Fantastic song, great analysis, congrats on being sponsored by Apple. Only thing I would add would be just a few sentences about that amazing solo. Clapton did his damnedest to make his guitar sound like it was actually weeping with all of those insane bends and vibrato, and he just straight nailed it.
Neil Innes of The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and later collaborator with Monty Python and Eric Idle (most notably on The Rutles and Robin's Minstrels in Monty Python and The Holy Grail) has often praised that chord in "I Want To Tell You", a song which he had the pleasure to eaves drop on while they were also recording their album at Abbey Road Studios.
Did you mean an analysis on either one of those Beatles songs, or both of them together in that one arrangement that appears on the LOVE album? Because either way, that sounds cool.
I listened to an interview the other day with the guy that curated the rerelease of the White Album with all of the demos and early takes, and he seemed to rebuff the idea that there was real tension in the band. He said that their communication and workflow was not indicative of a band in conflict. But hey, that's just one guy's assessment! Great video! I love this song.
We are the champions by Queen. I find the chord progression fascinates me and I think it's a very good example of how somthing very harmonically complex and nuanced can appear so simple and be so catchy. Fabulous channel btw.
You should have gone into more details about the Clapton solo. It’s really the climax of the song. With those wide bends and reverse bends and manic vibrato he makes his guitar sound like it’s actually weeping
Harrison was always my favorite of the Beatles; not that I needed a justification for that, but I am glad to see that one of his best songs has gotten the attention it deserves
Sorry I missed this when you first put it out. My loss. But having grown up with this music and always feeling it was special it is wonderful to hear this appreciation (and the analysis is enlightening too as usual).
Not just basslines and not just chromatic. They just had a shitload of descending lines, esp. from '66-68. JL kinda got stuck on them I think, well into his solo career even. Although Paul's chromatic refrain from Got to Get You Into My Life (for eg.) was probably the one used the most. George even copped it for Something... then also got stuck on descending riffs for his solo career. I just realised how even Norwegian Wood descends, just in a much more creative way than usual.
Just an idea about the second half of the progression. I think an alternative way to look at it, is as the harmony “opening up” by walking around the circle of fifths; starting in C, then G, then D, and then E; skipping A. The latter possibly being the reason why the jump to E, to me, seems just a bit bigger than the others.
@1:19 Harrison actually uses the minor-major7 "traditional line cliche" in the chorus of "Something". An interesting connection between the songs I hadn't really thought about before.
I LOVE the story of this song. John and Paul didn't want anything to do with this song. George was pissed, but he had a plan. He called his best friend and asked him to come to the studio and hang out for the White Album sessions. George didn't mention that he had a Les Paul and Marshall amp in the studio in hopes of convincing his friend to play on his song. It worked, and when John and Paul found out George's best friend would play guitar on the song, they were all about it! George's best friend was Eric Clapton.
@Tim Murphy - Half right. Before George asked Eric to help out, George, Paul and Ringo (no John) worked together on While My Guitar Gently Weeps. I have seen footage of that on youtube, but I can't find it now. Paul is on bass and backing vocals. So Paul was an early contributor. Paul's piano intro is striking here, and in the final version too. (John, OTOH, couldn't be bothered. Someone posted a complete list of John's contributions to George's later songs on youtube, and it was almost all background vocals or nothing at all. Wish I had bookmarked that, too.)
Played this song with a few of my classmates at my class-concert, people seemed to really enjoy it, and it was very fun to play. Our guitarist was very nervous however but ended up absolutely nailing the solo.
This video should have been a two-parter because Clapton's solo is worth analysis all on its own. Also, Pink Floyd's "Dogs" would be a good one to do a video on.
Well, since the programming wheel goes through multiple revolutions during the song, the chords are pretty much fixed to a single progression with slight modifications because he can turn on and off different instruments and also add extra notes manually with the string instrument I don't know the name of he has on the side. Anyways, the MMX is coming along well.
Hey I wass wondering if you could do an analysis on the song "Michelle" by The Beatles. It's very harmonically interesting and I was wondering if you could tell us what's going on.
