The truth is this looks at what happens and mainly in the harmony. Imagine if we looked at what everything they did meant aswell as all the things they did
I study music at the university, currently passing my master degree and this analysis would give me headache (to be fair, I’m not that good at this). But when we have to analyse a part of a song (could be from middle-age to contemporary music), we usually have 4 hours
@@seangriffiths8036 That's because most composers probably do not write music solely from a theoretical standpoint. The analysis comes later. Brian Wilson put it very well this way: "music comes from the heart." He said the music seems to come through him unconsciously. I've been lucky enough to experience that too. It's like the songs are channeled or they write themselves. The theory may come in later when a song is polished but some songs are "born" whole and fully formed.
1st section: Bb, and then Eb 2nd section: Starts in A, goes back to Eb, goes to F# for a sec, back to Eb, Final Section starts in Eb mixolydian(or Bb), and finally ends definitively in Eb
@@damsapollo the fact that it isn't really a rock or jazz song makes it about as rock and roll as it gets. Subverting expectations, one legend at a time.
This song unlike any other has hit the charts now on 3 occasions, initial release, Wayne's World and now the movie. Factor in Freddie's vocals and this little tidbit of information; artists who have covered this and other Queen tracks cannot produce the same results, they can't hit the notes the way Freddie did. It's time for Stairway to heaven to move aside, there's a new old number 1 song of all time,; Bohemian Rhapsody.
@@carlgustov7728 I am a HUGE Led Zeppelin fan. I'm going to admit 1 thing: "Stairway" is not my favorite Zep tune. (I see the pichforks coming"). "Since I've Been Loving You","Tea For One", "How Many More Times","Ten Years Gone"and more deserved more airplay then they got. "Stairway" was burned out by overplay.
@@DavidBennettPiano Really awesome analysis. Understanding these songs make them even more enjoyable. How can one access those multitracks you worked with?
Start reading about musical theory, and if you're already a musician, play the song a few times and analyze what happens in it. You'll find this analysis pretty accurate.
Musical parkour is a brilliant description what this song does. But Freddie put the work in beforehand as he had musical training in voice and piano. He loved opera but, he had pop and rock sensibilities too. Genius.
In this one, yeah, but there's a bunch of videos in which he speaks about the historical side of a song or its influence (what i meant by musicology), and then he gets more into the analysis of tonalities, chords, modes etc... (what i meant by music theory) !
Dawson Skinner Well, I’m currently passing my master degree in musicology and I can tell you one thing : musicology and music theory are two differents things
@@sun4502 music theory is the math and mechanics of notes, harmony, rhythm etc... Musicology is the historic, cultural and contextual analysis of music making.
From the first time I ever heard it, it was obvious that this was a very complicated operatic rock song, but now I have seen it broken down in this way, it seems clear to me that not only was Freddy a great songwriter and a great showman, he was truly a musical GENIUS, and maybe because this song was written and performed by a rock group - Queen, that nobody realized that Freddy Mercury actually belongs up there with all the Masters, such as Beethoven and Brahms. This is really truly amazing stuff! BTW, I am in no way minimizing what the rest of the band did. All of them are brilliant musicians, without which this could not have been created.
Man, if you keep on making videos of this high quality, you can expect this channel to blow up in the near future. Came for the Radiohead stuff, but I'm here to stay. Awesome work!
Agree the quality is top! But can it blow up, I mean how many people know music theory that well and are interested in it? 😂 I just wrote my high school finals in music (year 13 here) and I'm struggling to understand everything with the chords and so on 😁
Not sure if it'll blow up, it's pretty heavy on the music theory which makes it suitable just for a niche market. Nonetheless, it is very high quality content indeed.
Thank you! I spent so long on this video that I was going mad! I'm glad you like it. A true testament to how good Bohemian Rhapsody really is is that, even after listening to it hundreds of times to write and edit this video, I only found myself more and more impressed and amazed at what a wonderful and beautiful song it is! Also.... thank GOD this wasn't taken down for copyright!
@@DavidBennettPiano I hope it will stay on the internet indeed ! That's one of the best composition ever, so clever and musical at the same time ! I really like how they used functionnal harmony, usually I hate cadences but here they are put at good use ! Very cool vidéo also, the editing and fades between your voice and the music are just perfect
17:54 "ending with the most melancholic of chords: the minor version of the fourth chord" guess I've never seen a better definition to my beloved chord ♥️ Magnific analysis. I admire this song even more now
I’ve never really been a music person. I don’t play any instruments and I can’t read sheet music, but I will say I listen to music a lot. I’m really grateful for your channel and content. You explain music in a very digestive manner and I’m able to learn things about songs that give me a greater sense of wonder and amazement. I would’ve never understood the musical crazy genius of Freddy Mercury without seeing this video. Thanks for helping us non-music people out by explaining the musical frameworks and artistic composition of music in an way that’s easy to understand. Love your content and I can’t wait to see what musical greatness is in store for you! You’d be a great musical professor! :)
I think that it's really cool that even though you don't play an instrument or whatever, you still enjoy watching videos like this ! I'm a music teacher/performer and if it wasn't for people such as yourself us musicians and teachers would be out of work. Thank you for your pursuit of your love of music ! I'll be producing some educational videos on my own channel soon, reading what you wrote here is inspiring, thank you ! Archangel Michael
All people who understand music: Yes, yes, hmmm, ahhh, agree. Me: The f*ck is he talking about?!? My favourite song in the world and I love watching things like this. Just increases my appreciation for Freddie's brilliance! Even if I know idea what's going on.
