How many Chuggas before the Choo Choo? (music theory Q+A)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 มิ.ย. 2024
- Answering your hard-hitting questions!
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Peace,
Adam
"breathe in, breath out during improvising"
Wind players: 👍
You can switch to blues harp ;-)
breathe in, breathe out, breathe out, breathe out, breathe out, breathe out, breathe out, breathe out, breathe out.... pass out
It's still a good tip
If you begin feeling like you're out of breath during your songs you'll lose mental capacity
Try breathing exercises like circular breathing
Circular breathing 👍
@@nathanweiss5174 lmfaoo
This might be the most important topic you've ever tackled.
@@WithScienceAsMySheperd there’s more than one twing twang after ooh ee ooh ah ah?!
@@thekendemetrishow there are no twing twangs at all. There are ting tangs.
@@thirteenthtone I’m from New York, I figured maybe they do things differently other places 🤣🤣🤣
How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
I gave you your 666th like.
Because, come on, you can't just leave it on 665.
Hey! I wrote that paper at 4:50 (blink and you'll miss it). All those years in grad school finally payed off! :D
Good work man!
Amaze lol
Being featured in a video about how many chugas come before the choo choo is more than i would ever expect from my academic career.
Well done
That's awesome!
Now you just need to site this video in your next paper for a full round of meta.
This video has the biggest language barrier I have ever faced: the train in Italy does too-too too-too choof choof.
because Italian trains speak with a different accent
Well, in portugal it goes Pocaterra pocaterra pocaterra tchoo tchoo.
That is delightful!
in bosnian the train goes ćihu-ćihu ćihu-ćihu ćihu-ćihu ćihu-ćihu ću ću (chi-hoo-chi-hoo chi-hoo-chi-hoo chi-hoo-chi-hoo chi-hoo-chi-hoo choo choo)
@@amrafazlic7977 that’s actually pretty similar !!
“Chugga” is a trochee but “choo choo” is a spondee (both stressed)! This is the hill I will die on.
Yes! I kept waiting for him to get there.
a-greed
I was deeply disappointed NOT to learn the history of the spondee in the "Western" musical tradition, along with clever examples. :( SO sad? So SAD? SO SAD!
@agenttim5o it's called a pyrrhus (or pyrrhic)
@agenttim5o Same here, I feel it as one (1) trochaic chugga followed by one to two (1-2) pyrrhic chuggas, repeated to taste, and finally capped off with a spondaic choo choo.
I love how a discussion on chuggas and choos goes from Shakespeare to Black Sabbath to Kanye West. Truly we live in a society.
69 likes nice
@@noceur4441 69? By now, 15k! And I think I understand why 🤣👍
we truly bottom text, yes we do
That “breathe in. breathe out. breathe out” three-chord phrase was very pleasing
it's like how my meditation app always says breathe in for 4 and out for 6. Actually felt more balanced than the restless 2-chord loop before it.
Let's get off KiLtEr
"Choo Choo" is clearly a spondee, both choos should be identically stressed
I thought that too, like the Batman theme.
100%
I always did it as 4 chuggas and a spondee “choo choo”
But the first choo is only the testing the pressure release. So if we're talking trains I'd rather say its more like cho chooooo
@@vyl4650 but both choos are equally stressed, regardless of length.
3:19 “That song Kanye West did with Jay-Z” is a very back door way of saying the real title LOL
LMFAOOOO
Bruh. That’s what had me cracking up.
N words in paris
“The fellas’ in Paris”
individuals in paris
Breathe in, breathe out. Best advice I've gotten all day
I forgot to do that today and now I am dead :(
Hands up, now hands down
I don't know how I was living before I heard about that!
And don't forget to eat and drink and keep your heart pumping. Being a living human is step 1 in becoming a good musician. Very important.
I had a friend that emphasized the "butter" in "peanut butter" and it drove me absolutely nuts.
