 Master of the Fugue: Johann Sebastian Bach 0:55 Counterpoint 1:07 Polyphonic Texture 1:22 Subject (Main theme in a fugue) 1:54 Melodic Lines and Vocal Registers (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass) 2:33 Order that Melodic Lines Enter 2:40 Answer (Main theme of a fugue in a different key) 3:42 Exposition in a Fugue 3:53 Development Section in a Fugue 4:11 How Composers Present the Subject in New and Interesting Ways 4:38 Why it's called the "Little" Fugue in G Minor 5:00 Visualization of Bach's Little Fugue in G Minor 5:15 Answer in Alto Enters 5:32 Subject enters in Tenor 5:46 Answer enters in Bass (Pedal Keyboard Organist Plays with Feet) 5:59 Exposition Ends, Development Begins 8:13 Credits
Johann Sebastian Bach thanks for composing this piece. Did you know that Mozart, Beethoven and many other child prodigies learned to play piano by studying your works 🔥🙌🏾✨ Gutentag😎
He's also following his own harmonic rules and explores new ideas in composition. I think it's completely analogous to a jazz improvisation. It's only a matter of opinion whether the great jazz performers have matched or exceeded Bach's genius.
@@benidk3556 I think you mean you're stupidly awesome. Your denotes ownership while you're means you are which is what I think you are trying to say. I find it surprising that someone who is watching an instructional video doesn't know the difference between your and you're? I wonder if to, too and two is also a problem or what about there, their and they're? I bet your head is about ready to split.
I'm about to say something dumb, but, like Forest Gump, I am not a smart man. I don't get classical music. I didn't listen to Wagner in the womb; I wasn't raised on Rachmaninoff; Hayden was not my homeboy. But I am captivated in the last two or so years by this music! I don't know the lingo (except, they are not songs!) and lately, I've become acutely aware that I don't even know how to listen. I mean, I hear the music, but it's like I am only able to hear 70% of it. I CAN tell that there's more there than I am hearing, and it's frustrating to know that there is a whole level of understanding that I'm just not getting. It's like I can SEE the facade of the building. I know there's a wealth of architecture and design behind the obvious, but I have no idea what a door looks like, and no concept of how to begin to open it. So your stuff is incredibly helpful. I still can't tell where subject begins and answer ends - but the visual stuff really helped me start to see patterns. I still can't listen to more lines than one or maybe two with any degree of competence, so it's very helpful to watch your videos and at least start to know how to articulate exactly what it is I know I can hear. It's almost like this music is a foreign language: I can hear the sounds and know they are rich with meaning, but comprehending them is just not possible. Your videos are like a primer in grammar. Anyway, long story short, thanks for doing what you do. It's very helpful for people like me who are too dumb to really get what's going on, but not so dumb that they are oblivious to richer meaning available if only they could unlock it.
I know this was a loong time ago, but I’ve been studying music for 1.5 years and have been submerged into the world of classical music for 6 months (once I got in I never went back to popular music) and so as a person who felt just like you did, I have to recommend you an amazing book that’s basically an introduction to music, wrote by Aaron Copland, one of the greatest american composers from the XXth century. It’s called *What to listen for in music* I really recommend it!!
1. Racism isnt a fact or argument, dumbass. 2. classical music is one of the most g loaded activities. 3. no it doesnt just "intepret all equally" what a fucking dumb thing to say you want actual facts? You can tell what race someone is by looking at the shape of their brain (www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(15)00671-5) You are not only spouting false information but committing fraud when you propagate blatant lies about a topic you think is somehow a grey fog. So one again I will say, stick to music and let scientists talk about science moron.
Some people spend their whole lives trying to teach - or understand - something you have managed to explain in 8 minutes and 29 seconds. Well done - and thank you!
Great Video! Absolutely Top Drawer! That fugue was a forgotten melody from my childhood! And I love how Bach ends this fugue very perfunctorily as though he got bored. He was such a show-off!
That is prbably because this performance was too rushed, and hurtled at full speed into the ending. A live performance would slow down and give a sense of completion and closure.