Its equally as impressive that Mercurys lyrics blend perfectly to what is going on in the music. Eg the 'easy come easy go, little high little low' matches the music beautifully. The song is full of it front to back, and it really allows the chords and melodies to sing 100 times louder than they would without the lyrics. Thanks again for another great video
I think you're missing something vitally important here: many of those "functional" chords has at least one extra note in it, transforming it into something special and delightful!! Take for example the "F7" which starts bar 9 (at the middle of 4:12)... it is NOT just a plain old F7 chord - there is an extra note there that i can't pinpoint, which makes it more mystical than just a bargain-basement F7 - YET, it still functions in that role even though technically its something different. I call this GENIUS!!! Freddy Mercury was sooo gifted in so many ways - one of them being that he could take the ordinary and make it special, almost effortlessly.
I really appreciate this great analysis! Your "what if" alterations of chords to the common expected resolutions really show the impact of the chords used in the song. There are so many interesting things going on!
I have no idea what any of this means but it’s so beautiful the way he breaks it down so seamlessly, it makes me appreciate this song and music even more.
I had no idea the song even has a key change its so smooth i never even tried to analyze it. And i agree, the last part is the most amazing especially the little details
14:38 How dare you interrupt my eminent head banging! But on another note, great analysis! Looking forward to learning everything about this song. I've already analyzed the heck out of the lyrics, but great job with this musical analysis!
that was an incredibly interesting analysis !! even if it sounds weird to hear your special examples because we are so used to hear this song, they were in fact very informativ ! Thank you so much for your work, you definitely deserve more suscribers !! cheers from France :) Louis
Everyone who hasn't listened to the instrumental tracking session for Bohemian Rhapsody needs to do so. Just Freddie on piano, John on bass and Roger on drums, without the vocals as a reference point for all the weird rhythmic emphases in the operatic section, and all the uneven stopping and starting. Really a credit to John and Roger as players in addition to Freddie as a composer.
You've done a wonderful job of opening up this song and showing us into Freddie's brain. I have studied some basic music theory, so I get what you are saying, and it is fascinating.
Whoa, incredible analysis! This is always a song I wanted to pick apart musically myself, but never had the time. Thanks for all your hard work, keep it up!
In an industry where songs come and go with great rapidity, most people in 1975 saw this as a novelty song that would eventually fizzle out and get buried under the weight of other modern compositions, but here we are in 2020 still talking about Bohemian Rhapsody!
This was awesome to watch! I've arranged 'Boh Rap' for 12 guitars recently and it's an absolute joy to see Freddie's genius real close up! Great great video! Thank you
You are very intelligent and I enjoyed watching your dissection of one of my favorite songs. You did not let your musical knowledge take away the passion and love that this song is. Good job.
I’m absolitely impressed; this is a perfect piece of music, a masterpiece that will remain in the mind and heart of music lovers the sane as the great music of such Mozart or Beethoven (great music is timeless)
Nice breakdown. Reminds me of chord structures that ELO used a lot. Would love to have you breakdown an ELO song. Thanks again for your thoughtful insight on pop music.
Your understanding is “off the charts,” but what also impresses me are the video aspects you employ: separating aural sections, showing the written score, etc. So impressive. And, I imagine, exhausting for you. Greatly appreciated!!!!!!!! (This is eye-opening and mind-expanding!)
This is absolutely BRILLIANT! Your analysis is superb and I can't believe the amount of time and effort it must have taken to do this "song" justice the way you did. Curiously, the song's chromatic ambiguity and riches seems to be a fitting musical portrait of Freddy as a person, including the mix of styles, genres and meters. Your analysis blew me away. Thank you!
Awesome analysis. So glad somebody took the time with this masterpiece. At around 13:48 you talk about the rapid progression of chords that move too quickly to establish anything til they stop moving, however I think they very strongly establish that we are moving, via perfect cadence back to Eb (but who knows when!). This starts at the Gb, resolving to B (Cb) then D, then Gb, then home again to Eb. The changes need to be fast in order to really push (delay) the tension before we hit the Eb. A brilliant little trick to keep the listener on their toes. If you play the triads on a keyboard its easy to visualize the way Freddie might have thought of it, as the voice leading is pretty clear. The apex of this section is the awesome “mama mia” lyric, (we’re locked in on Eb, and the music drops out momentarily for effect) which references verse 1, thus kind of bringing it back home lyrically and closing the theme of the protagonist crying to mama. Indeed the next section (the rock part) is the protagonist kind of changing character and “yelling out to the world” that he doesn’t want to accept his fate, unlike all of the previous sections in which he is acquiescing to his fate. So yeah. Big changes deserve lots of perfect cadences lol. Second, I always found it interesting that the last chord of the song is F, not Bb. If you look at the entire song as basically a big huge dominant chord that resolves to F (only at the last bar), the analysis gets even cooler! Tl;dr: chords are fun. Mercury was a genius. (Edit: remind everyone that Mercury was a genius)
Absolutely excellent analysis! I love that you cite potential points of disagreement like between Bb6 vs. inverted Gm7 voicing.. musical analysis has so much to do with perception, but you build cases for your opinions.. much respect!
