I flesh out these ideas MUCH more in my video: Musical Expression and Emotion: ua-cam.com/video/_ogVYKwgFJc/v-deo.html This channel has always been rooted in Classical and Film music, though I know my previous video went into brave new worlds. So forgive me that this video is more focused on classical-styled music - it's hard to talk about "all music everywhere" when there's so much variety. But, nevertheless, I hope that some of the principles here can be applied to many other genres of music! Thanks and Lots of Love - And let me know if you can think of a great melody which follows these principles, in whatever genre!
You`re propably already familiar with him but if not I recommend to you reading Adorno. He's one of the main 20th century german thinkers and for him philosophy and music are inseparably connected.
The feeling when you cut off right before the climax on the Liebestod was like jumping onto the pool only to realise it is empty while mid air and crashing on the bottom full force. Very cheeky.
@prodipe23 Imagine writing "idiot idea" to the suggestion, yet claiming that the existing national anthems universally "from their (the people of said nation) point of view is the best and most beautiful", as if no one in any country considers their national anthem boring... Could at least stop being a dick, while you're presenting your subjective opinion as a fact.
@@dan78789 Bach's music is very lacking in emotion and boring for me. Tchaikovsky's music is by far some of the most beautiful and heart-wrenching I've ever heard. We all have different tastes, I personally much prefer romantic era composers over baroque/classical era composers.
@@dan78789 Dude, your obsessive posting is really weird and off-putting. I have the right to like or dislike whatever I want. Also, I don't think Tchaikovsky was "better" than any other composer, I just PERSONALLY find his style and emotional layering very appealing to me. Personally. FOR ME. It sounds like you enjoy Bach a great deal and that's awesome, but please stop devaluing my opinion when I've never stated it as fact. I enjoy Handel more than Bach, but neither is really my thing. I also don't like Brahms that much, sorry. How is it wrong for me to personally relate to the music I enjoy? That's the entire point of music, to be enjoyed. That will never change no matter how many Bach pieces you throw at me. Loosen up a little and stop trying to demean strangers on the internet. Have a great day!
but the masterpiece should always be in yourself, a representation of your character and life in its purest form. So don't be disappointed, be happy that if you do make a masterpiece you are the only one responsible for it.
a good melody makes you cry man. it's not just the melody itself, but the harmonic relationship between the melody and the chord tones, that makes it fantastic.
A good melody plays with your expectations, by teasing your brain about the next notes it's going to play amongst the set of possible notes it makes sense for it to play, and by choosing an unexpected one among those.
It rewards your brain for having guessed the order in the chaos of all the possible notes of the universe, but still surprises it by offering a note among these that has....meaning. And our brain interprets this just like when we see a picture of a supernova or watch the clouds pass by...we can feel that there are, underneath it all, order, patterns, symmetry, logic, echoes...and yet, that there is meaning. We are here, and the fact that we are here has meaning...
This is why I love Muse so much. They use their melodies to tell album long stories, which is not very common in rock music. The bass, the guitar, the drums, Matt Bellamy's falsetto, all come together to give you a range of feelings, from introverted anxiety or loneliness, to expressive riots, uprisings, even apocalypses.
The Who used melodies very well on Quadrophenia, Love Reign O'er Me is the greatest climax to a record, especially when you actually listen to the whole record preceding it.
The “guitar solo face” is a great example of the musician feeling the music. It’s especially apparent in blues guitar riffs. Listen to some SRV and you can “feel” the emotion.
BB King is also a perfect example of what you're describing. It's practically impossible not to "feel" songs like 'Blues Boys Tune' flow though your body.
I miss melody so much in modern music. I struggle to hear the lyrics in most songs, and I can only really pick up on what melodies might exist in those songs. So I too hope that Melody sees a resurgence as a proper art form in the near future.
For another example of beautiful melodies in modern music (while still preserving the modern qualities), check out the doom metal genre. It might be unexpected, but it might be surprising how deep, expressive, evocative and beautiful this genre can be when done by competent bands. However, in this genre generally the melody won't come from the voice, but from the guitars, keyboards or other instruments. For example: Officium Triste - "Your Fall from Grace". Or Draconian - "The Marriage of Attaris" (this one also has beautiful female vocals and a ravishing interlude)
@@syrachify I second this, but I would add that metal in general is pretty melodic. Some of my melodic recommendations would be Katatonia - In the White Karnivool - C.O.T.E. Kingcrow - Adrift John 5 - Damaged Iron Maiden - Hell on Earth Intervals - Lunartic Finntroll - Trollhammaren Demetori - It's Better to Burn Out Than to Fade Away
3:20: "Music, when combined with a pleasurable idea, is poetry. Music without the idea is simply music. Without music or an intriguing idea, color becomes pallour, man becomes carcass, home becomes catacomb, and the dead are but for a moment motionless." - Edgar Allan Poe.
maybe melody is dying because people sing less? theres no travel songs and in pubs people rarely sing (at least where im from). because of theres speakers already playing music everywhere.
I personally think that by far the best melodies I've ever heard are from music without singing, even some of which wouldn't sound very good if they used voice for the melody. The voice is an instrument and, as any other instrument, not everything (I mean every melody) sounds good on it.
good breathing can be important to melodic sensibility. breathe in, and out, step away from the corporate aesthetic and try desperately to seek life without so much wall to wall fucking satanism. free west papua holmes.
I am 43 now and I grew up listening to Thrash and Death Metal (which I still do today) but once I discovered the classical music my understanding and expectations has somewhat shifted. I started to look for a story or emotion or landscape in music. For something that would set my imagination free. That's why I don't like modern "pop music". It's simple, boring and has nothing interesting to tell. There are no pictures or emotions. I very often go back to "In the Nightside Eclipse" by EMPEROR. An album released in 1995, times when I already discovered classical music. This album is a wall of sound, distorted guitars, majestic keyboards and shrieking cries of vocalist, yet it takes you on a musical journey. There is so much hidden melody over there and emotions. You may not like that genre of music, but you can't deny this album a musical and melodic value...
This video is so brilliant. Whenever i listen to my own attempts at making music, the ones that stand out are always the most passionate and in the moment, and have a stronger connected feel. I’ve never realized this is the same characteristics of empathy. Empathy is the key to melody. Makes sense that it’s dying in a world where empathy itself is dying.
I passionately listen to music for almost 30 years now, including classical and film music. Never in my life have I learned so much about music, and that's concentrated in a sharp 10 minute video essay. Thank you for this great and entertaining education.
I am a student from Russia and speak English very poorly, but your video is so interesting that I sat and translated it myself to figure it out. Very cool!
I agree. Not only in Jazz, but in other areas of music, such as musicals, hold quite unique forms of melody. And they also seem to have more appreciation today than other melodies...
Most melodies in jazz come from show tunes. Those that don't are blues based. Bebop "melodies" aren't melodies as much as they are improvised lines written down to be played in unison. But most of what he's covering still applies.
It depends that on what type of 'jazz' you are talking about, in the older swing based subgenres, melody is more important. I listen to jazz to hear the emotional complexity of humanity because you have so much more melodic and harmonic (dissonant!) material going on... but the problem is, imho, a simple and strong melody, feels too 'sparse' or boring for some fancy pants players
After many years having music as a hobby, I'm now jumping into composing, more seriously. Following Hindemith's books as suggested by my teacher. I came back to this video to find motivation.
Steady rhythm structures a song and guides it as it moves forward, while melody refreshes each beat with new life and emotionally transforms the music over time.
