Disclaimer: This is not a 1:1 replacement for the EXPERIENCE of studying music for 9 years. But I truly believe it is a distillation of about 95% of the relevant theory that I learned. There's also an emphasis on harmony over rhythm because it requires more explanation. That doesn't mean it's more important. Jazz is a language of rhythms, harmonies, and melodies that has to be spoken over and over again to become fluent. It's an aural tradition and there's no substitute for learning from the performances of jazz masters like Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, Chick Corea, and more. There is no substitution for years of practice, transcribing solos, developing rhythmic independence, learning tunes, and most importantly, playing with other musicians. All the jazz greats learned on the bandstand, not a classroom. Some resources for topics I didn't cover: Coltrane changes/substitutions: th-cam.com/video/LRSDgID_c7s/w-d-xo.htmlsi=cHsr_RjKYWiG1A9i Upper structure triads: th-cam.com/video/9bo_VEtEpWE/w-d-xo.htmlsi=OC87uthN-yNzfzKH Bebop vocabulary: th-cam.com/video/jC8tn6Wggxs/w-d-xo.htmlsi=Z_Ajs3mQ7-D-oN5O Clave: th-cam.com/video/Ye7d5mPNfYY/w-d-xo.htmlsi=PDQ1ljRweH0aetQX Jazz history: www.pbs.org/kenburns/jazz/
9 Years? Well I would say 1 or 2 months, that's what it took for me to learn this, and in a regular way. In fact, Theory is really fast to learn if you work hard, you can see it in 15 minutes, understand it pofondly in 15 hours, learning it in 15 or 30 days, practice it on the sheet in few months, and practice it on your instrument during several years to mastering it, and I'm not speaking of all the technical work... Well it's an ocean ^^
I hold a PhD in physics and play jazz (Guitar). I was delighted to see the harmonic series as your starting point, Eric. This stems from the solution to the the wave equation for a guitar string that is pinned at two end points (nut and bridge). Similar results are obtained for a closed tube horn when excited by the player's breath/lips. Many music schools have eliminated the fundamental course "The Physics of Music" to make way for new topics in modern jazz. That is a big mistake because the physics of sound production is at the heart of harmony ( e.g. Pythagoras and his single string guitar = musical "Big Bang") . I am sometimes called upon to give a ZOOM lecture on this topic - the first Giant Step to understanding musical instruments. It is not that hard when explained intuitively and it gives the solid foundation for further learning in music, including jazz chords and improvisation. Thank You!
And I went to business school and picked up the guitar in my early 40:s. Oh how I wish I'd started playing in middle school and then studied theoretical physics 😅
Yo I can't express how helpful the fretboard above is. Literally played guitar for 20 years but always struggled to translate music theory from piano to a fretboard
ive played some piano but i am now means good at it, even though the guitar is a 10x more complicated instrument i dont have enough experience to really visualize whats happening but seeing chord shapes on a guitar versus a keyboard makes it seem super easy and intuitive
@@SomeoneThatIsHappy Guitar is much more complicated. On a piano you just memorize and press buttons rhythmically. On a guitar you have to hit every fret perfectly in sync with your picking hand, and any minute change in how you do either can drastically effect the sound produced. Not to mention the time it takes to master barre chords and so on!!
@@hey9433 piano is way more than "just memorize and press keys on the rhythm", you could say the same to any instrument guitar included. Also, the things you've mentioned are only difficult for beginner guitarrists, and like i said piano is more complicated on high level playing. If we were to talk about beginner, than yes guitar is much harder.
It's easier as a beginner for a guitarist. After a certain threshold, it's hard to be actually considered a good guitarist as there are so many ways to express the same note on the instrument, as opposed to piano, which is an amazing instrument to allow you to express yourself freely, which definitely has a much higher barrier to entry, but after a certain point, is easier to express yourself than a guitar
This is the best jazz video on all of TH-cam. No nonsense, only perfect explanations of all of jazz. No selling. No "secrets". Absolutely wonderful. Even as a veteran jazz musician myself, hearing concepts I'm familiar with explained and shown in such a straight forward, matter of fact way is extremely helpful.
I'm an engineer who's been studying jazz for 3 decades, and this video finally made so many things click with me. So many teachers have tried to explain all of these concepts to me, but so far it had always felt disjunct. Your video should be called something like "The Unifying Theory of Jazz", because you did SO well in explaining the root concepts that bind all of this together into one comprehensive and comprehensible blob of information. I will spend the next decade using this video as my guide to music.
The real challenge after learning all this is how to turn this information into meaningful exercises so one can embody the stuff and be fluent with it in a creative and emotional manner. My personal problem sometimes is that I can't detach from the "intellectual" size of understanding stuff while sometimes it's more helpful just to "feel what it is" without trying to understand too mathematically.
Fuck around and find out. Test different chord progressions with different voicings... i do it in a rather chaotic manner, simply taking songs my friends put on the speaker recently, finding the bass, finding the chords, then messing around with voicings, change instruments (violin, organ, guitar from my fl studio + midi controller, even bass guitar, 808s... playing bass on my midi keyboard really exploded my left hand level as it's just soooo much fun to play bass in a tight pocket with drum loops) , add drum loops of different styles from drum and bass to blues shuffle... it's very chaotic but as long as you force yourself to regularly (during a playing session) step out of your comfort zone and try something else, you'll develop freedom behind the keys. Again, my method is very chaotic, but like you i got my head wrapping knots around trying to do it systematically, + it wasn't fun to me so i barely made progress. Good luck !
I practice new ideas intentionally, and after a while the new stuff starts showing up even when I'm not thinking about it. So, I'll go back and forth between intentional practice and free playing. I practice quartiles much more often than they appear... but then, maybe I'm just not in that mood very often? I still practice it intentionally, so it's there if I want it.