I am currently doing my Cambridge A level music and Bohemian Rhapsody is one of the songs I wanted to further look at, but knowing that it's so long I just didn't want to get started on it. Thanks for doing this video, I really saved a lot of my time on personal analysis and suffering lol 😂
David your explanation of the chords and notes in your videos are terrific. I love not only seeing but also hearing the notes and chords. It has helped me become a better musician. You are a gifted young man. Thank you.
I haven't analyzed anything since college (1976) but you are so clear and precise (and my understanding of chord progressions in Musical Theater scores since then) I was able to airplay your chords as you highlighted them and WOW! Thank you for the work/time you spent on this... Amazing!
Masterpiece! Both this song and your video! Thanks a ton for that. It feels great understanding how this musical beauty works. Keep the good stuff comin!
This is totally awesome! I studied piano to grade 5 and managed to follow along with this. Such a great analysis and really explains why Bohemian Rhapsody is such an incredibly intricate piece of songwriting, that manages to connect to every listener. Well done that man!
I've watched plenty of your videos as they show up on my recommended and i've enjoyed them all, but this one earned you a subscription. Excellent video.
A key contains a collection of notes. Each of those notes have a chord based upon them, and we typically refer to them using roman numerals. So in the key of C for example, C would be I, D would be ii, E would be iii, and so on. Well a perfect cadence is the V chord (known as the dominant) resolving to a I chord (the tonic). I don't know that this explanation will help at all, if you don't know music theory it probably won't, but I tried. xD
I learned the little bit of music theory that I get from listening to recorded Leonard Bernstein talks. David, you remind me of him with your clarity and excellent use of examples. Thanks so much for your generosity in posting these wonderful talks.
This was amazing. Thank you for dissecting a song that I've loved for years and continue to love. And now that I know what's going on, I can appreciate it all the more.
I feel like all you where doing was drooling over how amazing this song is I loved this video always love how passionate you sound when you talk about music
This is such a well-produced and truly thorough and clear video Conceiving, planning, making, and editing this video could not have been easy. I appreciate all of the hard work David put into this video and his others.
Holy crap! This is excellent. Fascinating. Thorough. And thoroughly confusing. I am currently learning Bohemian Rhapsody on piano. I have never been happier that I know next to nothing about music theory. I play piano partly by ear (the rhythm), and partly by reading the music note-for-note and memorising it as I go (so I can then get rid of the distraction of trying to read the music quickly enough). From your break down here, it sounds like if I DID know music theory, I would be completely confused by all its irregularities. Good thing I don’t notice them! 😝. Excellent job!
Hello David, you are a terrific communicator and are extremely well prepared. Anytime I start a video of yours I cannot stop till the end! Congratulations!!
Hello young man, for such a young man a lot of insight into music, but I had to smile a bit, that you all take tone increases as an example of one and the same composer, well heard.
Sooo good this analysis! Im not a big fan of Queen, but this song is a true masterpiece and this video clearly points this out. The one thing I would like to add or point out is the thing you call the minor plagial cadence. I had this explained as negative harmony, where every chord in the key has a functional counterchord which is not in the key. For example you can use the Fm in C instead of G. It sounds different, but has the same function as dominant. A Dm7-5 would replace the G7. There is a video here which explains this concept very good!
Well done, David! You have great content on your channel. You're a wise musician beyond your years, and it restores my faith in the next generation of musicians when I watch your vids.
Studied some music theory online, so much of what you said made sense, David. Especially the common tone notes between keys next to each other on the circle of fifths and the use of chromaticism. But the concept of a secondary dominant chord threw me. Never heard of that before, so you're teaching me as well. In fact, the entire video is instructive. Thank you.
I literally was thinking when will your new upload be last night and saw it this morning!!!... Well done dude, enjoy watching this analysis as usual ❤️
I've been thinking 'when will I upload a video next' for the last three weeks --- this video took ALOT longer than I thought on every level... research, filming, editing... it's basically two videos duration-wise as well!
Thank you, David (& Freddie!) As someone who started with only a little music theory having picked up guitar from a "teach yourself" type book, I have slowly grown to understand a lot more & use it in my own compostions. But this analysis was something that pulled an enormous number of theoretical bits & pieces that I sort of understood into a practical vision of how to use them.
dude!! been digging your work lately, this is really amazing stuff and such important analysis. Thankyou. I'm playing bass in a Queen Tribute currently and you really helped to clarify a few ideas that I hadn't thought of such as the Bohemian Motif, Plagal Cadence, Melacholic Minor 4's. Great job!
The Jump to the A is derivative of the Paul McCartney Piano Section from "A Day in the Life" which in many ways inspired Bohemian Rhapsody they just took a different turn so.
Your description of what is going on in the song, gives me an even greater appreciation of the beauty of the song. Even if I did not understand most of what you said. Bohemian Rhapsody was the first Queen song I ever heard and made me want to listen to more of Queen songs.