So this video accomplished several things for me. One, it made me listen to some British folk hymns for once, despite being an American, I've listened to Jerusalem and I vow to thee my country many times now. Two, it helped me realize why I'm not fond a lot of my church hymns and other types of music, they really don't have that much melodic range, and it helped me contextualize why I'm not fond of certain ones, and really enjoy others. And three, it just gives me major tips of how to better myself as an amateur composer, I first watched this video a while ago, but it keeps coming into my mind, so I decided to find it again and comment on how helpful this is, it really changes my perspective on things and is pretty important to me, so thank you!
I love many classical and modern composers/melodies but I admit to being biased: no music has moved me more profoundly than Tchaikovsky’s 5th & 6th symphonies. I’ve heard them many times over the last 30 years and still weep when I hear them. The anguish is just so potent, so personal, so poetic.
This was hands down one of the most intense experiences I've ever had watching a UA-cam video. Thank you so much for making it and making people who don't know music well think about it in such a compelling way :)
We live in a time when people are increasingly disconnected from each other as they replace personal encounters with social media. This is undoubtedly related to the dying of melody and the powerful empathy it inspires. I know from personal experience walking down the street that a young person walking towards me from the opposite direction will inevitably pull out a cell phone then bow to it so to avoid eye contact and the possibility of a greeting. Give me thoughtful rhythm, interesting tonal color, rich harmony and a powerful melody and I'll show you a great artist with music that endures!
I think this is the reason why Gospel music (especially from its golden era 40s-50s) is one of the most important core of music, because of its raw expressive style and rythm. It just makes you FEEL and empathize. Even without the scriptures as the lyrics, when it gave birth to its daughters soul rnb, rock n roll classic rock, that feeling never went away.
Ngl I understand very little of this, but it was really interesting. Especially that whole music activates empathy idea. I'm gonna be thinking about this for the next 48 hours. Thanks for making this.
I really appreciate this channel to no end. It is really helping me put into words my passion for music that came from Britain during the late 70s and early 80s... and my near constant distaste for modern pop culture music. Tubular Bells (I, II, and III), Nights in White Satin, Layla (Derek and the Dominos version), etc. etc. ETC. Because of their empathetic melodies I don't think I could've stayed sane in modern American society.
This is SO fascinating! I agree with a lot of what you said, especially the part about "empathising" with a melody- I never thought of it like that before, but it really is so true! And I think that you're right, the ONLY thing that matters about music (not just melody, music in general) is the feeling.
Your videos are amazing, even being a professional musician I really enjoy watching them and find your thoughts and ideas really fresh and deep at the same time. Big respect!
This vid definitely opened my eyes. You really nailed it at the end, that melody is Not so much a definition, but more of a feel towards the actual aesthetic goals of your projects. As a former band kid turned music producer aiming to rediscover his roots, this is very inspiring, and makes me want to keep on doing what i’m doing, as long as I know my mind’s in the right place. Can’t wait to see more!
I'm sure I've heard somewhere that part of the reason for lack of melody in pop songs is that many singers just don't have a large vocal range, so the song writing gets constrained.
"Can you have a dark and edgy melody?" Veni, Veni, Immanuel. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen O the Deep Deep Love of Jesus (Edit): Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence! O Sacred Head Now Wounded Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted.
Melody gives us a way to expression emotion in a greater way than harmony. Additionally, this help people form a connection and engage in way deeper way. In a sense, melody equal emotion which begets a connection. A connection that we all long for.
As someone for whom music particularly classical has been a way of life (I'm more than 70 yo) I enjoy your videos, share them and hope that more and more young people see them so that they can hear (perhaps) that by confining their listening to contemporary music they are missing a lot. I cannot count the times that having played classical music to a younger person I get a comment like "Ooh, it's not bad is it?" You have a good hit rate on this video. I hope that many more will discover that there is more to music than the primal grunts that is much of today's "music"
Let's put it like this: a melody is like a king, it takes the lead and gives direction, but without its folk it is nothing and its folk is nothing without it
Incredible work. It's quire rare for a video to not just gives you an epiphany about something you instinctively knew but could not put into words, but also inspire you at the same time.
Empathetic response - displayed outstandingly by Hugo Weaving in the 1991 movie 'Proof'. He plays a blind young man, of a sour disposition, who has led a sheltered life. He is taken to an orchestra performance. - his heart explodes! - it is SO touching and magnificent...definitely an empathetic response.
Chopin's Nocturne, Op. 9, No.2 in Eb Major has one of the most beautiful, but sad melodic lines I think I've ever heard. I cry every time I hear it...it's about a minute or so (the Arthur Rubenstein recording with the sheet-music as the video thumbnail is what I like to hear) into the recording. It sounds to me, as though someone is saying their final goodbye, but they will always Love who they're saying goodbye to. Great video though! Very insightful
Jerusalem's a great song, and very nearly perfect. Except it's quite clearly about England, not the UK. If it ever were adopted as our national anthem, I think the celtic communities might have something to say about it. I think a more fitting national anthem would be Land of Hope and Glory. Though I do have a soft spot for Rule Britannia as well.
I think it’s so good because it’s so recent. Compared with the vast majority of other national anthems, the Russian national anthem is in a melodic and harmonic idiom that more people can relate to. The American national anthem’s music was just a melody without any harmony, and a melody tossed around in the 1700s at that. England’s, Germany’s, and France’s anthems had melodies from around the same time period, but the harmonies are so functional that most people would consider the harmonies to be boring. Russia’s anthem’s music was written in c. 1938. Sergei Rachmaninov had written most of his significant compositions by that point, and Igor Stravinsky was chugging away writing mind-blowing music. Alexander Alexandrov also had the music of so many amazing Russian composers from the 1800s as influences. Also, it’s safe to assume that several of Puccini’s operas had been performed in Russia by that time. The melody is on-par with the anthems I just mentioned, but the HARMONIES are what make Russia’s anthem so awe-inspiring. To today’s audience, the full orchestration with voices singing the melody and certain harmonies (also something I don’t find much of a precedence for in national anthems-a vocal harmony part that is performed alongside the melody almost as often as the melody is performed alone) *feels* like the beauty of one’s homeland and how proud someone is to be from that homeland. Similar aesthetics can be found in film scores before the anthem was written AND since it was written. It “strikes a cord” with people because everyone’s “cords” have been tuned similarly to how the music sounds through music from their time period. To people hearing it for the first time, it’s both familiar and new, which is an essential quality of all good art.
@@albertnortononymous9020 Hi Albert, fantastic breakdown. As a Brit I believe our national anthem is one of the most boring and depressing compositions ever to have been commissioned 😂💤🎶
I'm Brazillian guy and found your channel by chance. They are very eductional and informatives and beside I not be a native in english, your british accente help me understend almost all that you speak. it's clear and objective when the tonic syllable is stressed. US accente is terrible to non natives in intermediate level. I wish success with channel and keep to producing new videos.
