Agreed. Paul is great at asking questions as well as listening and Jacob gave great answers that really seemed to materialize his thought process in a way that ordinary musicians and listeners can understand because, as Michael has stated, he is in a league of his own.
It was so interesting the way Jacob described himself as not being a traditional guitarist and needing to find a special guitar to allow himself to find the sounds he wanted to make.
I play instruments and I love music. Even though I know I will never be as talented as Jacob, I love that he's just giving me so many ideas in his music and interviews. Re-ignited my love for discovery and learning instruments. I appreciate videos like this, breaking it down, because it is beyond my understanding.
The fact you mostly figured out his tuning system and pulled and translated some of those diminished moments and random 9’s and such is a testament to your ear and knowledge dude! You are awesome 👏🏼
I agree. I always love Michael’s reactions, but this one is so special. It goes from a reaction video (with great musical insight from MP) to an experience of awe that we are having together.
Totally.. you can literaly hear his mind blowing away. So did mine and if you have any feeling inside of you, got to be in tears too. Too powerful and beautiful.
I remember when Jacob did the call for people to meet him at the church over social media. These aren't hired vocalists, just people who showed up. The dudes a legend.
True - but there are clearly a few ringers in there to act as sort of section leaders. I know when I have sung in a choir, it really helps to have those strong, experienced singers to follow.
It’s surely a mix of voices. Pros and amateurs by design. I’m positive he opted for that sound and vibe and openness to all rather than a perfect thing.
He certainly hears a lot, but even more interesting to me is that his choral direction with just "imprecise" movements of his hands, which I believe is also a staple of live shows, demonstrates how much we all hear given the right context. The whole group feeling and landing on notes makes me feel the power of the music as much as anything in this performance.
yea im so excited for this choral chapter he's been on! Do yourself a favor and go check out stellenbosch university choir here on TH-cam, they are led by André van der Merwe and he is a literal genius, so good
My favorite is when he is able to use wrist movements to get the audience to move up or down chromatically rather than diatonically - as in this video from Rome: th-cam.com/video/Q-R3M0VlQoQ/w-d-xo.htmlsi=96Ckw4GNxohxYpQ7
We saw Jacob and his impeccable band last night in Toronto. That bit with the audience singing harmony? Yeah I always that the versions we saw on TH-cam were spliced together. They are not. I watched him bring around 4,000 people along for the ride. I sat in absolute tear-inducing amazement at the way he could plant a note in our heads and have us nail it down in literally one second. And then do another note in harmony with ours elsewhere in the crowd. And again. And again. And then drift us up and down, in and out. Dude, I’m 62. Seriously enjoy music in many forms. And nothing in my life has come anywhere close to this level of pure love in shared musical passion before. And likely never will again.
wth just happened ? I watched this....as a lifelong musician and guitar player of over 50 years...Im 57. It hit me so hard, that I literally cried. I suppose it brought out a bunch of crap I had stuffed inside, but damn... I knew music is powerful, but this guy is tapped in. Thanks for sharing Mike.
Hans Zimmer said about Jacob Collier: "There's musicianship, there's genius, and then way, way way above all that, out in the stratosphere, is Jacob Collier" Jacob is truly Herr Music. Thank you for reacting to this--I admire your bringing the love of the guitar to so many and helping make it accessible to more people. In your way, you are helping do what Jacob does with the people fortunate enough to see him in person. He reaches inside you, and brings out the music in your soul that you never knew was there. You got a new subscriber for this one.
I love watching Jacob Collier reaction videos from professional musicians as by the end of the song most of them are in the same state of complete awe, having just seen perfection at work. John Henny (voice coach) reaction videos are some good ones on his earlier songs where he's almost in tears by the end of it
Sometimes listening to Jacob is just too moving to put into words but you did it well man. The look on your face is the same face I had…. Plus a little tears haha.. this guy is so damn inspiring
Michael, I assume that was the first time you watched it, because your face just said everything I felt when I watched that for the first time. I knew what was coming, as I've watched that video a hundred times...you were tagging along, working stuff out, thinking ohhh that chord, ahhh nice inner voicing, then suddenly you just stopped, turned down your guitar, and sat back in awe. Your look to the camera at 13.10 says it all. JC is jaw dropping. Not a show off, not a clever clogs, not a "check me out I'm so great, watch this"...he's just tapping into music in a way most other musicians search lifetimes for and only taste here and there. And when his talents applied to something is beautiful as this recording, in that space, with those people, that song, that arrangement, that vibe, it's unbelievable. These are the JC moments Im waiting for. (I don't like the album version, much for instance). As you perfectly put it, he makes you want to give up music and practice harder at the same time. I laughed so much when you said that. Exactly my thought...but I read someone somewhere say something like "I feel like giving up, then I realise that JC would NEVER want that, for anybody to EVER give up exploring music because of him" and that stuck with me ever since. The thing that strikes me most about him, which I think you can see too, is that it's just pouring out of him and he's probably just enjoying the ride as much as the rest of us. It's like a pure creativity tap that is open, without filter, without doubt, without ego. Such a lucky combination of skills, curiosity and character that he's got, including just seeming to be a nice guy, good with people. The choice to record this with just regular folk is just a genius decision. He could have had some A-list choir in there. but this makes the whole thing just so much more beautiful and relatable. there's a few moments when the choir are not quite in perfect tune, but that flaw makes the moment so much more fragile and perfect that way. So glad I'm around to see him appear. Thanks for your video, it made my day.
My wife and I saw Jacob last night, June 12th, in Cleveland, at, of all places, Jacobs Pavilion. Of course, we were blown away. To be part of the audience as he conducted us, was truly emotional. I just turned 70 and have seen countless concerts. None have affected me like this. He is truly unique.
