man, please please please don't ever stop making these Elliott analyses! this is such high quality content and i appreciate it immensely! (yes, i think you're ready for that dog)
I think that "misdirection" is a core part of what makes this song work. The odd bar structure makes this song quite unpredictable. I hear this kind of thing quite a lot in music from the late 90s and early 00s indie scene where it felt like most of the obvious metric possibilities had been used up. What it means in the context of the song, I'm not entirely sure, but it could tie into the whole lyrical idea of being compelled by a higher power, maybe one which is pushing Elliott's songwriting into uncomfortable territory, or maybe he is wrestling for control over his own life and it's reflected by the refusal to follow a standard 4-bar structure? I can't be sure but I can tell it's brilliant.
I just picked up the piano a few weeks ago and I can understand some of this theory but a lot of it is way out of reach currently but I can tell this is a great video still
this is one of the coolest videos i've seen in a long time on yt, thanks for putting in so much time and effort to make it. i learned some things! son of sam is one of my favorites, and it was really cool to take a look under the hood and see what makes it tick. i think a "jazzier" "espac" might be a #4-7b5 4min6 I, which is a sequence I like a lot.
Honestly such incredible lessons, and on piano too (every time I try to learn an Elliott song on piano I take one look at the chords with all the add/7/9s etc and just give up)
Thanks a lot for this man! I'm trying to decipher/study "Figure 8" and it's difficult. This one came in the most appropriate time. Elliott is the best, the more harmonic analysis videos of his music, the better! Congrats!
I've always wanted to be able (if not define) at least put some words or a magnifying glass to those special flavors that these truly unique voices in indie/underground music create. Say, Bjork's note choice melodies or Omar Rodriquez-Lopez's labyrinthian way of writing riffs in ATDI/Mars Volta. Elliott Smith is another. I know these songs inside and out and have attempted to learn many of them (at least a simplified version of them). Just hearing the chord progression played out in stark open whole notes, welled up tears in my eyes. So freaking gorgeous. Glad I've been studying enough to get a bit out of the music theory side of this too. Wonderful. Sometimes the internet is a lovely place.
These videos are a huge blessing, and you are really good at not only the analysis itself but also explaining things concisely so even someone like myself (whose theory is pretty shaky) can understand. The bit about the variable area using how jazz musicians shake up the 12 bar blues as an example was especially clear and useful!
Some David Ackles analyses would be good, especially of the ballads (e.g. "Love's Enough", "Another One Night Stand", "Waiting For The Moving Van", "I've Been Loved", "One Good Woman's Man"), which often feature interesting piano playing and instrumental arrangements.
What a joy to listen to! I went through so many similar thought processes when I was making a cover of this song. I'd love it if you'd check it out and let me know what you think. The video just shows me lip syncing while playing an acoustic guitar, but the audio is a track by track recreation of the song.
Thanks for writing! I did not intend to imply anything about his mode of thinking while composing, simply to describe the musical patterns in the most objective way possible. Which is admittedly a difficult task! being that our terms for harmonic analysis are still centered around baroque music, and modern day analysis is undergoing a certain identity crisis IMO. Functions have totally altered, yet we feel the baggage of 100s of years of tradition/language.. This way or that way of thinking is not "right" or "wrong" and it's all very personal. I'll stop myself, ...Interesting stuff, be well!
@@addyd.3140 Oh for sure! I'm not implying you did and not implying that it's a bad thing! Just pointing out that it's ironic that Elliotts level of theory was not highly advanced and yet he made these masterpieces!
@@levigonzalez2498 I gotchu! I would just put in for consideration that his "language" of theory was maybe not very advanced, (as you say, didn't use these terms/names) but in "practice," his arsenal of tools and tricks was very advanced. And he knew what he was doing. Much more valuable than reciting textbooks if you ask me! I guess all I'm trying to say is that all songwriters use music theory (no matter what they say), and knowing the agreed-upon terms is just the next layer of language/communication. And totally less cool than writing masterpieces, if you had to choose one or the other, lol.
Based on previous content, I knew I could give a thumbs up before even watching it.
man, please please please don't ever stop making these Elliott analyses! this is such high quality content and i appreciate it immensely!
(yes, i think you're ready for that dog)
Thank you for the encouragement! (in both departments )
Amazing video dude, Elliott's songwriting sophistication was unreal.
I think that "misdirection" is a core part of what makes this song work. The odd bar structure makes this song quite unpredictable. I hear this kind of thing quite a lot in music from the late 90s and early 00s indie scene where it felt like most of the obvious metric possibilities had been used up. What it means in the context of the song, I'm not entirely sure, but it could tie into the whole lyrical idea of being compelled by a higher power, maybe one which is pushing Elliott's songwriting into uncomfortable territory, or maybe he is wrestling for control over his own life and it's reflected by the refusal to follow a standard 4-bar structure? I can't be sure but I can tell it's brilliant.