You mean legume ;)
like "peanut BUTTER vs peanut BRITTLE," as opposed to "PEANUT butter vs BUTTER butter"
In England I think it'd sound strange for us to emphasise the "peanut" as opposed to the "butter", also I like that you used the past tense "had" haha
I hope your pun was intentional
@@Alex-jq5ft this is why British accents are ridiculed online
When I was a child my grandfather told me that 🇺🇸 American trains have a rhythm of 4 16th notes (CHUgga-chugga CHUgga-chugga), while 🇯🇵Japanese one have a rhythm of triplets (CHUgada CHUgada)
I hope I will see him again before he dies 😢
That's fascinating. Do we know why?
Travel thousands of miles on Japanese trains and its like ticka ticka ticka, repeat. I can’t explain it but it sure does sound different to me. In the USA we live near tracks and I’d never be fooled to think it sounds like Japanese trains.
@@trishayamada807 Interesting ! I think my grandfather was talking about steam trains, is it what you are talking about?
Well some locomotives have 3 cylinders. Unique but there are many which produces a triplet feel. Thus chugada chugada works well in that context.
3:18 ah yes “distinguished gentlemen of African descent in the capital of France”
sneak 100
Trumpet Aceman, nice pfp
Choo Choo has always been double stressed to me. That’s why there’s 8 chuggas.
Same as the Batman theme then lol
@@EddieVanAidan woah
How can there not be 10 chuggas? Ahhhhhh
I did it a few in my head. I think 8 is the calmest. It completes the pattern before changing. Six replaces the last phrase with a novel substitution. And seven turns the fourth phrase into a hybrid chuggachoo which bridges into the 2nd choo on the 9th. 8 deliberate, 6 impatient, 7 propelled.
Double stress is called a spondee! (Double unstressed is a pyrrhus.)
I just want a 10-hour loop of that song at 5:21
Same. I love the three measure loop.
Agreed!
there should be 12 chuggas. that just feels most balanced and train-like to me. 6 and 8 are also acceptable.
I think that the spoken chuggas really represent an infinite or at least very large number of unspoken chuggas, at least for me. This is because trains travel for a really long distance.
12 is the only right answe
@@isaacsreal Well, I like 12, too, but it's not like real trains only "chugga" 12 times.
Personally I feel like 6 is the write answer so it fits nicely into 2 bars
that's an odd number of 4/4 chuggas bro no way... It's 8 FOR SURE
The fifth edition Real Book was SUCH a flex.
I aspire to be as good as you, and am not surprised you watch neely.
You fucking goofed Neely! The picture you posted for the "locomotive" is a Shay type locomotive, that has 3 cylinders - which means it actually "chuggas" in multiples of 3, whereas most steam locomotives do multiples of 2. Though I would agree shays are malformed locomotives...
Source: Chugga Expert (used to work for a railroad museum and restored / operated "chugga chugga choo choos")
"oops missed a note, whatever, I'm trying to deliver a monologue to the camera at the same time, sue me"
Prepare yourself, Adam.
Adam's perception of the "chuggas" (which is also mine), is that it matches the Batman theme.
Chugga chugga chugga chugga | chugga chugga chugga chugga | choo choooooooo
Nana nana nana nana | Nana nana nana nana | Batmannnnnnnn
You're welcome :)
Thanks I can't unhear it now
@@adamkoopmans3635 Mission accomplished!
Yes,!!
great! yes!
Alright and now my "theory":
The train subconsciously inspired the bat.
"Can you imagine being an athlete that doesn’t breath?"
me, a swimmer: "yea its honestly not too bad" 😂
Well swimmers should be the most aware of how important breathing is xd
@@elflogisto3089 lol so true definitely have learned the value of air
Do u ever get into a rhythm where you are counting your breaths in 3 or 4, "breath, 2 3 4, breath, 2 3 4, breath, 2 3 4...."
@@Schwidey for me it’s 4 or 8 strokes and a breath 😂 so it’s like 1 2 3 breathe, 2 2 3 breathe 🤭
@@Schwidey yes!!!
Breathing... My violin teacher ( who turned me on to your channel) told me it was important. Because if I passed out in the lesson room, he'd have tons of paperwork to fill out..
