He kept humble tho and that's worth my respect, man had enough to afford lots of hair but decided to give most of it to the friend beside him, takes a charitable heart
The guy at 9:34 snuck a version of The Lick, with an extended ascending line, past Adam without so much as a word. Nobody in the comments has even mentioned it. The man has achieved godhood.
I notice that lots of people agree with you but in my shitty opinion, not everything is the lick, and I'd like to know if that's actually what he went for :D I mean especially if it's "almost" the lick, it could be pretty much anything
@@Hamppzah I don't think he necessarily "meant it" but if you play enough close-interval melodies, it's almost inevitable, but that doesn't make it "not the lick".+
Duuuuuude. The whole 1 and 3 being embodied with the lower body and 2 and 4 being embodied with upper body was a minor epiphany. I am a drummer and that is literally just the basic rock beat (kick snare kick snare) but i had never put it into those terms at all.
Yeah, nowadays there's definitely a tendency to default to thinking of 2 and 4 as the "main beats" in rock and jazz. But if you zoom out and look at the larger music tradition, putting a loud, popping snare on 2 and 4 was meant to be its own form of syncopation that hits those weaker 2 and 4 beats (hence why that pattern is called a "backbeat"). To us it feels standard, because that's what we've heard in popular music for over a century now, but when it first started it was a really funky thing to do.
I think a lot of digital pianos have this feature called "Duet Mode" that splits the keyboard like this, in case you were wondering how it was done. (if this is a midi keyboard then just done in the program some other way, not the only way this can be done)
@@CalebM-Music yeah I should have just said nothing, lots of ways to do this. I just used the duet mode on my piano recently and it accomplishes the same, thought it was a cool feature and maybe used here but likely not.
Oh wow. The moment Adam said: imagine dancing on 2 and 4 I immediately thought of a potentially great episode! Adam, please explore mambo music and dancing on 1 vs dancing on 2. It's a big deal in salsa community: LA vs New York style. I'd love to hear about this stuff intellectualized!
I was thinking of that immediately too! Makes the dance flow in quite a different way. And then there are those that dance a mambo base step the way it is performed on 1, but then start it on the 2 instead (so a pause on 1). Seems to be a regional salsa version?
Yes. He turns around with his analogies so quick. And they work. The one that really hit me was "you maybe wanna ... hide your seams a little more" - I mean. That reminds me of my violin teacher. It's a rare skill to communicate fuzzy ideas so clearly.
Hey! I'm a jazz dancer: We step on the 1, but *embody* the 2. In other words, we might be stepping on the one, but we'll kick, clap, drag, stomp and accent the second beat. It doesn't always look like it's happening, but it's something that we strongly feel in our bodies.
The fact Adam hadn’t heard the original version of “White Winter Hymnal” was actually heartening for me. I’m playing massive catch-up with tons of jazz, progressive hip hop and the groovy music Adam focuses on. It’s a good reminder some quality music I take as a given, as it was unavoidable for me for a time, is new to even a serious music scholar. we’re all playing catch-up with amazing art to consume and learn from.
I graduated Berklee in 1981 - still out there playing music. What "saved" me from the Berklee bubble, that you mentioned near the end of this video, was being in a band with non berklee musicians. That was a gift, after total immersion in the bubble! Thanks for videos. Really good stuff
what am i supposed to learn first ;a; I feel so lost man, trying to figure out what the best things to spend my time learning are, to actually play music with people, and it's real hard to figure out what's important.
@@Wishuponapancake You can learn anything first! The only limit you should put on learning is that you should stick with things you can handle and understand first. As a beginner bassist, learn your note names, work on your timing, and learn your favorite songs. And invite others to play your favorite songs with you. The rest will come.
After my jazz education I 'let it simmer' for a couple of years by not playing bass. I just made some electronic music and got back to playing bass only recently. Now I feel like I can incorporate everything I learned into my bass playing. I changed from being obsessed with becoming like my idols to being able to play my own thing based on all the influences I was confronted with in my early years. A new found freedom so to speak.
"you could hear him think in that moment" you really friggin could! something to be said about the pauses and silence being important too and almost telling a story?
Wow!! So beyond honored to have been part of this video!! Thank you so much Adam Neely and Christian Li for the incredible comments and advice, and thank you to everyone who has shown this project of ours some love!! We really do appreciate it so much!!
“As a bass player I appreciate…your pinky is thinking about me.” 😂 Well put though! A lot of us keyboardists could do well to think of the left hand more like how bassists do. 😊
stef's ewi solo made me jump out of my seat that shit was TIGHT AS HELL it was like listening to sonic the hedgehog music on a heroic dose of amphetamines
hey adam loved what you said about the EWI solo being a "crowd pleaser solo". would love to hear you talking more about crowdpleasing qualities. love from Brasil
I love and deeply resonate with a lot of how Adam seems to think of music. He seems to really organically live between high theory and pure musical expression, which I love (mostly self-taught with half a year of York U BA in Music program).