I was at his concert on June 9th in Chicago. One of the reasons I went is that as I explored videos by him and about him I realized he might be the most significant musician of this century and being 71 years old, I knew I needed to experience him live in concert.
I was there too!! with my musician son who was blown away by him about a year ago . We came from Buffalo to see his genius and and his music , the concert was life changing for me… at 68.. he IS a genius as my son says . Best birthday gift ever!!
If you haven’t already you should check out his cover of Bridge Over Troubled Water and/or Moon River - you will be blown away. I’d love if you made a video about it
Five strings for five fingers. I think the tuning was D A E A D. He likes the symmetry. The Paul David’s video is fantastic and worth the time to watch. He’s also got a five string electric which is wild. He’s in the learning stages and is still way ahead of many of us.
This is not the tuning. It's D-G-D-A-E. The highest four strings are tuned in 5ths like a tenor guitar or an octave mandolin, and the lowest string is a fourth (D to G). Personally for me, I recently got a 7 string acoustic, and I coincidentally did a similar tuning to Jacob, only it has two extra strings which facilitate triads more fully: D-G-D-F-A-C-E
@@SurfingSerpent it isn't. It's 5ths between lowest 3 strings, then 4ths between the middle string and higher strings. Open D major chord would only require 1 finger on 2nd fret of middle string.
It took me a while to figure out why this version of the song is so beautiful to me, and I think it's that he's taken all sorts of different people, many of which wouldn't be professional singers. He's taken them and used all of their vocal imperfections to create this incredibly beautiful choral sound that has so much depth and meaning with them.
The mental gymnastics required to move the choir notes around underneath him while singing at the end is what gets me 🤯. You can rely on muscle memory with playing cords on an instrument but he's essentially keeping track of which note each section is singing, which direction they each have to move to next, and singing different notes himself...
I think what you're getting at is they key difference between hacks like myself, and those who can really play. Most improvising musicians have developed an ability to hear the note(s) first in their head before they play/sing them, rather than just going through a series of memorized physical movements (muscle memory). In Jacob's case, since he is able to improvise on so many instruments, the ability to "play" the choir while singing is probably not that difficult for him - although he has clearly been developing this for years since he started playing in front of people. Even in his "one man show" tour, he started incorporating audience participation similar to what Pete Seeger or Bobby McFerrin have done in the past. From there he has developed it into something quite special.
Not difficult for him, sure. But he is essentially playing two instruments at the same time. I've never seen any other human do that. Even the greatest conductor's in the world don't sing the song they are conducting. Those are completely different areas of the brain. This dude is beyond genius.
ok, but people, including JC, sing and accompany themselves on various instruments all the time - it's impressive, and what Jacob does is unique, but I don't think dissimilar or requiring different parts of the brain. Not sure what that even means. Think about a guy like Cory Henry on the organ - he's singing, playing with all fingers individually on both hands, controlling drawbars, playing bass notes with his foot, controlling swell with his other foot, all at the same time. Jacob is singing and gesturing with two hands to "play" the audience and the intervals being played are usually diatonic and very slow moving. It's wonderful but let's not get carried away. @@aaronstuckel9864
@@aaronstuckel9864 Well, his single mom did raise him and two sisters while working as a conductor. In some YT interview or other I saw him say that as a young kid, he watched his mom wave her arms then wonderful music would come from the orchestra. He remembers thinking THAT'S REALLY MAGICAL.
I cannot think of a song that better embodies "kindness" than this one. It feels like he's bottled it up in a single experience. It makes me sob. Jacob could easily be so pretentious because of his k knowledge and ability, but he engages with these fans singing with him with such patience and care. I have never seen anything like this before.
9:22 Jacob said that one of the things he admired the most from one of his biggest idols, Stevie Wonder, was his ability to communicate simply through his songs whilst also drawing largely from what clearly was a very deep understanding of music. I think that that is what Jacob is trying to achieve with his latest works.
Jacob is a musician’s musician with a deep musical soul that he freely shares with all who listen to him or watch his videos. I’ll never be able to get enough of him. As a musician, I am in awe of his massive talent.
I feel so lucky to live in a world in which this event happened, and even luckier to be able to experience it by watching it on TH-cam. What a remarkable, indescribably moving thing to see.
Wow, Michael! Greetings from Los Angeles. Thank you so very much for sharing this. I’m not very familiar with Jacob’s music, but I was so deeply moved by this beautiful composition and performance, that I went straight to Ticketmaster and bought tickets to see him on May 20th at the Greek Theater. Again, thank you sir! 💛🎶🎸
Oh yeah buddy… you might never want to attend another musician’s show ever again. Get ready for a transcendental experience of warmth, love and innocence. I went to his live show in the outside auditorium in Rome, Italy. It was nuts.
@@FromPoetryToRap Oh wow, thanks for sharing! That show in Rome sounds like it was otherworldly. I’ll surely refrain from previewing any of Jacob’s live shows on TH-cam beforehand, and instead experience it myself in-person.
@@johnanderson290It truly was. I don't think watching his shows beforehand will lessen the real-life experience, but I do understand you'd want to do that!
You and others in the comments nailed how I felt seeing him live. Watching your expressions captures a tiny bit of that magic; I think we all could use more of that kind of connection. Jacob emits this weird, unifying, precious force. You feel like it could break or snap at any moment, but he shepherds you through. So, thank you for covering and sharing this.
you think that ending was unbelievable? They rehearsed that. But you know what he does? He does it with live audiences at his shows. Completely untrained crowds, doing it. People have done this before of course. Freddie Mercury, great example. Bobby McFerrin another. But often pentatonic. Collier does it diatonic.