A lot of people recommend me to look at theory as a tool for categorizing the sounds=feelings in your head, so you can use it as a way to racionalise those feelings and stack more complexity. Neither English or jazz are my first language. Love from Spain!
This video should be required viewing for any music student in every music school. I've been a musician for decades but have recently taken my mostly self-taught music knowledge a step up, through online lessons. Years of absorbing music theory have been ironed-out in this amazing 15 minute video. (with all the rewinding, much longer than 15 minutes for me). Thank you so much.
Of course, I'd imagine the 9 years is about the "when" and the "how" to use all of these concepts, haha! Next task is extrapolating from the foundations to the multitudinous techniques and vocabulary in the tradition, and that is the task of a lifetime. Great video, I really liked how you summarized everything!
@@Gameboy2007-Official it's nice that he likes it, maybe he will become one of those multi instrumentalist gods who can play literally fucking anything
even tho i've been sporadically adding most of this by being an obsessive music theory youtube watcher, you managed to surprise me with a few things like the four-note scales which i'd never noticed or thought to try. thanks for making this cheat sheet!
Wow. I never thought jazz could be even more complicated. This is like the orange juice ocncedntrate of jazz tutorials. Yeah, it's 15 minutes, but I'm going to have to review it over about 15 months. But, I have to confess that this is the best explanation of jazz and music theory I've seen. It's profoundly concise and super clear. my absorption rate is just really slow (because I'm dense). Thanks for this resource. I guarantee it will advance my musical knowledge and ability enormously. My instrument is guitar, BTW.
6 หลายเดือนก่อน +1
You’re not dense. Music theory can get extremely complex. It’s mainly due to the fact that it’s just foreign to most people. Music is a language; specifically a mathematical language, and most people haven’t learned to read, write, or speak it. I’ve been studying music theory myself for roughly 13 or 14 years, and playing my instrument for over 30. Yet, while I do have a solid grasp with most of this stuff, it does still get dicey for me to understand at times. The fundamentals are the most important thing in music theory, and that part is fairly easy to understand.
This is such a good summary thanks!! I’m a self taught jazz musician. Over 40 years I discovered all those patterns - but didn’t know how to articulate them. I considered going to Jazz school as an old dude - but thanks to your video I don’t have to. Brilliant summary.
This is awesome man. As a totally self taught musician, this is a great resource, as well as a reminder of how much knowledge I've acquired over the years. I don't think there was anything presented here that I wasn't already pretty familiar with. Just reinforces the idea that I need to continue taking that info and drilling it deeper and deeper into my subconscious
I did a bout of schooling but only some jazz. I knew a lot of this but even after years of additional TH-cam I hadn't heard of parent scales. It's already taken a bunch of pausing and parsing and it's going to take even more time to revisit and digest. Thanks for a great resource!
Thanks for this! … It was around 10:28 when I first hit some unfamiliar stuff … will definitely need to revisit a lot after that point, in front of my piano.
I thought I knew quite a lot before watching this video, but I still learned a thing or two from it but the main thing for me was that now everything is so much more structured in my head. This is a very very good summary, I'm happy that I clicked on this video! Thank you
It might be my individual experience but I was taught all this information on an undergraduate level degree. This covers jazz harmony 1 - 4 of the Berklee classes I think. The time and money would've been better spent practicing, performing and having a mentor. Although, this is a great video to have an overview of what one will see in jazz harmony classes.
Just discovered your channel today, always wanted to study Jazz - guitar and e-bass - but two things got in my way, lack of time, and my fear of Jazz theory, which seems like a mountain to climb for me. Hopefully, your videos will unlock things for me enough so that I'll be able to begin to grasp the fundamentals enough so that I can start playing basic Jazz music in about a year. * subscribed *
Gosh. All that space in between notes on a piano for the harmonic series sounds magical. Guitar (my instrument) feels so limited. This video is great. Thanks!
Amazing video and thanks for sharing. I would argue most of the theory, while wonderfully explained here, is not particulary "jazz" but common theory to all western contemporary music.
The part about the harmonic series and the Lydian F# helps a tiny little bit with the impenetrable thicket of George Russel's Lydian Chromatic concept of tonal organization.
I like that too many times the pianist plays a giant chord and the guitar robot says: Nope, too many notes. That sums up in-studio experience between pianists and guitarists xD
Thank you many times over. The quick overview reveals insight that slowly gained details fail to reveal, may even hide. Certainly true in this description. Excellent. Should be the intro for all beginning jazz students as well as a reminder from time to time along the way as big picture reminds end game goals.
After I finish watching this, I have two more 15 minute videos in the queue to get doctorates in Ancient Greek and then Roman History. My mother will be so proud!
The hard thing in jazz is hearing a jazz track and following the changes by ear so that you can improvise something into it that sounds good. (I don't mean "smooth jazz" that is basically just R&B pop with the vocal replaced by an instrument where the only key change is toward the end of the tune, up by a full step. I mean actual jazz.) The second hard thing is that even if you are given a sheet with the chord progression, is knowing (instantly knowing) what to play.
im studying music theory since childhood and i still feel like if u wanna follow along this vid, u already need serious theory knowledge x) yet i think its a great vid with great and comforting explanations, i learned a lot
very good and simple! That is most of the things teached in pop&jazz conservatory Helsinki, Finland. I studied music technology and never did this connection between rhythm and harmonic series even mentioned. I bet they did not know. I learn that also only recently from YT video. Time and tempo relationship was taught but that was very important if a delay unit needs to be used with sync to a note lenght. No tap tempo so printed out column with quarternote lenght in milliseconds in tempos from 50 to 200 Bbm. The other theory stuff was teached just like in your video and in my opinion it was told in a simple way that should be assimilated by people urged to to learn this stuff pretty easily. Thanx!
