The Worst Jazz Solo of All Time

แชร์
ฝัง
  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 พ.ค. 2020
  • This solo from 1956 is really, really bad. Let's analyze it.
    Get started with your free MONTH trial of Curiosity Stream + Nebula here!
    curiositystream.com/adamneely
    Listen to the Jones Girl (alt take) - The Five Satins
    • The Jones Girl (alt) ...
    "Flying Home" by Illinois Jacquet (1942)
    • Flying Home - Lionel H...
    Illinois Jacquet obituary
    www.nytimes.com/2004/07/23/ar...
    Red Prysock - Hand Clappin’
    • Video
    Big Jay McNeely - Deacon’s Hop
    • Big Jay McNeely - Deac...
    Big Jay McNeely Obituary
    www.washingtonpost.com/local/...
    Book with a history of Jones Girl
    books.google.com/books?id=G_Q...
    Article about Saxophonist Vinny Mazetta
    www.nhregister.com/news/artic...
    Interview with Five Satins singer Jim Freeman
    omny.fm/shows/big-jims-house-...
    Elliott Carter - Eight Etudes and a Fantasty for Woodwind Quintet
    • Elliott Carter - 8 Etu...
    David Bruce Composer’s excellent video on composing with one note
    • How to Compose with On...
    Tony Lakatos' "one-note solo" Transcription
    • Tony Lakatos' "one-not...
    Ligeti - György Ligeti - Musica Ricercata
    • György Ligeti - Musica...
    One Note Improv Teaching resource
    bradleysowash.com/blog/one-no...
    Bryan Ferry - Let's Stick Together
    • Bryan Ferry - Let's St...
    The R&B Saxophone Player list
    tamingthesaxophone.com/blues-...
    Donna Schwartz One note solos; A different approach to Jazz Improvisation
    • One note solos; A diff...
    Rock GUitar solos -
    • The WHO - I Can See Fo...
    • Neil Young-Cinnamon Gi...
    One note samba
    • Dean Martin & Caterina...
    Leo P at BBC Proms
    • Leo P at the BBC Proms...
    Rob Scallon One Note Solo
    • One Note Song
    Image Credit
    photos.allaboutjazz.com/image...
    www.wallpaperflare.com/graysc...
    upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...
    upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...
    upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...
    (⌐■_■)
    ⦿ Adam Neely T-shirts! ⦿
    teespring.com/stores/adam-nee...
    ⦿ SUPPORT ME ON PATREON ⦿
    / adamneely
    ⦿ FOLLOW ME ON THE INTERNETS ⦿
    / adamneely
    / its_adamneely
    ⦿ Check out some of my music ⦿
    sungazermusic.bandcamp.com
    insideoutsidemusic.bandcamp.com
    adamneelymusic.bandcamp.com
    Peace,
    Adam

ความคิดเห็น • 10K

  • @RhettShull
    @RhettShull 4 ปีที่แล้ว +12321

    Im sure I could play a worse Jazz solo

    • @AdamNeely
      @AdamNeely  4 ปีที่แล้ว +2504

      I dare you

    • @AndreasDelleske
      @AndreasDelleske 4 ปีที่แล้ว +159

      Please do.

    • @reedplaysgames
      @reedplaysgames 4 ปีที่แล้ว +103

      Dew it

    • @wanderin1898
      @wanderin1898 4 ปีที่แล้ว +87

      better than me in middle school bad thats for sure lmao

    • @Tubluer
      @Tubluer 3 ปีที่แล้ว +37

      mp3s or I don't believe you. And it has to be an honest try.

  • @mattbridges8908
    @mattbridges8908 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2960

    I just clicked to make sure it wasn't one of mine.

  • @aninnocentmannerism2314
    @aninnocentmannerism2314 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2609

    ngl i kind of love the solo for how it perfectly captures the sheer anxiety i felt playing alto sax solos in my high school jazz ensembles. It had everything; straying out of the peice's key, sporatic tonal and rhythmic fluxuation, accidentally overblowing the sax, falling out of time with the rest of the band, even stopping two bars early in an act of utter defeat.

    • @NeoN-PeoN
      @NeoN-PeoN 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Oof. DId you hang with the sax? I mean did you keep playing?

    • @adonaiyah2196
      @adonaiyah2196 2 ปีที่แล้ว +74

      How could you be so sentimental about your suffering from saxophone playing

    • @aninnocentmannerism2314
      @aninnocentmannerism2314 2 ปีที่แล้ว +189

      @@adonaiyah2196 man, if we don't laugh about falling out of key, we'll cry

    • @aninnocentmannerism2314
      @aninnocentmannerism2314 2 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      @@NeoN-PeoN yeah, i still pull the old girl out from time to time

    • @adonaiyah2196
      @adonaiyah2196 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      @@aninnocentmannerism2314 im a singer and i know being out of key is awful soo ill let u have that

  • @connorlee8983
    @connorlee8983 ปีที่แล้ว +874

    I would argue that this is not the 'worst' jazz solo ever, simply because it makes me laugh. It sounds hilarious, and it makes me FEEL something. In my opinion, the jazz solos that are truly the worst are the ones that just shred up and down the scales and arpeggios and chord changes and nothing else. Those solos make me feel nothing.