My understanding was they rehearsed it just enough so they knew what to expect, and most aren't trained singers/musicians. Just a collection of fans, though they likely would be more musically inclined that a random group of people off the streets. To me the amazing part is Jacob's coordination of the 3 different groups along with his own singing and playing
I’ve never commented on anything online before. Watching your reaction to this made my heart sing. You were so clearly moved and described it so well as a musician and a human being. As a teenager, I remember buying the book and tuning my guitar to play Joni Mitchell’s music, and thinking only a true artist has the intuition and the courage to think like Joni “Why should I have to tune my guitar like everybody else?” Or, like Jacob, “I have only 5 fingers, why not a 5 string guitar?” Bravo.
You hit the nail on the head brother when you said he just somehow finds a way to make some of the most odd and complex music theory digestable to the common ear. Hes out of this world!
I LOVE this moment - that I experienced for myself years ago, watching Jacobs youtube clips - when musicians realize, that there is a person who understands, lives, teaches and loves music more than everybody else. Only once in a generation. And than the fact that it seems to be a very decent, humble, nice guy
I'll never forget the time when I went to the comment section on a video of him years ago and every comment was.. "Welcome back Mozart" It was like everyone was connected to this idea that this level of genius was just tied to the world and that it will come and go over time and present itself as it is needed.
It's the first time I've heard this song. For the longest time it felt for me that he was just some really talented dude who was throwing all the advanced stuff he knows here and there. I've listened to his songs & performances from time to time and had a really hard time connecting with it. He finally hit it for me with this one. This is the song.
Listening to this song is an emotiianal humbling experience in a good way, IMHO. Michael's explanation properly demonstrates that, going from the (very interesting!) musical technicalities (the chord changes etc.) to the emotional experience this is and we all can relate to! A great complementary video to Jacob Collier's original video, thanx Michael 🙏!
watching him try to understand a guitar jacob invented and only he owns is amazing, parts of it are tuned like a bass because jacob learned upright base first, its tuned so he can move around the fretboard in thirds which helps the way he thinks about the instrument, another interesting thing is that its a 5 string on a six string neck! so theres more room for your fingers to run around. he just had a really interesting interview about it recently
My wife and I were able to be in Jacob’s concert and we were 20 feet away from him. The things that he does are surreal. A modern day genius. Very underrated.
I love your videos when you hit these gems. Reminds me of your reaction to Hi Ren. Beautiful how you start off with your normal approach to a deconstruction of a song and then eventually you just succumb to the brilliance of it.
Little Blue is my favorite Jacob Collier song so far. 💙 I truly hope you get the chance to experience Jacob Collier in concert. There's nothing better! Thanks for sharing your insights.
Three musicians with perfect pitch show what that means toward the end. (Way out in left field comment: the last quarter of the song reminds me of Charles Ives, exploring just what fluid instruments for tonality voices can be.)
I fell in love with Jacob Collier almost 10 years ago for his technical ability and recently had a new appreciation for his new music where he can take the more technical aspects and make music that is so easy to digest even for people who don't understand the technical side.
I love all of your videos. But this is by far my favorite because you’re appreciating this with the same mind-blown amplitude that I experienced the first time I heard this. Cheers.
Others have mentioned Jacob's recent conversation with Paul Davids (appropriately titled "How Jacob Collier Reinvented the Guitar"). Here is the link: th-cam.com/video/WknTbYOet4c/w-d-xo.htmlsi=v_8eYU-6EVpty4Rb Yes, it's a custom five string guitar on a six string neck (allowing more space between the strings to bend notes). His tuning, I believe, is D, A, E, A, D so it is symmetrical around the middle E string.
First, I have no idea about music. Second, I still really like your channel. Third, sadly, here I don't get it. Yes, it's a pretty song. Except for the parts that sound bad to me. And no amount of "but it's Jacob and he's a genius" will make me enjoy those notes that sound bad to me.
I sent another Jacob Collier video (Wild Mountain Thyme w/ Dodie + Laufey) where the audience conduction is intensely beautiful to my mother in law, and this was her response: "When I hear that kind of group singing I always remember what my room-mate Lila once said at a no-nukes protest in the '70s, when the crowd sang some Dan Fogelberg song together (he must have been leading it?): "We always talk about how whales and wolves sound when they sing. I guess this is how humans sound." Unaccountably, we sound beautiful."
Sorry, I just don't get it with this guy. Yes, he's very colourful, happy and smiley (and my god the world needs it) but I can't help but feel he's a case of Emperor's New Clothes. He's what l imagine a pop star from an intergalactic hippie colony living aboard a giant spacecraft would sound like....if he asked an AI music production vending machine to produce music for him. He's an extremely talented chap and I'll keep giving him another go but I'm yet to be wowed or truly moved by any of his stuff (although this came close!). Sorry to offend any of his devotees!
I'm the biggest Jacob fan there is but I hear this quite a lot, most people feel about him the way you do. And that's okay, I guess, I'd just say that he's TERRIBLE at making background music and I think that's what puts people off. Even I don't usually listen to him while doing something else because there's so much sonic information that it's overwhelming. But when you really sit down and give his music your full attention, that's when the absolute beauty comes in. And before you say it, I do NOT mean this to say that you need to analyze him to appreciate him or in fact have any theoretical knowledge, I just mean that some music (or even most music that exists?) isn't made to be skimmed through, in the same way you wouldn't expect every Miles Davis or John Coltrane tune to be catchy and palatable (and yet be beautiful). Basically, I think that's the major fault with him - he's slowly poking into the mainstream and being in the mainstream means being palatable to a vast majority of people. Which he just isn't, by choice at that. I'm typing all of this because for months I was writing the same comment you've just made when I first heard his music. And then idk, one day I sat down and actually listened to an album of his without doing anything else. The song Once You ended and I found myself in tears. That's when I became a fan
Exceptional indeed. Been listening to this nonstop for the past several days as I just discovered it. Glad to see your reaction to it as I just came across your channel a couple weeks ago! Great timing universe!