You forgot about the super cool and important suspended chords the guitars plays both in the verse and chorus. I think this is called the Amen cadence and I think that it’s use is one of the coolest parts about this song.
Understanding "Pigs (Three Different Ones)" by Pink Floyd would be amazing! I know you already did an episode on Animals as a whole but I feel you didn't go into much detail on this song in particular... Scar Tissue, Under the Bridge and Californication by RHCP would be awesome, too!!
I liked this video before watching because I’m drunk and bumped the thumbs up. Whatever sometimes you get it right just by fumbling it around, not because you studied it perfectly.
While I not a musician or trained in music in any way I've had a theory that just my ear was telling me and after listening to Airplane Mode's version I'm even more sure. Foo Fighters "Pretender" borrows or is a homage to this song.
Harrison thought Lennon and McCartney weren't paying enough attention to this song, so he brought Clapton in, hoping the guys would behave better in front of company. He later pulled a similar gambit when he brought in Billy Preston during the Get Back (later Let It Be) sessions. And apparently it worked!
"In order to understand how great this progression is, I think we need to look at the lyrics happening on top of it." *collective sigh in relief from all of us who don't speak music, and finally get to a part we can understand* Also, I'm now only just noticing the (intentional? maybe not) pun in Apple Corps's name. Ha ha.
Definitely my favorite song on the album. It's cool to hear it dissected so thoroughly! I've never heard of heterophony before and it's interesting to learn how it applies to this song.
Heterophony is rare in western music? Have you not been to a birthday party recently? Or been to pub on Friday night when the crowd joins in with the band? (Or a Karaoke night) I would say heterophony is extremely common in western music.
Not studio produced western music my friend. I see where you're coming from, the concept isn't hidden to the western world, but it isn't popularized on a mainstream scale relative to music production.
The thing about the solo is that it was uncredited and people assumed it was george; as far a the song is concered, i am pretty sure john and paul did not care much for it, but george wanted it on the album, that is why he recruited clapton...
Well it literally was Harrison’s guitar that was weeping. Clapton played the guitar solos on ‘Lucy’ a les Paul that Clapton himself had given Harrison as a present
Neat analysis. I would, however, see the G-->C chord progression on the second "while my guitar gently weeps" a bit differently. Whenever I hear that part, the G feels like a secondary dominant resolving to the relative major, before the E chord takes things back into A minor. I see it as bringing in some folk elements into the song. A lot of folk songs will have much shorter verses than pop songs. Instead of, or in addition to, a full chorus, there will be shorter refrains. Often a verse will make use of two similar refrains in a binary form, where the first refrain end in some unresolved state and the second refrain will resolve. Think of the sea chanty "Blow the Man Down", where the refrain "Way, hay, blow the man down" ends on a dominant and the refrain "Give me some time to blow the man down" ends on a tonic. While "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is a pop song and structured as such overall, the verses still have this call and response aspect more common to folk songs. And if you view the G as a secondary dominant rather than a subdominant, then you get a non-resolution in the G-->D of the first refrain, and a full resolution in the G-->C of the second refrain.
Interesting! I considered the secondary-dominant analysis there, but I left it off because a) G is a diatonic chord, and b) we heard that G operating in a different context previously so I don't really hear it as pointing to the C in the second case.
Commenting on this, because it is your most recent post. Could you do a video on how to write for horns in a jazz section to play a rhythm vamp other than soloing, i have been attempting to write in a jazz setting, and I am unsure what to have horns do other than take solos.
In the chorus, when we have A, C#m, F#m, and back to C#m, if it doesn't feel like "happy major" and the melody roots itself on C#m more so than on A, why do you take A as the key, and not C#m phrygian?
Good question! It's mostly because of the second half of the chorus. Bmi to E is a very strong functional motion in A, which makes it hard to hear C# as the root even though the melody revolves around it.
@@12tone Got it. Thank you! There are like 4 or 5 youtube channels Im regularly watching to learn music theory, and yours is one of them. Keep the good work =)
the comments on the Beatles' facebook post were so negative for no reason. i love these kinds of videos, and you totally don't sound like an ADHD coke-addict.