2:38 chugga chuggAMERICAN WOMAAAAAN
In the off-kilter example at 5:55 when he layers in the clips from The Karate Kid, he shifts "breathe in/out" so it alternates between feeling like a trochee and an iamb. Well played, I appreciate the attention to detail
I love how he ends talking about chuggas and choos for 3:30 minutes and makes total sense.
i am supposed to be revising poetic meter for English literature and I watched this video to procrastinate I cannot escape
It brings great joy when Adam fires a direct and precise answer to a flippant question.
I agree with your statement on the " * chuggas before the choo choo" because its the same rhythm as the classic bathman theme.
8:06 "oops missed a note, whatever, I'm trying to deliver a monologue to the camera at the same time, sue me"
;)
In conclusion, bottoms up, so sue me. Sue me, alright?
Repetition legitimizes
I showed this to my teacher during orchestra class. He remarked how he probably went to Berkeley around the same time as you (which blew my mind) and then we watched the chugga part of the video as a class. Today's been pretty cool.
That would be Berklee, in Boston MA
Berkeley is in CA
just an FYI
That is awesome
This is pure gold. Thank you!
Thanks so much for recommending that 99% podcast, it was such and interesting and entertaining listen! Also the video you did on it was fantastic!
Moral of story: We are athletes of the fine muscles 💪🏼
Breathe in, breathe out
For those curious, @ 8:06 it says "oops I missed a note, whatever. I'm trying to deliver a monologue to the camera at the same time. Sue me"
The amount of effort you put into every video is insane!
One of my favorite super fast Q and As!
I remember when I realized the chorus to "Roxanne" is a three-chord loop. It can be used to great effect...I like it
Yes, it's the same with the chorus of Can't stand losing you, I think it gives it a sense of urgency
@@johnbanjo5772 Yeah, it never quite "finishes"
I think the Pixies do that a lot? Somebody more competent please weigh in 😂
Adam: “There should be eight chuggas before the choo-choo.”
Me: “I believe every word that man just said because it’s exactly what I wanted to hear.”
Faith in humanity restored.
I do seven chuggas because it makes an 4/4 beat with the choo-choos.
8 or 6 fits for me
@@WhatIsMyPorpoise chaotic good
@@WhatIsMyPorpoise a
GOOD GOD THAT TONE WHEN YOU COME IN WITH THAT OFF KILTER PHRASING, LOVE IT AND AS ALWAYS LEARN SOMETHING NEW AND MUSICALLY/MENTALLY STIMULATING THANK YOU!
That mister miyagi mesh up was incredible! For me it also shows that our feel for music is deeply connected with our internal rhythms like breathing or walking.
Dancer here. Pretty cool how all of these pieces of advice apply to dance as well
Music is music, and that's a wonderful thing.
But are we human, or are we dancer?
Dude. So happy you mentioned War Pigs. For decades of my life, my brain heard the riff as + 1, an iamb. When, the lyrics/band would come in, my brain would melt until it could rearrange things. I had to intentionally think 1 + in order to enjoy the song. Thanks for the great content!
Holy crap, I thought I was the only one! I eventually “fixed my brain” and now I hear it the way I’m supposed to but at first it really messed with me.
I'm trying to figure this out. I can't hear it as anything other than an iamb, but that sounds perfectly fine to me? Where does the awkwardness come in?
@@threedog99 Try counting +1, 2, 3, 4... out loud with the song. If you start with the iamb, everything is off by half a beat. Then try 1+, 2, 3, 4... I can't even count the song the wrong way, now. My brain has totally flipped because I base the beat on the vocals instead of the guitar, like I used to do.
@@friendlynomad9840 Interesting. I think what I actually hear is "+4, 1, 2, 3', where the vocals start on the 1? But either way, I don't hear the off-beat shift as necessarily wrong either. It's just some interesting syncopation as far as I'm concerned
Completely amazing. Keep it up, Neely!
That 3 chord loop jam was super chill. Can we get a fully fleshed out song version?