"None But The Lonely Heart" by Tchaikovsky. Probably one of the greatest saddest melodies ever composed. I'd like to sing it but, though I can hit low sad notes, I can't sustain such sadness for too long. That's when I thank God I ambipolar and don't have to remain in such profound despair and sadness as that song expresses forever.Like some sad folk. There is some relief from it coming.Withnext manic high... Nut if you really feel like wallowing in misery, this is agreat mood setting melody. Youcan help it along with a few glasses of red wine andstudiously avoiding allsigns of other human life.... But itvets even harder to sustain those low notes if you do that. So I just let someone elsedo all the singing, so Ican focus on just feeling miserable... It's no use denyingyour misery, puttingon some idiotic smile, pretending to behappy, that the world is a lovely place, whenyou know it's not. That makes you a liar, a fraud, a joke... At least, one can be honestly miserable...I have a whole collectionof "misery" songs, including many greatmodern sad songs. "Still Got TheBlues For You" , "Parisian Walkways" and "Purple Rain" are inthat list, as is Janis Joplin's rendition of Bobby McGee , capturing the despair of poverty, homelessness, lost love, regrets etc. So is EdithPiaf, singing happy sounding songs like Milord, which is really very sad...And Roberta Flack singing Angelitos Negros, a sadodern Latino song askingwhy artists and painters neverpaint black angels, but God created and loved black angels as much as His white ones. Very sad song.Janis Ian is another great morodern singer of faded, jaded women's sad songs, singing about growing old as a single woman or being 17 and having no feminine poise, charm, good looks etc. Linda Tonstadt did a few good ones about country loneliness for women, as did Patsy Cline. And there are also some more traditional folk songs, like Banks Of The Ohio. And, of course Phanthom Of The Opera.Sometimes you just need sadsongs to wallow in misery. In fact, I even thought of running a small, not very spectacular music scene where people can get very miserable listening to such music, playing it, singing it etc. Ot would be vreat for all sorts of drug, alcohol and gambling addicts, lonely or grieving people. No drugs or alcohol allowed in the venue.plenty of fresh clean water, tea, coffee, drinking chocolate, healthy foods, a free multi vitamin pill for each person and only quietboard games allowedfor compulsive gamblers, with no real money involved. Andthe shylonrlies etc orvrievers forced to interact socially with others and tell about "how bad it all is", like how Covid Lockdown ruined their business, caused jo loss etc. A these sad people can't go to the usual clubs and pubs etc for emotional relief. They are just too unhappy and going tosuch places, like is the usual advice, only makes them feel worse. They need their own little misery den and then they start to look a bit happier. I have seenthis happen informally. Next time you see these sad folk, they will have changed something about themselves eg new brighterclothes, new hair style or colour etc. Small signs ofprogress and new life emerging in them.I also have a collection of songs for people with certainproblems eg gamblers. You would think that afterlistening to great songs about gamblers, they would rush out and gamble evenmore, but it actually has the reverse impact on gamblers. They canfeel the excitement or misery of gambling vicariously, without the needto actually do it. That is why special gambling dens involving no real money, just fake plastic money, board games, cards etc shouldbe created for gambling addicts seeking tocontrol this dangerous addiction. Make them twilit andeither seedy or very glamourous looki g, insistingon a dress code, "Adults Only" etc ie they should have anatmosphere of theforbidden and names like "The Serpents' Den" orsomething fantasy like. There needs to be brightflashing lights, imitation alcoholic cocktails, women and men flashing their realor fake diamond rings etc, dancers etc looking sexy andprovocative but only just sbtly enough to distract the gamblers the lonelies etc.There could be movie scenes showingon a big screenbutno sound. That would come from a the gambling or other sad music. During the band breaks, some sounds like POKER machines paying out, coins dropping downthe metal chutes, race callers calling horse races or football etc games could be playing... It 's the sort of safe funthese types crave.
As someone studying theoretical mathematics, nothing frustrates my obsessive side more than a lack of rigor or precision, so I tried to express the characteristics you've described here more accurately. *Range* is fairly clear in it's definition; it traverses multiple (>3) notes that are unique in relation to the home note. *Character* is defined by repetition, although not necessarily identical repetition. As Adam Neely said, repetition legitimizes and creates recognition and familiarity. It's akin to movies associating concepts with visuals. This is used, after the concept has been established and linked to the visual, to subliminally trigger specific emotions and thoughts via the use of of that visual; human minds are neural networks, so when two things frequently happen together, the human brain links those things in a correlation. This is somewhat similar to what you call empathy here. Once the association is formed, only one of the two is necessary to activate the other. This is especially handy if you want to combine a larger idea and a smaller one. A larger idea takes a long explanation to activate, but a smaller idea can be activated merely by a visual, and the brain automatically reminds the person watching of the larger idea in a split second. *Movement* has to do with the human understanding of inertia, as in physics. The love theme expressed in this video has a sense of momentum and something actually moving; notes can't arbitrarily "jump" far away from the previous note without signifying a new object entering the story or almost a brutal motion. *The Story* is to the song what character is to the notes. The story, as in other media and art, creates a concept of cause and effect. I think that it's not unreasonable to assume that this is a bit less common across cultures as the expressions vary so much, and instead are decidedly more based on associations. Still, an arc of drama is often followed. If a song jumps to full volume and climax at the start, you have no context to understand it by. This can be used as a tool, but if the context isn't given at some point, it's just confusing. In a similar manner, although a less jarring thing, ending a song with no outro might give a sense of no closure.
This is excellent! the grounds of Music....line, feelings, expression, rhythm...flow, phrases, logic, motion...empathy...Music Expression of...a story...of Life!
there's this other youtuber ToddInTheShadows who talks about pop music, and he remarked that the modern pop song from the mid 2010s onwards just seemed to have given up on the chorus, having traded it in for the drop. but drops themselves seemed to have become somewhat passe. i'm seeing them less and less
@Timothy Newitt very true... Happens with do many things, fashion, music etc. Things come full circle and I'm hoping good rock and metal music comes back 😁
Lots of the greatest melody nowadays is in basslines. Look at “Making It Up as I Go” by Mike Shinoda or “Panini” by Lil Nas X. Top tier pop music where the vocals are more centered on delivery and texture but the underlying beat has amazing basslines.
Beethoven is often thought as not that great of a melodist but he is my favorite. Listen to the second movement of his 7th symphony, last movement of his 5th piano concerto and 2nd movement of his pathetique piano sonata. One of the most beautiful melodies ever written.
Really superb topic and video! Thanks. One general melodic concern you didn’t go into much here is rhythm, such as repeated rhythmic motifs, which can help make melodies more memorable.
Let's take, for example, the Movie Industry. What makes a motion picture memorable? What sets it apart from the endless reboots and low-grade cinematography? Well, the answer is : a memorable soundtrack! Think for a moment? if I say "Star Wars", what musical theme immediately comes to mind? Or if I say "Braveheart", or "The Lord of the Rings"? Superman? Schindler's List? That's right! Music that has an incredibly memorable and unique melody. Disney knew this long ago. I would like to mention the Golden Age of Cinematography here with Miklos Rozsa's "Ben Hur" and many others. All those movies have one thing in common: they became associated with their soundtrack. I would say that it works the other way around: the soundtrack makes the movie! Thank you.
I don't know if the soundtrack really makes the movie memorable. I think the movie makes the soundtrack memorable as generally the ones that get the most praise will be remembered like Star Wars. I think if it had failed I don't think anyone would remember the opening theme or Darth Vader's theme or any of the others. However on the same note I do agree that a soundtrack can affect a film if it isn't iconic enough or if it doesn't sound good which could affect the performance of said movie.
@@spazmaticaa7989 IMO a sountrack can make a film. I notice that some older films like solaris doenst have music and it sound "empty" and slow. While every recent movie has a track playing at every scene. Or maybe i just pay to attention to it but it can add a lot of drama and movement to a scene.
@@augusto7681 that lines up with the last part of my comment. What I was trying to say is that the music doesn't become iconic if the film doesn't do well. Yes music does have an affect on a film but it doesn't become iconic unless the movie is good.