No. just because you like something, doesn't mean you have to force it on to everyone else. the best thing about youtube is that it's NOT what people think it should be. it's that it is not dictated by what people think are good videos, but are videos where anyone can contribute anything. to declare youtube as a place just for your own interests and no one else's is a bit greedy and selfish don't you think? however, chris wright does make good informative videos, and i applaud his hard work.
+jigglymabob ......and yet you feel perfectly entitled to declare to the rest of us what is the best thing about UA-cam and what it should and shouldn't be. Pot, kettle, you know the rest.
Feel free to share with your class. A guy who wants to share for non financial gain. Bless you indeed. Now that is what life is all about. PS. Very well and intelligently put together. Thank you.
I am here because I'm reading Cosmos by Carl Sagan and one of the first chapters in the book is called One Voice in the Cosmic Fugue. After reading the meaning of the word fugue, understood that I need a visual explanation. This was quite complex but I appreciated how detailed and visually accessible the explanation was. Thank you!
I'm a new to Baroque music and kept coming across references to the fugue. Watching this wonderfully clear explanation and illustration of the art form has helped me enormously to understand. Thank you! (Now I must listen to more of Bach to develop a well-tempered ear!)
Short, concise and, thanks to the animation, easy to comprehend, this short video shows how voices are layered to create the architecture of this gorgeous art form. The Little Fugue in Gm is a perfect example to convey this.
Thank you, Chris! This is very interesting. I think these composers must have been geniuses to put these pieces together. I liked the "dots" showing how the different parts look.
AMAZING explanation! Why this channel only has 6K subscribers is beyond me. These videos are among the best musical theory videos out there. Fantastic job Chris!
Dude,,,even though you were a little fast on the jaw,,I understood everything you said,,it opened a portal for me,, I'll keep going over this,to help me write the guitar fugue I always wanted to write for classical guitar,,bless you.
Thanks for explaining this, I was basically told a fugue was a round but more complicated (which I guess it kind of is in a sense) and this was a much more clear and detailed explanation.
this was really helpful! i have to write my own fugue for school and this really helped my understanding. the animation at the end makes everything really easy to see. great video:)
Wow, lucky you get to compose stuff, I'm seriously jealous of you. We only get to play/sing everything they tell us, so creativity isn't really a focus of development...
i'd include the name of the fugue (Little Fugue) in the description, too. for those who want to look it up after the video is over. other than that, great stuff.
Thank you UM! Fugues are such a natural musical expression to me; they're supposedly constructed under strict rules but always sound so natural... I guess when done well everything is... 👊🙂
This is an awesome video. A classical musician friend of mine, once tried to explain fugues and the brilliance of Bach in words and as a dilettante I wasn't able to grasp it, but I always yearned to. Thank you!
I wish every song i listened to had that visualizer at the end of the video. I feel like that reached my visually inclined brain so easily. All the words you spoke prior to it suddenly clicked.
Outstanding explanation. Bravo! I love the visual representation of the piece. It's way more exciting to watch than just an organist sitting at the organ. Again, wonderful video!
Agha Anantya They was just one of his simple fugues... Beautiful, but simple. If you listen to Contrapunctus VII from the Art of Fugue, you will realize that there are fugues you can't imagine...
@@rabbitofknowledge8051 In the final unfinished fugue of Art of Fugue, before he died, Bach used his own name as the subject. B flat, A, C, H (is C in German).
I have been a FUGUE FANATIC ever since my piano teacher introduced the WTC Book 1 and 2 when I was in my single digits. It stayed with me Forever.. I studied classical composition at MSM and USC and I use counterpoint in my pieces a LOT.. Its my foundation :)
I have always used the chorus "He trusted in God" from Messiah to teach homophonic vs polyphonic. I think it's a little easier for students to identify a theme even when it's being modified if there are words to listen to.
This video fullfilled its purpose. The piece of Bach which is used in this video changed my perspective of J.S. Bach. Thanks a lot, fugues are marvelous
Omg, do this kind of videos again! Maybe more elementary stuffs like counterpoint? The motivation behind the idea, and how it was refined, what makes a counterpoint 'good' and how it eventually impacts the listener and why the idea lasts to this modern days in composition.
Same there,except I don't compose.I would like to compose some in the future,tho The first time I composed music was in 9th grade,which ended up in total failure.At that time I basically ignored all those music theories,composing by random mashups.And then blamed the failure for not being talented enough.