5:34 lofi producers: hippity hoppity this is now my property
Oh yes, That Song With Jay Z, my favorite in the Kanye West discography
Who was in Paris, Adam?
@@l_ndonmusic Nathans
Hey Adam, love your work and attitude. In a future Q&A, I’d love to see an answer to the question: What is a common factor that prohibits the transition of instrumentalists from thinking in terms of patterns and muscle memory to thinking in notes/pitches when playing along with a song or other musicians?
Groove on
5:54 i love how you first accented the breathe, and then the in/out
you just played with the accents again
adam is so meta
Petition to have Adam drop a pinned comment under Q+A vids under which people can also submit their questions for the next Q+A. You know, for those who can't/won't use Instagram :-)
I'd appreciate that.
Yeah I’d like that
+1
When I run, my breathing naturally falls into a pattern of in-out-out. I think I run in 6/8 time.
Holy shit so do I. And you just made me realize it, so thanks.
Saaaame
i looove using odd length chord loops. such a simple way to make simple progressions really hold a lot of tension and interest
To my ears 4/8 chuggas work as one standalone system. You chugga, you choo, you done. 3 feels unfinished so it doesn't sound weird to keep going. 3,6,3,6 just has such a nice jam to it
To quote the great Robin Williams:
“I’m not doing something...what is it? Oh right! Breathe!”
AAAAA WTF THAT LITTLE BASS JAM WITH THE 3 CHORD PROGRESSION EXAMPLE IS SO GOOD
this may be the best content i've seen over the past few years, well done! 👏👏
*Great topic and amusing too. Brings out the important relationship between poetry/text and metre/rhythm. If I ran a university music school I’d want to hire you to liven up the theory and music history/culture departments. Nice bass player too.*
Remember to breathe while improvising.
Horn players: “no shit”
Breathe in, then breathe out.
Back up, back up, tell me what you're gonna do now.
KEEP ROLLIN' ROLLIN' ROLLIN' ROLLIN'
But where are the hands in that story? Up? Down? Left? Right? WE NEED TO KNOW!
😂😂😂👌🏽
Oh that intro Adam so clean love it.
OMG Dale Music in Silver Spring! I took flute lessons there - way back in the last century. Also bought lots of sheet music and music books there. So we have a connection! So cool!
I’m gonna make a 5/8 chugga chugga chugga choo choo song now to emphasize the difference between iamb and trochee.
That song* I believe it's called Gentleman in France
My guitar teacher noticed when I play and get nervous or stressed I tend to clench my jaw and it makes the rest of my body tense up too, so he suggested I try to unclench my jaw when I play and it always makes me relax and improves my rhythm and generally stay more in the moment rather than worrying about how well I'm playing.
Dont know who edits your videos.. but man... They have a TON of work. Congrats for all that work and tks for your content. Keep posting quality. 👍
Adam: writes music in time signatures far beyond my comprehension switching seamlessly
Also Adam: multiples of 2 and 4 only! >:(
My band director played this in class today. Just the chugga chugga choo choo part. Today was a good day.
Great video
I think 12 chuggas before the choo choo sounds good, where the chuggas are trochees and the choo choo is a spondee (both stressed).
Chugga chugga chugga chugga Xiu Xiu
Sounds like a fast train.
From this day forward, every time I hear the opening of "War Pigs", I'm singing "choo choo".
No more chugga chugga have the power
Choo Choo has struck the hour?
Hi Adam, I'm loving your channel! for an upcoming Q&A could you give us a basic rig-rundown for your studio video setup?
Adam Neely is AMAZING!
That bass in 5:30 is some good morning vibes rn
I thought he would go over in a mario theme.. dissappointed!
That's nice. Do you know what kind of bass it is (and pickups)?
2:32 I mean arguably it's a linguistics question because stress in language is a linguistics thing but also this is semantics and Im a linguistics nerd, I'll go back to my "umm akshyually" neckbeard cave
same
I got the notification for this 4 days after I watched it, thanks YooTuub!