I think Jacob gave Michael a stroke in a few moments. There was definitely a few neural short circuits during a few of those flat 9 sus 7 diminished modulations. This song is frankly one of the most beautiful pieces of music I have heard in my life. I'm wanting to drag my wife to his concert so she can just get a small hint of this.
"It's terrifying that people like that exist." Yup. I'm reminded of the movie Amadeus, where Salieri realizes what a towering giant Mozart is in comparison to himself. We just can't compare.
It's one thing to have that level of musical genius, but it's so much more elevated because he's such s kind and genuine and humble human who is able to lead and inspire. Great reaction man!
The way he conducts the choir, he does this with audiences all the time. And when you learn about how he grew up it makes total sense why he's this good!
Jacob is a musical genius, not necessarily because he understands music 'technically' (which he absolutely does in a way very few do) he understands the human component as if it were a sixth sense, in tune with music and its capabilities that cant be learned. Synaesthesia on a natural level. Who knows. But it's a transcendental experience
I'm so glad you reacted to this performance. Everytime I listen to thi,s tears come to my eyes, but they are tears of joy. And I feel exactly like you said : it makes me stop learniing music because his music is overwhelming, and at the same time all I want to do is singing and making music because he is such an inspiration! Jacob is a gift for everyone to enjoy.
Thank you for honouring this song so well. Beautiful reaction. If you’re interested in how beautiful group guitar can be, please consider doing a reaction to The White Horse Guitar Club and their song If I Needed You. It’s simple, beautifully arranged and leaves lots of room for your own creative addition.
FYI his guitar is D A E A D he says that he treats the middle string as a mirror, so that he can easily do octave'ish stuff and sus notes with open chords
Jacob.....has turned so many genres of music "on its ear". So amazing! Thanks for the deep dive. Check out Bridge over Troubled Water if you REALLY want your mind blown!
Really fantastic to see the initial utter confusion of the people analysing JC music - it sounds simple enough, but once they get into the weeds they realise how sophisticated the tunes are the confusion turns to wonder and they are inevitably completely blown away by his talent and feeling.
Paul davids just did a great video with Jacob where they go deep into his guitar!
Agreed. Paul is great at asking questions as well as listening and Jacob gave great answers that really seemed to materialize his thought process in a way that ordinary musicians and listeners can understand because, as Michael has stated, he is in a league of his own.
Was coming here to say this!
Came to say the same!
th-cam.com/video/WknTbYOet4c/w-d-xo.htmlsi=mwTNYIs-Tai1JC0A
It was so interesting the way Jacob described himself as not being a traditional guitarist and needing to find a special guitar to allow himself to find the sounds he wanted to make.
This song makes my cry. His talent also makes me cry.
I've watched this vid a dozen times now and I still cry every time.
I play instruments and I love music. Even though I know I will never be as talented as Jacob, I love that he's just giving me so many ideas in his music and interviews. Re-ignited my love for discovery and learning instruments. I appreciate videos like this, breaking it down, because it is beyond my understanding.
Every damn time
I feel you.
Cringe.
Perfectly said- “He hears so much more than we hear.” It’s not always to his benefit, but when he reels it in, it’s a truly unique experience.
Michael. This moment made my day, my week and more.
Thank you.
The fact you mostly figured out his tuning system and pulled and translated some of those diminished moments and random 9’s and such is a testament to your ear and knowledge dude! You are awesome 👏🏼
Jacob is the Mozart of our times
Just amazing in Jacob Collier
when you looked in to the camera right before the end of the song... I felt the same way.
You’ll never walk alone.
thanks for the description - it made me cry ! you should do his fields of gold on the harperjey (sp)
I love the moment when you realize what this is, get the gloss in your eyes, turn the volume on the guitar to zero and sit back.
I agree. I always love Michael’s reactions, but this one is so special. It goes from a reaction video (with great musical insight from MP) to an experience of awe that we are having together.
Perhaps religion is the power of the human voice...
Totally.. you can literaly hear his mind blowing away. So did mine and if you have any feeling inside of you, got to be in tears too. Too powerful and beautiful.
12:30 it's just incredible
Exactly
I remember when Jacob did the call for people to meet him at the church over social media. These aren't hired vocalists, just people who showed up. The dudes a legend.
Yeah, but there are probably a few people Jacob already knew. The well known singer Dodie is in the back.
True - but there are clearly a few ringers in there to act as sort of section leaders. I know when I have sung in a choir, it really helps to have those strong, experienced singers to follow.
@@dculp9284 i was in the choir, they are all amateurs apart from the dodie cameo! however, most people there were very musically inclined!!
It’s surely a mix of voices. Pros and amateurs by design. I’m positive he opted for that sound and vibe and openness to all rather than a perfect thing.
wow
I want to give a shout out to the engineer for that ethereal sound. The mahogany sessions were beautifully voiced. Just gorgeous.
Thanks x
He certainly hears a lot, but even more interesting to me is that his choral direction with just "imprecise" movements of his hands, which I believe is also a staple of live shows, demonstrates how much we all hear given the right context. The whole group feeling and landing on notes makes me feel the power of the music as much as anything in this performance.
It's so remarkable. It shows a confidence and understanding that is hard to imagine, but yet feels natural. So comforting and scary at the same time.
yea im so excited for this choral chapter he's been on! Do yourself a favor and go check out stellenbosch university choir here on TH-cam, they are led by André van der Merwe and he is a literal genius, so good
My favorite is when he is able to use wrist movements to get the audience to move up or down chromatically rather than diatonically - as in this video from Rome: th-cam.com/video/Q-R3M0VlQoQ/w-d-xo.htmlsi=96Ckw4GNxohxYpQ7
He uses motion to communicate directly into the right brain where singing, our very first language, began.