Brilliant! Beautiful! Thank you for de-mystifying this wonderful music. I do wish you much success and hope you make a lot of $$$$$ for your work. The artwork of the dots showing us the different voices in the music.....genius!
Well, may $$$$ find you anyway!! And I'm not sure how I'm going to do it just yet, but I teach English to immigrants and refugees and somehow I will figure out how to introduce them to your work.
For anyone wondering about the harpsichord piece that plays in the background of this video, it's Bach's Fugue No. 2 in C minor from the Well-Tempered Clavier Book I. Edit: I mentioned Prelude instead of Fugue so i fixed it. Also thanks for the heart.. although it's gone cuz i edited this..
Hello, there, Chris. Very good stuff. I am an aspiring composer and just finished composing a fugue for string quartet. It's very refreshing to see your simple way of explaining this most intricate and complex musical technique. You won a follower. Keep up the good work.
Chris Wright By the way, what do you think of Beethoven's developments on the fugue? In my very personal opinion, he took the liberty of transforming the episodes into full-fledged developmental sections, as in a sonata-form piece. He sometimes feels like using a hybrid "sonata-fugue". What do you think?
I'm a musician and composer but not trained classically. But I know theory. That said, I am not 'moved' by Bach. Sowwy. I just ain't. When I listen, all I hear is tons of complex notes that remind me of computer code. I used to teach a songwriting class and told students there are two ways to critique a song. First, say if the song is "your cup of tea" or not. Then say if the song follows good writing practice. Ok. For me, Bach is not my cup of tea. And he certainly follows good songwriting practices. I will even say incredible practices. But, in the end, you either are moved or not. I'm not. It's hard to say this in a forum where everyone but me thinks Bach is what god listens to. I just offer my contrary taste. I await the slaughter lol. By the way, your explanation was excellent. I learned more in a few minutes watching and listening to your video than reading a book on the subject. Subject... hmmm... where did I hear that word recently?
this is a great explanation of the fugue. I've gotta tell ya, it was driving me nuts at the beginning when you kept talking about the G minor fugue with the C minor was playing in the background, but with the help of some rum and ginger I got over it.
So glad to hear that! It is quite challenging to make these videos do justice to the material yet keep them pithy. Thank you so much for commenting, and be sure to subscribe to stay notified of new content. Feel free to suggest new topics to cover as well :)
I've seen the word fugue but I never knew what it meant until today. From what I gather it's basically a concept of expressing or sounding multiple melodies simultaneously. Thanks for the example.
HI Chris. Im a philosophy Ph.D student. Im currently working about Nietzsche on music and hearing and he mentions a couple of times Bach's fugues. I didnt know the nature and details of this kind of composition and this video helps me a lot. Thank you very much.
I have to make a presentation on this topic, and this video is so helpful. Thanks for making this, you make it so easy to understand this fairly complex music genre.
i know this is going to make me sound like a crazy-obsessed fan, but at 00:11 the top gif is of sara quin playing in her back in your head music video. i almost didn't notice it and had to do a double take. coincidentally, this video was recommended to me while i was watching tegan and sara videos. anyways, i think it's so cool you used that clip! great video too, we discussed bach's toccata and fugue in my music class. i'll probably come back to your videos to study for my final exam, thanks for making them!
I wish you take this positively. The Pain of watching the beginning of this video turns into Joy at the last couple of minutes. I Love Bach music. So I guess, Thank you 😀...
Thank you for this video xD I was trying to explain why I liked "little" fugue in g minor so much to a friend earlier but utterly lacked the terminology to do so. The closest I could come was likening it to a musical round. I'll have to just send them this video haha
Absolutely Breathtaking! At first I thought there was not supposed to be an example. And even though it's computer generated, I really think only Bachʼs genius, by his love of the structure, can totally survive mathematically to the cold of the machine playing.
@@UnderstandingMusic It's quite nice. I think this works with Bach quite well since the contrapunctual work demands for mathematical precision. It would have been not the same for Mozart, Beethoven and beyond where different phrasings become part of the core of the music.