That progression was tight as The voice leading sounds really cool
More goldddd
I always heard the “choo-choo” as a spondee, not an iamb or trochee. Like the way Damon Wayans says “toot toot” in Major Payne, when he tells the story of The Little Engine that Could.
"Yeah … Let's get off-kilter." A motto for life.
8:06 “oops missed a note, whatever, I’m trying to deliver a monologue to the camera at the same time, sue me”
What a trip having the bass player from your high school jazz band show up as the first one of Adam Neely's recommendations!
Malformed Train is the name of my next album
Love the subtle bass face during the even chu chu’s 😂
Subtle?
I find it quite brilliant how you always manage to create a sort of overarching story in each of these Q&As.
Brilliant!
One thing I noticed about the three chord loop is that while it sounded odd at first, the more you played it the nicer it sounded until repetition legitimizes, repetition legitimizes, repetition legitimizes.
Adam Neely, finding answers to the world's greatest mysteries
When you did the loop thing and had that dude saying breathe in and out it reminded me of the band lemon Jelly, particularly the Staunton lick
Adam, what's your skin care routine? Please include in the next Q+A
Actually. On a two cylinder steam locomotive(most of them), the two cylinders are a quarter of the wheel appart, thus creating the two louder and two quieter exhaust sounds we emulate as CHU-GA-chu-ga. There are, however many three cylinder steam locomotives(here in europe especially high speed passenger train ones), that make a very distinctive TA-ka-ta TA-ka-ta triplet sound. As the ways we emulate the sound have probably evolved from real life experiences of our ancestors, both multiplies of three and four are valid if voiced correctly. What's wrong is multiplies of any other number, unless you're in the us and then probably shay locomotives and similar contraptions could have more than three cylinders.
Now everyone can relax in the warm, soft duvet of Roman Mars' voice. Blessed be 99pi.
Question for next Q&A:
Can you explain what the purpose of the bottom number in the time signature is? I know what it does functionally when I’m reading the music, but I can’t understand why you would compose with, for example, 9/8 vs 9/4. I know things like cut time had more to do with conductors physically not being able to move their arms at some speeds. The end result of the music would be the same whether a quarter note or an eight note is one beat. This feels similar to that discussion you had with your bandmates about duplets vs dotted eighths in a 6/8 measure. Is it just that we want to communicate a specific idea to the performer on how to feel the music? Like how ¾ is different from 9/4 because of how we feel the pulse. Hope that question makes sense. I haven’t been super great with music theory but would like to try composing things. :D Keep being awesome!
Hey Adam! Nice video but just meant to say that the Choo-choo is a spondee (double accent) and there's no way around it. It is true however that if we wanted to modify it, it would be easier to change to a trochee than an iamb! Also, we don't think about Shakespeare + Milton and verses of the time as strictly in iambic pentameter, that's old stuff: it's about how you break the monotony of an iambic rhythm with a different rhythmic foot in an important conceptual area of the verse! And in this case, the CHOO CHOO is important af, so it has to be a spondee to show its climatic awesomeness. Thanks for your videos man.
Fun fact: Some teachers are cool when you use Adam Neely’s videos as your sources
(At least mine did)
I am studying to be a music teacher atm and honestly, I will actually recommend him to my future students :)
My teacher use it as a source to explain scotch snaps 😂
@@johannsebastianbach2997 Seems like the teacher everyone would love to have :)
@@Ninja_204 That sounds like a fun class lol
The song you played to explain subjective rhytmization made me realize that lo-fi hip hop is just gen Z lounge
Someone tell me I'm not the only one that was hearing the Athletic Theme from Mario World but really chill when he starts playing on the 3 chord loop.
8 chugas as adam sang them then 5 ish more(same rythm) and choo choo. The imperfection is what makes perfection
That bit at 6:00 was honestly the best thing I've heard on this channel yet
Just have to say about the ”Chuggas”, that if you imagine them as part of a pickup measure, the first Choo in ”Choo-Choo” can still be on the downbeat.
i swear I have been running the “that shit cray” change up in my head for the past month
answering the important questions