Extraordinarily impressive analysis demonstrating the fineness of Freddie Mercury's masterpiece. Great insight ! David, I know that you want to focus on music theory on your channel, but you perform piano so beautifully. Might you also offer us a bit more (and longer) piano performances ? Besides enjoyment, I also learn from listening to you perform. (Piano is not my primary instrument.)
hi! it's unbelievable well done! I'm a piano teacher trying often to explain things and searching others who care about well done explanations, but never before I saw a work well done like yours! I have learned a lot! Thank you! next days I'll discover your other videos, yet sure it will be great! keep up the great work!
4:22 I'd say the Bb7 - Eb is just I7- IV, since I see the F7 and following B - Bb as a V- subV (or in other words bII7, but in triad form) I. After the Bb in bar 10 we do have some of that iconic chromatic modulation going on. Another reason why it's still in Bb is because the chromatic stuff is circling around Bb, thereby giving us a "rooted" feeling on said Bb. Even the Bb(7) - Eb is just a secondary dominant going to the 4th degree. After this we see a line cliche bringing us down to F, which is the dominant leading us back to Bb. Unlike the chorus, where we quite clearly move to Eb, in the intro, every "modulation" to Eb to me seems like it's temporarily going to the 4th degree of the scale (Eb) before going back to the root of the key. 18:31 ooh god what is that is that abomination? That's A C7(b9)
If this is a brief analysis, I can’t even imagine what an in depth one would be
The truth is this looks at what happens and mainly in the harmony. Imagine if we looked at what everything they did meant aswell as all the things they did
Oh, trust me, even a bachelor's degree-level of music theory, involving the chord analysis of this song, would make you question your love of music.
I study music at the university, currently passing my master degree and this analysis would give me headache (to be fair, I’m not that good at this). But when we have to analyse a part of a song (could be from middle-age to contemporary music), we usually have 4 hours
Bricky C what’s amazing is that Freddie Mercury did all of this instinctually without in depth music study.
@@seangriffiths8036 That's because most composers probably do not write music solely from a theoretical standpoint. The analysis comes later. Brian Wilson put it very well this way: "music comes from the heart." He said the music seems to come through him unconsciously. I've been lucky enough to experience that too. It's like the songs are channeled or they write themselves. The theory may come in later when a song is polished but some songs are "born" whole and fully formed.
What key is Bohemian Rhapsody in?
Freddie Mercury: yes.
cringe
1st section: Bb, and then Eb 2nd section: Starts in A, goes back to Eb, goes to F# for a sec, back to Eb, Final Section starts in Eb mixolydian(or Bb), and finally ends definitively in Eb
So that would make it Jazz
@@Musicman1506_ Maybe? But this song isn't only a rock song either.
@@damsapollo the fact that it isn't really a rock or jazz song makes it about as rock and roll as it gets. Subverting expectations, one legend at a time.
19:12 "The last note breaks free."
But did it _want_ to break free?
God knows it wanted to break free
I guess it was under pressure..
God knows.
This time for real tho.
Life still goes on though
I've always loved this song on a visceral level, but seeing and hearing this analysis now makes me think of it as a jaw-dropping work of genius. ...
Totally agree.
This song unlike any other has hit the charts now on 3 occasions, initial release, Wayne's World and now the movie. Factor in Freddie's vocals and this little tidbit of information; artists who have covered this and other Queen tracks cannot produce the same results, they can't hit the notes the way Freddie did. It's time for Stairway to heaven to move aside, there's a new old number 1 song of all time,; Bohemian Rhapsody.
@@carlgustov7728 sorry Carl as much as I love BR STH isn't going anywhere. It got there first nothing will ever change that!
@@carlgustov7728 I am a HUGE Led Zeppelin fan. I'm going to admit 1 thing: "Stairway" is not my favorite Zep tune. (I see the pichforks coming"). "Since I've Been Loving You","Tea For One", "How Many More Times","Ten Years Gone"and more deserved more airplay then they got. "Stairway" was burned out by overplay.
@@carlgustov7728 naw, sff has to take the cake
The part with the final note (“...blows”) breaking free from the motif gave me goosebumps. Awesome analysis.
That bit has always given me goosebumps! Glad I got my point across 🙂
Bohemian Rhapsody guitar solo was written by Brian May
Same!! When he said that the note breaks free I just listened to it and suddenly I had tears in my eyes.
Rover Waters It wasn’t, it was written by Freddie. Brian May has said this himself. Bohemian Rhapsody was done entirely by Freddie Mercury
@@DavidBennettPiano Really awesome analysis. Understanding these songs make them even more enjoyable. How can one access those multitracks you worked with?
I truly wish I understood what any of what you said means.
Lmao my superior basic music theory knowledge grants me access to sort of not really understanding what he said
Start reading about musical theory, and if you're already a musician, play the song a few times and analyze what happens in it. You'll find this analysis pretty accurate.
Me hardly understanding this video really makes me want to learn music theory.
Patrick Ahearne same and I’m supposed to be doing gcse music
@@theyellowentity9668 mood
Freddy Mercury jumping from one key to another in Bohemian Rhapsody: *Parkour!*
This made me giggle!
Musical parkour is a brilliant description what this song does. But Freddie put the work in beforehand as he had musical training in voice and piano. He loved opera but, he had pop and rock sensibilities too. Genius.
@@BigHenFor Good say!
Literally shed a tear when that bohemian motif resolved. Thank you.