2:11 This whole thought process about keeping the motion of the inner voices (and sometimes the bass) as smooth as possible is very similar to the way that organists will play. Interesting how this correlates!
Christian is a super cool guy. When he was on tour with Sungazer, after the show he came out from backstage and asked Adam, who was talking to some fans, if he wanted a drink. I stopped him on the way to the bar and offered to buy their beers and he was so gracious, appreciative and humble that he ended up insisting on buying ME a drink. Cool to see him on the channel!
In regards to your clapping/dancing discussion of 1+3 vs 2&4: look up the difference between salsa (on 1) and mambo (on 2). They're essentially the same dance but felt differently.
Wow. Brian eno coined the phrase “scenious” vs. genius to indicate that an artist who becomes vastly well known by in large happens because of the community that artist develops their ideas from. I believe you’re right that pedagogic discussions surrounding the saturation of talented minds should continue.
Your sensibilities and contextualizations really compliment each other. It’s almost as if the two of you come from different directions but arrive at the same conclusions. The rapport between the two of you is awesome. Christian is a guy I would definitely welcome seeing more of. Great job as always, Adam.
Thank you for featuring this wonderful man, Adam. I went to school with Christian and I have never known someone so simultaneously masterful and humble in terms of his craft. His generosity and guidance played a huge part in my artistic development.
Its a pleasure to see young blood talking about this. I am very happy that a culture that really know what they are doing still present. Great video guys! Keep the good job.
Fucking holy fuck I started crying and rocking at the white winter hymnal. I have never ever heard that song go that hard. I always hear it at highschool choir concerts and didn’t think it could ever be expanded upon in such a way. The looping vocals to dig into the round MMMMM
That 1 and 3 vs 2 and 4 discussion was one of the most insightful things I’ve ever heard, even from this channel which is where I learned most of my musical knowledge from.
The book 'Dilla Time' that came out recently is amazing. Covers his life but also crucially his method and how he actively used quantisation in the MPC just as much as unquantised playing. Really perfect example of using the MPC as a true instrument that informed composition
I’ve followed Adam for quite a while and this episode stood out as uniquely insightful, your brains just sync so seamlessly. Pleeeeease make a podcast together!
I started really getting interested in music theory with your videos as a sophomore in hs, but I was a choir student (14 years now) so I didn't think too much of the jazz parts of your videos. Now as a sophomore in college I'm going to double major in the jazz track of music education (I'm currently in the choral track). I guess I did still internalize all you talked about with jazz. Thank you for all of your incredibly educational and mind-opening videos!
Ya man… despite playing Donna Lee at 300BPM… when you slow it down… you can literally hear every single accent (as intended). That’s when I realized Charlie Parker wasn’t human…
I have a thought I'd like for you to comment on if you feel moved. I find singers who sing slightly flat sound BETTER than singers who sing slightly sharp. I also find drummers who play slightly behind the beat (metronome) feel better than playing slightly ahead. First do you agree- or not? Is there any science to it?
There’s a lot more science (that I’ve seen) on tuning theory (Adam did a great video on the ‘comma pump’), but a lot of what I’ve seen about the rhythmic feel thing is anecdotal. That’s just what I’ve seen though!
Most of the time if you're on the major third, sharp four, major sixth, or flat seven, flatter than 12-tone equal temperament is a great way to be, and is more in tune with the harmonic series than "staying to the grid" or going sharp. Fourths and fifths suffer hugely going more than a few cents from where they are in equal temperament and/or just intonation. As for rhythm, laid back grooves are great. I can't remember the guy's name right now, but he's got a General Theory of Rhythm based on microswing percentages, and how rhythm circles are "balanced", with their "centre of gravity" leaning forwards to the next beat cycle or leaning backwards and holding back
Whoa! This is fantastic. OMG, the @ Shred-tastic EWI solo! That was amazing and all of these folks sound like they can really contribute in their own original way. Interesting conversation about music schools at the end. In math, physics, and related academic pursuits, at some point after savaging the student with learning known tools that have already been discovered by past geniuses, the focus turns towards research. My academic advisor said "our goal is that every graduate will make a contribution to knowledge." Maybe the music schools need to figure out how to add a part in the second half of the curriculum about discovery, originality, and creation?
This video was such a treat. I'm not a jazz musician, not a musician either really, so I usually not familiar with the standards so often covered here, so to hear the White Winter Hymnal cover at the very end was like a WOW moment for me. I could actually hear the differences, the new colors, the monstrous amounts of harmony melted onto the acapella part. It was BEAUTIFUL! All the submissions are always a treat to listen to though. That's why I come here every time.
I’m starting Berklee in the fall and the one thing I’ve been thinking about as a guitarist is how will I stand out? Your segment on letting it simmer really helped me develop my answer. Thanks Adam! You’re such a huge inspiration and I’m so proud to say I’ll be attending the same college as you.