I was rewatching 8-bit video about Castlevania series and the mentioned that he considers this song to be an example of what he calls Brain Stew progression, which is sort of a modified Andalusian cadence. Any reasons against such interpretation?
Holy shit Apple Corps sponsored you?? That’s amazing
w
It’s such a refreshing difference from the label that tried to take down the videos analysing songs by bands signed to them.
But they dont let him play the actual song though.
@@shapes2000 probs cos they don't own it
@@shapes2000 Because the system is fundamentally broken and a nightmare. It can take months of going in circles to get permission from everyone.
"Understanding Revolution 9" would be an interesting episode lol.
It would certainly turn me on...
so would "I Am The Walrus" (interesting notes in the intro)
"Hello, and welcome to 12tone! Today we will be trying oto analyse and understand Revolution 9...
.
.
.
It can't be done"
End of video
The only one who truly understands it is John....
Lennon said it was supposed to represent the chaos that comes after a revolution. (i think?)
A day in the life would be great too.
yes, please!
Fantastic song, great analysis, congrats on being sponsored by Apple. Only thing I would add would be just a few sentences about that amazing solo. Clapton did his damnedest to make his guitar sound like it was actually weeping with all of those insane bends and vibrato, and he just straight nailed it.
"It almost doesn't matter what chords they play."
*Listens to "I Want to Tell You" from Revolver."
We are just the Beatles' playthings.
yup!
I don't get it but am also baked.
Neil Innes of The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and later collaborator with Monty Python and Eric Idle (most notably on The Rutles and Robin's Minstrels in Monty Python and The Holy Grail) has often praised that chord in "I Want To Tell You", a song which he had the pleasure to eaves drop on while they were also recording their album at Abbey Road Studios.
stillaliveplus1forme same
Three recommendations;
1. Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane - The Beatles
2. Heart-Shaped Box - Nirvana
3. Icky Thump - The White Stripes
Did you mean an analysis on either one of those Beatles songs, or both of them together in that one arrangement that appears on the LOVE album?
Because either way, that sounds cool.
Jascha Bull I meant individually. Cheers :)
I listened to an interview the other day with the guy that curated the rerelease of the White Album with all of the demos and early takes, and he seemed to rebuff the idea that there was real tension in the band. He said that their communication and workflow was not indicative of a band in conflict. But hey, that's just one guy's assessment! Great video! I love this song.
Understanding "dogs" by Pink Floyd would be awesome
Lucas Hoss or Shine on you Crazy Diamond
Echoes, Time, Money!
Literally ANYTHING by Pink Floyd.
Hell yeah!
And long... don't forget long
We are the champions by Queen. I find the chord progression fascinates me and I think it's a very good example of how somthing very harmonically complex and nuanced can appear so simple and be so catchy. Fabulous channel btw.
You should have gone into more details about the Clapton solo. It’s really the climax of the song. With those wide bends and reverse bends and manic vibrato he makes his guitar sound like it’s actually weeping
Clapton's solo in this song is the best thing he ever recorded, so I think some analysis on that would have been nice :)
I love the live version of this song on youtube when Prince solo'd. Fucking Tremendous.
Harrison was always my favorite of the Beatles; not that I needed a justification for that, but I am glad to see that one of his best songs has gotten the attention it deserves
He wad the besBeatle. Here comes the sun is another good song.
Interesting that Rick Beato today made an analysis on The Beatles too!
i mean, considering its the 50th anniversary of the white album it's not THAT interesting
Rick is also less interesting and way more full of himself. Good you tuber tho.
@@needlessnoise He did an Abbey Road song and didn't mention the White Album.
I look at these as the theory side of what makes this song great, where rick looks at the production
Sorry I missed this when you first put it out. My loss. But having grown up with this music and always feeling it was special it is wonderful to hear this appreciation (and the analysis is enlightening too as usual).
after listening to a few songs by the beatles you can realize that a lot of them have a chromatic descending bassline
Yeah, they loved descending lines. Whether major or minor, they're in so many Beatles songs.
