Chromatic Mediants | A film composer's favourite weapon?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 มิ.ย. 2024
- www.buymeacoffee.com/michaelk...
Here's my quick run down on Chromatic Mediants. This is such a ubiquitous tool in film scoring, you will have most definitely come across this sound at some point before. Hopefully my video helps you understand it a little more if you weren't very familiar.
MK
Chapter markers:
00:00-00:58 Intro
00:58-04:25 What is a Chromatic Mediant
04:25-06:51 Same of different chord quality
06:51- How can we use them?
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This is easily the best music theory channel ever.
gotta be
Really well done.
Ah, thank you. Very generous of you to say so, not sure I’d agree but I appreciate the sentiment 🙏
You should check out Keith Michealson
Without a doubt!
“Tools not rules.” I like that.
Yeah, definitely a great T-shirt.
dude you are the ASMR of piano tutorials not gonna lie.
🤣😂 Is that a good thing?!
Your Teaching method is the best I ever heard by far !
Wow, thanks Antonio! Really appreciate your kind words. Glad you're enjoying the content 👍
Thank you for demystifying these TV and Film soundscapes that we all know and love.
Looking forward to seeing your channel becoming more and more popular as it deserves to be.
Your videos are a pleasure to watch. Always excited when a new one comes out.
Especially love those snippets when you indulge your quirky personality ... always make me smile.
Thanks again for another nice comment, really appreciate your support. 🙏
C maj -> Eb maj = chromatic mediant
C maj -> Eb min = double chromatic mediant because there are no common tones.
Great video, keep up the good work!
Great analysis of chromatic median chords. The best I have ever seen on the internet so far. You are a great educator!
Thanks Giorgos! I appreciate your kind comment 🙏
Man I love this channel. Video by video you're braking up stuff I hear in music but I can't quite decipher because I lack the theory knowledge behind it. It's crazy how you manage to make it so simple to understand in a 10 minutes format. Thank you so much! 🙌
Thanks for the great comment Alex, really good to hear you’re getting some value from my vids. Really appreciate your kind words 🙏
Every time I search music theory terms I need, your videos pop up. I thought you must have created thousands of music theory videos, but when I clicked and open your channel.. I saw exactly everything I wish somebody can explain to me!!
Thank you so much for creating these videos, they are super helpful!!! Thank you!!
That's good to hear, glad you're getting some value from my videos. Appreciate you leaving a comment, thanks 🙏
my guy always coming through with the theory heat.
Cheers man, appreciate the support 👍🏼
Cheers man, appreciate the support 👍🏼
I think chromatic mediants were used a lot in grunge, not because they thought "let's use chromatic mediants", but because they moved shapes around on the guitar neck, up or down a major or minor third, keeping the chord shape (so keeping the same chord quality), and thought "it sounds cool,". As a result grunge is both simple (simple chords sequences and repetitive), but also often non-diatonic.
Thanks for your comment, was never much into the grunge scene myself so I appreciate your sharing this comparison, I'll definitely keep an ear of for it in future. Makes complete sense the way you described it. Thanks for the contribution 🙏
@@michaelkeithson Although I was a teenager in the 90's, I only really like a few bands from that scene, so not a big fan either overall. But I was aware that music kind of changed at the time, it was a rupture, and it was quite mainstream too. Then it reverted back to what it was :)
I've noticed this as well after having a few piano students who really wanted to learn Nirvana songs haha. There are some really cool jazz covers of some Nirvana songs and they lend well to interesting improvisation because of this.
Notice how the roots of the chords in the verse of In Bloom spell out Ebm
you're always on the verge of being amused. love your channel
😂 Thanks! Glad you're enjoying the content, thanks for the comment!
Music Theory: How deep do you wanna go? YES! So enjoyable, love it! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge.
Really glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks for watching and leaving a comment, much appreciated 🙏
Oh my. Putting my brain back in my head after it exploded. You just made my world a whole lot bigger. Thank you.
Ha! Cheers Hank! Glad you found it useful. Happy exploring!! 🎹🎵
Wholesome and Nutricious ☕🎸
Wow! Another incredible lesson, you really are the best teacher on youtube. Please make more videos like these about "chord substitutions" and how to manipulate a chord progression. Your other videos about tritone sub, modal interchanges and secondary dominants were so great!!!! Thank you so much!!
