normally I hate 4ths as an interval and I cannot explain why but the moment you start stacking more and more of them on top of each other it turns beautiful
Stacking (in this case, ascending) fourths always remind me of the beginning of One Summer's Day from the Spirited Away soundtrack. Such an etherea feel between resolved and unresolved!!
Yes indeed ! Ascending fourths and fourths-based melodies in general always make me think of the composition of Miyazaki's movies, I find them really mysterious yet enlightening and dreamy
Ben, I'd love to throw some cabbage at you to put out a half-hour long track of you noodling around like this without talking over it. It would be perfect music to play while working on tedious projects.
I love ascending 4ths! I've never based a song on them, but I use them in almost every piano piece I make. It can be a fun way to plop into minor, or you could just smack in a nice 16th triplets thing between two bars as a fun little journey. descending fifths are fun for modulation too, wichever bass note you land on. It's such a fast way to go on a crazy adventure to god knows where.
Me: "I want to use my tascam recorder to capture my voice for videos but I need to get a little stand to position it properly" Ben: *Duct tapes recorder to his sweater*
I have no loop pedal, so I keep the fourths with the index while I tap the other notes with the other hand, with delay or echo the results are pretty nice
I imagine a good way to apply it to guitar would be to set up a pedal drone (maybe even a simple chord like your left hand in the video) on a DAW or something, and just work your way up on the guitar as the drone is sounding, then you could form your guitar melody around wherever you stop. It wouldn't work for moving to new chords, but maybe you could make it work with a loop pedal somehow. That would be nice, as the new chord would become the next 'stepping stone' for you to walk up fourths from the root of... ...anyway, I'm doing too much talking and not enough doing. Time to get the guitar out! I'll try my best not to make it sound like faux-Indian noodling, I feel like that's an obvious trap to fall into ;)
Arriving on the flat second of a major chord always takes my mind to the phrygian dominant scale. Very fun to use but as you said, I'll try not to fall too deep into faux-indian noodling, haha. Thanks for sharing your thoughts too. You're giving me some ideas for my own composition, hmm.
Hey Ben! Ive been playing guitar a little under 20 years and learned most of my theory on guitar...naturally...as you do....lol. And recently I took up keys, ive always fooled around with piano/keys but never took it to the next level. Commitment issues maybe? Anyways heres the issue im having. I already know how to build any chord so ive got that down cause it carries over from guitar. But what im learning is that intervals are WAY more important on keys (at least thats what im finding by trying to be creative with keys like i would on guitar). Also ive found that my left hand is WAY better at stretching for chords which i thought was because its used to stretching on guitar, at least i thought that at first. But now im starting to think its because on the fact that my left hand has a right thumb...lol as most left hands do.....and its easier to strech it to reach 7th, octaves, 6ths etc. whereas my right hand has a thumb on the left (shocking, i know) which means that if i want to stretch to reach those intervals its not as easy with my pinky(unles i omit a 3rd or 5th from the chord which isnt a solution its a chord change lol). This is what made me realize inversions are important on piano/keys. Do you have any tips for making the transition a little smoother? Or tips to get me to play more like a pianist than a guitarist?? Lol Thanks for the videos and any adive you might be able to offer! Im open to any advice though from anyone. I just thought this might be a good place to ask.
Ben, I play classical piano, and goddamn I wish I could reach a tenth lol. But i love the vids dude, hope all is well with you and I look forward to any and all upcoming content from you.,
Some great ideas here, for a long time I've only been able to think of ascending fourths as a spicy V7 stand-in, really you could use this to transition to any key you want
Same with fifths. You'll eventually reach around the entire circle of fifths, going through every note while still sounding clean. Much luck with your music!!
I really enjoyed this. Sounded beautiful. I also love the easy way you slide along improvising. Improvisation is a key thing for music. I have some videos up on my channel playing a Roland C-30 Harpsichord. I had just got it that day and was showing a bit of what it can do. Check it out. I’m going to apply this exercise to it. Thanks. I subbed. I really like your relaxed style.
I love the sound of 4ths in jazz guitar. Thanks for the thoughtful breakdown. Hey what about that outro song? Sounded big and fun. Is that something of yours I've missed? Can get more of that on your other page?
Lol the DIY lapel mic with a big piece of pink tape ^^ Also are these full sized keys ? You're playing a 10th with only your left hand, I can barely play a 9th. These aren't hands, they're wings
Do you have your bitrate set up to 44100? I think mine came with that as the default setting, but a look through the settings might be worth your while. I know I fiddled with a few settings out of the box.