When you guys were talking about the 2-4 are up top and the 1-3 ground a piece it reminded me of the things my music teacher would help me get better at jazz drumming. As a drummer it sorta became second nature to feel the music that way, and helped me get a lot better. Just interesting the way that those ideas are internalized in other instrumentalists as well
I like to say that "cliche's" or prepared "licks'"are what you play to keep the music flowing in between moments of creative inspiration when improvising.
One of those where I will pause, go to work, hit play eat lunch from work, but so darn valuable your work to me I must consume every word and principle. Thanks for bringing Christian Li to this episode. You always encourage me, even when my head hurts absorbing what for you now, must be a way of speaking. Sincerely yours, wanting to know this language, Sam
of course, the part when they talked about being in music school, i just realized that they were right now that i'm in my last year and graduating from music school. im not a berkley kid, but it definitely checks out.
"I don't think I've ever heard a hang drum and regular drums together" Shpongle has you covered, my guy. Specifically "Nothing is Something Worth Doing."
There’s some nice songs on Yaima’s pellucidity album with hand pan in it. Also I never ever share my videos on here cos I have only a few old ones, but I played harp with my friend on hand pan. He makes them, there is a video here th-cam.com/video/tgFyKwcA36Q/w-d-xo.html
When I was first starting out I had a big mental breakthrough when I started to understand a bit about chords, especially upper structures. But then it was another great mental shift to sort of partially unlearn that and think LINEARLY instead of vertically. It's ALL melody.
That Fleet Foxes one. nice. I used to say in college you spend all this time learning all these techniques and then you spend the rest of your life unlearning everything you learned. you gotta reach the point where you aren't thinking about techniques, you're just playing them
wow, i related to the end so much. when I was at school for music that is exactly what happened. Theres was cool indie stuff that a lot of people liked and pretty soon everyone was trying to write stuff that fit that mold. It's good experience and helped me expand my knowledge, but it was pretty hard to figure out after what kind of music I want to make and to do the things that made me unique before school.
Thanks for this great episode, and particularly thanks for introducing us to Christian, and particularly particularly thanks for Christian's thoughts on voice leading for harmony. I was taught a very academic approach to reharmonization and I've never been able to make it work. I wish Christian had gone back in time 40 years to 17 year old me and said "Dude, voice leading...check it out!" I love that there's always more to learn! Peace...
I appreciate the comment about working within limitations with respect to the hang drum segment. Good advice to use your available tools without trying to do too much.
I can tell that I’ve grown as a musician and as a person since music school because I tracked with and experienced everything you guys were saying about music being subjective, no rules matter, etc. Really great watch!
Watching Christian on the ivories, it appears that there is "Bass Face" and "Keyboard Eyebrow". I like Adam's comment about bass players having to get used to people talking over their solos 😆
Police officer: "You can't park here, it's against the rules." Adam: "There are no rules, only context." Police officer: "You can't park here, it's against the context."
adam didnt know white winter hymnal by fleet foxes! but yet you're right the original song had less notes, i liked many different aspects of their rendition like the harmonies
Rumba, for example, in ballroom, is danced on 2, 3, and 4. The action initiated on 4 is smeared across 1 to culminate at 2. It is generally a side step, and the foot may actually touch the floor around 1, but the hips move slowly across the top so that the weight fully arrives over the foot at 2.
Love you guys' chemistry, insight and positivity! This concept has grown to be so much more wholesome compared to the first How to not Suck at Music -vids ☺️ I think most music schools have their own "signature sound", at least in here in Finland i think it's quite easy to spot musicians who've recently graduated from the music schools e.g. Sibelius Academy (named after the Finnish national composer, not the software), Metropolia or the Pop-/Jazz Conservatory. I'm not sure what it's like now, but some time ago you could pretty much tell where somebody had studied just by listening to them play.
I know what you mean by the Berklee bubble. I experienced a similar thing in music college but that is also a very important stage of development. The student is in the phase of absorbing a lot of information. It is only later that it becomes assimilated into a well spring to be drawn from. As Miles Davis said, ''Learn it and forget it''.
I've been simmering for so long that I've enjoyed what has come of it. I know I have a lot to develop still, but that's the beauty of music ESPECIALLY in production for me. I might never break into something that I can settle with indefinitely, but if that's what it takes to have a flourishing career I don't want one.
On the voice-leading and melodic use of all 10 fingers, reminds me of a story Roger Woodward (champion of modern piano music) told us in composing class a while back at Sydney Uni, about Xenakis treating each finger as a separate and independent voice, when composing a piece for him.