Ah thanks, I really appreciate your kind words and support and glad you're enjoying the content, thanks 🙏
The absolute best at explaining music theory!!
That’s very generous! Thanks man, really appreciate it 🙏
Another amazing video!!! Pop songs probably don't use these much, but I don't know much about pop. The first time I had a "oh how is this sound achieved" from chromatic mediants is in Nightwishes song "The Poet and the Pendulum" in the start the riff that plays with the strings and choral sounds. It sounds so haunting and otherworldly.
Thanks! Yeah, ‘otherworldly’ is a great description of the vibes these give 👍🏼
Thanks for the comment 🙏
Awesome!!!! We, at least me, were able to get all details involved... I like some kind of tension in a song and you got expose it in a clear explanation!!!!
Cheers for the comment Ugo. Yeah, I felt like I didn't do my best at explain a few of those points but good to hear that you still feel you understood what I was trying to get at! 👍
You can also find these used in electronic music genres like house and jungle. This often happens when producers are using a synth preset where each keyboard note triggers a major 7th chord, and play riffs using such presets. So something like Cmaj7 | AbMaj7 | Bbmaj7 will be relatively common. It's also interesting to note that since each key triggers the same voicing, the keyboard part will end up playing chords like a guitar player moving a shape up and down the neck, instead of using voice leading.
Thanks for the comment Arthur, appreciate your contribution. I wasn't aware of their use in electronic music and your description makes complete sense. I'll listen a little closer to electronic music from now on! Cheers. 👍
I knew what they were in theory but it was nice to hear examples with some dramatic pad sounds to hear how familiar they really are. I play guitar so it's not quite the same effect (but still interesting).
Thanks for the comment 👍🏼
love you lessons! adore Chromatic Mediants🤤
Ha! Love the emoji!
Thanks for your comment, I’m glad you’re enjoying the content. 👍🏼
Beautifully explained, thank you Michael!
Fascinating. Gotta try this out.
Wow! This has changed my life!
Wow! What a statement! Glad you got something out of it. Thanks for the comment 🙏
Loving all of these lessons so much. Thank you!
Cheers Mike! Appreciate your comment 🙏
Fantastic!!! Thanks for this
You’re very welcome 👍🏼
Perfect as always
Cheers Max 🙏
Brilliant as always mate. Well done
Thank you 🙏 I appreciate your support
By the way, your voice is super soothing and that added backgr noise.. love it👌
Ha! Thanks Geo, happy that I can bring a bit of calm to your day!
Very handy to see it laid out so clearly :) Thank you.
Thanks Max, glad you found it useful 👍🏼
I love your energy, subscribed
Awesome! Thanks for the sub! 🙏
Thank you. Learning new things.
You’re very welcome, glad you’re finding it helpful 👍🏼
Thanks for another clear and entertaining video. Very helpful.
Happy to be of assistance! Glad you found it helpful👍🏼
I love this channel!
Thanks Christopher! I'm glad you're here too! Thanks for the kind comment 🙏
Great video!
Cheers Nick!
Thank you for another super clear explanation!
Cheers Rich, hope it was useful 👍
Well done!
Thanks!!
Thanks Michael.
My pleasure David! 🎹🎵
Keep em coming!
Another killer video. Was just trying to figure out chromatic mediants the other day but was struggling to find a good explanation and then along comes Prof Keithson so save the day haha. All jokes aside, beautifully explained yet again idk how youre able to explain stuff in such concise ways, but thank you!
Ah, thanks! I really appreciate your kind comments and really pleased you’re enjoying the content and finding some value. Cheers 🙏
Great video! Enjoy the Silence is a good example.
Cheers man!👍
Amazing, thanks so much!
You are very welcome Geoffrey! 🎵🎹
You are a bloody legend, i always seen understand your content crystal clear.
You are going to explode on TH-cam one day I can guarantee it
Thanks Jimmy 🙏 Really appreciate your generous comment! Good to hear you find it easy to follow along. Channel is growing nicely at the moment so hopefully it'll continue 🤞
Thank you! So easy to follow and I'm already using this today and it's just great.
You made a very intimidating word into my new favourite thing .