Queen too
Not just basslines and not just chromatic. They just had a shitload of descending lines, esp. from '66-68. JL kinda got stuck on them I think, well into his solo career even. Although Paul's chromatic refrain from Got to Get You Into My Life (for eg.) was probably the one used the most. George even copped it for Something... then also got stuck on descending riffs for his solo career.
I just realised how even Norwegian Wood descends, just in a much more creative way than usual.
A lot of songs do, not just beatles...
I think it's a James Jamerson thing in Macca's case.
I'm sure that the only thing George thought was "Hey this sounds cool"
Exactly
Just an idea about the second half of the progression. I think an alternative way to look at it, is as the harmony “opening up” by walking around the circle of fifths; starting in C, then G, then D, and then E; skipping A. The latter possibly being the reason why the jump to E, to me, seems just a bit bigger than the others.
It's not that complicated; Ghiaccio uses White Album's freezing power to freeze the air around him, allowing him to deflect bullets and stuff.
Huashuasha
Did Jojo ever Get Back To Where he Once Belonged? I didn't make it to the end of the manga.
@@jaschabull2365 Neither did I. XD
Thank you so much. Now I finally know why do I love that song!
@1:19 Harrison actually uses the minor-major7 "traditional line cliche" in the chorus of "Something". An interesting connection between the songs I hadn't really thought about before.
he does it in a lot of his songs
This has been my favorite video on this channel. Thank you!
I LOVE the story of this song. John and Paul didn't want anything to do with this song. George was pissed, but he had a plan. He called his best friend and asked him to come to the studio and hang out for the White Album sessions. George didn't mention that he had a Les Paul and Marshall amp in the studio in hopes of convincing his friend to play on his song. It worked, and when John and Paul found out George's best friend would play guitar on the song, they were all about it! George's best friend was Eric Clapton.
The man, the myth, the legend... Eric Clapton
Jesus when u think about it...patti Boyd left George for his best friend...yikes
@@shaneskavdahl3638 Yup. She did. What's crazier is that George was the best man at their wedding!
It’s a great Stand fight too.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MY FAVOURITE SONG
A day in the life! So amazing!
I just heard the White Album in its entirety for the first time last month so this was a cool thing to discover on this channel. 🙌
@Tim Murphy - Half right. Before George asked Eric to help out, George, Paul and Ringo (no John) worked together on While My Guitar Gently Weeps. I have seen footage of that on youtube, but I can't find it now. Paul is on bass and backing vocals. So Paul was an early contributor. Paul's piano intro is striking here, and in the final version too. (John, OTOH, couldn't be bothered. Someone posted a complete list of John's contributions to George's later songs on youtube, and it was almost all background vocals or nothing at all. Wish I had bookmarked that, too.)
I appreciate this song even more now. Thank you.
I love this song, can't wait to see what you have to say about it
Played this song with a few of my classmates at my class-concert, people seemed to really enjoy it, and it was very fun to play.
Our guitarist was very nervous however but ended up absolutely nailing the solo.
This video should have been a two-parter because Clapton's solo is worth analysis all on its own. Also, Pink Floyd's "Dogs" would be a good one to do a video on.
"This video is sponsored by Apple Corps"
WOAH THERE BOI
Wish you'd done the acoustic version, but the album version is pretty good too (especially Clapton's solo)
Hi 12tone. I would love if you can analyse marble machine by wintergatan. I think this is a very interesting piece
That would be really interesting
Well, since the programming wheel goes through multiple revolutions during the song, the chords are pretty much fixed to a single progression with slight modifications because he can turn on and off different instruments and also add extra notes manually with the string instrument I don't know the name of he has on the side.
Anyways, the MMX is coming along well.
The string instrument on the side is a Höfner style bass (see Paul McCartney) with the finish sanded off.
You did a very good job of breaking down this song for me... it was exactly what i was looking for... chord explanation
i love the regina spektor version from kubo and the two strings
Could you do an analysis of time in a bottle by Jim Croce next? I would love to see you analyse that song!