Rate that you have your microphone taped to your chest and that your bookcase is a mess. The 'perfect' look is overrated. Keep doing your thing Ben, the vids are awesome
never realized the vibe of this song was ascending 4ths until watching this. driving me crazy bc watching you try patterns, ALL i could think about was this th-cam.com/video/BFJ2yoTsBds/w-d-xo.html
I think the tascam sounds fine... ...can you really not hear him well enough? Bear in mind this is for getting musical ideas across, it doesn't need to sound like an album.
1: find the spice
2: justify the spice
You've watch a few of his vids right?
step ben levin: b e c o m e t h e s p i c e
The Gamecube start up is all ascending fourths.
And the intro to smash bros. Melee
normally I hate 4ths as an interval and I cannot explain why but the moment you start stacking more and more of them on top of each other it turns beautiful
I listened to this video while working at the pizza shop. It began to snow, and suddenly for a moment everything was ok with the world! Amazing!
“Pizza shop.” What a novel name I never thought of that in all my years of working at pizza places
@@Joshua-sp1kd it's yours if you want it! If not I'll write that novel!
@@Seth-hc2bj what a novel concept lol, not a name for a novel hehe c:
Ben is like the Bob Ross of music, but better.
even the afro
Omg
So true
Your theory lessons are always really interesting, because they touch on aspects of theory that most of us never really consider. I like it!
Stacking (in this case, ascending) fourths always remind me of the beginning of One Summer's Day from the Spirited Away soundtrack. Such an etherea feel between resolved and unresolved!!
Yes indeed ! Ascending fourths and fourths-based melodies in general always make me think of the composition of Miyazaki's movies, I find them really mysterious yet enlightening and dreamy
Now you hold on just a minute! Aren’t those fifths?
Ben, I'd love to throw some cabbage at you to put out a half-hour long track of you noodling around like this without talking over it. It would be perfect music to play while working on tedious projects.
5:18 DANK
Jesus Levin, get a mic stand or something hahaha loved how you proudly show off your craftsmenship with the most fluorescent tape ever.
The video looks so vibrant today o:
And vibrant thumbnail to go with it. Such a cozy vid. c:
Looking at the shadows there are differently colored lights :)
As someone speaking german, I really like the prase "muschi harmony". Also highly inspirational content, as allways😄
Kleeby Oof das muss erst Mal zensiert werden
That melody at 3:00 straight up transported me to another dimension. Idk how you did that with something so simple
I love ascending 4ths! I've never based a song on them, but I use them in almost every piano piece I make. It can be a fun way to plop into minor, or you could just smack in a nice 16th triplets thing between two bars as a fun little journey. descending fifths are fun for modulation too, wichever bass note you land on. It's such a fast way to go on a crazy adventure to god knows where.
Love your videos, Ben. You let us in on your thought process, where most content creators edit all this real-time exploration out.
Fantastic!
Me: "I want to use my tascam recorder to capture my voice for videos but I need to get a little stand to position it properly"
Ben: *Duct tapes recorder to his sweater*
I did not notice this, and had to go back and look for it. There is something awe inspiring in just this.
Thank you Ben.
Mesmerizing.
I've recently fallen in love with fourths. This is a cool idea to play around with!
That was inspiring. Thanks Ben.
Fantastic video. Very fascinating and one of the few online theory videos that I'm putting into practice right now
Ben, you're blowing my mind!
Yo this is a GREAT video. Super valuable content for song writing
Great video Ben, I'd love to see more videos along the same vein! :)
I have no loop pedal, so I keep the fourths with the index while I tap the other notes with the other hand, with delay or echo the results are pretty nice
Gmaj7: happens
Ben: wow, dank!
"So, so , so confidently" haha this was awesome ben! thanks
I love this! Definitely gonna try this on my compositions
Does our esteemed host have his recorder taped to his sweater?
got so much inspiration from this. thx
THIS IS BLOWING MY MIND!!!!!
This is gold
I imagine a good way to apply it to guitar would be to set up a pedal drone (maybe even a simple chord like your left hand in the video) on a DAW or something, and just work your way up on the guitar as the drone is sounding, then you could form your guitar melody around wherever you stop. It wouldn't work for moving to new chords, but maybe you could make it work with a loop pedal somehow. That would be nice, as the new chord would become the next 'stepping stone' for you to walk up fourths from the root of...
...anyway, I'm doing too much talking and not enough doing. Time to get the guitar out! I'll try my best not to make it sound like faux-Indian noodling, I feel like that's an obvious trap to fall into ;)
Arriving on the flat second of a major chord always takes my mind to the phrygian dominant scale. Very fun to use but as you said, I'll try not to fall too deep into faux-indian noodling, haha.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts too. You're giving me some ideas for my own composition, hmm.