Perfect! Glad you found it helpful. Happy exploring! 🎵🎹
While others use the word tense to describe the feeling of listening to chromatic mediants, I found them incredibly soothing and beautiful. Great video.
Thanks Brett. You're right, talking about how something makes you feel is quite a subjective thing really. Thanks for the comment 👍
Didn't know that Alexander Stubb on his spare time does piano content on youtube 👍🏻
I ❤ Chromatic Mediants. 🥰
Very well covered! 😎👍🏼
Cheers Keiren!
.....another brilliant video.......I have used these several times and never knew why it worked......thank you........
Cheers man.
Loved this! One pattern I’ve seen in pop music really often is, like Bowie’s Rock n Roll Suicide, where the III wants to go to the IV, as in C -E7 - F-G-C. Like a variation on a secondary dominant, and it made me curious if Chromatic Mediants often take on a role in harmonic progressions. Anyway, thanks for this, love what you’re doing here.
Thanks! Appreciate your comment. 🙏
Yeah, that's a usual one, it's a pretty common progression and to me it 'feels' more like a secondary dominant although it strictly isn't but kind of feels wrong to categorise as a Chromatic Mediant even though, theoretically, it is. Does it really matter though?! #ToolsNotRules 😂
Much appreciated. Have taken a couple of pages of notes. Regards
😮 Hopefully there's some useful bits in there somewhere then! Thanks for the comment Richard, appreciate it 🙏
great great video! subscribed ❤
Thanks man, glad you enjoyed it, thanks for the sub! 👍
Another excellent video and content. Thank you! Not sure if you have already set up a Patreon page…
On another note (no pun intended) on 5:09 there is a mention of no mixing chord qualities for not sharing common tone, then you mention Eb major (and the notes are correct) but show Eb minor label on top. Sorry I am really paying attention 😅
Hey man, thanks for the comment. I definitely have intentions for a Patreon page but wondering if I should let my audience grow a little more to make the extra work worthwhile. It takes enough work at the moment to get these videos done and don't want to have to create more content if only 10 people sign up to the Patreon, hope that makes sense. But maybe there's an offer that means I don't need to spend too much time working on the content - I need to think on it a bit more but thanks for the push.
Argh! There's always something I seem to miss, I even triple checked it this time! Unfortunately TH-cam doesn't let you edit then update the video, I'd have to delete and re-upload and lose all the views and comments so unfortunately I'll have to come to terms with the little mistakes! I appreciate you paying close attention though! Thanks for watching and the support, much appreciated. 🙏
@@michaelkeithson no worries, it is so minor (no pun intended! lol) that I think it was superfluous of me to point it out.
Re Patreon, I understand. No pressure, my intention was to convey the message: if/when you do create a Patreon page, I’m planning to be one of those first 10 people :). I think you have a gift for teaching (with the tools needed to do it clearly), and your style of teaching suits me well - analogous to when I eat a bonne maman strawberry mouse ie smooth ingestion. Lol
All the best, and keep up the good work. Mario
@@Overdrivenn Cheers Mario, appreciate it. I reckon it'll be a matter of months before the Patreon appears so keep a look out. Thanks for the support 🙏
Pretty cool
TOOLS, NO RULES! TOOLS, NO RULES! (chanting)
🤣😂
Pure gold!
Thanks man 👍🏼
Amazing!
Thanks Agnieszka! Glad you enjoyed it.
Amazing 👏
Thanks Justin! 👍
Amazing
The Best explanation on the internet
Ah, thanks Sergio, appreciate your kind comment 🙏
From Ukraine with love
Ah, you’re too kind! Thanks for the kind comment, much appreciated 🙏
And I was wondering why do I like the sound of the "random" Eb maj7 - C maj7 so much... Now there is a whole set of these cool progressions to fool around.. Awesome, thanks!
Happy exploring!! Thanks for the comment 👍🏼
Great instruction. Ear opening. Are you moving to a unified theory of musical suspension? You’re right, the surprise is tension and then…more tension.
I was introduced to this concept years ago when I was trying to make sense of Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights chord progression (A-F-E7-C#). It still baffles me...I think the E7 is thrown in as a secondary dominant to A. Mind = Blown!