I really like your video, Chris. An addendum on what "counterpoint" is: Counterpoint isn't a technique or a device that is applied to music; it is simply multiple lines sounding at once. Modern pop music is contrapuntal, even if there's no formal study of modern pop counterpoint. I have mixed feelings about Coldplay, but a recent and very popular song is Coldplay's Hymn For the Weekend. After the intro, when the singer and the standard instruments come in, there's counterpoint between the keyboard (piano-sound) and the vocals. It's pretty simple, and repetitive, but the two voices sometimes move together and sometimes move disjointly. In the chorus "I'm feeling drunk and high", the bass generally moves upwards and the vocals move downards at the beginning and then upwards toward the end. The way the lines move together or move in opposition affects how the listener perceives the piece. So people arranging pop or rock songs today should be aware of what lines (voice, lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass, synth, etc.) are moving in which direction, and what the effect of that movement is. The formal rules of counterpoint that applied in Bach's time are worth learning for advanced musicians today and are of course indispensible for Classical musicians. But my point is that all music is contrapuntal, and when a musician of any genre thinks about counterpoint, they should think about how their counterpoint creates the effect that they want rather than whether they should employ "counterpoint".
This is excellently done. Fascinating. And exactly why so many people hate classical music - it is to the music world what calculus is to math. Totally inaccessible to most.
0:01 Introduction
0:14 Fugal Elements in a Pop Song
0:31 Why Composers Use Forms like the Fugue
0:42 Master of the Fugue: Johann Sebastian Bach
0:55 Counterpoint
1:07 Polyphonic Texture
1:22 Subject (Main theme in a fugue)
1:54 Melodic Lines and Vocal Registers (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass)
2:33 Order that Melodic Lines Enter
2:40 Answer (Main theme of a fugue in a different key)
3:42 Exposition in a Fugue
3:53 Development Section in a Fugue
4:11 How Composers Present the Subject in New and Interesting Ways
4:38 Why it's called the "Little" Fugue in G Minor
5:00 Visualization of Bach's Little Fugue in G Minor
5:15 Answer in Alto Enters
5:32 Subject enters in Tenor
5:46 Answer enters in Bass (Pedal Keyboard Organist Plays with Feet)
5:59 Exposition Ends, Development Begins
8:13 Credits
Couldn't have said it better myself
Johann Sebastian Bach thanks for composing this piece. Did you know that Mozart, Beethoven and many other child prodigies learned to play piano by studying your works 🔥🙌🏾✨ Gutentag😎
Bist du deutsch ?
HELLO B A C H
I play this fugue for my lady friends, they can't get enough. Basically open the floodgates. Bravo.
Welcome, Bach, to the land of the living.
This is stupidly awesome and complex, I seriously can't wrap my head around how someone could *improvise* one of these.
Your stupidly awesome
He's also following his own harmonic rules and explores new ideas in composition. I think it's completely analogous to a jazz improvisation. It's only a matter of opinion whether the great jazz performers have matched or exceeded Bach's genius.
There are a handful of people today that can do this. Gabriela Montero is a master of improv and can do stuff like this.
@@benidk3556 I think you mean you're stupidly awesome. Your denotes ownership while you're means you are which is what I think you are trying to say. I find it surprising that someone who is watching an instructional video doesn't know the difference between your and you're? I wonder if to, too and two is also a problem or what about there, their and they're? I bet your head is about ready to split.
It's like 4 chords
Every bach piece feels like a riddle you have to solve. The more you listen to it the more things you discover, the more you see the structure.
And that's why I love Bach music!
I'm about to say something dumb, but, like Forest Gump, I am not a smart man.
I don't get classical music. I didn't listen to Wagner in the womb; I wasn't raised on Rachmaninoff; Hayden was not my homeboy. But I am captivated in the last two or so years by this music! I don't know the lingo (except, they are not songs!) and lately, I've become acutely aware that I don't even know how to listen. I mean, I hear the music, but it's like I am only able to hear 70% of it. I CAN tell that there's more there than I am hearing, and it's frustrating to know that there is a whole level of understanding that I'm just not getting. It's like I can SEE the facade of the building. I know there's a wealth of architecture and design behind the obvious, but I have no idea what a door looks like, and no concept of how to begin to open it.