👌I wish my Professor in geophysics was as so clear and effortless in explaining difficult material as you've done here! Job beautifully done, me thinks.
I’m just 10 seconds into the video, no idea what the rest is about, but I’ll say one thing - I would 100% spend 10-15 years studying there to play and have a photo with John Williams.
I'm so glad I stole the pdf rather than paying to practice. You saved me me the academic journey but spared the most important part.....playing with all those other high level musicians.❤❤❤❤ Alright ...now do 22 shruti and Sagittal Notation lol s
Brilliant, Mate. Like you, all the buzz of jazz school was playing with other great musiciains, but your description of the theory is almost all of the important theory. Cheers! Love it :)
❤GREAT video! My two cents;study piano&drums regardless of primary instrument;although melodic,harmonic,& rhythmic permutations are nearly infinite,become familiar with what I like to call the BIG7 scales;Major,Harmonic Major,melodic minor,harmonic minor,diminished,V diminished,& whole tone ❤ I thank Jesus everyday for filling my life with music;I started singing in childhood,playing various instruments at 16,I’m 73 now&shred out everyday!❤
good video, I started at a university but dropped out after 2 quarters because of too many non music classes & went instead to G.I.T. for their 1 year program (back in 86-87) & it pretty much covered all that stuff plus a lot of other things that really helped me (along with getting to study with some great guitarists). So I'm really glad I made the decision I did instead of just sticking it out for a degree.
@@MissionSilo Guitar Institute of Technology or currently usually called Musicians Institute (in the 80s it had a bunch of great guitarists like Paul Gilbert, Frank Gambale & Jennifer Batten who all started as students then became instructors)
i learned so much from this Video, thank you. It really helped getting my studying structured. I will watch it many times, until i get every last bit...
Never understand that parent scale or chord-scale system taught in Jazz… what’s the point of saying that the parent scale for CMAJOR chord is C Ionian scale? If I’m in the key of G than I think that I m gonna use F# instead of F over a CMAJOR. If I m in the key of F I have a Bb over a CMAJOR chord. If we gonna talk in terms of modes than it’s C LYDIAN in the key of G and C MIXOLYDIAN in the key of F. Does this system of chords- scale ( or parent scales ) only applies when we have NO TONAL CENTER ( aka no defined KEY we play in ) ? What’s the point in saying “ use c Ionian scale over a C MAJOR CHORD”. Doesn’t it depends on the key we are playing in? Can anyone help me understand that ? Thank u , great video btw❤
That’s actually a good point. I’ve heard some of the older generation like Barry Harris say something to that effect. Like if you’re playing the iii chord, you’re playing phrygian, not dorian, for example. I think both approaches work and it depends on the style. I think the key-driven approach is more applicable to straight ahead. In a more modern approach, when you’re playing more extensions on major and minor chords, the parent scale approach is more applicable. That’s just my opinion though.
Modes enable you to talk about things with less superfluous, key specific information. Consider the sentence "normally we play locrian over the vii chord, but you could also play locrian#2". This is more simple and direct than saying, "if we are in a key like B flat major, we normally play the B flat major scale over A diminished, but you could also play C melodic minor", which contains extra information specific to the key, potentially requiring more mental overhead. If you are already playing something in B flat major, however, then the second sentence might feel more simple and direct.
Great video, Eric! I've been playing both classical and jazz piano for a LONG time, but had never really thought about WHY each mode was given the particular Greek name it was given. For example, why is the mode on the second degree of the major scale called Dorian and not, say, Phrygian or Mixolydian, etc.
Great video overall. Very informative and well explained. I will say your that explanation of Jazz chords and harmony via scales is not the best way to go about it if the end goal is applying that knowledge in practice. The vast majority of tunes and standards in jazz are were not written with scales in mind. Same goes for when you improvise or comp. You don't think about scales, but rather you think about the changes (chords). The fact that each chord comes from a parent scale doesn't necessarily mean the scale will work in the same way. A chord can have a certain quality to it that gets lost when you introduce other notes from the parent scale. That doesn't mean there are no scales in Jazz, of course there are. Minor, major, Alt. dominant, and diminished.. But scales are not the tools with which to understand jazz, and definitely not modes. Soloing on a jazz tune with the scale of each chord in mind just doesn't sound right most of the time, that's not how it's usually done.
If you see an a-13 chord on a tune in C major, the parent scale is what tells you that the 13 is an f#, not an f, for example. It’s just guide to tell what notes to use if there are extensions in the chord. When improvising you can play the parent scale or whatever scale you want.
I understood most of this, with no university, except drop voicings for guitar sound terrible on their own to me and I dont play actual jazz so I dont have a need to know them really. The chord substitution thing was neat but a bit confusing. And I guess delving into Messiaen modes isnt standard in jazz nor is serialism. I'd also say Harmonic minor/Phrygian Dominant is a very popular scale although its just an altered note, an altered scale thats not THE altered scale, which is if you play the #7 of Harmonic minor as the root which in my head is Locrian but the root is a halfstep sharp. Lydian Dom (add the mixolydian note to it) is also quite popular. Thanks for this video though, pretty good stuff. I play metal and shred but lately listen to Allan Holdsworth every single day for the past 2 years, all night when I sleep, and often while i'm riding bikes.
That 2:3 is also called “kpla-ka-tu-ka” and it’s a fun thing to sing with two people. The complimentary rhythm is “tu-ka-kpla-ka” (|: *one* *ee* and *uh* two *ee* :|) and you can hear these a lot in 6/8 time signatures (which were omitted entirely from this video, interestingly).
Great video, but I'm confused about the Δ symbol. All the jazz people I've spoken to say that it denotes a major7 not a major chord. I've seen it used both ways (with Δ7 used to denote a major7 chord). I was wondering which is the "correct" way and also why so many people do it differently.