Thank you UA-cam for recommending me this gem of a channel. Years of classical music and just suggested me the Schubert video (wonderful too btw) until today😡
My favourite piece. It's got that perfect increase of tension, crying notes that go under ones skin, is extremely virtous, but still musical and finishes calmly. Say Goodbye by Dave Meniketti is also very beautiful.
Interesting topic, well explained. About musical "empathy", it is something one can "get" in a vocal work, even if the listener does not speak the language. A beautiful example of this for me is "Deus Meus" as performed by Fionnuala Gill, accompanying herself on the harp, and playing in the Church of the Holy Redeemer in New York City. The acoustics add a sort of boost to the melody making for a very emotional experience.
I would love if you could take as an examples Azeri composers like Kara Karayev, or Fikret Amirov. Their music really expresses the feelings as you told
In my language (Turkish) we have an idiom: "rubbing salt onto one's wound" .. You have just done that.. (it means reminding someone about a certain discomfort in a very accurate way)
Great work, and very understandable to everyone who cares. Melodies are an expression of soul and spirit, but as people lose them, their "song", so to speak, dies.
A strong melody is pure emotion transposed into notes. Emotion is energy in motion and if you get in touch with a piece of music which let you feel at some kind of way, you understand. I rather like music that causes good feelings, but nowadays there is a lot of music which causes bad feelings, and this is so sad.
I think there are many examples of pop music with expressive melody. Billie Eilish is a great example, despite having some songs with rather uninteresting melodies (such as Bad Guy), she has songs where she really manages to express feelings through melody, the best examples I can think of are When the Party is Over, My Future, No Time to Die, I Love You, which are also some of her most popular tracks, so I think there is hope for melody in pop music.
I just stumbled upon you channel and really like it. The points you make are great and your videos are well put together. I always appreciate a channel which i can learn from and build my general knowledge. Also I just have to note the fact that you are very good with words and you always manage to express your opinion which is something to admire.
I don't agree metal is edgy, it can be as money driven as pop, and as musically snobbishly virtuosic as complex classical. (see prog metal/math metal) I think true 'edgy' music would be nearer punk and industrial, which by no co-incidence are rarely melodic. So to actually answer your question I would say "probably not" .
I hope melody reemerges as the most important element of music, you are absolutely right, 21st century composers use the easiest means to create original music. Melodies are harder to find.
I flesh out these ideas MUCH more in my video: Musical Expression and Emotion: ua-cam.com/video/_ogVYKwgFJc/v-deo.html
This channel has always been rooted in Classical and Film music, though I know my previous video went into brave new worlds. So forgive me that this video is more focused on classical-styled music - it's hard to talk about "all music everywhere" when there's so much variety. But, nevertheless, I hope that some of the principles here can be applied to many other genres of music!
Thanks and Lots of Love - And let me know if you can think of a great melody which follows these principles, in whatever genre!
Do you have any recommended reading on the aesthetics of music? I am familiar with Roger Scruton's work but I'd love to get some additional opinions.
@@xkzldgjsMax Paddison's Adorno's Aesthetic of Music. But it's fairly tough going.
You`re propably already familiar with him but if not I recommend to you reading Adorno. He's one of the main 20th century german thinkers and for him philosophy and music are inseparably connected.
Would love for you do an essay on the work of James Horner.
Inside the Score you should change your category from people and blogs to educational or music
The feeling when you cut off right before the climax on the Liebestod was like jumping onto the pool only to realise it is empty while mid air and crashing on the bottom full force. Very cheeky.
Kudos for putting it into words...
ouch,why did I jump head first!!
ratedacht tristan
So true, he can't do that to us.
I cant find this song anywhere..
"Always look on the bright side of life" should be Britain's national anthem.
something all brits can relate to.
@prodipe23 I thought it was a rather good idea
@prodipe23 Imagine writing "idiot idea" to the suggestion, yet claiming that the existing national anthems universally "from their (the people of said nation) point of view is the best and most beautiful", as if no one in any country considers their national anthem boring...
Could at least stop being a dick, while you're presenting your subjective opinion as a fact.
No, it should be the theme tune to The Archers
@@adrianshawuk and the lyrics should be 'dee-de dee-de deee dit- deee...'
Please don't stop making videos. It's very educational
Thank you. I do think about stopping sometimes and it can really help to have support like this. Sounds silly I know
@@InsidetheScore It's not silly. It's the connection between the teacher and his student
@@InsidetheScore Please, don't 😭😭🤧 I finally found your channel to improve my English listening and knowledge in music. ( ꈨຶ ˙̫̮ ꈨຶ )
Exactly my thoughts! Thank you for making these videos 💯
@@InsidetheScore no no don't
Great video - it’s a very hard question to answer but you definitely helped shine a lot of light on what can make a good melody!
Nobody even saw this comment
Just discovered this video (and thus this channel)...Hardly surprising to find you here!...Now subbed to this as well as yours...cheers!
I’m so happy you talked about Tchaikovsky, he’s by far my favorite composer
@Daniel Lipko Mine too!!!
What about ilaiyaraaja?
@@dan78789 Bach's music is very lacking in emotion and boring for me. Tchaikovsky's music is by far some of the most beautiful and heart-wrenching I've ever heard. We all have different tastes, I personally much prefer romantic era composers over baroque/classical era composers.
@@dan78789 Dude, your obsessive posting is really weird and off-putting. I have the right to like or dislike whatever I want. Also, I don't think Tchaikovsky was "better" than any other composer, I just PERSONALLY find his style and emotional layering very appealing to me. Personally. FOR ME.
It sounds like you enjoy Bach a great deal and that's awesome, but please stop devaluing my opinion when I've never stated it as fact. I enjoy Handel more than Bach, but neither is really my thing. I also don't like Brahms that much, sorry. How is it wrong for me to personally relate to the music I enjoy? That's the entire point of music, to be enjoyed. That will never change no matter how many Bach pieces you throw at me. Loosen up a little and stop trying to demean strangers on the internet. Have a great day!
sameeee
I remember my disappointment,as a young composition major,when it dawned on me that the University couldn't teach me how to create a masterpiece.
but the masterpiece should always be in yourself, a representation of your character and life in its purest form.
So don't be disappointed, be happy that if you do make a masterpiece you are the only one responsible for it.
Some people will have the masterpiece in themselves, some not as much, some not at all. Mozart vs Salieri vs most musicians today.
university can teach you how to write and life will teach you what to write
@@mikeschneider1624 well said mister!
How I compose a Fugue:
Voice 1: 1:54
Voice 2: 1:54
Voice 3: 1:54
Voice 4: 1:54
Master,what about your double or triple fugues?
What is Bachs take on lack of melody?
I like how I understand this xD
The D major fugue. (WTC II) xD
Could you give a fugue more examples?
a good melody makes you cry man. it's not just the melody itself, but the harmonic relationship between the melody and the chord tones, that makes it fantastic.
EXACTLY!
A good melody plays with your expectations, by teasing your brain about the next notes it's going to play amongst the set of possible notes it makes sense for it to play, and by choosing an unexpected one among those.
It rewards your brain for having guessed the order in the chaos of all the possible notes of the universe, but still surprises it by offering a note among these that has....meaning.
And our brain interprets this just like when we see a picture of a supernova or watch the clouds pass by...we can feel that there are, underneath it all, order, patterns, symmetry, logic, echoes...and yet, that there is meaning. We are here, and the fact that we are here has meaning...
If that is what defines a good melody in your eyes than you should just listen to experimental music, since everything there is teasing your brain.
@@kevinm7927 I don't get your point.
@@TimmacTR everything you just said about what a good melody should be, you can actually find in modern experimental music
@@kevinm7927 Ok, do you have examples?