So your stuff is incredibly helpful. I still can't tell where subject begins and answer ends - but the visual stuff really helped me start to see patterns. I still can't listen to more lines than one or maybe two with any degree of competence, so it's very helpful to watch your videos and at least start to know how to articulate exactly what it is I know I can hear. It's almost like this music is a foreign language: I can hear the sounds and know they are rich with meaning, but comprehending them is just not possible. Your videos are like a primer in grammar.
Anyway, long story short, thanks for doing what you do. It's very helpful for people like me who are too dumb to really get what's going on, but not so dumb that they are oblivious to richer meaning available if only they could unlock it.
"Hayden is not my homeboy." Pure gold.
I know this was a loong time ago, but I’ve been studying music for 1.5 years and have been submerged into the world of classical music for 6 months (once I got in I never went back to popular music) and so as a person who felt just like you did, I have to recommend you an amazing book that’s basically an introduction to music, wrote by Aaron Copland, one of the greatest american composers from the XXth century. It’s called *What to listen for in music*
I really recommend it!!
Classical music is heavily correlated with intelligence, Chris Wright. Stick to music and let the scientists talk about science.
1. Racism isnt a fact or argument, dumbass.
2. classical music is one of the most g loaded activities.
3. no it doesnt just "intepret all equally" what a fucking dumb thing to say you want actual facts?
You can tell what race someone is by looking at the shape of their brain (www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(15)00671-5)
You are not only spouting false information but committing fraud when you propagate blatant lies about a topic you think is somehow a grey fog. So one again I will say, stick to music and let scientists talk about science moron.
not an argument.
Some people spend their whole lives trying to teach - or understand - something you have managed to explain in 8 minutes and 29 seconds. Well done - and thank you!
Great Video! Absolutely Top Drawer! That fugue was a forgotten melody from my childhood! And I love how Bach ends this fugue very perfunctorily as though he got bored. He was such a show-off!
That is prbably because this performance was too rushed, and hurtled at full speed into the ending. A live performance would slow down and give a sense of completion and closure.
I have never heard this so clearly, accurately and engagingly explained. I wish I'd known you when I was 8 years old!! thanks and well done.
Woah, I was looking for the simple definition rather than the structure.. But this video is gold
*I m i t a t i o n*
The detail and complexity of what is being described in music composition is amazing.
This is how youtube should be
you make your youtube
This and "we are number one" memes
Johan Delvare Don't forget "We are number one" in the style of a fugue. :)
No. just because you like something, doesn't mean you have to force it on to everyone else. the best thing about youtube is that it's NOT what people think it should be. it's that it is not dictated by what people think are good videos, but are videos where anyone can contribute anything. to declare youtube as a place just for your own interests and no one else's is a bit greedy and selfish don't you think?
however, chris wright does make good informative videos, and i applaud his hard work.
+jigglymabob ......and yet you feel perfectly entitled to declare to the rest of us what is the best thing about UA-cam and what it should and shouldn't be.
Pot, kettle, you know the rest.
I can't tell one note from another, and your graphic representation is a BIG help for understanding what is all about. Thank!
1:43 "Of course, just playing a melody over and over would be rather boring [...]"
Well, welcome to the world of minimalism...
Ravel, before the Bolero existed: "Hold my beer!"
Very interesting and well explained. I've always loved the "Little Fugue."
If u love it so much u should listen to carolina crown 2017 intro
@@kennethschechter352 yes
Feel free to share with your class. A guy who wants to share for non financial gain. Bless you indeed. Now that is what life is all about. PS. Very well and intelligently put together. Thank you.
Chris Wright Sorry forgot to say. And enjoyable.
I am here because I'm reading Cosmos by Carl Sagan and one of the first chapters in the book is called One Voice in the Cosmic Fugue. After reading the meaning of the word fugue, understood that I need a visual explanation. This was quite complex but I appreciated how detailed and visually accessible the explanation was. Thank you!
I'm a new to Baroque music and kept coming across references to the fugue. Watching this wonderfully clear explanation and illustration of the art form has helped me enormously to understand. Thank you! (Now I must listen to more of Bach to develop a well-tempered ear!)