Yeah I’ve heard people say the triangle means maj7 too, though it’s strange that it’s almost always accompanied by a 7 which would be redundant. It might be kind of like the half diminished sign which is also almost always accompanied by a 7, despite being redundant. Though it would still have the 7 without explicitly writing “7”, because otherwise it would just be diminished.
If you add a 7 to a major triad, the 7 can either be major or minor. If you add the major 7, you get a major 7th chord (∆). If you add a minor 7 to a major triad, that's a "dominant" chord. C -> C major triad; C E G C∆7 -> C major 7; C E G B C7 -> C dominant; C E G Bb
Hey Eric, you are a standalone at the top of music education on TH-cam. Could you please tell me what that software is you’re using to name the chords? Thanks so much for your knowledge!
I had been exposed to a lot of these ideas but seeing it all in one place made something click that was awesome. You should consider making a video elaborating on your last point of theory being imperfect yet useful. I feel like genres outside of jazz, what makes a song musically interesting is often about melody, production and rhythm more than chords and scales. What’s the music theory behind these genres, and how does it contrast with and work together with jazz theory?
I think that rhythm and melody are more important than chords and scales in jazz too. But they're less confusing than jazz harmony so I didn't talk as much about them. The rhythm and melody is best learned by imitating your favorite musicians/composers. A lot of music school involved transcribing and learning to play our favorite solos. A lot of non-jazz genres use jazz harmony too. I hear "jazz" chords all over hip hop and even in top 40 hits. There's definitely more emphasis on timbre in modern music though with all the modern production techniques available. At the end of the day, music is music and a lot of what you learn in one genre is transferable to other genres. Maybe I'll make a video about applying some of this to other genres like you suggested.
This is great, Eric! A question for you - is what we're seeing on screen (grand staff, guitar chart, note names, etc.) while you're playing the product of some software? If so, it seems very cool - would you share what you're using? If it's not software and that's all done in post...whew, good work!
Hey Eric, I didn’t know you did Jazz. I was give a request about the next sound design video. I really want to recreate a synth in “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash, specifically the one in the breakdown with staccato, vibrato & glides. If not though, MAYBE someday I’ll figure it out. Love your videos though man, I recently picked up Jazz a few months ago and it’s really done alot for me. I used to stick to just blues/R&B but I’m using way more semitones now which is awesome, it’s definitely expanded my ability. I’m still working on chords though, there’s this one specific progression I really want to figure out and add on. I’ll get it eventually
At 9:00, you’ve entered sophomore year theory. At 12:30, that’s more specifically jazz theory, but I’m not sure if it’s solely doctoral level knowledge. At 15:30, you introduce rhythm, which is underemphasized in theory.
2:00 Once you get to this point you realize that there is 12 keys with each having a unique major scale from which you can take the 7 modes. At this point you can already spend your life practising those in various ways. Jazz Theory is endless
Disclaimer: This is not a 1:1 replacement for the EXPERIENCE of studying music for 9 years. But I truly believe it is a distillation of about 95% of the relevant theory that I learned. There's also an emphasis on harmony over rhythm because it requires more explanation. That doesn't mean it's more important.
Jazz is a language of rhythms, harmonies, and melodies that has to be spoken over and over again to become fluent. It's an aural tradition and there's no substitute for learning from the performances of jazz masters like Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, Chick Corea, and more.
There is no substitution for years of practice, transcribing solos, developing rhythmic independence, learning tunes, and most importantly, playing with other musicians. All the jazz greats learned on the bandstand, not a classroom.
Some resources for topics I didn't cover:
Coltrane changes/substitutions: th-cam.com/video/LRSDgID_c7s/w-d-xo.htmlsi=cHsr_RjKYWiG1A9i
Upper structure triads: th-cam.com/video/9bo_VEtEpWE/w-d-xo.htmlsi=OC87uthN-yNzfzKH
Bebop vocabulary: th-cam.com/video/jC8tn6Wggxs/w-d-xo.htmlsi=Z_Ajs3mQ7-D-oN5O
Clave: th-cam.com/video/Ye7d5mPNfYY/w-d-xo.htmlsi=PDQ1ljRweH0aetQX
Jazz history: www.pbs.org/kenburns/jazz/
9 Years? Well I would say 1 or 2 months, that's what it took for me to learn this, and in a regular way. In fact, Theory is really fast to learn if you work hard, you can see it in 15 minutes, understand it pofondly in 15 hours, learning it in 15 or 30 days, practice it on the sheet in few months, and practice it on your instrument during several years to mastering it, and I'm not speaking of all the technical work... Well it's an ocean ^^
I like your ending: the essence of music theory is descriptive rather than prescriptive.
It helps when I reduce the playback speed to 15 years.
That's funny!
genius jaja
my thoughts in first minute 😂
So good thank you
I hold a PhD in physics and play jazz (Guitar). I was delighted to see the harmonic series as your starting point, Eric. This stems from the solution to the the wave equation for a guitar string that is pinned at two end points (nut and bridge). Similar results are obtained for a closed tube horn when excited by the player's breath/lips. Many music schools have eliminated the fundamental course "The Physics of Music" to make way for new topics in modern jazz. That is a big mistake because the physics of sound production is at the heart of harmony ( e.g. Pythagoras and his single string guitar = musical "Big Bang") . I am sometimes called upon to give a ZOOM lecture on this topic - the first Giant Step to understanding musical instruments. It is not that hard when explained intuitively and it gives the solid foundation for further learning in music, including jazz chords and improvisation. Thank You!
And I went to business school and picked up the guitar in my early 40:s. Oh how I wish I'd started playing in middle school and then studied theoretical physics 😅
What was your Ph.D about?
This is LEGIT. If you want to understand jazz music, just rewatch this over and over and over and practice over and over and over.