@@Monica-br8pi I'm glad I could offer some useful thoughts :)
Thanks for your comment, and good luck with your composing!
Hey Ben! Ive been playing guitar a little under 20 years and learned most of my theory on guitar...naturally...as you do....lol. And recently I took up keys, ive always fooled around with piano/keys but never took it to the next level. Commitment issues maybe? Anyways heres the issue im having. I already know how to build any chord so ive got that down cause it carries over from guitar. But what im learning is that intervals are WAY more important on keys (at least thats what im finding by trying to be creative with keys like i would on guitar). Also ive found that my left hand is WAY better at stretching for chords which i thought was because its used to stretching on guitar, at least i thought that at first. But now im starting to think its because on the fact that my left hand has a right thumb...lol as most left hands do.....and its easier to strech it to reach 7th, octaves, 6ths etc. whereas my right hand has a thumb on the left (shocking, i know) which means that if i want to stretch to reach those intervals its not as easy with my pinky(unles i omit a 3rd or 5th from the chord which isnt a solution its a chord change lol). This is what made me realize inversions are important on piano/keys. Do you have any tips for making the transition a little smoother? Or tips to get me to play more like a pianist than a guitarist?? Lol Thanks for the videos and any adive you might be able to offer! Im open to any advice though from anyone. I just thought this might be a good place to ask.
wow great vid
Ben, I play classical piano, and goddamn I wish I could reach a tenth lol. But i love the vids dude, hope all is well with you and I look forward to any and all upcoming content from you.,
I was thinking the same thing!
Yup, first thing I noticed. That C to E reach looks effortless.
Some great ideas here, for a long time I've only been able to think of ascending fourths as a spicy V7 stand-in, really you could use this to transition to any key you want
Same with fifths. You'll eventually reach around the entire circle of fifths, going through every note while still sounding clean. Much luck with your music!!
This is really, really useful!
I really enjoyed this. Sounded beautiful. I also love the easy way you slide along improvising. Improvisation is a key thing for music. I have some videos up on my channel playing a Roland C-30 Harpsichord. I had just got it that day and was showing a bit of what it can do. Check it out. I’m going to apply this exercise to it. Thanks. I subbed. I really like your relaxed style.
Can I have an Amazon link to your mic stand?
Seriously though, very inspiring video.
I love the sound of 4ths in jazz guitar.
Thanks for the thoughtful breakdown.
Hey what about that outro song? Sounded big and fun. Is that something of yours I've missed? Can get more of that on your other page?
I just experienced You Know What They Mean on the other page... I feel like B.N. is modern rock genius.
I love you!
I will try!
Can you post an affiliate link for that microphone holder?
Everyone loves ascending fourths
SO SPICY!
Let's just appreciate the Short films and cartoon tag below the video
Ok Brick Leato
A little Górecki at 5:29?!
are you high?
Hard to find a good sweater that will hold up a mic and isn’t too itchy
Lol the DIY lapel mic with a big piece of pink tape ^^ Also are these full sized keys ? You're playing a 10th with only your left hand, I can barely play a 9th. These aren't hands, they're wings
Try doing the same thing, but with fifths!
Ascend in 5ths too ^_^
Yes!
ott
To ascent in minor seconds.
Ascend in two major thirds and a minor third, or three minor thirds and a major third.
Super Hyper Mega Meta Lydian
Recess intro!
yea
* cliffhanger in The Californians *
Dank
Jättekul!
That ascending fourth stuff reminds me of some Kraftwerk song.
trans-europe express, i believe
DANK
What keyboard is it?
Stacking 7 fourths you end up with the locrian scale
Tune your goddamn piano-you're on u tube goddamn it!
why does your tascam recorder sound so good while mine doesn't
Do you have your bitrate set up to 44100? I think mine came with that as the default setting, but a look through the settings might be worth your while. I know I fiddled with a few settings out of the box.
Rate that you have your microphone taped to your chest and that your bookcase is a mess. The 'perfect' look is overrated. Keep doing your thing Ben, the vids are awesome
Star Trek!
instant angelo badalamenti
5:18 is that dang or DANK?
never realized the vibe of this song was ascending 4ths until watching this. driving me crazy bc watching you try patterns, ALL i could think about was this
th-cam.com/video/BFJ2yoTsBds/w-d-xo.html
smash bros melee?
I can't wait until you have enough subs for a better mic or atleast a stand
I think the tascam sounds fine...
...can you really not hear him well enough? Bear in mind this is for getting musical ideas across, it doesn't need to sound like an album.
Dank