This is why I love Muse so much. They use their melodies to tell album long stories, which is not very common in rock music. The bass, the guitar, the drums, Matt Bellamy's falsetto, all come together to give you a range of feelings, from introverted anxiety or loneliness, to expressive riots, uprisings, even apocalypses.
Absolutely. Muse are fantastic.
A well-named band
The Who used melodies very well on Quadrophenia, Love Reign O'er Me is the greatest climax to a record, especially when you actually listen to the whole record preceding it.
Absolutely! Great example!
Yep also I would add Radiohead into there as well
The “guitar solo face” is a great example of the musician feeling the music. It’s especially apparent in blues guitar riffs. Listen to some SRV and you can “feel” the emotion.
BB King is also a perfect example of what you're describing. It's practically impossible not to "feel" songs like 'Blues Boys Tune' flow though your body.
@@GerryBolger B.B. King is a great player. Full of emotion and expression. Listening to him is also an experience that you just have to feel.
Nothing Else Matters is a good emotional guitar solo
Tommy Emmanuel(who was the example shown in the video), Steve Vai are also good examples of this
Gary Moore and Carlos Santana are good examples too.
I miss melody so much in modern music. I struggle to hear the lyrics in most songs, and I can only really pick up on what melodies might exist in those songs. So I too hope that Melody sees a resurgence as a proper art form in the near future.
Then you might like Alma Deutscher's compositions. She has her own channel here and I think it's worth a look.
@@Adlerjunges83 Thanks! I shall check her out.
For another example of beautiful melodies in modern music (while still preserving the modern qualities), check out the doom metal genre. It might be unexpected, but it might be surprising how deep, expressive, evocative and beautiful this genre can be when done by competent bands. However, in this genre generally the melody won't come from the voice, but from the guitars, keyboards or other instruments. For example: Officium Triste - "Your Fall from Grace". Or Draconian - "The Marriage of Attaris" (this one also has beautiful female vocals and a ravishing interlude)
@@syrachify I second this, but I would add that metal in general is pretty melodic. Some of my melodic recommendations would be
Katatonia - In the White
Karnivool - C.O.T.E.
Kingcrow - Adrift
John 5 - Damaged
Iron Maiden - Hell on Earth
Intervals - Lunartic
Finntroll - Trollhammaren
Demetori - It's Better to Burn Out Than to Fade Away
I'll buy you a coffee any day. A coffee a day keeps the copy strike away.
George Ryan Haha that was a good twist😂!
If you give him $5 per day for 30 years you would give him over 50 grand. That you cannot get back.
Fantastic said 😎
@@lyrimetacurl0 Now that's some weird way to think. I hope that nobody else thinks like you, or else nobody would ever support nobody lol
I would buy you a coffee, I hope you like Espresso :D
3:20: "Music, when combined with a pleasurable idea, is poetry. Music without the idea is simply music. Without music or an intriguing idea, color becomes pallour, man becomes carcass, home becomes catacomb, and the dead are but for a moment motionless." - Edgar Allan Poe.
maybe melody is dying because people sing less?
theres no travel songs and in pubs people rarely sing (at least where im from). because of theres speakers already playing music everywhere.
Benjamin Oeding bad music too. So much of that everywhere so that it makes no difference to people if the music is good or bad.
And mass-ADHD in the public
Mass ADHD?
People used to sing on bars ?
I personally think that by far the best melodies I've ever heard are from music without singing, even some of which wouldn't sound very good if they used voice for the melody. The voice is an instrument and, as any other instrument, not everything (I mean every melody) sounds good on it.
Literally just clicked for Tchaikovsky on the thumbnail. His melodies are some of my favourites!
You have great taste! ;)
I think melodies in the 80s are pretty fantastic and is one reason I’ve enjoyed exploring pop from then!
Agreed! Phil Collins had some great unforgettable vocal melodies. Stock Aitken & Waterman too
good breathing can be important to melodic sensibility. breathe in, and out, step away from the corporate aesthetic and try desperately to seek life without so much wall to wall fucking satanism. free west papua holmes.
Sting and the Police, Elvis Costello, Prince...they stand out in my mind. I'm sure there are many others.
Pop music peaked in the 80's that's for sure
@@miguelpereira9859 I disagree completely. I just like a lot of things about it
I am 43 now and I grew up listening to Thrash and Death Metal (which I still do today) but once I discovered the classical music my understanding and expectations has somewhat shifted.
I started to look for a story or emotion or landscape in music. For something that would set my imagination free. That's why I don't like modern "pop music". It's simple, boring and has nothing interesting to tell. There are no pictures or emotions.
I very often go back to "In the Nightside Eclipse" by EMPEROR. An album released in 1995, times when I already discovered classical music.
This album is a wall of sound, distorted guitars, majestic keyboards and shrieking cries of vocalist, yet it takes you on a musical journey. There is so much hidden melody over there and emotions.
You may not like that genre of music, but you can't deny this album a musical and melodic value...
This video is so brilliant. Whenever i listen to my own attempts at making music, the ones that stand out are always the most passionate and in the moment, and have a stronger connected feel. I’ve never realized this is the same characteristics of empathy. Empathy is the key to melody. Makes sense that it’s dying in a world where empathy itself is dying.
Hans Zimmer's Master Class is so relevante on this subject. Specialy the part: Music as Storytelling and Case Study Parts.
I'm surprised; he led the charge in reducing melody's importance in cinematic music...
14:25 im just impressed by this woman's vocal range!
I passionately listen to music for almost 30 years now, including classical and film music. Never in my life have I learned so much about music, and that's concentrated in a sharp 10 minute video essay. Thank you for this great and entertaining education.
I am a student from Russia and speak English very poorly, but your video is so interesting that I sat and translated it myself to figure it out. Very cool!
Some great thoughts. What about the melody in Jazz music? I've always found it fascinating but at times it lacks the conventional form of melody.
I agree. Not only in Jazz, but in other areas of music, such as musicals, hold quite unique forms of melody. And they also seem to have more appreciation today than other melodies...
Most melodies in jazz come from show tunes. Those that don't are blues based. Bebop "melodies" aren't melodies as much as they are improvised lines written down to be played in unison. But most of what he's covering still applies.
To quote Alex Lifeson, "Jazz is weird..."
@@stuckinthepastproductions4329 To quote Angela "play the right notes"
It depends that on what type of 'jazz' you are talking about, in the older swing based subgenres, melody is more important. I listen to jazz to hear the emotional complexity of humanity because you have so much more melodic and harmonic (dissonant!) material going on... but the problem is, imho, a simple and strong melody, feels too 'sparse' or boring for some fancy pants players
After many years having music as a hobby, I'm now jumping into composing, more seriously. Following Hindemith's books as suggested by my teacher. I came back to this video to find motivation.
Steady rhythm structures a song and guides it as it moves forward, while melody refreshes each beat with new life and emotionally transforms the music over time.
Perfect description
2:07 “nobody hears this and thinks, ah yes eight independent notes in a row”
People with perfect pitch: ..........
Still feel it as melody. At least one element of the set does. Sorry. 😁
@@kennichdendenn love your name!!!
I think you did a great job explaining the concept of melody. Especially the empathy and “heightening expression” part convinced me
So this video accomplished several things for me.
One, it made me listen to some British folk hymns for once, despite being an American, I've listened to Jerusalem and I vow to thee my country many times now.
Two, it helped me realize why I'm not fond a lot of my church hymns and other types of music, they really don't have that much melodic range, and it helped me contextualize why I'm not fond of certain ones, and really enjoy others.