I was really looking forward to you analyzing the bass line in the chorus.. it's my favourite part of the song..
Great comment at the end. "Identify the heart of the song and change everything else."
The structure very similar to “babe im gonna leave you” the bassline is awesome, can do super awesome variations of it.
Hey I wass wondering if you could do an analysis on the song "Michelle" by The Beatles. It's very harmonically interesting and I was wondering if you could tell us what's going on.
Read Alan Polack's Notes on The Beatles (online).
My rsn: sage tyke
I've always loved this song. It's great! Lovely analysis as well.
The C chord has not a subdominant function, but rather a tonic function, being the relative major of A, of which G is its dominant
You forgot about the super cool and important suspended chords the guitars plays both in the verse and chorus. I think this is called the Amen cadence and I think that it’s use is one of the coolest parts about this song.
One off your best, i loved it.
My favourite channel
Love this song super hyped
Excellent stuff as usual man! Great stuff :)
Great video. I really like your advice for covers (at the end of the video). I think you are right on. Cheers.
Understanding "Pigs (Three Different Ones)" by Pink Floyd would be amazing! I know you already did an episode on Animals as a whole but I feel you didn't go into much detail on this song in particular... Scar Tissue, Under the Bridge and Californication by RHCP would be awesome, too!!
I liked this video before watching because I’m drunk and bumped the thumbs up. Whatever sometimes you get it right just by fumbling it around, not because you studied it perfectly.
While I not a musician or trained in music in any way I've had a theory that just my ear was telling me and after listening to Airplane Mode's version I'm even more sure. Foo Fighters "Pretender" borrows or is a homage to this song.
Harrison thought Lennon and McCartney weren't paying enough attention to this song, so he brought Clapton in, hoping the guys would behave better in front of company. He later pulled a similar gambit when he brought in Billy Preston during the Get Back (later Let It Be) sessions. And apparently it worked!
Great analysis of a great song
"In order to understand how great this progression is, I think we need to look at the lyrics happening on top of it."
*collective sigh in relief from all of us who don't speak music, and finally get to a part we can understand*
Also, I'm now only just noticing the (intentional? maybe not) pun in Apple Corps's name. Ha ha.
Great vid, but do you have any comment on the famous Prince’s guitar solo at Rock N Roll hall of fame 2004 Harrison tribute?
Definitely my favorite song on the album. It's cool to hear it dissected so thoroughly! I've never heard of heterophony before and it's interesting to learn how it applies to this song.
Heterophony is rare in western music? Have you not been to a birthday party recently? Or been to pub on Friday night when the crowd joins in with the band? (Or a Karaoke night) I would say heterophony is extremely common in western music.
Not studio produced western music my friend. I see where you're coming from, the concept isn't hidden to the western world, but it isn't popularized on a mainstream scale relative to music production.
The thing about the solo is that it was uncredited and people assumed it was george; as far a the song is concered, i am pretty sure john and paul did not care much for it, but george wanted it on the album, that is why he recruited clapton...
"It may have been Eric playing, but it was my guitar gently weeping."
-- George Harrison (from memory, so the quote may not be exact)
Well it literally was Harrison’s guitar that was weeping. Clapton played the guitar solos on ‘Lucy’ a les Paul that Clapton himself had given Harrison as a present
Neat analysis. I would, however, see the G-->C chord progression on the second "while my guitar gently weeps" a bit differently. Whenever I hear that part, the G feels like a secondary dominant resolving to the relative major, before the E chord takes things back into A minor.
I see it as bringing in some folk elements into the song. A lot of folk songs will have much shorter verses than pop songs. Instead of, or in addition to, a full chorus, there will be shorter refrains. Often a verse will make use of two similar refrains in a binary form, where the first refrain end in some unresolved state and the second refrain will resolve. Think of the sea chanty "Blow the Man Down", where the refrain "Way, hay, blow the man down" ends on a dominant and the refrain "Give me some time to blow the man down" ends on a tonic.