    • @mr.fantasee
      @mr.fantasee ปีที่แล้ว +24

      Yeah same. Good observation

    • @beeble2003
      @beeble2003 ปีที่แล้ว +42

      Yeah, I call that "Playing the trumpet [or whatever instrument] instead of playing music."

    • @TheDilligan
      @TheDilligan ปีที่แล้ว +10

      I agree. I think expression and feeling are excuses to break the rules.
      You don’t have to love it. You just need to feel it.

    • @connorscanlan2167
      @connorscanlan2167 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      DOODLYOODLYOODLEOODLEOODLE

    • @andreaholcock8992
      @andreaholcock8992 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Sounds like a cope from someone who isn’t that proficient

  • @jamesbuchanan1913
    @jamesbuchanan1913 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3534

    Nothing is more punk rock than a jazz solo with only one note.

    • @wiltchamberlain9920
      @wiltchamberlain9920 2 ปีที่แล้ว +108

      Considering that the one-note solo I have probably heard most is in I Wanna Be Sedated, I would 100% agree with you.

    • @troubadour723
      @troubadour723 2 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      @@wiltchamberlain9920 Turned out to be a very lucrative note.

    • @cypherusuh
      @cypherusuh 2 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      I wonder how it would sounds if it's passed through distortion effects, and maybe slowed down into some sort of "breakdown" part

    • @pocket1684
      @pocket1684 2 ปีที่แล้ว +24

      Yep, Miles Davis said he would rather hear someone play a one note solo w soul emotion and feeling instead of someone running through scales w/o substance. BB King and Neil Young are notorious for hanging around on one note for a while in their solos...

    • @jasonmaguire7552
      @jasonmaguire7552 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      By 'punk rock' you mean these solos were noisy awful trash?

  • @Halocon720
    @Halocon720 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3920

    It sounds like Morse code, like the saxophonist is trying to signal the audience for help

  • @forestreader
    @forestreader 2 ปีที่แล้ว +443

    Sometimes I get this sadistic urge to say something about jazz is wrong or bad on social media just so Adam Neely will be compulsively forced to overthink it and play devil's advocate for half an hour. It would be evil, but these video essays are so interesting and fun to watch that it might be morally justifiable to get more of them

    • @surkey5055
      @surkey5055 ปีที่แล้ว +44

      Casually deconstructing the psychology of Adam Neeley

    • @Trollificusv2
      @Trollificusv2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@surkey5055 BUT...he did it with confidence, therefore...art?

    • @Jacob-sl6ur
      @Jacob-sl6ur 7 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      ​@@Trollificusv2intention*

  • @WillowLavender
    @WillowLavender ปีที่แล้ว +692

    Man, this reminds me of school big band practice where some of us were anxious abt playing solos and our teacher encouraged us by saying "Even if you just play one note over and over, it counts" and we proceeded to troll her by having a round of solos where every instrument just played the same note over and over - most of us like this, but our saxophonist somehow managed to hold the same note for the entire length of the solo 😭

    • @BlueMiaou
      @BlueMiaou ปีที่แล้ว +33

      What a fucking legend

    • @catholicdad
      @catholicdad ปีที่แล้ว +36

      Regardless of your technical & improvisational prowess on the sax, if you're playing live to an audience & hit a high note & Hold it, the crowd goes wild. Saxophone magic I used to call it.

  • @kenwardthe1st
    @kenwardthe1st 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1519

    I'm still playing a rest in the middle of a solo i started 5 years ago.

    • @dextro808
      @dextro808 4 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      :))))

    • @bobyost42
      @bobyost42 4 ปีที่แล้ว +67

      Sometimes the magic is in the notes you don't play.

    • @ArtturiSalmela
      @ArtturiSalmela 3 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      Dude, you should totally keep playing an instrument. Maybe the one you are playing the rest on, maybe something else?

    • @timmcshane6635
      @timmcshane6635 3 ปีที่แล้ว +16

      A way to play an instrument and create a brilliant musical moment-- via the intensity of the NOT PLAYING. Which EVERYONE NOT HEARS.
      GENIUS!