Shed a tear when the choir kicked in, not gonna lie. Absolutely gorgeous.
We saw Jacob and his impeccable band last night in Toronto. That bit with the audience singing harmony? Yeah I always that the versions we saw on TH-cam were spliced together. They are not.
I watched him bring around 4,000 people along for the ride. I sat in absolute tear-inducing amazement at the way he could plant a note in our heads and have us nail it down in literally one second. And then do another note in harmony with ours elsewhere in the crowd. And again. And again. And then drift us up and down, in and out. Dude, I’m 62. Seriously enjoy music in many forms. And nothing in my life has come anywhere close to this level of pure love in shared musical passion before. And likely never will again.
wth just happened ? I watched this....as a lifelong musician and guitar player of over 50 years...Im 57. It hit me so hard, that I literally cried. I suppose it brought out a bunch of crap I had stuffed inside, but damn... I knew music is powerful, but this guy is tapped in. Thanks for sharing Mike.
Hans Zimmer said about Jacob Collier: "There's musicianship, there's genius, and then way, way way above all that, out in the stratosphere, is Jacob Collier" Jacob is truly Herr Music. Thank you for reacting to this--I admire your bringing the love of the guitar to so many and helping make it accessible to more people. In your way, you are helping do what Jacob does with the people fortunate enough to see him in person. He reaches inside you, and brings out the music in your soul that you never knew was there. You got a new subscriber for this one.
his technical knowledge of music is unparalleled but he has yet to write an interesting original song that is actually enjoyable to just jam.
@@spinalt4pp Well, that's your own subjective opinion. Millions of other people would beg to differ though.
@@DeadBeatDexIt’s a pretty common complaint about Collier. His actual music is trash
@@Childofbhaalthe air you breathe is trash
@@Childofbhaal this isn't trash, is it? no? Then your statement is false. Sorry bout that. As if common is the arbiter of great.
I love watching Jacob Collier reaction videos from professional musicians as by the end of the song most of them are in the same state of complete awe, having just seen perfection at work. John Henny (voice coach) reaction videos are some good ones on his earlier songs where he's almost in tears by the end of it
I do that too. I just added another one with this video
Same.
Sometimes listening to Jacob is just too moving to put into words but you did it well man. The look on your face is the same face I had…. Plus a little tears haha.. this guy is so damn inspiring
Every time I rewatch this, I assume that it won't affect me as much as the last time. But nope. Destroys me in the best way, every single time.
Michael, I assume that was the first time you watched it, because your face just said everything I felt when I watched that for the first time.
I knew what was coming, as I've watched that video a hundred times...you were tagging along, working stuff out, thinking ohhh that chord, ahhh nice inner voicing, then suddenly you just stopped, turned down your guitar, and sat back in awe. Your look to the camera at 13.10 says it all. JC is jaw dropping. Not a show off, not a clever clogs, not a "check me out I'm so great, watch this"...he's just tapping into music in a way most other musicians search lifetimes for and only taste here and there. And when his talents applied to something is beautiful as this recording, in that space, with those people, that song, that arrangement, that vibe, it's unbelievable. These are the JC moments Im waiting for. (I don't like the album version, much for instance).
As you perfectly put it, he makes you want to give up music and practice harder at the same time. I laughed so much when you said that. Exactly my thought...but I read someone somewhere say something like "I feel like giving up, then I realise that JC would NEVER want that, for anybody to EVER give up exploring music because of him" and that stuck with me ever since.
The thing that strikes me most about him, which I think you can see too, is that it's just pouring out of him and he's probably just enjoying the ride as much as the rest of us. It's like a pure creativity tap that is open, without filter, without doubt, without ego. Such a lucky combination of skills, curiosity and character that he's got, including just seeming to be a nice guy, good with people. The choice to record this with just regular folk is just a genius decision. He could have had some A-list choir in there. but this makes the whole thing just so much more beautiful and relatable. there's a few moments when the choir are not quite in perfect tune, but that flaw makes the moment so much more fragile and perfect that way.
So glad I'm around to see him appear. Thanks for your video, it made my day.
My wife and I saw Jacob last night, June 12th, in Cleveland, at, of all places, Jacobs Pavilion. Of course, we were blown away. To be part of the audience as he conducted us, was truly emotional. I just turned 70 and have seen countless concerts. None have affected me like this. He is truly unique.
I was at his concert on June 9th in Chicago. One of the reasons I went is that as I explored videos by him and about him I realized he might be the most significant musician of this century and being 71 years old, I knew I needed to experience him live in concert.
We saw him June 25 2024 in Portland. He really has a terrifyingly busy schedule.
I was there! Blown away. Mesmerized.
I was there too!! with my musician son who was blown away by him about a year ago . We came from Buffalo to see his genius and and his music , the concert was life changing for me… at 68.. he IS a genius as my son says . Best birthday gift ever!!
In Cleveland!! At Jacobs pavilion!!
If you haven’t already you should check out his cover of Bridge Over Troubled Water and/or Moon River - you will be blown away. I’d love if you made a video about it
Jacob's our Mozart. He's absolutely insane and every new thing I watch him do blows me away even more.
Five strings for five fingers. I think the tuning was D A E A D. He likes the symmetry. The Paul David’s video is fantastic and worth the time to watch. He’s also got a five string electric which is wild. He’s in the learning stages and is still way ahead of many of us.
the Paul David video played after Michael's reaction. I came back to comment on the tuning. Pretty cool...
Yeah, he showed off that 5 string Strandberg ... I want one. It's irrational, but I really do want one :D
He's always been in the learning stage. That's why he's always growing. He's definitely not new to multiple string instruments.