Victor Kholod me too!
Me too ...
Man I don't think I've ever seen someone who can mix music theory and musicology better than u do
Ju Seg music theory and musicology are one in the same
In this one, yeah, but there's a bunch of videos in which he speaks about the historical side of a song or its influence (what i meant by musicology), and then he gets more into the analysis of tonalities, chords, modes etc... (what i meant by music theory) !
Dawson Skinner Well, I’m currently passing my master degree in musicology and I can tell you one thing : musicology and music theory are two differents things
@@zGrego Whats the difference ?
@@sun4502 music theory is the math and mechanics of notes, harmony, rhythm etc... Musicology is the historic, cultural and contextual analysis of music making.
Creative people create. The rest of us try to figure it out.
Right!
Tis the circle of life
Very good way of saying that !
figures
Creative people try to figure it out by creating
Never stop doing what you're doing
Agreed
From the first time I ever heard it, it was obvious that this was a very complicated operatic rock song, but now I have seen it broken down in this way, it seems clear to me that not only was Freddy a great songwriter and a great showman, he was truly a musical GENIUS, and maybe because this song was written and performed by a rock group - Queen, that nobody realized that Freddy Mercury actually belongs up there with all the Masters, such as Beethoven and Brahms. This is really truly amazing stuff! BTW, I am in no way minimizing what the rest of the band did. All of them are brilliant musicians, without which this could not have been created.
damned right
You are correct, all of Freddie's song are quite complex, even the songs that sounds simple.
Queen isn’t a rock band
Yeah, gotta appreciate Brian may, the shit he wrote for guitar was so perfect
Man, if you keep on making videos of this high quality, you can expect this channel to blow up in the near future. Came for the Radiohead stuff, but I'm here to stay. Awesome work!
Thank you so much for the support! I would have burnt out already if it wasn't for all you wonderful subscribers!
Agree the quality is top! But can it blow up, I mean how many people know music theory that well and are interested in it? 😂 I just wrote my high school finals in music (year 13 here) and I'm struggling to understand everything with the chords and so on 😁
Not sure if it'll blow up, it's pretty heavy on the music theory which makes it suitable just for a niche market. Nonetheless, it is very high quality content indeed.
Omg he has Radiohead stuff!?! I gotta watch that next. This was incredible
"We are slowly modulating to Eb..."
Me: Freddie you clever girl
waitt hol up
I'm pretty sure your analysis totally nailed it, all of this makes perfect sens !!
Thank you! I spent so long on this video that I was going mad! I'm glad you like it. A true testament to how good Bohemian Rhapsody really is is that, even after listening to it hundreds of times to write and edit this video, I only found myself more and more impressed and amazed at what a wonderful and beautiful song it is!
Also.... thank GOD this wasn't taken down for copyright!
@@DavidBennettPiano I hope it will stay on the internet indeed ! That's one of the best composition ever, so clever and musical at the same time ! I really like how they used functionnal harmony, usually I hate cadences but here they are put at good use ! Very cool vidéo also, the editing and fades between your voice and the music are just perfect
@@DavidBennettPiano You were going mad? Perhaps you were going _slightly_ mad?
I lost track at 2:30
@@DavidBennettPiano where did you get the stems from?
17:54 "ending with the most melancholic of chords: the minor version of the fourth chord" guess I've never seen a better definition to my beloved chord ♥️
Magnific analysis. I admire this song even more now
16:11 so even legends have voice cracks lol
Easily the best voice crack I've ever heard!
How dare he show the flaws of Freddie, doesn't he know he's the one and only god?
Yes, but when put back in the mix with the other track(s) on the same note, the 'crack' is hidden - effectively on the cutting room floor.
His voice didn't crack. He just invented Björk.
@@pepijndeputter8892 It's not just the flaws of Freddie, it's the pain of Freddie.
He recorded it like that on purpose to give those verses more power. Brian May has discussed it before.
20 minutes
"Brief"
That's Queen for ya
What about 40 minutes?
th-cam.com/video/77HwUMh13dM/w-d-xo.html
what did you expect 6 minutes? 1 minute per minute? that s the length of the song alone!
@@SalvatoriusMyspace I expected about 10-15 mins.
I’ve never really been a music person. I don’t play any instruments and I can’t read sheet music, but I will say I listen to music a lot. I’m really grateful for your channel and content. You explain music in a very digestive manner and I’m able to learn things about songs that give me a greater sense of wonder and amazement. I would’ve never understood the musical crazy genius of Freddy Mercury without seeing this video. Thanks for helping us non-music people out by explaining the musical frameworks and artistic composition of music in an way that’s easy to understand. Love your content and I can’t wait to see what musical greatness is in store for you! You’d be a great musical professor! :)
I think that it's really cool that even though you don't play an instrument or whatever, you still enjoy watching videos like this ! I'm a music teacher/performer and if it wasn't for people such as yourself us musicians and teachers would be out of work. Thank you for your pursuit of your love of music ! I'll be producing some educational videos on my own channel soon, reading what you wrote here is inspiring, thank you ! Archangel
Michael
I know bohemian Rhapsody so well the chord progressions feel so natural, this analysis makes me realise how truly genius it is
All people who understand music: Yes, yes, hmmm, ahhh, agree.