Sooooo Good !!! Great analysis, great shares by the fans, great diversity... This is absolutely a way to get into advance music. But also, PURE FUN for anybody who love music. We can listen to this clip from so many points of view... Bring 20 persons in the room and ask them what was all about and you'll get 20 different stories. First time I heard you, I understood like 7 to 10% of what you were saying (a little over 2 years ago...). You showed me then that music could be more than simply align some chords in a rock band (wich I did for ten years, playing gigs and on the radio...). And so I felt into the rabbit hole (asperger talking here !! he he...). Now I understand more then 85% of your sayings and it still growing. I cannot express how I am gratefull to have received such a gift from you. That spark that got me going into learning my scales, the intervals, the chords and all... Just because I wanted to know exactly what you were explaining. I never tough that after playing for more than 30 years I would then make a 180 and finaly get to it. God that is good to hear music like vocabulary. Many thanxx (sorry for the mistakes here. English is not my first language)
I hope you have Christian back soon! I really like the way he describes music. Yet another great artist I've discovered through the Adam Neely Extended Musicverse!
Christian is great on this format! Have him on the channel more often! One of the best viewer critique videos you've done Adam. Really enjoyed listening.
Gaiman calls in the compost heap -- you take all your influences and skills and every thing else you hear and learn and come accross from every possible source (not just the medium you work in) and just throw it on the heap. Then as that heaps breaks down and, ahem, de-composes you use the new raw material to grow your own plants
5 years ago he couldn’t even afford hair and now has beard. Patreon works!!
He kept humble tho and that's worth my respect, man had enough to afford lots of hair but decided to give most of it to the friend beside him, takes a charitable heart
LOL
LOLOLOL
Well someone had to say it 😂🤷🏾♂️ although... Adam's videos are what I look forward to everytime I open the app 🙌🏾🔥
does anyone know why couldn't he afford hair back in the old days
When Adam says "This guy knows chords" that guy *knows chords*
When that guy who Adam says knows chords says "This guy knows chords" that guy _knows_ _chords_
@@taekatanahu635 chordception
Love your pfp btw
It takes a guy who knows chords to know a guy who knows chords.
Ok but who's chords?
The guy at 9:34 snuck a version of The Lick, with an extended ascending line, past Adam without so much as a word. Nobody in the comments has even mentioned it. The man has achieved godhood.
Oh my god you’re right lol
Yes! I was wondering if anyone else had noticed
Paused the video just now to see if anyone else noticed. Nice!
I notice that lots of people agree with you but in my shitty opinion, not everything is the lick, and I'd like to know if that's actually what he went for :D I mean especially if it's "almost" the lick, it could be pretty much anything
@@Hamppzah I don't think he necessarily "meant it" but if you play enough close-interval melodies, it's almost inevitable, but that doesn't make it "not the lick".+
No rules, only context? Sounds like the theory of relativity.
Music theory of relativity
My relatives mostly suck.
Not you, Kat and fam
The legend, himself.
zon daytay
speed of light in a vaccuum
WOAH! Thanks a lot for the constructive criticism! Truly appreciate it!
your playing was really beautiful! so nice, love what you're doing
amazing playing man
I loved your rendition! Is the full video uploaded publicly anywhere? Thanks :)
Really nice man you had some cool harmonies in there
@@Odima16 Yes, I just published it
Duuuuuude. The whole 1 and 3 being embodied with the lower body and 2 and 4 being embodied with upper body was a minor epiphany. I am a drummer and that is literally just the basic rock beat (kick snare kick snare) but i had never put it into those terms at all.
I’ve been trying to find it, but somewhere there’s an older Adam video where he talks more about the positive impact of movement on inner pulse.
That’s honestly the way we tap our foot- we lift our heel on 2 and 4 and slam it on 1 and 3. Though… I’ve seen some people do the exact opposite.
It was an odd mix of "well duh, that's obvious" and "why have I've never heard this articulated?"
Yeah, nowadays there's definitely a tendency to default to thinking of 2 and 4 as the "main beats" in rock and jazz. But if you zoom out and look at the larger music tradition, putting a loud, popping snare on 2 and 4 was meant to be its own form of syncopation that hits those weaker 2 and 4 beats (hence why that pattern is called a "backbeat"). To us it feels standard, because that's what we've heard in popular music for over a century now, but when it first started it was a really funky thing to do.
Unless you’re in Brazil 🇧🇷
Neat how they shifted the octaves on the keyboard so Christian would be in the middle range despite being seated up top
I think a lot of digital pianos have this feature called "Duet Mode" that splits the keyboard like this, in case you were wondering how it was done. (if this is a midi keyboard then just done in the program some other way, not the only way this can be done)
Lol I noticed that!!
@@hiphopoppotomusful my midi board just has an octave button
Kinda basic function ;p
@@CalebM-Music yeah I should have just said nothing, lots of ways to do this. I just used the duet mode on my piano recently and it accomplishes the same, thought it was a cool feature and maybe used here but likely not.
Thank you so much for including my EWI solo!
dude you absolutely KILLED that shit i adored it and i will check out anything that you drop
That was awesome! And a totally new instrument to me.
Yep your solo was great!
Your EWI solo KILLED IT! easily my favorite one!