This is not the tuning. It's D-G-D-A-E. The highest four strings are tuned in 5ths like a tenor guitar or an octave mandolin, and the lowest string is a fourth (D to G).
Personally for me, I recently got a 7 string acoustic, and I coincidentally did a similar tuning to Jacob, only it has two extra strings which facilitate triads more fully:
D-G-D-F-A-C-E
@@SurfingSerpent it isn't. It's 5ths between lowest 3 strings, then 4ths between the middle string and higher strings. Open D major chord would only require 1 finger on 2nd fret of middle string.
His tuning: d a e a d
Pin this…
my tuning: d e a d
I’m dead.
Is this 6-1 or 1-6?
1-5or 5-1 it’s the same
"what the... what the..." the moment you realize what you're dealing with here 🙂
It took me a while to figure out why this version of the song is so beautiful to me, and I think it's that he's taken all sorts of different people, many of which wouldn't be professional singers. He's taken them and used all of their vocal imperfections to create this incredibly beautiful choral sound that has so much depth and meaning with them.
The mental gymnastics required to move the choir notes around underneath him while singing at the end is what gets me 🤯. You can rely on muscle memory with playing cords on an instrument but he's essentially keeping track of which note each section is singing, which direction they each have to move to next, and singing different notes himself...
I think what you're getting at is they key difference between hacks like myself, and those who can really play. Most improvising musicians have developed an ability to hear the note(s) first in their head before they play/sing them, rather than just going through a series of memorized physical movements (muscle memory). In Jacob's case, since he is able to improvise on so many instruments, the ability to "play" the choir while singing is probably not that difficult for him - although he has clearly been developing this for years since he started playing in front of people. Even in his "one man show" tour, he started incorporating audience participation similar to what Pete Seeger or Bobby McFerrin have done in the past. From there he has developed it into something quite special.
Not difficult for him, sure. But he is essentially playing two instruments at the same time. I've never seen any other human do that. Even the greatest conductor's in the world don't sing the song they are conducting. Those are completely different areas of the brain. This dude is beyond genius.
ok, but people, including JC, sing and accompany themselves on various instruments all the time - it's impressive, and what Jacob does is unique, but I don't think dissimilar or requiring different parts of the brain. Not sure what that even means. Think about a guy like Cory Henry on the organ - he's singing, playing with all fingers individually on both hands, controlling drawbars, playing bass notes with his foot, controlling swell with his other foot, all at the same time. Jacob is singing and gesturing with two hands to "play" the audience and the intervals being played are usually diatonic and very slow moving. It's wonderful but let's not get carried away. @@aaronstuckel9864
@@aaronstuckel9864 - absolutely right.
@@aaronstuckel9864 Well, his single mom did raise him and two sisters while working as a conductor. In some YT interview or other I saw him say that as a young kid, he watched his mom wave her arms then wonderful music would come from the orchestra. He remembers thinking THAT'S REALLY MAGICAL.
I cannot think of a song that better embodies "kindness" than this one. It feels like he's bottled it up in a single experience. It makes me sob. Jacob could easily be so pretentious because of his k knowledge and ability, but he engages with these fans singing with him with such patience and care. I have never seen anything like this before.
This video finally convinced me to check him out and i've been obsessed for days now
9:22 Jacob said that one of the things he admired the most from one of his biggest idols, Stevie Wonder, was his ability to communicate simply through his songs whilst also drawing largely from what clearly was a very deep understanding of music. I think that that is what Jacob is trying to achieve with his latest works.
Jacob is a musician’s musician with a deep musical soul that he freely shares with all who listen to him or watch his videos. I’ll never be able to get enough of him. As a musician, I am in awe of his massive talent.
Oh I so love your wonderment and thrill at seeing musicians like this. The joy and surprise and pleasure you receive are so beautiful. thank you.
Well said!
EXACTLY MY SPEECHLESS REACTION 5 MINUTES AGO. Inclusive the "I quit my Job...no. I have to become better in composing" And I cried like a Baby....
I feel so lucky to live in a world in which this event happened, and even luckier to be able to experience it by watching it on TH-cam. What a remarkable, indescribably moving thing to see.
Wow, Michael! Greetings from Los Angeles. Thank you so very much for sharing this. I’m not very familiar with Jacob’s music, but I was so deeply moved by this beautiful composition and performance, that I went straight to Ticketmaster and bought tickets to see him on May 20th at the Greek Theater. Again, thank you sir! 💛🎶🎸
His live shows are great . Enjoy
@@Bugsounds Thank you, that’s great to hear first hand! I’m looking forward to it even more now.
Oh yeah buddy… you might never want to attend another musician’s show ever again. Get ready for a transcendental experience of warmth, love and innocence. I went to his live show in the outside auditorium in Rome, Italy. It was nuts.
@@FromPoetryToRap Oh wow, thanks for sharing! That show in Rome sounds like it was otherworldly. I’ll surely refrain from previewing any of Jacob’s live shows on TH-cam beforehand, and instead experience it myself in-person.
@@johnanderson290It truly was. I don't think watching his shows beforehand will lessen the real-life experience, but I do understand you'd want to do that!
absolutely incredible. I love how after a while of trying to deconstruct you just sat back and enjoyed it!!
You and others in the comments nailed how I felt seeing him live. Watching your expressions captures a tiny bit of that magic; I think we all could use more of that kind of connection. Jacob emits this weird, unifying, precious force. You feel like it could break or snap at any moment, but he shepherds you through. So, thank you for covering and sharing this.
He makes me cry every single time. Never fails. It's so beautiful...he is beautiful.
you think that ending was unbelievable? They rehearsed that. But you know what he does? He does it with live audiences at his shows. Completely untrained crowds, doing it. People have done this before of course. Freddie Mercury, great example. Bobby McFerrin another. But often pentatonic. Collier does it diatonic.