Yo I can't express how helpful the fretboard above is. Literally played guitar for 20 years but always struggled to translate music theory from piano to a fretboard
ive played some piano but i am now means good at it, even though the guitar is a 10x more complicated instrument i dont have enough experience to really visualize whats happening but seeing chord shapes on a guitar versus a keyboard makes it seem super easy and intuitive
@@slapp3r439 i would say piano is much more complicated than the guitar, specially when you compare high level playing of both
@@SomeoneThatIsHappy Guitar is much more complicated. On a piano you just memorize and press buttons rhythmically. On a guitar you have to hit every fret perfectly in sync with your picking hand, and any minute change in how you do either can drastically effect the sound produced. Not to mention the time it takes to master barre chords and so on!!
@@hey9433 piano is way more than "just memorize and press keys on the rhythm", you could say the same to any instrument guitar included. Also, the things you've mentioned are only difficult for beginner guitarrists, and like i said piano is more complicated on high level playing. If we were to talk about beginner, than yes guitar is much harder.
It's easier as a beginner for a guitarist. After a certain threshold, it's hard to be actually considered a good guitarist as there are so many ways to express the same note on the instrument, as opposed to piano, which is an amazing instrument to allow you to express yourself freely, which definitely has a much higher barrier to entry, but after a certain point, is easier to express yourself than a guitar
This is the best jazz video on all of TH-cam. No nonsense, only perfect explanations of all of jazz. No selling. No "secrets". Absolutely wonderful. Even as a veteran jazz musician myself, hearing concepts I'm familiar with explained and shown in such a straight forward, matter of fact way is extremely helpful.
I'm an engineer who's been studying jazz for 3 decades, and this video finally made so many things click with me. So many teachers have tried to explain all of these concepts to me, but so far it had always felt disjunct. Your video should be called something like "The Unifying Theory of Jazz", because you did SO well in explaining the root concepts that bind all of this together into one comprehensive and comprehensible blob of information.
I will spend the next decade using this video as my guide to music.
The real challenge after learning all this is how to turn this information into meaningful exercises so one can embody the stuff and be fluent with it in a creative and emotional manner. My personal problem sometimes is that I can't detach from the "intellectual" size of understanding stuff while sometimes it's more helpful just to "feel what it is" without trying to understand too mathematically.
Fuck around and find out. Test different chord progressions with different voicings... i do it in a rather chaotic manner, simply taking songs my friends put on the speaker recently, finding the bass, finding the chords, then messing around with voicings, change instruments (violin, organ, guitar from my fl studio + midi controller, even bass guitar, 808s... playing bass on my midi keyboard really exploded my left hand level as it's just soooo much fun to play bass in a tight pocket with drum loops) , add drum loops of different styles from drum and bass to blues shuffle... it's very chaotic but as long as you force yourself to regularly (during a playing session) step out of your comfort zone and try something else, you'll develop freedom behind the keys. Again, my method is very chaotic, but like you i got my head wrapping knots around trying to do it systematically, + it wasn't fun to me so i barely made progress. Good luck !
I practice new ideas intentionally, and after a while the new stuff starts showing up even when I'm not thinking about it. So, I'll go back and forth between intentional practice and free playing. I practice quartiles much more often than they appear... but then, maybe I'm just not in that mood very often? I still practice it intentionally, so it's there if I want it.
A lot of people recommend me to look at theory as a tool for categorizing the sounds=feelings in your head, so you can use it as a way to racionalise those feelings and stack more complexity. Neither English or jazz are my first language. Love from Spain!
Really? For me the real challenge has been to find a way to make a self sustaining career out of it.
Word
This video should be required viewing for any music student in every music school. I've been a musician for decades but have recently taken my mostly self-taught music knowledge a step up, through online lessons. Years of absorbing music theory have been ironed-out in this amazing 15 minute video. (with all the rewinding, much longer than 15 minutes for me). Thank you so much.
Of course, I'd imagine the 9 years is about the "when" and the "how" to use all of these concepts, haha! Next task is extrapolating from the foundations to the multitudinous techniques and vocabulary in the tradition, and that is the task of a lifetime. Great video, I really liked how you summarized everything!
Never been happier to be a drummer.
Just kidding, I’m studying theory for that very reason! Kill me
It is good to learn this kinda theory even when you are a drummer...
It is right?
Is it?
Idk you do you lmfao
@@Gameboy2007-Official it's nice that he likes it, maybe he will become one of those multi instrumentalist gods who can play literally fucking anything
@@darksecret965 lmao
😂
Jazz is so complicated, that’s why I love it
The staff/fretboard visualizer at the top is awesome.
I agree! Here's a link if you're interested:
Chordie App (Windows): gumroad.com/a/599977491/ZBQGv
Chordie App (Mac): gumroad.com/a/599977491/lmSkV
even tho i've been sporadically adding most of this by being an obsessive music theory youtube watcher, you managed to surprise me with a few things like the four-note scales which i'd never noticed or thought to try. thanks for making this cheat sheet!
I've been learning music for 20 years and knew everything until 9 minutes in
Another 14 years and you’ll get all of the 15 minutes😂
Wow. I never thought jazz could be even more complicated. This is like the orange juice ocncedntrate of jazz tutorials. Yeah, it's 15 minutes, but I'm going to have to review it over about 15 months. But, I have to confess that this is the best explanation of jazz and music theory I've seen. It's profoundly concise and super clear. my absorption rate is just really slow (because I'm dense). Thanks for this resource. I guarantee it will advance my musical knowledge and ability enormously. My instrument is guitar, BTW.
You’re not dense. Music theory can get extremely complex. It’s mainly due to the fact that it’s just foreign to most people. Music is a language; specifically a mathematical language, and most people haven’t learned to read, write, or speak it. I’ve been studying music theory myself for roughly 13 or 14 years, and playing my instrument for over 30. Yet, while I do have a solid grasp with most of this stuff, it does still get dicey for me to understand at times. The fundamentals are the most important thing in music theory, and that part is fairly easy to understand.