Me: The f*ck is he talking about?!?
My favourite song in the world and I love watching things like this.
Just increases my appreciation for Freddie's brilliance! Even if I know idea what's going on.
It’s a bloody masterpiece darling
lol
I love this type of analysis. Was a bit hard to understand at times though, because I don’t have background in theoretical music!
but I have a theoretical degree in music!
Just, WOW, is all I can say. The most concise and clear breakdown which really shows why this song stands the test of time. Thanks, really.
Its equally as impressive that Mercurys lyrics blend perfectly to what is going on in the music. Eg the 'easy come easy go, little high little low' matches the music beautifully. The song is full of it front to back, and it really allows the chords and melodies to sing 100 times louder than they would without the lyrics.
Thanks again for another great video
I think you're missing something vitally important here: many of those "functional" chords has at least one extra note in it, transforming it into something special and delightful!! Take for example the "F7" which starts bar 9 (at the middle of 4:12)... it is NOT just a plain old F7 chord - there is an extra note there that i can't pinpoint, which makes it more mystical than just a bargain-basement F7 - YET, it still functions in that role even though technically its something different. I call this GENIUS!!! Freddy Mercury was sooo gifted in so many ways - one of them being that he could take the ordinary and make it special, almost effortlessly.
Honestly your channel needs so much more attention. Keep up the good work man, this stuff is amazing!
This is the most underrated video ever
I really appreciate this great analysis! Your "what if" alterations of chords to the common expected resolutions really show the impact of the chords used in the song. There are so many interesting things going on!
I have no idea what any of this means but it’s so beautiful the way he breaks it down so seamlessly, it makes me appreciate this song and music even more.
Treasure Hollis thank you!
I had no idea the song even has a key change its so smooth i never even tried to analyze it. And i agree, the last part is the most amazing especially the little details
I’m so glad I found your channel. You are absolutely brilliant!
Jeff Lowey thanks!!
14:38 How dare you interrupt my eminent head banging!
But on another note, great analysis! Looking forward to learning everything about this song. I've already analyzed the heck out of the lyrics, but great job with this musical analysis!
Don’t worry there’s 14:43
Is your headbanging really eminent? Are you an award winning air guitarist whose headbanging is admired by all, or did you mean 'imminent'?
@@emdiar6588 mine is Eminem
Good to know I wasn't the only one that felt it.
@@SourGrapesandParmesan mine is remnant.
From the days of yor.
That was brilliantly pieced together. A phenomenal analysis. I’d LOVE to hear your in depth analysis of this.
that was an incredibly interesting analysis !! even if it sounds weird to hear your special examples because we are so used to hear this song, they were in fact very informativ ! Thank you so much for your work, you definitely deserve more suscribers !! cheers from France :) Louis
Everyone who hasn't listened to the instrumental tracking session for Bohemian Rhapsody needs to do so. Just Freddie on piano, John on bass and Roger on drums, without the vocals as a reference point for all the weird rhythmic emphases in the operatic section, and all the uneven stopping and starting. Really a credit to John and Roger as players in addition to Freddie as a composer.
You've done a wonderful job of opening up this song and showing us into Freddie's brain. I have studied some basic music theory, so I get what you are saying, and it is fascinating.
Whoa, incredible analysis! This is always a song I wanted to pick apart musically myself, but never had the time. Thanks for all your hard work, keep it up!
In an industry where songs come and go with great rapidity, most people in 1975 saw this as a novelty song that would eventually fizzle out and get buried under the weight of other modern compositions, but here we are in 2020 still talking about Bohemian Rhapsody!
and 2023 ✌🏼😊
Do what you want to do with my music but never make it boring……
This was awesome to watch! I've arranged 'Boh Rap' for 12 guitars recently and it's an absolute joy to see Freddie's genius real close up! Great great video! Thank you
You are very intelligent and I enjoyed watching your dissection of one of my favorite songs. You did not let your musical knowledge take away the passion and love that this song is. Good job.
your videos are RIDICULOUSLY good, i've enjoyed every single one of them!! (also the 'perfect cadence' font made me lol)
I’m absolitely impressed; this is a perfect piece of music, a masterpiece that will remain in the mind and heart of music lovers the sane as the great music of such Mozart or Beethoven (great music is timeless)
Nice breakdown. Reminds me of chord structures that ELO used a lot. Would love to have you breakdown an ELO song. Thanks again for your thoughtful insight on pop music.
is anyone else just here because they like bohemian rhapsody
like i have no idea what he’s talking about but i still watched it lmao 😂😂
guccigucci 78 🎹🎹🎹👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
:)
In music school, these kind of videos are very helpful for me
Everything he said could have been complete bullshit and we'd have nary a clue
I'm here for both lol
Your understanding is “off the charts,” but what also impresses me are the video aspects you employ: separating aural sections, showing the written score, etc.
So impressive. And, I imagine, exhausting for you.
Greatly appreciated!!!!!!!!
(This is eye-opening and mind-expanding!)
My God this is a wonderful break down of my FAVORITE SONG EVER!! I could hear 3 hours of an analysis of this song. Freddie is a Legend.
This is absolutely BRILLIANT! Your analysis is superb and I can't believe the amount of time and effort it must have taken to do this "song" justice the way you did. Curiously, the song's chromatic ambiguity and riches seems to be a fitting musical portrait of Freddy as a person, including the mix of styles, genres and meters. Your analysis blew me away. Thank you!