My understanding was they rehearsed it just enough so they knew what to expect, and most aren't trained singers/musicians. Just a collection of fans, though they likely would be more musically inclined that a random group of people off the streets. To me the amazing part is Jacob's coordination of the 3 different groups along with his own singing and playing
Reminds me of a young Sting. The sound in the voice, insane musical intelligence, and a genius artist.
But the complexity he is mastering… unbeatable!
This song hits this other-dimensional frequency that makes me cry instantly and automatically as soon as I hear it. Jacob is an alien.
Certain tones just get me in certain feels....
He makes me feel like an alien. Wanting to have a human experience like Jacob has.
Same with me 😢
Cringe.
Cringe. wtf
I'm both inspired and intimidated at the same time.
Welcome to Jacob Collier
Tears in my eyes. Thank you for sharing this with us.
I’ve never commented on anything online before. Watching your reaction to this made my heart sing. You were so clearly moved and described it so well as a musician and a human being. As a teenager, I remember buying the book and tuning my guitar to play Joni Mitchell’s music, and thinking only a true artist has the intuition and the courage to think like Joni “Why should I have to tune my guitar like everybody else?” Or, like Jacob, “I have only 5 fingers, why not a 5 string guitar?” Bravo.
Dude is just anointed. What else is there to say 😮💨
It’s awesome seeing my exact emotions reflected back to me from someone else while they listen to this song.
If you, like me, get moved to tears every time you "feel" Jacob -> ❤
You hit the nail on the head brother when you said he just somehow finds a way to make some of the most odd and complex music theory digestable to the common ear. Hes out of this world!
I LOVE this moment - that I experienced for myself years ago, watching Jacobs youtube clips - when musicians realize, that there is a person who understands, lives, teaches and loves music more than everybody else. Only once in a generation. And than the fact that it seems to be a very decent, humble, nice guy
He does this at almost every concert with asking the crowd to sing different pitches! It’s absolutely beautiful!
Being in the crowd during his concerts is the most unreal and incredible experience, I can attest to that
@@connor.chan.jazzmanI'm attending my first Jacob's show in a few weeks! Can't wait 😍
@@samuelpilon8525 Get ready for a truly unforgettable experience! I hope you have fun!
I'll never forget the time when I went to the comment section on a video of him years ago and every comment was..
"Welcome back Mozart"
It was like everyone was connected to this idea that this level of genius was just tied to the world and that it will come and go over time and present itself as it is needed.
Casey - beautifully said & I think you're on to something. ❤
It's the first time I've heard this song. For the longest time it felt for me that he was just some really talented dude who was throwing all the advanced stuff he knows here and there. I've listened to his songs & performances from time to time and had a really hard time connecting with it. He finally hit it for me with this one. This is the song.
Listening to this song is an emotiianal humbling experience in a good way, IMHO. Michael's explanation properly demonstrates that, going from the (very interesting!) musical technicalities (the chord changes etc.) to the emotional experience this is and we all can relate to!
A great complementary video to Jacob Collier's original video, thanx Michael 🙏!
watching him try to understand a guitar jacob invented and only he owns is amazing, parts of it are tuned like a bass because jacob learned upright base first, its tuned so he can move around the fretboard in thirds which helps the way he thinks about the instrument, another interesting thing is that its a 5 string on a six string neck! so theres more room for your fingers to run around. he just had a really interesting interview about it recently
My wife and I were able to be in Jacob’s concert and we were 20 feet away from him. The things that he does are surreal. A modern day genius. Very underrated.
He doesn´t touch everybody. Not me. But Roger Waters does.
I love your videos when you hit these gems. Reminds me of your reaction to Hi Ren. Beautiful how you start off with your normal approach to a deconstruction of a song and then eventually you just succumb to the brilliance of it.
Love Jacob’s new album, one of my favorite videos in a while!!
Bro, I'm not even a guitarist, and I'm absolutely in love with your guitar. The sound, how it weeps, the birds on the neck, the color, so dope...
Little Blue is my favorite Jacob Collier song so far. 💙 I truly hope you get the chance to experience Jacob Collier in concert. There's nothing better! Thanks for sharing your insights.
This song makes me cry every time.. masterpiece!
Had to hit like straight away. Watching Michael deconstructing tunes makes them even more powerful to me. ❤
Dude, I don’t even play guitar and I love watching your videos. You explain music so well and with such humility, you’re a very good teacher
Bro!! So glad you covered this song! And I appreciate how much you enjoyed it!
There are moments that touch your soul...and that is one of them.
The guitar was custom made by Taylor with 5 strings but the spacing of 6.
He dropped a Mahogany version of Summer Rain yesterday, it's a must follow-up to this
My absolute favourite track from his new album
Three musicians with perfect pitch show what that means toward the end. (Way out in left field comment: the last quarter of the song reminds me of Charles Ives, exploring just what fluid instruments for tonality voices can be.)
He took 10 minutes to just transform your feelings ❤
You are extremely true and honest.
I fell in love with Jacob Collier almost 10 years ago for his technical ability and recently had a new appreciation for his new music where he can take the more technical aspects and make music that is so easy to digest even for people who don't understand the technical side.
15:11 Jacob got so bored of playing regular instruments he just started playing crowds of people…
I love all of your videos. But this is by far my favorite because you’re appreciating this with the same mind-blown amplitude that I experienced the first time I heard this. Cheers.
Others have mentioned Jacob's recent conversation with Paul Davids (appropriately titled "How Jacob Collier Reinvented the Guitar"). Here is the link: th-cam.com/video/WknTbYOet4c/w-d-xo.htmlsi=v_8eYU-6EVpty4Rb
Yes, it's a custom five string guitar on a six string neck (allowing more space between the strings to bend notes). His tuning, I believe, is D, A, E, A, D so it is symmetrical around the middle E string.