And three, it just gives me major tips of how to better myself as an amateur composer, I first watched this video a while ago, but it keeps coming into my mind, so I decided to find it again and comment on how helpful this is, it really changes my perspective on things and is pretty important to me, so thank you!
Florence and the machine does a fantastic job of creating melodic structures along with progression & harmonization
Just her technical ability, and strength of her voice alone is crazy/amazing, and has a real otherworldly/ethereal quality
This video explained perfectly why I love classical music so much
I love many classical and modern composers/melodies but I admit to being biased: no music has moved me more profoundly than Tchaikovsky’s 5th & 6th symphonies. I’ve heard them many times over the last 30 years and still weep when I hear them. The anguish is just so potent, so personal, so poetic.
This was hands down one of the most intense experiences I've ever had watching a UA-cam video. Thank you so much for making it and making people who don't know music well think about it in such a compelling way :)
“A day in the life” by the Beatles was sparse epic end of world feel while still having beautiful melody.
We live in a time when people are increasingly disconnected from each other as they replace personal encounters with social media. This is undoubtedly related to the dying of melody and the powerful empathy it inspires. I know from personal experience walking down the street that a young person walking towards me from the opposite direction will inevitably pull out a cell phone then bow to it so to avoid eye contact and the possibility of a greeting. Give me thoughtful rhythm, interesting tonal color, rich harmony and a powerful melody and I'll show you a great artist with music that endures!
Man. I pressed that like button so hard that I almost break the screen of my phone. Thanks for putting words to my point of view.
I think this is the reason why Gospel music (especially from its golden era 40s-50s) is one of the most important core of music, because of its raw expressive style and rythm. It just makes you FEEL and empathize. Even without the scriptures as the lyrics, when it gave birth to its daughters soul rnb, rock n roll classic rock, that feeling never went away.
Ngl I understand very little of this, but it was really interesting. Especially that whole music activates empathy idea. I'm gonna be thinking about this for the next 48 hours. Thanks for making this.
I really appreciate this channel to no end. It is really helping me put into words my passion for music that came from Britain during the late 70s and early 80s... and my near constant distaste for modern pop culture music. Tubular Bells (I, II, and III), Nights in White Satin, Layla (Derek and the Dominos version), etc. etc. ETC. Because of their empathetic melodies I don't think I could've stayed sane in modern American society.
6:04 I thought my internet broke down as the interrupt came so sudden haha
This is SO fascinating! I agree with a lot of what you said, especially the part about "empathising" with a melody- I never thought of it like that before, but it really is so true! And I think that you're right, the ONLY thing that matters about music (not just melody, music in general) is the feeling.
Your videos are amazing, even being a professional musician I really enjoy watching them and find your thoughts and ideas really fresh and deep at the same time. Big respect!
This vid definitely opened my eyes. You really nailed it at the end, that melody is Not so much a definition, but more of a feel towards the actual aesthetic goals of your projects. As a former band kid turned music producer aiming to rediscover his roots, this is very inspiring, and makes me want to keep on doing what i’m doing, as long as I know my mind’s in the right place. Can’t wait to see more!
A good melody is a melody that I like, obviously.
What is even a good melody? It's like saying "that's a nice brushstroke right there" when looking at a painting.
There's a difference between what you like and what you recgonize as good.
What's your purrfect melody then?
@Sean Francis Waters Lancaster ok
@@b.m.4345 I know, it was meant to be sarcastic, but now I realise it doesn't come off that way at all.
That melodic line at 15:06 is unbelievably beautiful. I stopped and listened to it several times because it's so good.
I'm sure I've heard somewhere that part of the reason for lack of melody in pop songs is that many singers just don't have a large vocal range, so the song writing gets constrained.
Possible. But irrelevant in the age of autotune.
That's BS because artists like Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga don't have these kind of melodies and they are fantastic singers
Or they don't breath properly. If there is one thing that annoys me in modern vocals, it is breathing mid phrase. It really gets to me.
"The queen is TOO SAFE.... God harm the queen / send mean dogs after her / that bite her bum" -Eddie Izzard.
put perfectly😂
"Can you have a dark and edgy melody?"
Veni, Veni, Immanuel.
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
O the Deep Deep Love of Jesus
(Edit):
Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence!
O Sacred Head Now Wounded
Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted.
such a silly question. dark wwas the night
God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman is one of my favorite Christmas songs simply because of its melody and minor key
My pastor loves hymns in minor keys or, as he calls them, "negative keys."
Melody gives us a way to expression emotion in a greater way than harmony. Additionally, this help people form a connection and engage in way deeper way. In a sense, melody equal emotion which begets a connection. A connection that we all long for.
8:07
I actually played that in band. It was a fun piece. Also a very expressive one with the melody and the abnormal chord changes.
What is he expressing?
As someone for whom music particularly classical has been a way of life (I'm more than 70 yo) I enjoy your videos, share them and hope that more and more young people see them so that they can hear (perhaps) that by confining their listening to contemporary music they are missing a lot. I cannot count the times that having played classical music to a younger person I get a comment like "Ooh, it's not bad is it?" You have a good hit rate on this video. I hope that many more will discover that there is more to music than the primal grunts that is much of today's "music"
Let's put it like this: a melody is like a king, it takes the lead and gives direction, but without its folk it is nothing and its folk is nothing without it
Incredible work. It's quire rare for a video to not just gives you an epiphany about something you instinctively knew but could not put into words, but also inspire you at the same time.
Thank you for your videos, they are pure diamonds!
Hello from Russia!
@BOZHIDAR KOLEV And Bozhidar Kolev is not a Spanish name
BOZHIDAR KOLEV that’s a nickname :)
Empathetic response - displayed outstandingly by Hugo Weaving in the 1991 movie 'Proof'. He plays a blind young man, of a sour disposition, who has led a sheltered life. He is taken to an orchestra performance. - his heart explodes! - it is SO touching and magnificent...definitely an empathetic response.
8:41 Please don't ever do that again.
A little too abrupt? 😁
blue balls
A full 10 minutes... which is longer than average 😏
What about 6:05. I thought my headphones broke for a second
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
This is why i love Kim Dong Ryul, i dont even know much korean but the melodies are so moving and his songs sound like film scores
You have a wonderful way of explaining what happened to melody, and I am happy to have learned from you. Thank you for the video!
"You can't put it into words, but you can put it into music"
You found a new way of saying it, kudos
Chopin's Nocturne, Op. 9, No.2 in Eb Major has one of the most beautiful, but sad melodic lines I think I've ever heard. I cry every time I hear it...it's about a minute or so (the Arthur Rubenstein recording with the sheet-music as the video thumbnail is what I like to hear) into the recording. It sounds to me, as though someone is saying their final goodbye, but they will always Love who they're saying goodbye to.
Great video though! Very insightful
My whole life I felt that about music but couldn’t translate that feeling in words. Thanks to you now I understand. Thank you!
Jerusalem's a great song, and very nearly perfect. Except it's quite clearly about England, not the UK. If it ever were adopted as our national anthem, I think the celtic communities might have something to say about it. I think a more fitting national anthem would be Land of Hope and Glory. Though I do have a soft spot for Rule Britannia as well.
Well I think England should have it's own national anthem, the Celtic countries all have their own but we don't, just the UK's one.
Maybe brexit will shake things up ;)
What do you find is missing that it is only "very nearly perfect"?
@@aFoxyFox. "Except it's quite clearly about England, not the UK"
Crikey -- Jerusalem is outstanding. Really gets the goose-bumps bumping!