You: I can cover it in 15 minutes
Me: (6 years later) I've almost got it.
Still a great video.
This is such a good summary thanks!! I’m a self taught jazz musician. Over 40 years I discovered all those patterns - but didn’t know how to articulate them. I considered going to Jazz school as an old dude - but thanks to your video I don’t have to.
Brilliant summary.
If i watch this video every day for 9 years I should know everything that you said.
10:20 "you can make a pentatonic scale out of any set fo 5 notes" Hmmmm I like this one: c,c#,d,d#,e
It will surely sound good in your melodies.
NO no no no no you don't get it!
B#,C,Dbb, F#,Gb
@@JessicaMorgani How about C, Dbb, Ebbbb, Fbbbbb, Gbbbbbbb
This is awesome man. As a totally self taught musician, this is a great resource, as well as a reminder of how much knowledge I've acquired over the years. I don't think there was anything presented here that I wasn't already pretty familiar with. Just reinforces the idea that I need to continue taking that info and drilling it deeper and deeper into my subconscious
I did a bout of schooling but only some jazz. I knew a lot of this but even after years of additional TH-cam I hadn't heard of parent scales.
It's already taken a bunch of pausing and parsing and it's going to take even more time to revisit and digest. Thanks for a great resource!
"parent scale" is not universal terminology.
A guy named Dr. Jazz successfully removed a 27 ft tapeworm from me about 3 months ago.
did you keep it
Do you have pictures?
He's all about the worms you don't have!
Didn’t keep it. I let it be free to live its own life without depending on me. It was tough, but we both grew from it.
Lol
Dude thank you so much. I took jazz lessons for a few years and got more from you in 15 minutes! Instant like and subscribe.
4 years of my life compacted into 15 minutes. Great job!
You just helped me fully realize what I’ve been working on for years. I always start on Eb play in Bb
Thanks for this! … It was around 10:28 when I first hit some unfamiliar stuff … will definitely need to revisit a lot after that point, in front of my piano.
I need to break this down and rewatch it in 3 minute chunks until it sinks in. Amazing job explaining this stuff! Thank you!
I thought I knew quite a lot before watching this video, but I still learned a thing or two from it but the main thing for me was that now everything is so much more structured in my head. This is a very very good summary, I'm happy that I clicked on this video! Thank you
It might be my individual experience but I was taught all this information on an undergraduate level degree. This covers jazz harmony 1 - 4 of the Berklee classes I think. The time and money would've been better spent practicing, performing and having a mentor. Although, this is a great video to have an overview of what one will see in jazz harmony classes.
This is fantastic. Never seen someone explain so much so succinctly.
Just discovered your channel today, always wanted to study Jazz - guitar and e-bass - but two things got in my way, lack of time, and my fear of Jazz theory, which seems like a mountain to climb for me.
Hopefully, your videos will unlock things for me enough so that I'll be able to begin to grasp the fundamentals enough so that I can start playing basic Jazz music in about a year.
* subscribed *
Absolutely incredible content. Thank you.
I'm not much for book learnin so this was mighty helpful.
Gosh. All that space in between notes on a piano for the harmonic series sounds magical. Guitar (my instrument) feels so limited. This video is great. Thanks!
Have you checked out spread triads?
Love it. One comment is that you talk completely over the rhythm explanations to the point where I can't hear what you are explaining.
Amazing video and thanks for sharing. I would argue most of the theory, while wonderfully explained here, is not particulary "jazz" but common theory to all western contemporary music.
The part about the harmonic series and the Lydian F# helps a tiny little bit with the impenetrable thicket of George Russel's Lydian Chromatic concept of tonal organization.
I like that too many times the pianist plays a giant chord and the guitar robot says: Nope, too many notes. That sums up in-studio experience between pianists and guitarists xD
SUPERB!!!!
Thank you many times over. The quick overview reveals insight that slowly gained details fail to reveal, may even hide. Certainly true in this description. Excellent. Should be the intro for all beginning jazz students as well as a reminder from time to time along the way as big picture reminds end game goals.
After I finish watching this, I have two more 15 minute videos in the queue to get doctorates in Ancient Greek and then Roman History. My mother will be so proud!
The hard thing in jazz is hearing a jazz track and following the changes by ear so that you can improvise something into it that sounds good. (I don't mean "smooth jazz" that is basically just R&B pop with the vocal replaced by an instrument where the only key change is toward the end of the tune, up by a full step. I mean actual jazz.) The second hard thing is that even if you are given a sheet with the chord progression, is knowing (instantly knowing) what to play.
Thank you for this glorious lesson, Dr Beastman.
im studying music theory since childhood and i still feel like if u wanna follow along this vid, u already need serious theory knowledge x)
yet i think its a great vid with great and comforting explanations, i learned a lot
very good and simple! That is most of the things teached in pop&jazz conservatory Helsinki, Finland. I studied music technology and never did this connection between rhythm and harmonic series even mentioned. I bet they did not know. I learn that also only recently from YT video. Time and tempo relationship was taught but that was very important if a delay unit needs to be used with sync to a note lenght. No tap tempo so printed out column with quarternote lenght in milliseconds in tempos from 50 to 200 Bbm. The other theory stuff was teached just like in your video and in my opinion it was told in a simple way that should be assimilated by people urged to to learn this stuff pretty easily. Thanx!
Good stuff! I want my music school tuition back. 😁
Yeah ok I’ll come back and rewatch the later half of this video in a year or so because now my head hurts
Nice to know I'm already 9 years into a Jazz doctorate, excited for the next 6 years coming up.
This cleared up some stuff from learning music theory and jazz randomly through watching vids. Good vid!