Love the visual presentation, you can almost see the diffrent colored points stretching the harmony between them.
Short, concise and, thanks to the animation, easy to comprehend, this short video shows how voices are layered to create the architecture of this gorgeous art form. The Little Fugue in Gm is a perfect example to convey this.
Thank you, Chris! This is very interesting. I think these composers must have been geniuses to put these pieces together. I liked the "dots" showing how the different parts look.
AMAZING explanation! Why this channel only has 6K subscribers is beyond me. These videos are among the best musical theory videos out there. Fantastic job Chris!
Dude,,,even though you were a little fast on the jaw,,I understood everything you said,,it opened a portal for me,, I'll keep going over this,to help me write the guitar fugue I always wanted to write for classical guitar,,bless you.
Thanks for explaining this, I was basically told a fugue was a round but more complicated (which I guess it kind of is in a sense) and this was a much more clear and detailed explanation.
Exactly. It's a complex round. You got it.
This has to be the best video on fugue.
Amazing job man!
It felt like an astronomy class on music.
Welcome to Bach’s world!
Subscribed. 👍🏻
You should have way more subs bro, this is great
I know! Unfortunately not too many people are interested in classical music. SIGH...
like he said this is not only usefull for classical music!
this was really helpful! i have to write my own fugue for school and this really helped my understanding. the animation at the end makes everything really easy to see. great video:)
Wow, lucky you get to compose stuff, I'm seriously jealous of you. We only get to play/sing everything they tell us, so creativity isn't really a focus of development...
i'd include the name of the fugue (Little Fugue) in the description, too. for those who want to look it up after the video is over. other than that, great stuff.
Oh, "On reflection" and "Little fugue" mentioned in one video? My favourite pieces! I must subscribe now!
Thank you UM! Fugues are such a natural musical expression to me; they're supposedly
constructed under strict rules but always sound so natural... I guess
when done well everything is... 👊🙂
Truly amazing. good job you have done here. I just began my musical studies and Bach turns out to be quiet intriguing. thank you for sharing Chris
This is an awesome video. A classical musician friend of mine, once tried to explain fugues and the brilliance of Bach in words and as a dilettante I wasn't able to grasp it, but I always yearned to.
Thank you!
Gazing into the mind of a genius - J.S. Bach. thanks for sharing!
I wish every song i listened to had that visualizer at the end of the video. I feel like that reached my visually inclined brain so easily. All the words you spoke prior to it suddenly clicked.
Outstanding explanation. Bravo! I love the visual representation of the piece. It's way more exciting to watch than just an organist sitting at the organ. Again, wonderful video!
You are exactly the channel I've been looking for forever. Thank you for existing!
If Bach was not well-tempered, we could hear him say "Fugue you!" All the time
=)))
Well tempered clavier ehh?
I see what you did there 😂😂
I love how the prelude and fugue I am studying was playing in the background
Well done! And fun to follow with the graphic. So interesting to “see” and hear music at the same time.
It's the graphic that "made" this for me.
5:00 - the end.....i just realize that bach was a monster
what do you mean
Agha Anantya They was just one of his simple fugues... Beautiful, but simple. If you listen to Contrapunctus VII from the Art of Fugue, you will realize that there are fugues you can't imagine...
smh
@@rabbitofknowledge8051 In the final unfinished fugue of Art of Fugue, before he died, Bach used his own name as the subject. B flat, A, C, H (is C in German).
I have been a FUGUE FANATIC ever since my piano teacher introduced the WTC Book 1 and 2 when I was in my single digits. It stayed with me Forever.. I studied classical composition at MSM and USC and I use counterpoint in my pieces a LOT.. Its my foundation :)
I could never understand it if not for this video's explanation. You made a VERY good job, thank you.
I have always used the chorus "He trusted in God" from Messiah to teach homophonic vs polyphonic. I think it's a little easier for students to identify a theme even when it's being modified if there are words to listen to.
This video fullfilled its purpose. The piece of Bach which is used in this video changed my perspective of J.S. Bach. Thanks a lot, fugues are marvelous
Great video! This deserves more views.
Let's spread the word!
Omg, do this kind of videos again! Maybe more elementary stuffs like counterpoint? The motivation behind the idea, and how it was refined, what makes a counterpoint 'good' and how it eventually impacts the listener and why the idea lasts to this modern days in composition.