Lovely expressions mate. Where can we hear more of your music? :)
Oh wow. The moment Adam said: imagine dancing on 2 and 4 I immediately thought of a potentially great episode! Adam, please explore mambo music and dancing on 1 vs dancing on 2. It's a big deal in salsa community: LA vs New York style. I'd love to hear about this stuff intellectualized!
I was thinking of that immediately too! Makes the dance flow in quite a different way. And then there are those that dance a mambo base step the way it is performed on 1, but then start it on the 2 instead (so a pause on 1). Seems to be a regional salsa version?
Love this guy. Love his playing, love his thoughts, love his shirt. God that's a good shirt
it costs more because the patterns are so complicated
That shirt fucks.
@@jacktion1546 fucks what? Or who?
@@jacktion1546 lmao
That shirt really matches the guy.
Congrats Adam on being in the 8-bit arrangement that got a Grammy!
Explain?
The cover of Meta Knight's Revenge by The8BitBigBand received a Grammy.
@@user-tk2ne4uk8cthat's insane
Would love to have Christian back! He is so cool and insightful
Yes. He turns around with his analogies so quick. And they work. The one that really hit me was "you maybe wanna ... hide your seams a little more" - I mean. That reminds me of my violin teacher. It's a rare skill to communicate fuzzy ideas so clearly.
Christian was an awesome co-host on this. I'd like to hear more of his thoughts.
He is a so good “co-host”
English second language?
@@jrburger95 such a good then. Tihi
Hey! I'm a jazz dancer: We step on the 1, but *embody* the 2. In other words, we might be stepping on the one, but we'll kick, clap, drag, stomp and accent the second beat. It doesn't always look like it's happening, but it's something that we strongly feel in our bodies.
The fact Adam hadn’t heard the original version of “White Winter Hymnal” was actually heartening for me. I’m playing massive catch-up with tons of jazz, progressive hip hop and the groovy music Adam focuses on. It’s a good reminder some quality music I take as a given, as it was unavoidable for me for a time, is new to even a serious music scholar. we’re all playing catch-up with amazing art to consume and learn from.
That literally shocked me so much ajsklfja; How???? But then again I'm a huge Fleet Foxes fan so I'm biased lol
I graduated Berklee in 1981 - still out there playing music. What "saved" me from the Berklee bubble, that you mentioned near the end of this video, was being in a band with non berklee musicians. That was a gift, after total immersion in the bubble! Thanks for videos. Really good stuff
Something I repeat to my students regularly: "All Music Theory is 'after the fact'."
what am i supposed to learn first ;a; I feel so lost man, trying to figure out what the best things to spend my time learning are, to actually play music with people, and it's real hard to figure out what's important.
@@Wishuponapancake I relate
@@Wishuponapancake You can learn anything first! The only limit you should put on learning is that you should stick with things you can handle and understand first. As a beginner bassist, learn your note names, work on your timing, and learn your favorite songs. And invite others to play your favorite songs with you. The rest will come.
aka. Adam & Christian trying to tell Berklee students that they're doing Berklee funk without telling it explicitly for 7 whole minutes!
underappreciated comment
@@morejazzplz5746 Agreed.
After my jazz education I 'let it simmer' for a couple of years by not playing bass. I just made some electronic music and got back to playing bass only recently. Now I feel like I can incorporate everything I learned into my bass playing. I changed from being obsessed with becoming like my idols to being able to play my own thing based on all the influences I was confronted with in my early years. A new found freedom so to speak.
The EWI solo is absolutely incredible 17:36. Favorite of the video
When it hits the lift at the end, that's ringtone material!!
"you could hear him think in that moment" you really friggin could! something to be said about the pauses and silence being important too and almost telling a story?
Wow!! So beyond honored to have been part of this video!! Thank you so much Adam Neely and Christian Li for the incredible comments and advice, and thank you to everyone who has shown this project of ours some love!! We really do appreciate it so much!!
The breakdown section reminded me of Thank You Scientist as well, and I love these guys a ton! Great job!
@@NexusrexDev Thank you so much!! So glad you enjoyed it!!
“As a bass player I appreciate…your pinky is thinking about me.” 😂 Well put though! A lot of us keyboardists could do well to think of the left hand more like how bassists do. 😊
I'm left-handed and often find bass-y stuff easier
stef's ewi solo made me jump out of my seat that shit was TIGHT AS HELL it was like listening to sonic the hedgehog music on a heroic dose of amphetamines
hey adam loved what you said about the EWI solo being a "crowd pleaser solo". would love to hear you talking more about crowdpleasing qualities. love from Brasil
Music school sure did confuse the heck outta me. Good to hear that it wasn't an isolated thing.
That EWI solo was so spicy it made me need a glass of water. I really wanna hear the full song.
Man oh man do I love Christian Li! Learned a lot from this, thanks guys.
it's Brian Krock!
thanks for all the music and videos!
That EWI solo was rockin! I actually said 'wow!' out loud.