👌I wish my Professor in geophysics was as so clear and effortless in explaining difficult material as you've done here! Job beautifully done, me thinks.
I’m just 10 seconds into the video, no idea what the rest is about, but I’ll say one thing - I would 100% spend 10-15 years studying there to play and have a photo with John Williams.
I love the simplicity of this!
I'm so glad I stole the pdf rather than paying to practice. You saved me me the academic journey but spared the most important part.....playing with all those other high level musicians.❤❤❤❤
Alright ...now do 22 shruti and Sagittal Notation lol s
Very amazing video, Eric! Love your depth of knowledge in multiple areas. Cheers!
Thanks!
Brilliant, Mate. Like you, all the buzz of jazz school was playing with other great musiciains, but your description of the theory is almost all of the important theory. Cheers! Love it :)
Wow, this is amazing. I can’t believe I didn’t know about this channel earlier! Thank you!
Fabulous! I had to rewind a bit and listen to it 3 times, but i got it in the end lol.
❤GREAT video! My two cents;study piano&drums regardless of primary instrument;although melodic,harmonic,& rhythmic permutations are nearly infinite,become familiar with what I like to call the BIG7 scales;Major,Harmonic Major,melodic minor,harmonic minor,diminished,V diminished,& whole tone ❤ I thank Jesus everyday for filling my life with music;I started singing in childhood,playing various instruments at 16,I’m 73 now&shred out everyday!❤
Great video Eric! Good summary and reminds me of Whitt Sidener's class back in Miami.
What a great quick reference guide!
I need to watch this again. And again. And again ^1000
good video, I started at a university but dropped out after 2 quarters because of too many non music classes & went instead to G.I.T. for their 1 year program (back in 86-87) & it pretty much covered all that stuff plus a lot of other things that really helped me (along with getting to study with some great guitarists). So I'm really glad I made the decision I did instead of just sticking it out for a degree.
Git?
@@MissionSilo Guitar Institute of Technology or currently usually called Musicians Institute (in the 80s it had a bunch of great guitarists like Paul Gilbert, Frank Gambale & Jennifer Batten who all started as students then became instructors)
This is one of the greatest (if not the greatest) music theory summary video I've ever sign. Kudos to Eric! 🎉
Bowman! What’s up dude? Didn’t know you had an educational TH-cam channel. Great stuff, man! Your editing chops are fantastic. Hope you’re doing well!
Hey Matt! Good to hear from you! A very late congrats on your professor gig! We should hang when I'm back in town.
@@EricBowman Yes, definitely!
thank you for this i have been waiting for an explainer vid like this for a long time
i learned so much from this Video, thank you. It really helped getting my studying structured. I will watch it many times, until i get every last bit...
Never understand that parent scale or chord-scale system taught in Jazz… what’s the point of saying that the parent scale for CMAJOR chord is C Ionian scale? If I’m in the key of G than I think that I m gonna use F# instead of F over a CMAJOR. If I m in the key of F I have a Bb over a CMAJOR chord. If we gonna talk in terms of modes than it’s C LYDIAN in the key of G and C MIXOLYDIAN in the key of F.
Does this system of chords- scale ( or parent scales ) only applies when we have NO TONAL CENTER ( aka no defined KEY we play in ) ?
What’s the point in saying “ use c Ionian scale over a C MAJOR CHORD”. Doesn’t it depends on the key we are playing in? Can anyone help me understand that ? Thank u , great video btw❤
That’s actually a good point. I’ve heard some of the older generation like Barry Harris say something to that effect. Like if you’re playing the iii chord, you’re playing phrygian, not dorian, for example.
I think both approaches work and it depends on the style. I think the key-driven approach is more applicable to straight ahead. In a more modern approach, when you’re playing more extensions on major and minor chords, the parent scale approach is more applicable. That’s just my opinion though.
Modes enable you to talk about things with less superfluous, key specific information. Consider the sentence "normally we play locrian over the vii chord, but you could also play locrian#2". This is more simple and direct than saying, "if we are in a key like B flat major, we normally play the B flat major scale over A diminished, but you could also play C melodic minor", which contains extra information specific to the key, potentially requiring more mental overhead. If you are already playing something in B flat major, however, then the second sentence might feel more simple and direct.
This video rocks. Thank you. Great visuals!
Thank you, I will be studying this video in the near future
Great video, Eric! I've been playing both classical and jazz piano for a LONG time, but had never really thought about WHY each mode was given the particular Greek name it was given. For example, why is the mode on the second degree of the major scale called Dorian and not, say, Phrygian or Mixolydian, etc.
Great video overall. Very informative and well explained.
I will say your that explanation of Jazz chords and harmony via scales is not the best way to go about it if the end goal is applying that knowledge in practice.
The vast majority of tunes and standards in jazz are were not written with scales in mind. Same goes for when you improvise or comp. You don't think about scales, but rather you think about the changes (chords).
The fact that each chord comes from a parent scale doesn't necessarily mean the scale will work in the same way. A chord can have a certain quality to it that gets lost when you introduce other notes from the parent scale.
That doesn't mean there are no scales in Jazz, of course there are.
Minor, major, Alt. dominant, and diminished..
But scales are not the tools with which to understand jazz, and definitely not modes.
Soloing on a jazz tune with the scale of each chord in mind just doesn't sound right most of the time, that's not how it's usually done.
If you see an a-13 chord on a tune in C major, the parent scale is what tells you that the 13 is an f#, not an f, for example. It’s just guide to tell what notes to use if there are extensions in the chord. When improvising you can play the parent scale or whatever scale you want.
my brain quit working at the 5 minute mark
I'm gonna have to read articles on everything mentioned up to this point and come back in a month or two
Love it!!!
yes sir!
Remind me of the great book "lydian concept' by George Russell.