Your channel is definitely my go-to for analysis of songs and learning theory. Absolutely class. Keep up the good work mate
Awesome analysis. So glad somebody took the time with this masterpiece.
At around 13:48 you talk about the rapid progression of chords that move too quickly to establish anything til they stop moving, however I think they very strongly establish that we are moving, via perfect cadence back to Eb (but who knows when!). This starts at the Gb, resolving to B (Cb) then D, then Gb, then home again to Eb. The changes need to be fast in order to really push (delay) the tension before we hit the Eb. A brilliant little trick to keep the listener on their toes. If you play the triads on a keyboard its easy to visualize the way Freddie might have thought of it, as the voice leading is pretty clear. The apex of this section is the awesome “mama mia” lyric, (we’re locked in on Eb, and the music drops out momentarily for effect) which references verse 1, thus kind of bringing it back home lyrically and closing the theme of the protagonist crying to mama. Indeed the next section (the rock part) is the protagonist kind of changing character and “yelling out to the world” that he doesn’t want to accept his fate, unlike all of the previous sections in which he is acquiescing to his fate. So yeah. Big changes deserve lots of perfect cadences lol.
Second, I always found it interesting that the last chord of the song is F, not Bb. If you look at the entire song as basically a big huge dominant chord that resolves to F (only at the last bar), the analysis gets even cooler!
Tl;dr: chords are fun. Mercury was a genius.
(Edit: remind everyone that Mercury was a genius)
I've been playing this for years but your video gave it a completely new dimension for me...thank you!
I just realized that this song loosely matches the 5 stages of grief.
That's a pretty cool observation 🙂
Absolutely excellent analysis! I love that you cite potential points of disagreement like between Bb6 vs. inverted Gm7 voicing.. musical analysis has so much to do with perception, but you build cases for your opinions.. much respect!
Paul Talbot thanks for the comment 🙂👍🏻
I am currently doing my Cambridge A level music and Bohemian Rhapsody is one of the songs I wanted to further look at, but knowing that it's so long I just didn't want to get started on it. Thanks for doing this video, I really saved a lot of my time on personal analysis and suffering lol 😂
How about a breakdown of The March Of The Black Queen, it’s lesser known, but I think it’s even more deserving of a breakdown than Bohemian Rhapsody!
Yes, this one is nice as well. Did you ever think it's a BDSM song? 😁
It really has a lot of weird polyrythms going on
The Prophet's Song has a really good operatic sectioOOOoN
David your explanation of the chords and notes in your videos are terrific. I love not only seeing but also hearing the notes and chords. It has helped me become a better musician. You are a gifted young man. Thank you.
Yesss, I've been waiting for something Queen-related from you!
I haven't analyzed anything since college (1976) but you are so clear and precise (and my understanding of chord progressions in Musical Theater scores since then) I was able to airplay your chords as you highlighted them and WOW! Thank you for the work/time you spent on this... Amazing!
Masterpiece! Both this song and your video! Thanks a ton for that. It feels great understanding how this musical beauty works. Keep the good stuff comin!
Love David's videos. This one is tremendous. Giving this song the treatment it deserves. Keep up the good work.
Young man, you are a wonder. Keep doing what you're doing. Subscribed.
Thank you!
This is totally awesome! I studied piano to grade 5 and managed to follow along with this. Such a great analysis and really explains why Bohemian Rhapsody is such an incredibly intricate piece of songwriting, that manages to connect to every listener. Well done that man!
I’ve taken multiple music theory college courses and my brain still hurts from this
Never stop doing what you're doing
I'm pretty sure your analysis totally nailed it, all of this makes perfect sens !!
Bohemian rhapsody it's storytelling at it finest, and your analisys went absolutely great! Cheers from Argentina, keep it up!
I've watched plenty of your videos as they show up on my recommended and i've enjoyed them all, but this one earned you a subscription. Excellent video.
Me, an idiot: what is perfect cadence?
Why am I watching this? lol
BrianaLynn7 it’s ok. He doesn’t know what a perfect cadence is either.
V -> I
@@schaerfentiefe1967 exactly!
v to i
A key contains a collection of notes. Each of those notes have a chord based upon them, and we typically refer to them using roman numerals. So in the key of C for example, C would be I, D would be ii, E would be iii, and so on. Well a perfect cadence is the V chord (known as the dominant) resolving to a I chord (the tonic). I don't know that this explanation will help at all, if you don't know music theory it probably won't, but I tried. xD
I learned the little bit of music theory that I get from listening to recorded Leonard Bernstein talks. David, you remind me of him with your clarity and excellent use of examples. Thanks so much for your generosity in posting these wonderful talks.
Rolf Flor wow... thank you!
What a brilliant analysis. Makes me appreciate a great song even more. Thank you.
This was amazing. Thank you for dissecting a song that I've loved for years and continue to love. And now that I know what's going on, I can appreciate it all the more.
I feel like all you where doing was drooling over how amazing this song is
I loved this video
always love how passionate you sound when you talk about music
This is such a well-produced and truly thorough and clear video Conceiving, planning, making, and editing this video could not have been easy. I appreciate all of the hard work David put into this video and his others.