I love and deeply resonate with a lot of how Adam seems to think of music. He seems to really organically live between high theory and pure musical expression, which I love (mostly self-taught with half a year of York U BA in Music program).
2:11 This whole thought process about keeping the motion of the inner voices (and sometimes the bass) as smooth as possible is very similar to the way that organists will play. Interesting how this correlates!
Christian is a super cool guy. When he was on tour with Sungazer, after the show he came out from backstage and asked Adam, who was talking to some fans, if he wanted a drink. I stopped him on the way to the bar and offered to buy their beers and he was so gracious, appreciative and humble that he ended up insisting on buying ME a drink. Cool to see him on the channel!
In regards to your clapping/dancing discussion of 1+3 vs 2&4: look up the difference between salsa (on 1) and mambo (on 2). They're essentially the same dance but felt differently.
Wow. Brian eno coined the phrase “scenious” vs. genius to indicate that an artist who becomes vastly well known by in large happens because of the community that artist develops their ideas from.
I believe you’re right that pedagogic discussions surrounding the saturation of talented minds should continue.
Wow! I'm so grateful to be featured with so many amazing people in this video. Thank you Adam and Christian for your comments and critiques!!
Crushed it. I could listen to that all day.
At 18:00 I love how the EWI player stated a motif over one chord, and modified and restated the same motif over another chord.
Your sensibilities and contextualizations really compliment each other. It’s almost as if the two of you come from different directions but arrive at the same conclusions. The rapport between the two of you is awesome. Christian is a guy I would definitely welcome seeing more of. Great job as always, Adam.
Thank you for featuring this wonderful man, Adam. I went to school with Christian and I have never known someone so simultaneously masterful and humble in terms of his craft. His generosity and guidance played a huge part in my artistic development.
Its a pleasure to see young blood talking about this. I am very happy that a culture that really know what they are doing still present. Great video guys! Keep the good job.
That EWI solo was absolutely nuts. Crowd pleaser for absolute sure
Fucking holy fuck I started crying and rocking at the white winter hymnal. I have never ever heard that song go that hard. I always hear it at highschool choir concerts and didn’t think it could ever be expanded upon in such a way. The looping vocals to dig into the round MMMMM
You can see they're good mates and they admire each other's musical talent
That 1 and 3 vs 2 and 4 discussion was one of the most insightful things I’ve ever heard, even from this channel which is where I learned most of my musical knowledge from.
The book 'Dilla Time' that came out recently is amazing. Covers his life but also crucially his method and how he actively used quantisation in the MPC just as much as unquantised playing. Really perfect example of using the MPC as a true instrument that informed composition
I’ve followed Adam for quite a while and this episode stood out as uniquely insightful, your brains just sync so seamlessly. Pleeeeease make a podcast together!
I started really getting interested in music theory with your videos as a sophomore in hs, but I was a choir student (14 years now) so I didn't think too much of the jazz parts of your videos. Now as a sophomore in college I'm going to double major in the jazz track of music education (I'm currently in the choral track). I guess I did still internalize all you talked about with jazz. Thank you for all of your incredibly educational and mind-opening videos!
I agree with the slowing down of Charlie Parker for a funky feel. Bob Reynolds recorded a version that's here on TH-cam that's aboslutely killer :D
th-cam.com/video/kXoL10lC-WQ/w-d-xo.html
Patreon moment
Ya man… despite playing Donna Lee at 300BPM… when you slow it down… you can literally hear every single accent (as intended). That’s when I realized Charlie Parker wasn’t human…
i watch you for sourdough guides, top 10 unexpected crossovers
I need more of that Shred-tastic EWI solo. So enjoyable
I have a thought I'd like for you to comment on if you feel moved. I find singers who sing slightly flat sound BETTER than singers who sing slightly sharp. I also find drummers who play slightly behind the beat (metronome) feel better than playing slightly ahead. First do you agree- or not? Is there any science to it?
Interesting observation.
Push or pull preferences change on a whim with the song? Same with intonation.
No rules, only context? I approach music like that
There’s a lot more science (that I’ve seen) on tuning theory (Adam did a great video on the ‘comma pump’), but a lot of what I’ve seen about the rhythmic feel thing is anecdotal. That’s just what I’ve seen though!
It's true for me.
Most of the time if you're on the major third, sharp four, major sixth, or flat seven, flatter than 12-tone equal temperament is a great way to be, and is more in tune with the harmonic series than "staying to the grid" or going sharp. Fourths and fifths suffer hugely going more than a few cents from where they are in equal temperament and/or just intonation.
As for rhythm, laid back grooves are great. I can't remember the guy's name right now, but he's got a General Theory of Rhythm based on microswing percentages, and how rhythm circles are "balanced", with their "centre of gravity" leaning forwards to the next beat cycle or leaning backwards and holding back
I loved the Christian Li contribution to the video. Such a positive yet down to earth point of view
Whoa! This is fantastic. OMG, the @ Shred-tastic EWI solo! That was amazing and all of these folks sound like they can really contribute in their own original way. Interesting conversation about music schools at the end. In math, physics, and related academic pursuits, at some point after savaging the student with learning known tools that have already been discovered by past geniuses, the focus turns towards research. My academic advisor said "our goal is that every graduate will make a contribution to knowledge." Maybe the music schools need to figure out how to add a part in the second half of the curriculum about discovery, originality, and creation?