While "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is a pop song and structured as such overall, the verses still have this call and response aspect more common to folk songs. And if you view the G as a secondary dominant rather than a subdominant, then you get a non-resolution in the G-->D of the first refrain, and a full resolution in the G-->C of the second refrain.
Interesting! I considered the secondary-dominant analysis there, but I left it off because a) G is a diatonic chord, and b) we heard that G operating in a different context previously so I don't really hear it as pointing to the C in the second case.
You and Beato both have Beatles vids on the same day.
Who ?
Pretty sure that E is an E7 because Clapton improvises using the harmonic minor scale during the solo over that E chord.
This comment probably isn’t be seen but “Won’t Get Fooled Again” by The Who would be super interesting!
@12tone Wouldn't you say that the chorus is in C# phrygian?
Then it would be bVI i iv i, a minor plagal cadence.
Eric and George was 2 great geniuses I must say, even if I do dislike Eric a bit.
You should analyze Kiss From A Rose. I’m pretty sure it uses Picardy thirds... but that’s as far as I got.
Another great video!
Brilliant, thanks!
George was probably the most accomplished musician in the Beatles, learned song writing from John and Paul and viola, his genius arose
wow i was just listening to this song
The progressions in the verse are mirrored in the melody of the lyrics
Very very very cool and informative
I love Apple Corps! Haven't seen a sponsor from them until now.
Brasil mandou um abraço ❤
2:59 Am-G-D-E also fits into melodic minor (I sometimes like to think of it as "harmonic dorian" i.e. dorian#7)
12tone does 12 days of christmas?
Commenting on this, because it is your most recent post. Could you do a video on how to write for horns in a jazz section to play a rhythm vamp other than soloing, i have been attempting to write in a jazz setting, and I am unsure what to have horns do other than take solos.
Robert Foeller Suggestion: Try listening to a few bands where horns were a regular part of their sound. Eg. Chicago, Earth Wind and Fire, James Brown.
Loved this video
Did you see the vid on TH-cam with Prince, Tom Petty, and others playing "While My Guitar 🎸 Gently Weeps"?
Can you do a Parliament Funkadelic song?!
Oops, at the end of the major middle, it's actually b minor for one bar and then B major for one bar, before the E major.
Lov it, thanks!!
Would you ever consider a song like this with the context of the percussion, perhaps the same way you appreciate the lyrics?
Ah yeah I remember learning about heterophony in music GCSE. I’ve heard really few songs using it
Please do Understanding How Do You Sleep by Lennon the change between the verse and the chorus is amazing !
the film Kubo had a great cover of this song.
In the chorus, when we have A, C#m, F#m, and back to C#m, if it doesn't feel like "happy major" and the melody roots itself on C#m more so than on A, why do you take A as the key, and not C#m phrygian?
Good question! It's mostly because of the second half of the chorus. Bmi to E is a very strong functional motion in A, which makes it hard to hear C# as the root even though the melody revolves around it.
@@12tone Got it. Thank you! There are like 4 or 5 youtube channels Im regularly watching to learn music theory, and yours is one of them. Keep the good work =)
Understanding "Yes, The River Knows" by The Doors
This man needs a sharpie sponsor ship
the comments on the Beatles' facebook post were so negative for no reason. i love these kinds of videos, and you totally don't sound like an ADHD coke-addict.
I was rewatching 8-bit video about Castlevania series and the mentioned that he considers this song to be an example of what he calls Brain Stew progression, which is sort of a modified Andalusian cadence. Any reasons against such interpretation?
Awesome! :)
Isn't C major a III chord in the A minor scale and not a flat III chord like you say at 4:14?
I was also confused by this, just like the G being a flat VII not just a VII
It's kind of both. Saying flat isn't necessary, just clearer in the sense that Am is shorthand for A with a flat 3, 6 and 7.
If "While my Guitar Gently Weeps" wasn't a song name, the title of this video would be much cooler
Awesome! Do more Beatles please
Understanding -All I want for Christmas is you, plz
thank u my king, always been pretty indifferent to the beatles save this song. Cool to see why.
Amazing!