Great video! I often use chromatic mediants. I know this isn’t the same concept, but I was wondering about a specific chord progression that they use to represent certain extreme moments revolving around the character of Faith in seasons 3 and 4 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which I believe is a movement between the chords Em-Em add 9 to an Eb major chord with a sharp 9, then just Eb - which then modulates a minor third up to repeat this time as Gm-Gm add 9 to F# major sharp 9, then once more modulates to move from Bbm-Bbm add 9 to A major sharp 9, then just A. I’m a really big fan of this progression, how would it be described? Many thanks for all the awesome content!
Brilliant
Amazing...the tension and release you can get with just triads in this concept. Maybe the gorgeous pad helps; reminiscent of early King Crimson. I'm sure there was an Em to Cm in there somewhere... Thanks for another great lesson Micheal.
Thanks Paul! Yeah, the strings and pads makes a big difference, at first I was just using a piano but I don't think it fully translate the impact on its own, plus we're so often used to hearing this type of thing done in orchestral environments so I thought it made more sense and a bigger impact to use those sounds.
Wow! This is wonderful information, beautifully presented, thank you. It's also right at my level, so it's easy to follow along and learn a whole new language for describing sound. Best of all, it makes me want to write some new songs that incorporate chromatic mediants. Side note.... some of those George Harrison chord choices, where I would think, 'Where did THAT come from?' I'm guessing that there are chromatic mediants afoot haha. I'm very grateful for this lesson, Michael.
Thanks Richard! I appreciate your kind words and super pleased that you found it useful. Thanks for leaving your comment 🙏
Dear Michael Keithson,
big fan of the channel, i think you're a really underrated music educator.
I am someone who has learnt music theory through guitar, and so i have a decent understanding of modes, harmony etc.
However, i like composing piano parts in Logic Pro, although i don't really play piano.
I understand formulas for constructing chords, but i would really like to understand more about rearranging the order of the notes to create nice voicings on piano. I love some of the voicing you use, and if you made some content about how you make those choices that would be really awesome.
Yours Sincerely,
Ai Meditations
Ah, thanks for the great comment. I appreciate your kind words.
I think I might just try to make a video addressing that, you're not the first person to ask something like that but I think it's potentially a difficult one to cover as most of my playing is now second nature and don't really consciously think about what I'm doing so it would have to take some unpicking to identify the valuable bits but I think it could be worth it for some people. So you'll have to stay tuned but hopefully I'll get to it!
Thanks for the support and encouragement 🙏
Fantastic video. Thank you so much for this calm educational session. keep it up! .... please! ;-)
Thank you 🙏 Glad you enjoyed it 👍
Beautiful explanation❤ curious what string library you used? Sounds amazing 🤩
Thanks Adrian! For the this I was using a selection of free sounds from Spitfire Audio's LABS. I layered two pads which was the 'Strings 2 - Swells Ensemble' and the 'Textural Pads - Cyclosa'. And for one of the little examples I also used the Spitfire LABS soft piano.
Definitely check out LABS if you've not already: www.spitfireaudio.com/getting-started-labs
So now I know what to call the Eb7 and E7 in the first 8 bars of “Out of Nowhere” which are:
| G6 | G6 | Eb7 | Eb7 |
| G6 | G6 | E7 | E7 |
Thanks.
That's also the beginning of the progression for Bye Bye Blues.
@@richglauber
Thank you. I will have to learn that one.
Looks like Bye Bye was recorded 5 to 6 years before OON.
Another superb video and another tool for my compositions. We could also imagine a harmonic progression in sixths. No ?
Tolls not rules forever ! 😂
Thanks Corentin! Yes, although sixths are just an inversion of 3rds so I kind of think of them as the same in this context.
Actually Enya's music often uses chromatic mediants ie... 'Aniron' (Theme for Aragorn and Arwen) from Lord of the Rings
Kind of a Venn Diagram relationship with Bartok's Axis Theory - the latter being one step (at least) beyond... Quality overview, thank you!
Oooh, I’m not familiar with that, I’ll have to check it out. Cheers for the comment 👍🏼
All of these chromatic mediant moves sound like "My Precioussssss."
Inspired by this video, I employed a chromatic mediant move for a little film underscore yesterday, and it immediately and unintentionally screamed "Karma Police!" This, this... is what you get.