Holy crap! This is excellent. Fascinating. Thorough. And thoroughly confusing. I am currently learning Bohemian Rhapsody on piano. I have never been happier that I know next to nothing about music theory. I play piano partly by ear (the rhythm), and partly by reading the music note-for-note and memorising it as I go (so I can then get rid of the distraction of trying to read the music quickly enough). From your break down here, it sounds like if I DID know music theory, I would be completely confused by all its irregularities. Good thing I don’t notice them! 😝. Excellent job!
Hello David, you are a terrific communicator and are extremely well prepared. Anytime I start a video of yours I cannot stop till the end! Congratulations!!
Thank you! 😃😃😃
One of the best video I've seen since several month !
Hello young man, for such a young man a lot of insight into music, but I had to smile a bit, that you all take tone increases as an example of one and the same composer, well heard.
Spot on. A very impressive analysis. Cheers to your hard work. You are ready to move on.
I can not give you a different opinion, man. It's so wonderful.
A great analysis about one of (three) greatest songs.
I know nothing about music theory, but this was really pleasant and enterteining! Nice job!
Sooo good this analysis! Im not a big fan of Queen, but this song is a true masterpiece and this video clearly points this out. The one thing I would like to add or point out is the thing you call the minor plagial cadence. I had this explained as negative harmony, where every chord in the key has a functional counterchord which is not in the key. For example you can use the Fm in C instead of G. It sounds different, but has the same function as dominant. A Dm7-5 would replace the G7. There is a video here which explains this concept very good!
You, sir, just made the world a more interesting place! I love it.
Well done, David! You have great content on your channel. You're a wise musician beyond your years, and it restores my faith in the next generation of musicians when I watch your vids.
Now that explains why everything feels like it's everywhere. It's a Rhapsody. Thank you for the break down of Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen
Studied some music theory online, so much of what you said made sense, David. Especially the common tone notes between keys next to each other on the circle of fifths and the use of chromaticism. But the concept of a secondary dominant chord threw me. Never heard of that before, so you're teaching me as well. In fact, the entire video is instructive. Thank you.
These videos definitly help me to understand music theory. Thanks!
I just discovered this channel 15 minutes ago and I’m already so in love with it!
Thank you 😊
I literally was thinking when will your new upload be last night and saw it this morning!!!... Well done dude, enjoy watching this analysis as usual ❤️
I've been thinking 'when will I upload a video next' for the last three weeks --- this video took ALOT longer than I thought on every level... research, filming, editing... it's basically two videos duration-wise as well!
Thank you, David (& Freddie!) As someone who started with only a little music theory having picked up guitar from a "teach yourself" type book, I have slowly grown to understand a lot more & use it in my own compostions. But this analysis was something that pulled an enormous number of theoretical bits & pieces that I sort of understood into a practical vision of how to use them.
Oh my God, what a wonderful video and analysis! Thank you so much and congratulations for your work!
Awesome analysis!
Congratulations!
STarted watching your vids recently. And they're usually good. But this one? This one is AWWWWWWWESOME! Keep it up, man.
dude!! been digging your work lately, this is really amazing stuff and such important analysis. Thankyou. I'm playing bass in a Queen Tribute currently and you really helped to clarify a few ideas that I hadn't thought of such as the Bohemian Motif, Plagal Cadence, Melacholic Minor 4's. Great job!
The Jump to the A is derivative of the Paul McCartney Piano Section from "A Day in the Life" which in many ways inspired Bohemian Rhapsody they just took a different turn so.
Your description of what is going on in the song, gives me an even greater appreciation of the beauty of the song. Even if I did not understand most of what you said. Bohemian Rhapsody was the first Queen song I ever heard and made me want to listen to more of Queen songs.
Everyone:
David Bennet: We need more glitter words
Stunning analysis. Well done 🙏🏻
Extraordinarily impressive analysis demonstrating the fineness of Freddie Mercury's masterpiece. Great insight ! David, I know that you want to focus on music theory on your channel, but you perform piano so beautifully. Might you also offer us a bit more (and longer) piano performances ? Besides enjoyment, I also learn from listening to you perform. (Piano is not my primary instrument.)
hi!
it's unbelievable well done! I'm a piano teacher trying often to explain things and searching others who care about well done explanations, but never before I saw a work well done like yours! I have learned a lot! Thank you! next days I'll discover your other videos, yet sure it will be great!
keep up the great work!
4:22 I'd say the Bb7 - Eb is just I7- IV, since I see the F7 and following B - Bb as a V- subV (or in other words bII7, but in triad form) I.
After the Bb in bar 10 we do have some of that iconic chromatic modulation going on.
Another reason why it's still in Bb is because the chromatic stuff is circling around Bb, thereby giving us a "rooted" feeling on said Bb.
Even the Bb(7) - Eb is just a secondary dominant going to the 4th degree. After this we see a line cliche bringing us down to F, which is the dominant leading us back to Bb.
Unlike the chorus, where we quite clearly move to Eb, in the intro, every "modulation" to Eb to me seems like it's temporarily going to the 4th degree of the scale (Eb) before going back to the root of the key.
18:31 ooh god what is that is that abomination? That's A C7(b9)
Wow, what a gem of a channel this is! Great work mate!