Nice video, tank you.
I understood most of this, with no university, except drop voicings for guitar sound terrible on their own to me and I dont play actual jazz so I dont have a need to know them really. The chord substitution thing was neat but a bit confusing. And I guess delving into Messiaen modes isnt standard in jazz nor is serialism. I'd also say Harmonic minor/Phrygian Dominant is a very popular scale although its just an altered note, an altered scale thats not THE altered scale, which is if you play the #7 of Harmonic minor as the root which in my head is Locrian but the root is a halfstep sharp. Lydian Dom (add the mixolydian note to it) is also quite popular. Thanks for this video though, pretty good stuff. I play metal and shred but lately listen to Allan Holdsworth every single day for the past 2 years, all night when I sleep, and often while i'm riding bikes.
That 2:3 is also called “kpla-ka-tu-ka” and it’s a fun thing to sing with two people. The complimentary rhythm is “tu-ka-kpla-ka” (|: *one* *ee* and *uh* two *ee* :|) and you can hear these a lot in 6/8 time signatures (which were omitted entirely from this video, interestingly).
Great video, but I'm confused about the Δ symbol. All the jazz people I've spoken to say that it denotes a major7 not a major chord. I've seen it used both ways (with Δ7 used to denote a major7 chord). I was wondering which is the "correct" way and also why so many people do it differently.
Ive never seen it on its own without a 7, because major chords dont require any symbol afaik
@@ChronicalV That's what I've heard, but I see it used in both ways and in this video it's listed as a symbol for a major chord.
Yeah I’ve heard people say the triangle means maj7 too, though it’s strange that it’s almost always accompanied by a 7 which would be redundant. It might be kind of like the half diminished sign which is also almost always accompanied by a 7, despite being redundant. Though it would still have the 7 without explicitly writing “7”, because otherwise it would just be diminished.
If you add a 7 to a major triad, the 7 can either be major or minor. If you add the major 7, you get a major 7th chord (∆). If you add a minor 7 to a major triad, that's a "dominant" chord.
C -> C major triad; C E G
C∆7 -> C major 7; C E G B
C7 -> C dominant; C E G Bb
@@steamer2k319 Right but we're questioning whether C∆ without the 7 is just CEG or CEGB
you're awesome dude thank you
Hey Eric, you are a standalone at the top of music education on TH-cam.
Could you please tell me what that software is you’re using to name the chords?
Thanks so much for your knowledge!
Thanks! The app is called Chordie:
Chordie App (Windows): gumroad.com/a/599977491/ZBQGv
Chordie App (Mac): gumroad.com/a/599977491/lmSkV
Awesome video! 🙌🏾 learned a lot.
I had been exposed to a lot of these ideas but seeing it all in one place made something click that was awesome. You should consider making a video elaborating on your last point of theory being imperfect yet useful. I feel like genres outside of jazz, what makes a song musically interesting is often about melody, production and rhythm more than chords and scales. What’s the music theory behind these genres, and how does it contrast with and work together with jazz theory?
I think that rhythm and melody are more important than chords and scales in jazz too. But they're less confusing than jazz harmony so I didn't talk as much about them. The rhythm and melody is best learned by imitating your favorite musicians/composers. A lot of music school involved transcribing and learning to play our favorite solos.
A lot of non-jazz genres use jazz harmony too. I hear "jazz" chords all over hip hop and even in top 40 hits. There's definitely more emphasis on timbre in modern music though with all the modern production techniques available. At the end of the day, music is music and a lot of what you learn in one genre is transferable to other genres. Maybe I'll make a video about applying some of this to other genres like you suggested.
Way beyond this beginner but I can tell it would be really helpful for someone.
Joe Pass said there are 3 kinds of chords: major, minor and dominant. Major 1 3 5 7, Minor 1 b3 5 b7, Dominant 1 3 5 b7.
This is great, Eric!
A question for you - is what we're seeing on screen (grand staff, guitar chart, note names, etc.) while you're playing the product of some software? If so, it seems very cool - would you share what you're using? If it's not software and that's all done in post...whew, good work!
Thanks! It’s an app called chordie
Hey Eric, I didn’t know you did Jazz. I was give a request about the next sound design video. I really want to recreate a synth in “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash, specifically the one in the breakdown with staccato, vibrato & glides. If not though, MAYBE someday I’ll figure it out. Love your videos though man, I recently picked up Jazz a few months ago and it’s really done alot for me. I used to stick to just blues/R&B but I’m using way more semitones now which is awesome, it’s definitely expanded my ability. I’m still working on chords though, there’s this one specific progression I really want to figure out and add on. I’ll get it eventually
There's only one thing wrong with this video: everything.
Excellent summary! Think the part about rythm should be longer! Thats the most important!
Even after all these years studying jazz in a university seems somehow odd. So many terms.
At 9:00, you’ve entered sophomore year theory. At 12:30, that’s more specifically jazz theory, but I’m not sure if it’s solely doctoral level knowledge.
At 15:30, you introduce rhythm, which is underemphasized in theory.
Wow, this is Fantastic!❤
2:00 Once you get to this point you realize that there is 12 keys with each having a unique major scale from which you can take the 7 modes. At this point you can already spend your life practising those in various ways. Jazz Theory is endless
Incredibly helpful lesson! Thanks! Subbed!
great video. you gotta do one about rhythm , unless this was overlooked in your experience.
Awesome stuff, Eric! Best to you from Miami
You may call me Dr Jones.
I learned nothing from this and that makes me feel very smart😂good vid
- How do you know there’s a jazz musician in the room?
- He will tell everyone
😂😂😂😂😂
Love it! Thank you
Need more on that hextonic scales built off triads brother that was gas 🤯
I recommend experimenting to find your favorite pairs of triads. I also like C and Gb (tritone away) which sounds great on C7.