    • @senza4591
      @senza4591 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      BRUH

  • @DeceasedTomato
    @DeceasedTomato 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2909

    “worst jazz solo of all time” clearly, no one has heard any of my jazz solos in middle school

    • @_stealth_y
      @_stealth_y 4 ปีที่แล้ว +140

      Don’t worry, just say it’s jazz

    • @pastorofmuppets1968
      @pastorofmuppets1968 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      I might get killed for this but I've never heard anything good from Ornette Colman. Change my mind. Please?

    • @kumoyuki
      @kumoyuki 4 ปีที่แล้ว +44

      @@pastorofmuppets1968 not even going to try. Because what you've made is a statement of personal taste. Ornette Coleman's bandmates, peers, and emulators have long since made quite a strong case for the opposite position.

    • @dangostead781
      @dangostead781 4 ปีที่แล้ว +91

      "Yeah, I'm pretty good at improvising with jazz"
      *plays C-blues scale for 17 minutes on the piano*

    • @MrJstream
      @MrJstream 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      saaame

  • @laikahusky6358
    @laikahusky6358 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1071

    Adam: "Repetition..."
    Me: "Say it."
    "...does serve to reinforce musical ideas."
    "You bastard."

    • @nate_storm
      @nate_storm 2 ปีที่แล้ว +42

      i felt so betrayed

    • @fillertext778
      @fillertext778 2 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      Heartbreaking.

    • @zethkarrade
      @zethkarrade ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Yeah, triggered me hard that one

    • @AlexnadroEH
      @AlexnadroEH ปีที่แล้ว +24

      *LEGITIMIZES*

    • @Elliott_101
      @Elliott_101 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@AlexnadroEH THANK YOU

  • @NinjaNezumi
    @NinjaNezumi 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +91

    8:16 That is EXACTLY what this kind of Jazz was about - demonstrating you had full control over your sax and proving it by making engaging music with JUST ONE NOTE.
    That's why this is bad, he had no control, he was NOT at the skill level you needed to perform such a stunt.

  • @Anonarchist
    @Anonarchist 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1179

    man attempts popular meme of his day, fails so hard he succeeds 64 years later.

    • @gi5897
      @gi5897 3 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      LMAO

    • @Amirul9339
      @Amirul9339 3 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      this shouldve aged well until 69 years later but oh well.

    • @soffren
      @soffren 3 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      @@Amirul9339 we try again at 420 years~!

  • @sunfish9341
    @sunfish9341 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2494

    sax player to the band: “this is gonna be real big in 60 years guys just trust me”

    • @totallynotjeff7748
      @totallynotjeff7748 3 ปีที่แล้ว +69

      People 60 years later: this is the worst solo I've ever heard.

    • @sam3ee
      @sam3ee 3 ปีที่แล้ว +87

      Your kids are gonna love this

    • @Omlet221
      @Omlet221 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      @@sam3ee Nice back to the future reference

    • @xenoswarrior6900
      @xenoswarrior6900 3 ปีที่แล้ว +16

      @@sam3ee You guys aren't ready for that yet.

    • @rb032682
      @rb032682 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @Sunfish - band to sax player: 'But, we don't even have enough money for gas to get to the next gig, and what about breakfast?"
      sax player to band: "¿huh?"

  • @beeble2003
    @beeble2003 ปีที่แล้ว +81

    Given the time it was made, I bet that glow-in-the-dark saxophone was pretty seriously radioactive.

  • @sebastiansilva4776
    @sebastiansilva4776 2 ปีที่แล้ว +132

    "the more you focus on this limitation, the more you realize there is actually a lot to explore". Awesome line. It applies to so many genres.

  • @TypingHazard
    @TypingHazard 4 ปีที่แล้ว +651

    When you were partying, I studied Db. When you were having premarital sex, I mastered Db. While you wasted your days at the gym in pursuit of vanity, I cultivated Db. And now that the world is on quarantine and the content creators are at the gate you have the audacity to come to me for solos?

    • @JuanEsquivel-ex8nv
      @JuanEsquivel-ex8nv 4 ปีที่แล้ว +22

      Glorious nippon brass folded over a million tome to craft that sax

    • @ClassicBentobox
      @ClassicBentobox 4 ปีที่แล้ว +29

      john m
      >limp wrists
      >plays bass
      Choose one

    • @justink8156
      @justink8156 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @john m John relax

    • @HomoChomsky
      @HomoChomsky 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      I applaud your use of this meme, sir/madam/non-binary person.

    • @TypingHazard
      @TypingHazard 4 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      @@HomoChomsky thanks comrade/esteemed colleague/fellow carbon-based unit

  • @Tuviguitar
    @Tuviguitar 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3467

    The "repetition legitimizes" has became so meta, I love it.

    • @yoeymusic
      @yoeymusic 4 ปีที่แล้ว +139

      The "repetition legitimizes" has become so meta, I love it.