Would love to see you do a video on why the Russian anthem is so good.
Because it was chosen by Stalin out of hundreds of compositions, and therefore we can deduce that Stalin had impeccable taste.
@@Photosounder Yeah sure lol
I think it’s so good because it’s so recent. Compared with the vast majority of other national anthems, the Russian national anthem is in a melodic and harmonic idiom that more people can relate to. The American national anthem’s music was just a melody without any harmony, and a melody tossed around in the 1700s at that. England’s, Germany’s, and France’s anthems had melodies from around the same time period, but the harmonies are so functional that most people would consider the harmonies to be boring.
Russia’s anthem’s music was written in c. 1938. Sergei Rachmaninov had written most of his significant compositions by that point, and Igor Stravinsky was chugging away writing mind-blowing music. Alexander Alexandrov also had the music of so many amazing Russian composers from the 1800s as influences. Also, it’s safe to assume that several of Puccini’s operas had been performed in Russia by that time. The melody is on-par with the anthems I just mentioned, but the HARMONIES are what make Russia’s anthem so awe-inspiring. To today’s audience, the full orchestration with voices singing the melody and certain harmonies (also something I don’t find much of a precedence for in national anthems-a vocal harmony part that is performed alongside the melody almost as often as the melody is performed alone) *feels* like the beauty of one’s homeland and how proud someone is to be from that homeland. Similar aesthetics can be found in film scores before the anthem was written AND since it was written. It “strikes a cord” with people because everyone’s “cords” have been tuned similarly to how the music sounds through music from their time period. To people hearing it for the first time, it’s both familiar and new, which is an essential quality of all good art.
@@albertnortononymous9020 Hi Albert, fantastic breakdown. As a Brit I believe our national anthem is one of the most boring and depressing compositions ever to have been commissioned 😂💤🎶
@@albertnortononymous9020 wow thanks for the detailed breakdown
I'm Brazillian guy and found your channel by chance. They are very eductional and informatives and beside I not be a native in english, your british accente help me understend almost all that you speak. it's clear and objective when the tonic syllable is stressed. US accente is terrible to non natives in intermediate level. I wish success with channel and keep to producing new videos.
I remember that piece "Jerusalem" being featured in the movie "Chariots of Fire" along with the fantastic score by Vangelis.
This is a Very very very good video. Thank you.
"None But The Lonely Heart" by Tchaikovsky. Probably one of the greatest saddest melodies ever composed. I'd like to sing it but, though I can hit low sad notes, I can't sustain such sadness for too long. That's when I thank God I ambipolar and don't have to remain in such profound despair and sadness as that song expresses forever.Like some sad folk. There is some relief from it coming.Withnext manic high... Nut if you really feel like wallowing in misery, this is agreat mood setting melody. Youcan help it along with a few glasses of red wine andstudiously avoiding allsigns of other human life.... But itvets even harder to sustain those low notes if you do that. So I just let someone elsedo all the singing, so Ican focus on just feeling miserable... It's no use denyingyour misery, puttingon some idiotic smile, pretending to behappy, that the world is a lovely place, whenyou know it's not. That makes you a liar, a fraud, a joke... At least, one can be honestly miserable...I have a whole collectionof "misery" songs, including many greatmodern sad songs. "Still Got TheBlues For You" , "Parisian Walkways" and "Purple Rain" are inthat list, as is Janis Joplin's rendition of Bobby McGee , capturing the despair of poverty, homelessness, lost love, regrets etc. So is EdithPiaf, singing happy sounding songs like Milord, which is really very sad...And Roberta Flack singing Angelitos Negros, a sadodern Latino song askingwhy artists and painters neverpaint black angels, but God created and loved black angels as much as His white ones. Very sad song.Janis Ian is another great morodern singer of faded, jaded women's sad songs, singing about growing old as a single woman or being 17 and having no feminine poise, charm, good looks etc. Linda Tonstadt did a few good ones about country loneliness for women, as did Patsy Cline. And there are also some more traditional folk songs, like Banks Of The Ohio. And, of course Phanthom Of The Opera.Sometimes you just need sadsongs to wallow in misery. In fact, I even thought of running a small, not very spectacular music scene where people can get very miserable listening to such music, playing it, singing it etc. Ot would be vreat for all sorts of drug, alcohol and gambling addicts, lonely or grieving people. No drugs or alcohol allowed in the venue.plenty of fresh clean water, tea, coffee, drinking chocolate, healthy foods, a free multi vitamin pill for each person and only quietboard games allowedfor compulsive gamblers, with no real money involved. Andthe shylonrlies etc orvrievers forced to interact socially with others and tell about "how bad it all is", like how Covid Lockdown ruined their business, caused jo loss etc. A these sad people can't go to the usual clubs and pubs etc for emotional relief. They are just too unhappy and going tosuch places, like is the usual advice, only makes them feel worse. They need their own little misery den and then they start to look a bit happier. I have seenthis happen informally. Next time you see these sad folk, they will have changed something about themselves eg new brighterclothes, new hair style or colour etc. Small signs ofprogress and new life emerging in them.I also have a collection of songs for people with certainproblems eg gamblers. You would think that afterlistening to great songs about gamblers, they would rush out and gamble evenmore, but it actually has the reverse impact on gamblers. They canfeel the excitement or misery of gambling vicariously, without the needto actually do it. That is why special gambling dens involving no real money, just fake plastic money, board games, cards etc shouldbe created for gambling addicts seeking tocontrol this dangerous addiction. Make them twilit andeither seedy or very glamourous looki g, insistingon a dress code, "Adults Only" etc ie they should have anatmosphere of theforbidden and names like "The Serpents' Den" orsomething fantasy like. There needs to be brightflashing lights, imitation alcoholic cocktails, women and men flashing their realor fake diamond rings etc, dancers etc looking sexy andprovocative but only just sbtly enough to distract the gamblers the lonelies etc.There could be movie scenes showingon a big screenbutno sound. That would come from a the gambling or other sad music. During the band breaks, some sounds like POKER machines paying out, coins dropping downthe metal chutes, race callers calling horse races or football etc games could be playing... It 's the sort of safe funthese types crave.
Again...excellent!!
As someone studying theoretical mathematics, nothing frustrates my obsessive side more than a lack of rigor or precision, so I tried to express the characteristics you've described here more accurately.
*Range* is fairly clear in it's definition; it traverses multiple (>3) notes that are unique in relation to the home note.
*Character* is defined by repetition, although not necessarily identical repetition. As Adam Neely said, repetition legitimizes and creates recognition and familiarity. It's akin to movies associating concepts with visuals. This is used, after the concept has been established and linked to the visual, to subliminally trigger specific emotions and thoughts via the use of of that visual; human minds are neural networks, so when two things frequently happen together, the human brain links those things in a correlation. This is somewhat similar to what you call empathy here. Once the association is formed, only one of the two is necessary to activate the other. This is especially handy if you want to combine a larger idea and a smaller one. A larger idea takes a long explanation to activate, but a smaller idea can be activated merely by a visual, and the brain automatically reminds the person watching of the larger idea in a split second.
*Movement* has to do with the human understanding of inertia, as in physics. The love theme expressed in this video has a sense of momentum and something actually moving; notes can't arbitrarily "jump" far away from the previous note without signifying a new object entering the story or almost a brutal motion.