This is great. More this. More Christian too. Smart musicians talking about music.
More Christian because I wanna see what other shirts this guy owns.
This video was such a treat. I'm not a jazz musician, not a musician either really, so I usually not familiar with the standards so often covered here, so to hear the White Winter Hymnal cover at the very end was like a WOW moment for me. I could actually hear the differences, the new colors, the monstrous amounts of harmony melted onto the acapella part. It was BEAUTIFUL! All the submissions are always a treat to listen to though. That's why I come here every time.
I’m starting Berklee in the fall and the one thing I’ve been thinking about as a guitarist is how will I stand out? Your segment on letting it simmer really helped me develop my answer. Thanks Adam! You’re such a huge inspiration and I’m so proud to say I’ll be attending the same college as you.
When you guys were talking about the 2-4 are up top and the 1-3 ground a piece it reminded me of the things my music teacher would help me get better at jazz drumming. As a drummer it sorta became second nature to feel the music that way, and helped me get a lot better. Just interesting the way that those ideas are internalized in other instrumentalists as well
adam immediately going to play a bassline on the piano while christian plays is a classic jazz school moment pretty much every student has experienced
I like to say that "cliche's" or prepared "licks'"are what you play to keep the music flowing in between moments of creative inspiration when improvising.
One of those where I will pause, go to work, hit play eat lunch from work, but so darn valuable your work to me I must consume every word and principle. Thanks for bringing Christian Li to this episode. You always encourage me, even when my head hurts absorbing what for you now, must be a way of speaking. Sincerely yours, wanting to know this language, Sam
of course, the part when they talked about being in music school, i just realized that they were right now that i'm in my last year and graduating from music school. im not a berkley kid, but it definitely checks out.
Great video. I appreciate how courteous and respectful Adam is to his guest hosts.
"I don't think I've ever heard a hang drum and regular drums together"
Shpongle has you covered, my guy. Specifically "Nothing is Something Worth Doing."
I was going to suggest Portico Quartet - Knee Deep the North Sea.
Was going to comment there’s heaps of electronic music with hand pan in it lots of great downtempo stuff
Check out PanSong- rock band with jazz & prog influence, handpans and tongue drums
Hang Garden by Ochre is a good synthetic hang drum jam
There’s some nice songs on Yaima’s pellucidity album with hand pan in it. Also I never ever share my videos on here cos I have only a few old ones, but I played harp with my friend on hand pan. He makes them, there is a video here th-cam.com/video/tgFyKwcA36Q/w-d-xo.html
When I was first starting out I had a big mental breakthrough when I started to understand a bit about chords, especially upper structures. But then it was another great mental shift to sort of partially unlearn that and think LINEARLY instead of vertically. It's ALL melody.
That EWI really solo really speaks to me! Absolutely amazing!
It turned into the soundtrack for the winning showcase on a gameshow. Wooooo-ha!
They are using Vital too! I love that synth, it's free and open-source! Very expressive and the UI is wonderful
Need that on Sonic Mania 2 : D
That Fleet Foxes one. nice. I used to say in college you spend all this time learning all these techniques and then you spend the rest of your life unlearning everything you learned. you gotta reach the point where you aren't thinking about techniques, you're just playing them
Christian's commentary was fantastic. Super helpful, insightful, kind, and expertly communicated! Great video.
It looks like that EWI's modulation there was determined by the angle it was held at. I don't know if all EWIs work like that, but hey that's dope.
wow, i related to the end so much. when I was at school for music that is exactly what happened. Theres was cool indie stuff that a lot of people liked and pretty soon everyone was trying to write stuff that fit that mold. It's good experience and helped me expand my knowledge, but it was pretty hard to figure out after what kind of music I want to make and to do the things that made me unique before school.
Thanks for this great episode, and particularly thanks for introducing us to Christian, and particularly particularly thanks for Christian's thoughts on voice leading for harmony. I was taught a very academic approach to reharmonization and I've never been able to make it work. I wish Christian had gone back in time 40 years to 17 year old me and said "Dude, voice leading...check it out!"
I love that there's always more to learn!
Peace...
I appreciate the comment about working within limitations with respect to the hang drum segment. Good advice to use your available tools without trying to do too much.
I can tell that I’ve grown as a musician and as a person since music school because I tracked with and experienced everything you guys were saying about music being subjective, no rules matter, etc. Really great watch!
Stef Haynes is wicked talented. So glad you featured him!!!
Watching Christian on the ivories, it appears that there is "Bass Face" and "Keyboard Eyebrow".