Wow I did never thought I would be able to learn to appreciate a fugue. Thanks for this
This video was fantastic!
I'm self-taught, and I've written some compositions.
I'll learn a lot here on this channel.
I love Bach.
Thank you!
Same there,except I don't compose.I would like to compose some in the future,tho
The first time I composed music was in 9th grade,which ended up in total failure.At that time I basically ignored all those music theories,composing by random mashups.And then blamed the failure for not being talented enough.
Chris -- THANKS sooooo much for a BIG pile of CLARITY!!!
Thanks for creating this, explained with great clarity and as the man himself says, a perfect use of his brilliant work.
Brilliant! Beautiful! Thank you for de-mystifying this wonderful music. I do wish you much success and hope you make a lot of $$$$$ for your work. The artwork of the dots showing us the different voices in the music.....genius!
Well, may $$$$ find you anyway!! And I'm not sure how I'm going to do it just yet, but I teach English to immigrants and refugees and somehow I will figure out how to introduce them to your work.
Now I can finally understand all these dank memes
_That's what 99% of us are here for._
one of the finest online lessons
For anyone wondering about the harpsichord piece that plays in the background of this video, it's Bach's Fugue No. 2 in C minor from the Well-Tempered Clavier Book I.
Edit: I mentioned Prelude instead of Fugue so i fixed it. Also thanks for the heart.. although it's gone cuz i edited this..
BWV 847: Fugue No. 2 in C Minor 😅
Hello, there, Chris. Very good stuff. I am an aspiring composer and just finished composing a fugue for string quartet. It's very refreshing to see your simple way of explaining this most intricate and complex musical technique. You won a follower. Keep up the good work.
Chris Wright Thank you, very much.
Chris Wright By the way, what do you think of Beethoven's developments on the fugue? In my very personal opinion, he took the liberty of transforming the episodes into full-fledged developmental sections, as in a sonata-form piece. He sometimes feels like using a hybrid "sonata-fugue". What do you think?
I'm a musician and composer but not trained classically. But I know theory. That said, I am not 'moved' by Bach. Sowwy. I just ain't. When I listen, all I hear is tons of complex notes that remind me of computer code. I used to teach a songwriting class and told students there are two ways to critique a song. First, say if the song is "your cup of tea" or not. Then say if the song follows good writing practice. Ok. For me, Bach is not my cup of tea. And he certainly follows good songwriting practices. I will even say incredible practices. But, in the end, you either are moved or not. I'm not. It's hard to say this in a forum where everyone but me thinks Bach is what god listens to. I just offer my contrary taste. I await the slaughter lol.
By the way, your explanation was excellent. I learned more in a few minutes watching and listening to your video than reading a book on the subject. Subject... hmmm... where did I hear that word recently?
Well, I truly learned something new today. And I will never hear a fugue in the same old way anymore. Thank you.
this is a great explanation of the fugue. I've gotta tell ya, it was driving me nuts at the beginning when you kept talking about the G minor fugue with the C minor was playing in the background, but with the help of some rum and ginger I got over it.
This definitely deepened my appreciation for classical music
Bach's little fugue is so amazing it gave me chills I love itttt😭❤️❤️❤️
Fantastic presentation. And THANK YOU for knowing the difference between "its" and "it's."
Wow, the baroque era was much more interesting than I thought! Very well made video, thank you for making this!
Thank you for.commenting!
love this one. super helpful for someone who knows basically nothing about music!
What a cool visual representation, I could watch it all day
Brilliant presentation of 4 melodic lines!!
I couldn't praise you more! this was awesome!
Mr. Chris Wright, you are a superior teacher.
thank u so much, i finally understood this properly after watching SEVERAL long videos and just _not quite_ getting it :Þ
So glad to hear that! It is quite challenging to make these videos do justice to the material yet keep them pithy. Thank you so much for commenting, and be sure to subscribe to stay notified of new content. Feel free to suggest new topics to cover as well :)
Such a brilliant channel! Thanks for sharing something worthy and interesting.
I like how you have a fugue as background music.
What a beautiful piece of music. So complicated yet so catchy and hooky.