That’s awesome Joel, so cool that it inspired you to create! Thanks for leaving a comment 👍🏼🎹🎵
I'm pretty sure Ludwig Goransson used this in the score for Oppeheimer 🤔
Anyways , always a pleasure learning through your content Michael. Thanks for another video.
Cheers David! I appreciate your support 👍🏼
You're the best
😳🙏
I like how it feels like we're having a conversation rather than a lesson. A doubt though, in 9:18, does it only apply for major thirds? The idea of a chromatic mediant is the chromatic mediant of another one.
Cheers for the comment. Yes, I think was why I said 'sort of', we only get that kind of relationship with major 3rds. If we did it with minor 3rds we could get somewhere close but we get an extra chord that not a mediant of the tonic key. So if we're in C we could move down in minor thirds (outlining a diminished chord) our movement could be Cm - Am - F#m - Ebm(D#m) - C. So that F# is the outlier but I'm not sure that matters too much in the context, worth a try maybe?! Remember, "Tools not Rules"! Ha.
Yeah but like tritone cadences and doubly chromatic mediants and tonnetz poles and slide transformations work for that too but most people only ever talk about the chromatic mediants
tools no rules 🗣️📢🔥
🤣
Cm > Ab m (the way you play it at 7:02) , the most lord of the rings progression Ive ever heard 😂
Nice Video! Your channel is one of the really best out there 😀✨You made me understand it finally 😀 But is there a mistake @5:09, there is a Eb minor instead Eb Major
In the text?
Always seem to miss something!
Appreciate your comment Jake, glad you’re enjoying the videos 🙏
@@michaelkeithson you see - I was closely following every detail 😄 and luckily this concepts are adaptable and also kind of experiential - it’s a great way to get creative or built up own structure combinations :)
Lovely lesson, thank you. One question, have you tried to extend the triads to major and minor sevenths? I will try this on the keyboard. but wanted to get your perspective. Cheers.
Thanks Flavio! I haven't tried this, did you? What did you think?
@@michaelkeithson I have tried using major and minor sevenths and what I was able to come up with did not sound very good. The addition of the sevenths mellows out the chords and makes the transition from one chord to another sound muddy and detracts from the mysterious dark quality of the transitions. Cheers.
@@fabaldoni I agree, I've just had a play with it and it certain seems to soften the hard edges and tension in my opinion, especially on the major 7 chords. Interesting!
can we use chromatic mediants in a progression, and not going back and forth from the tonic? and how to release the *tension* created by these chromatic mediants? thank you
Yes, the final example I gave moves away for more than one chord. I think it come down what your intention is, if you're trying to sustain that feeling of tension moving away from mediant movements back to more standard progression will lose that feeling but if you only want feeling temporarily then there's nothing stopping you from moving away from it whenever you like and you can pretty much go anywhere with it.
Yes. Yes, I should care to know your opinion 👁️
Mixing chord qualities is rather disturbing in this context. Interesting stuff! Thank you.
But sometimes disturbing is exactly what you want! Thanks for the comment 🙏
Mind blown. I know you said "no cheating" when it comes to other keys in one of your videos. But I'm trying to just learn the one key that you are teaching stuff on first. 😅
Hey Jezreel! Slowly but surely. Persistence and patience that's all you need. Good luck man. 👍
also which vst you are using, which patch (this sounds so interesting)
For the this I was using a selection of sounds from Spitfire Audio's free LABS. I layered two pads which was the 'Strings 2 - Swells Ensemble' and the 'Textural Pads - Cyclosa'. And for one of the little examples I also used the Spitfire LABS soft piano.
Definitely check out LABS if you've not already: www.spitfireaudio.com/getting-started-labs
@@michaelkeithson thanks!
Typo at 5:08 - Eb minor (sic.)
The actual sound of black metal
At 7:13 - because Frodo must carry the ring...
7:04 has like a Gotham city feel to it
🦇 🧍♂️
These are the chords that get me going... excessively but not exclusively. You're doing God's work, with this one. Well... I don't mean the church's work. Gospel might end up sounding like spooky sci-fi. Usually the church tries to keep it simple, for the singalongs. But, churches aside, God uses chromatic mediants. The Beatles used chromatic mediants. Lots of great music does, aside from the obvious (film).
Thanks for the comment man, glad you liked this one. Chromatic mediants aren't for everyone but sounds like they're your vibe! 👍