Always so fun to watch the facial expressions of capable musicians when witnessing Collier being fully Collier! o_O LOL
First, I have no idea about music. Second, I still really like your channel. Third, sadly, here I don't get it. Yes, it's a pretty song. Except for the parts that sound bad to me. And no amount of "but it's Jacob and he's a genius" will make me enjoy those notes that sound bad to me.
I sent another Jacob Collier video (Wild Mountain Thyme w/ Dodie + Laufey) where the audience conduction is intensely beautiful to my mother in law, and this was her response: "When I hear that kind of group singing I always remember what my room-mate Lila once said at a no-nukes protest in the '70s, when the crowd sang some Dan Fogelberg song together (he must have been leading it?): "We always talk about how whales and wolves sound when they sing. I guess this is how humans sound."
Unaccountably, we sound beautiful."
Sorry, I just don't get it with this guy. Yes, he's very colourful, happy and smiley (and my god the world needs it) but I can't help but feel he's a case of Emperor's New Clothes. He's what l imagine a pop star from an intergalactic hippie colony living aboard a giant spacecraft would sound like....if he asked an AI music production vending machine to produce music for him. He's an extremely talented chap and I'll keep giving him another go but I'm yet to be wowed or truly moved by any of his stuff (although this came close!). Sorry to offend any of his devotees!
I'm the biggest Jacob fan there is but I hear this quite a lot, most people feel about him the way you do. And that's okay, I guess, I'd just say that he's TERRIBLE at making background music and I think that's what puts people off. Even I don't usually listen to him while doing something else because there's so much sonic information that it's overwhelming. But when you really sit down and give his music your full attention, that's when the absolute beauty comes in.
And before you say it, I do NOT mean this to say that you need to analyze him to appreciate him or in fact have any theoretical knowledge, I just mean that some music (or even most music that exists?) isn't made to be skimmed through, in the same way you wouldn't expect every Miles Davis or John Coltrane tune to be catchy and palatable (and yet be beautiful).
Basically, I think that's the major fault with him - he's slowly poking into the mainstream and being in the mainstream means being palatable to a vast majority of people. Which he just isn't, by choice at that.
I'm typing all of this because for months I was writing the same comment you've just made when I first heard his music. And then idk, one day I sat down and actually listened to an album of his without doing anything else. The song Once You ended and I found myself in tears. That's when I became a fan
The moment when I think: "that's it! I'm done! I quit music! I will never be able to produce smth like this." Like, OMG!
MF Genius!
Jacob just released another song from the mahogany session. Summer rain.
Exceptional indeed. Been listening to this nonstop for the past several days as I just discovered it. Glad to see your reaction to it as I just came across your channel a couple weeks ago! Great timing universe!
I think Jacob gave Michael a stroke in a few moments. There was definitely a few neural short circuits during a few of those flat 9 sus 7 diminished modulations.
This song is frankly one of the most beautiful pieces of music I have heard in my life. I'm wanting to drag my wife to his concert so she can just get a small hint of this.
There is a world trying to "keep it simple". And then there is Jacob.
Love you, man.
You should see Jacob do that bit at the end with a live audience from one of his shows. It's incredible.
Holy crap...what a journey. Music takes us on some amazing rides if we so choose to open up to it. Thanks for doing these videos
The natural reverb the building gives his voice is so nice ...
"It's terrifying that people like that exist."
Yup.
I'm reminded of the movie Amadeus, where Salieri realizes what a towering giant Mozart is in comparison to himself. We just can't compare.
It's one thing to have that level of musical genius, but it's so much more elevated because he's such s kind and genuine and humble human who is able to lead and inspire. Great reaction man!
The way he conducts the choir, he does this with audiences all the time. And when you learn about how he grew up it makes total sense why he's this good!
Jacob is a musical genius, not necessarily because he understands music 'technically' (which he absolutely does in a way very few do) he understands the human component as if it were a sixth sense, in tune with music and its capabilities that cant be learned. Synaesthesia on a natural level. Who knows. But it's a transcendental experience
I'm so glad you reacted to this performance. Everytime I listen to thi,s tears come to my eyes, but they are tears of joy. And I feel exactly like you said : it makes me stop learniing music because his music is overwhelming, and at the same time all I want to do is singing and making music because he is such an inspiration! Jacob is a gift for everyone to enjoy.
Never mind the 857 track multi-instrument recordings. This version of this song is the best thing Jacob has done to date.
And then he just proceeds to unplug the guitar
Thank you for honouring this song so well. Beautiful reaction.
If you’re interested in how beautiful group guitar can be, please consider doing a reaction to The White Horse Guitar Club and their song If I Needed You. It’s simple, beautifully arranged and leaves lots of room for your own creative addition.
He started by playing the guitar and ended by playing the choir as a fine instrument.
Your face at 15:18 is exactly every musician's face having experienced Jacob Collier's work for the first time.
This Mahogany session never fails to have me weeping like a child. For some reason it just hits me straight in the feels.
FYI his guitar is D A E A D
he says that he treats the middle string as a mirror, so that he can easily do octave'ish stuff and sus notes with open chords
One of the most beautiful pieces I've ever heard. Amazing.
Sounds medieval. And those are the times we are heading for
Jacob.....has turned so many genres of music "on its ear". So amazing! Thanks for the deep dive. Check out Bridge over Troubled Water if you REALLY want your mind blown!
His tuning is D A E A D. It’s a gorgeous tuning with the 2 sets of octaves and the 3rd down the middle. It also make playing incredibly easy
Really fantastic to see the initial utter confusion of the people analysing JC music - it sounds simple enough, but once they get into the weeds they realise how sophisticated the tunes are the confusion turns to wonder and they are inevitably completely blown away by his talent and feeling.