Nicely done - I learned some things! I like the visualization tool.
I've seen the word fugue but I never knew what it meant until today. From what I gather it's basically a concept of expressing or sounding multiple melodies simultaneously. Thanks for the example.
great explanations !! The simulation you create to demonstrate the voices is genius ! Best in the web.
HI Chris. Im a philosophy Ph.D student. Im currently working about Nietzsche on music and hearing and he mentions a couple of times Bach's fugues. I didnt know the nature and details of this kind of composition and this video helps me a lot. Thank you very much.
This video is a cherry popper. Thank you so much.
Beautifully explained! Thank you.
Wow, great video! Nice job!
I learned more in this video than I have in almost 60 years of my life.
Thank you so much for your kind comment! Let me know if any of my other videos give you a similar reaction :)
I have to make a presentation on this topic, and this video is so helpful. Thanks for making this, you make it so easy to understand this fairly complex music genre.
Thanks!!!
i know this is going to make me sound like a crazy-obsessed fan, but at 00:11 the top gif is of sara quin playing in her back in your head music video. i almost didn't notice it and had to do a double take. coincidentally, this video was recommended to me while i was watching tegan and sara videos. anyways, i think it's so cool you used that clip! great video too, we discussed bach's toccata and fugue in my music class. i'll probably come back to your videos to study for my final exam, thanks for making them!
MY GOD ! It must be seen for all people!!! congrats!
I wish you take this positively. The Pain of watching the beginning of this video turns into Joy at the last couple of minutes.
I Love Bach music. So I guess, Thank you 😀...
Interesting and useful visual presentation of the fugue style of music.
I love the visual illustration of the live song.
Thank you for this wonderful video.
The Fugue. Praise to be my master
The visualization is immensely helpful.
You've earned a sub, and maybe convinced me to look into a music appreciation class
Good explanation, thank you for sharing!
Bravo! Bravissimo! Great lesson!
Great video! I love the visualisation :)
The visual representations of the music structure helps a lot. Thank you.
Thank you for this video xD I was trying to explain why I liked "little" fugue in g minor so much to a friend earlier but utterly lacked the terminology to do so. The closest I could come was likening it to a musical round. I'll have to just send them this video haha
Incredibly well explained.
Please keep doing what you are doing!
The c minor fugue in the background got all of my attention.
Absolutely Breathtaking! At first I thought there was not supposed to be an example. And even though it's computer generated, I really think only Bachʼs genius, by his love of the structure, can totally survive mathematically to the cold of the machine playing.
@@UnderstandingMusic It's quite nice. I think this works with Bach quite well since the contrapunctual work demands for mathematical precision. It would have been not the same for Mozart, Beethoven and beyond where different phrasings become part of the core of the music.
I really like your video, Chris. An addendum on what "counterpoint" is: Counterpoint isn't a technique or a device that is applied to music; it is simply multiple lines sounding at once. Modern pop music is contrapuntal, even if there's no formal study of modern pop counterpoint. I have mixed feelings about Coldplay, but a recent and very popular song is Coldplay's Hymn For the Weekend. After the intro, when the singer and the standard instruments come in, there's counterpoint between the keyboard (piano-sound) and the vocals. It's pretty simple, and repetitive, but the two voices sometimes move together and sometimes move disjointly. In the chorus "I'm feeling drunk and high", the bass generally moves upwards and the vocals move downards at the beginning and then upwards toward the end. The way the lines move together or move in opposition affects how the listener perceives the piece.
So people arranging pop or rock songs today should be aware of what lines (voice, lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass, synth, etc.) are moving in which direction, and what the effect of that movement is. The formal rules of counterpoint that applied in Bach's time are worth learning for advanced musicians today and are of course indispensible for Classical musicians. But my point is that all music is contrapuntal, and when a musician of any genre thinks about counterpoint, they should think about how their counterpoint creates the effect that they want rather than whether they should employ "counterpoint".
Amazing and Awesome content!
Appreciated your hardwork. Thank you very much!
LOVE IT.
Amazing job!
This is excellently done. Fascinating. And exactly why so many people hate classical music - it is to the music world what calculus is to math. Totally inaccessible to most.