I like Adam's comment about bass players having to get used to people talking over their solos 😆
Oh god you're right
Don't forget about drum mouth
@@boarderking133 It that the one where the drummer looks like a fish out of water?
@@euansmith3699 or where he looks like he's squeezing out the biggest turd ever
@@euansmith3699 its the one where the drummer looks like they sucked on lemon covered in sugar
Police officer: "You can't park here, it's against the rules."
Adam: "There are no rules, only context."
Police officer: "You can't park here, it's against the context."
adam didnt know white winter hymnal by fleet foxes! but yet you're right the original song had less notes, i liked many different aspects of their rendition like the harmonies
Still a lot of notes tho, their voice harmonies are heavenly
Rumba, for example, in ballroom, is danced on 2, 3, and 4. The action initiated on 4 is smeared across 1 to culminate at 2. It is generally a side step, and the foot may actually touch the floor around 1, but the hips move slowly across the top so that the weight fully arrives over the foot at 2.
I thought the sax harmonies that they critiqued were great in how they blended together and melted into sort of one entity
christian li has taken his shirt game to the next level. awesome style, christian.
Love you guys' chemistry, insight and positivity! This concept has grown to be so much more wholesome compared to the first How to not Suck at Music -vids ☺️
I think most music schools have their own "signature sound", at least in here in Finland i think it's quite easy to spot musicians who've recently graduated from the music schools e.g. Sibelius Academy (named after the Finnish national composer, not the software), Metropolia or the Pop-/Jazz Conservatory.
I'm not sure what it's like now, but some time ago you could pretty much tell where somebody had studied just by listening to them play.
Thank you guys so much for the great advices i'm the one at 13:20
I'm just a casual listener who barely knows anything about music, but there's just something about jazz on an electric piano that soothes my soul
I know what you mean by the Berklee bubble. I experienced a similar thing in music college but that is also a very important stage of development. The student is in the phase of absorbing a lot of information. It is only later that it becomes assimilated into a well spring to be drawn from. As Miles Davis said, ''Learn it and forget it''.
This is honestly the best "How to get good at music" episode so far. Great submissions, very insightful comments and reflections. I want more!!
CONGRATS ON WINNING THE GRAMMY ADAM!!!
(he was the bassist on that Kirby remix that won)
I've been simmering for so long that I've enjoyed what has come of it. I know I have a lot to develop still, but that's the beauty of music ESPECIALLY in production for me.
I might never break into something that I can settle with indefinitely, but if that's what it takes to have a flourishing career I don't want one.
When you do something "theory" disapproves of, you're just playing with house rules.
On the voice-leading and melodic use of all 10 fingers, reminds me of a story Roger Woodward (champion of modern piano music) told us in composing class a while back at Sydney Uni, about Xenakis treating each finger as a separate and independent voice, when composing a piece for him.
Hi, I'm the hangdrum guy!
Thank you for featuring my video and for your tips!
Sooooo Good !!! Great analysis, great shares by the fans, great diversity... This is absolutely a way to get into advance music. But also, PURE FUN for anybody who love music. We can listen to this clip from so many points of view... Bring 20 persons in the room and ask them what was all about and you'll get 20 different stories.
First time I heard you, I understood like 7 to 10% of what you were saying (a little over 2 years ago...). You showed me then that music could be more than simply align some chords in a rock band (wich I did for ten years, playing gigs and on the radio...).
And so I felt into the rabbit hole (asperger talking here !! he he...). Now I understand more then 85% of your sayings and it still growing.
I cannot express how I am gratefull to have received such a gift from you. That spark that got me going into learning my scales, the intervals, the chords and all... Just because I wanted to know exactly what you were explaining.
I never tough that after playing for more than 30 years I would then make a 180 and finaly get to it.
God that is good to hear music like vocabulary.
Many thanxx
(sorry for the mistakes here. English is not my first language)
This guy’s is very articulate and clear.
I didn't understand most of this conversation as a simple guitar player... But I enjoyed every minute of this video!
I need more of that EWI player in my life. If you're watching this, please shout yourself out here.
Invite Christian again! I loved this episode. Such great vibes and great discussions between you too
Super enjoyable! Loving the respect and gentleness you show towards these submissions, and the insights are fantastic.
I hope you have Christian back soon! I really like the way he describes music. Yet another great artist I've discovered through the Adam Neely Extended Musicverse!
Christian is great on this format! Have him on the channel more often! One of the best viewer critique videos you've done Adam. Really enjoyed listening.
Loving the energy of this. The warm enthusiasm is inspiring.
Gaiman calls in the compost heap -- you take all your influences and skills and every thing else you hear and learn and come accross from every possible source (not just the medium you work in) and just throw it on the heap. Then as that heaps breaks down and, ahem, de-composes you use the new raw material to grow your own plants
I wish I could ask Adam if the world always had such great musicians or if they exist because the information is out there. like this channel.
that EWI solo had shades of jeroen tel going, really nice