Love that. Thank you for offering your thoughts and contributing to the discussion.
Love this video! excitedly awaiting more ES videos is the future!
Excellent as always. Would love a whole video dedicated to jazz composers playing with the blues form, that was fascinating!
I just picked up the piano a few weeks ago and I can understand some of this theory but a lot of it is way out of reach currently but I can tell this is a great video still
this is one of the coolest videos i've seen in a long time on yt, thanks for putting in so much time and effort to make it. i learned some things! son of sam is one of my favorites, and it was really cool to take a look under the hood and see what makes it tick. i think a "jazzier" "espac" might be a #4-7b5 4min6 I, which is a sequence I like a lot.
Oh you did both HW 1 and 2 in one answer eh?? So like in key of C:
f#halfdim7 f-6 C ?
That's nice. Hey thanks so much for writing!
Honestly such incredible lessons, and on piano too (every time I try to learn an Elliott song on piano I take one look at the chords with all the add/7/9s etc and just give up)
Thanks a lot for this man! I'm trying to decipher/study "Figure 8" and it's difficult. This one came in the most appropriate time. Elliott is the best, the more harmonic analysis videos of his music, the better! Congrats!
I've always wanted to be able (if not define) at least put some words or a magnifying glass to those special flavors that these truly unique voices in indie/underground music create. Say, Bjork's note choice melodies or Omar Rodriquez-Lopez's labyrinthian way of writing riffs in ATDI/Mars Volta. Elliott Smith is another. I know these songs inside and out and have attempted to learn many of them (at least a simplified version of them). Just hearing the chord progression played out in stark open whole notes, welled up tears in my eyes. So freaking gorgeous. Glad I've been studying enough to get a bit out of the music theory side of this too. Wonderful. Sometimes the internet is a lovely place.
I love these videos. I am guaranteed to learn something interesting while getting to know artists I was not familiar with. Keep it up.
i love this and all your theory analysis vids
Thanks, you are so kind!
These videos are a huge blessing, and you are really good at not only the analysis itself but also explaining things concisely so even someone like myself (whose theory is pretty shaky) can understand. The bit about the variable area using how jazz musicians shake up the 12 bar blues as an example was especially clear and useful!
Thank you kindly for writing! And really glad that they are helpful.
@addyd.3140 No problem! Thank you for all the videos!
i love your videos thank you for making them! they’re super informative and enjoyable. thank you!
Thanks for sayin' that!
ya love to see it
That was amazing.
Awesome content. Thank you!
Amazing. I love these videos so much. Thank you!
heyo Addy, always love an Elliott analysis from ya. would you wanna work through one of your songs as a video? Sea Creature is one of my favorites!
also im watchin the new judee sill doc rn. great so far!
Haha! You're very kind, I'd love to I don't think anyone would watch it though!
10/10
Could you do Independence Day by Elliott?
i love addy d
You have to ask yourself - what is the love from a dog really a substitution for?
Yikes...hmm. Love from a god?
Some David Ackles analyses would be good, especially of the ballads (e.g. "Love's Enough", "Another One Night Stand", "Waiting For The Moving Van", "I've Been Loved", "One Good Woman's Man"), which often feature interesting piano playing and instrumental arrangements.
What a joy to listen to! I went through so many similar thought processes when I was making a cover of this song. I'd love it if you'd check it out and let me know what you think. The video just shows me lip syncing while playing an acoustic guitar, but the audio is a track by track recreation of the song.
Pls do everything means nothing to me
the funny thing is Elliott didn't think in these terms. He knew his chord names (kinda) but that was about it
great video nonetheless
Thanks for writing! I did not intend to imply anything about his mode of thinking while composing, simply to describe the musical patterns in the most objective way possible. Which is admittedly a difficult task! being that our terms for harmonic analysis are still centered around baroque music, and modern day analysis is undergoing a certain identity crisis IMO. Functions have totally altered, yet we feel the baggage of 100s of years of tradition/language.. This way or that way of thinking is not "right" or "wrong" and it's all very personal. I'll stop myself, ...Interesting stuff, be well!
@@addyd.3140 Oh for sure! I'm not implying you did and not implying that it's a bad thing!
Just pointing out that it's ironic that Elliotts level of theory was not highly advanced and yet he made these masterpieces!
@@levigonzalez2498 I gotchu! I would just put in for consideration that his "language" of theory was maybe not very advanced, (as you say, didn't use these terms/names) but in "practice," his arsenal of tools and tricks was very advanced. And he knew what he was doing. Much more valuable than reciting textbooks if you ask me! I guess all I'm trying to say is that all songwriters use music theory (no matter what they say), and knowing the agreed-upon terms is just the next layer of language/communication. And totally less cool than writing masterpieces, if you had to choose one or the other, lol.
@addyd.3140 great points