*The Story* is to the song what character is to the notes. The story, as in other media and art, creates a concept of cause and effect. I think that it's not unreasonable to assume that this is a bit less common across cultures as the expressions vary so much, and instead are decidedly more based on associations. Still, an arc of drama is often followed. If a song jumps to full volume and climax at the start, you have no context to understand it by. This can be used as a tool, but if the context isn't given at some point, it's just confusing. In a similar manner, although a less jarring thing, ending a song with no outro might give a sense of no closure.
This is excellent! the grounds of Music....line, feelings, expression, rhythm...flow, phrases, logic, motion...empathy...Music Expression of...a story...of Life!
If the bass does not drop
The public will not accept
Catalyzed Crew
If the ears’ no bleed
The public’s no need
there's this other youtuber ToddInTheShadows who talks about pop music, and he remarked that the modern pop song from the mid 2010s onwards just seemed to have given up on the chorus, having traded it in for the drop. but drops themselves seemed to have become somewhat passe. i'm seeing them less and less
Catalyzed Crew and Oliverse
@Timothy Newitt very true... Happens with do many things, fashion, music etc. Things come full circle and I'm hoping good rock and metal music comes back 😁
Lots of the greatest melody nowadays is in basslines. Look at “Making It Up as I Go” by Mike Shinoda or “Panini” by Lil Nas X. Top tier pop music where the vocals are more centered on delivery and texture but the underlying beat has amazing basslines.
Beethoven is often thought as not that great of a melodist but he is my favorite. Listen to the second movement of his 7th symphony, last movement of his 5th piano concerto and 2nd movement of his pathetique piano sonata. One of the most beautiful melodies ever written.
8:05 You ask what this music sounds like to someone over 16. Considering the spot where you cut it off, I'd have to say "coitus interruptus."
What is it actually?
@@vijaykrishnan7797 sex
Really superb topic and video! Thanks. One general melodic concern you didn’t go into much here is rhythm, such as repeated rhythmic motifs, which can help make melodies more memorable.
Let's take, for example, the Movie Industry. What makes a motion picture memorable? What sets it apart from the endless reboots and low-grade cinematography? Well, the answer is : a memorable soundtrack! Think for a moment? if I say "Star Wars", what musical theme immediately comes to mind? Or if I say "Braveheart", or "The Lord of the Rings"? Superman? Schindler's List? That's right! Music that has an incredibly memorable and unique melody. Disney knew this long ago. I would like to mention the Golden Age of Cinematography here with Miklos Rozsa's "Ben Hur" and many others. All those movies have one thing in common: they became associated with their soundtrack. I would say that it works the other way around: the soundtrack makes the movie! Thank you.
Ben Hur is a classic!
I don't know if the soundtrack really makes the movie memorable. I think the movie makes the soundtrack memorable as generally the ones that get the most praise will be remembered like Star Wars. I think if it had failed I don't think anyone would remember the opening theme or Darth Vader's theme or any of the others. However on the same note I do agree that a soundtrack can affect a film if it isn't iconic enough or if it doesn't sound good which could affect the performance of said movie.
@@spazmaticaa7989 IMO a sountrack can make a film. I notice that some older films like solaris doenst have music and it sound "empty" and slow. While every recent movie has a track playing at every scene. Or maybe i just pay to attention to it but it can add a lot of drama and movement to a scene.
@@augusto7681 that lines up with the last part of my comment. What I was trying to say is that the music doesn't become iconic if the film doesn't do well. Yes music does have an affect on a film but it doesn't become iconic unless the movie is good.
Thank you UA-cam for recommending me this gem of a channel. Years of classical music and just suggested me the Schubert video (wonderful too btw) until today😡
That cockatoo dances more than I do.
It's the first day i'm watching your videos and you've already become one of my favorite Channels! Thanks for making this type of content.
For those not so sensitive for classical music, instead of Wagner's Tristan and Isolde, try Steve Vai's Tender Surrender
My favourite piece. It's got that perfect increase of tension, crying notes that go under ones skin, is extremely virtous, but still musical and finishes calmly.
Say Goodbye by Dave Meniketti is also very beautiful.
I hate that song
Interesting topic, well explained. About musical "empathy", it is something one can "get" in a vocal work, even if the listener does not speak the language. A beautiful example of this for me is "Deus Meus" as performed by Fionnuala Gill, accompanying herself on the harp, and playing in the Church of the Holy Redeemer in New York City. The acoustics add a sort of boost to the melody making for a very emotional experience.
I would love if you could take as an examples Azeri composers like Kara Karayev, or Fikret Amirov. Their music really expresses the feelings as you told
Can't harp enough how thorough and artistic your views are... Please please keep these rolling out... 👍🏅
I'd love to watch videos like this one, but in more music eras, like jazz, rock, metal, etc :) very very good content dude
In my language (Turkish) we have an idiom: "rubbing salt onto one's wound" .. You have just done that..
(it means reminding someone about a certain discomfort in a very accurate way)
A very good vlog! Tchaikovsky indeeed is one of the best melodymakers. As is Scubert. And Grieg.
Great work, and very understandable to everyone who cares. Melodies are an expression of soul and spirit, but as people lose them, their "song", so to speak, dies.
me: "show me 'russian national anthem'"
YT: "USSR ANTHEM TRAP REMIX (free communist type beat)"
or the earrape version
It is not even a remix, the music is the same, just changed some words
A strong melody is pure emotion transposed into notes. Emotion is energy in motion and if you get in touch with a piece of music which let you feel at some kind of way, you understand. I rather like music that causes good feelings, but nowadays there is a lot of music which causes bad feelings, and this is so sad.
I think there are many examples of pop music with expressive melody. Billie Eilish is a great example, despite having some songs with rather uninteresting melodies (such as Bad Guy), she has songs where she really manages to express feelings through melody, the best examples I can think of are When the Party is Over, My Future, No Time to Die, I Love You, which are also some of her most popular tracks, so I think there is hope for melody in pop music.
Finally, someone who is not really snobbish! All the songs you mentioned here have beautiful melodies.
So true, even Billie thinks bad guy is such a silly song, but people with no attention span loves it.
What makes a good melody, is how masterful one disguises a melody while allowing it to reveal itself with fleeing, learnt aural state of mind.
Kings of tearjerker melody:
Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff...
Please don't forget That tchaikovsky was one of them too
Yikes, a gross omission on my part! Thanks.
Ilaiyaraaja
@@adhityas348 whos that?
Ignacio Lago Indian film composer.
This channel is so great for finding great pieces and composers in this quarantine, thank you!
I'm so angry that you cut the liebestod early lol
Was that what i was soposed to feel?
I just stumbled upon you channel and really like it. The points you make are great and your videos are well put together. I always appreciate a channel which i can learn from and build my general knowledge.
Also I just have to note the fact that you are very good with words and you always manage to express your opinion which is something to admire.
"Is it possible to have edgy melodic music?"
*Metal fans nodding in the distance
Try the band "Paddy And The Rats".
Edgy irish punk-rock with very nice orchestration.
I don't agree metal is edgy, it can be as money driven as pop, and as musically snobbishly virtuosic as complex classical. (see prog metal/math metal) I think true 'edgy' music would be nearer punk and industrial, which by no co-incidence are rarely melodic. So to actually answer your question I would say "probably not" .
August Burns Red would like a word with you.
@@gkiss2030 Yeah, I love them
@@Bthelick money driven or snobbishly virtuosic music can be edgy tho. metal is by definition edgy.
To me what makes good melody is you are able to hum to it.
I hope melody reemerges as the most important element of music, you are absolutely right, 21st century composers use the easiest means to create original music. Melodies are harder to find.
Great video. I think I understand why I love synthwave and power metal so much now; these are genres where melodies are still quite prominent.