    • @Casual_Shots
      @Casual_Shots 4 ปีที่แล้ว +82

      The "repetition legitimizes" has become so meta, I love it.

    • @ethanjames5649
      @ethanjames5649 4 ปีที่แล้ว +62

      The “repetition legitimizes” has become so meta, I love it.

    • @jehohahm1003
      @jehohahm1003 4 ปีที่แล้ว +57

      The "repetition legitimizes" has become so meta, I love it.

    • @mangowannamango
      @mangowannamango 4 ปีที่แล้ว +47

      The "repetition legitimizes" has become so meta, I love it.

  • @evelyngeier7326
    @evelyngeier7326 ปีที่แล้ว +72

    Saxophone battle fatigue is probably one of the most unique, yet cohesive phrases I have heard.

  • @tonybmusic1166
    @tonybmusic1166 ปีที่แล้ว +23

    I worked with Big Jay McNeeley for several years. He and Joe Houston were the kings of the “honking” sax solo. Yet, when he wanted to, he could get around a bit on the instrument. He was definitely more of a showman than a jazzer….and a nice guy to work with. He used to do this bit where he would play while lying down on his back. Towards the end of his life he wore braces on his legs and it took awhile to get down on his back. His first hit was “Deacon’s Hop” in 1949. His second was “There Us Something On Your Mind” in 1959. That tune gave him a pretty good career. And the guy to Big Jay’s right in the first photo came to one of our gigs in Gardena, CA right before Jay’s passing and he was in his 70’s. He joked that most of Big Jay’s fans had died.

  • @paigey-poo4235
    @paigey-poo4235 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1953

    To summarize: if you lack confidence and don’t have anything to say with your art, everyone will be able to tell, and they will make fun of you on twitter

    • @Timeward76
      @Timeward76 3 ปีที่แล้ว +46

      Even if they cant express exactly why, they'll know you suck

    • @47fortyseven47
      @47fortyseven47 3 ปีที่แล้ว +65

      because twitter is the height of taste makers

    • @WinterandNoodle
      @WinterandNoodle 3 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      @@47fortyseven47 This. Adam and those twitter users seem like the type to say "rap is crap" unless it's made by Eminem.

    • @RandomThings12
      @RandomThings12 3 ปีที่แล้ว +115

      @@WinterandNoodle adam is literally the type of dude who mixes jazz zazz and a string quartet with 808s and emulated sidechaining, ripping some Dmaj7/C chords with damn violins and adding some distorted pop vocals on top of that. He is pretty open minded about other genres.

    • @valebliz
      @valebliz 2 ปีที่แล้ว +45

      @@WinterandNoodle yeah you understood shit about him.

  • @lifeteen2
    @lifeteen2 3 ปีที่แล้ว +674

    If Adam keeps saying "repetition does serve to reinforce musical ideas", I'm going to start thinking it's true.

  • @Nabium
    @Nabium ปีที่แล้ว +33

    One of the biggest musical experiences of my life happened unexpectedly, I was waiting to hear my cousin sing in her music school, and the orchestra started warming up where every single instrument did completely it's own thing, with absolutely no connection to any of the other instruments, and it all happened at the same time. It was a racket.
    I'm sure that's very typical, but I had never heard anything like that, and the excitement building up got me in the right mood, the horrible gush of random snips of melodies crashing into the room at once was the absolute complete opposite of a funky jam session ever. Everyone was just playing their own technical part in order to warm up their instrument before the concert. But man, it threw me so much off that I really had a cool musical experience, I really loved it. It was so magnificently horrible. It's was the opposite of a bop, but I liked it.
    It taught me something about music, that a great musical moment is as much about you opening up to it, than the music itself. You can show someone your absolute favourite song, that track which puts you into a wonderful state of bliss every time, but your friends might not like it at all. They won't hear what you're hearing. And we could never ask them to. Imagine taking someone into a recollection of the feeling you had as a child waiting for pancakes to be made while your mother was dancing by herself to the radio, or any other experience a song could trigger in us, that's just not possible.
    I mean I even once knew a girl who would turn on the static on the TV and listen to it. She loved that sound.
    Music is all about opening up to the experience. I've always hated the line dancing type of country music, accordion based forró, Scandinavian danseband, German Schlager, all that inbred farmer kind of music. Yet I see people dancing and having amazing musical experiences while that kind of music is playing, I see people absolutely loving it. It's amazing music, it's great, it's just me that's the problem. My prejudice. I haven't opened up to it yet.
    If some other people seem to like it, then bad music is just you making it bad. It's your prejudice.

  • @lifequotient
    @lifequotient 2 ปีที่แล้ว +38

    Amazing how you put it in a different musical context and suddenly the solo sounded good

  • @green90s
    @green90s 3 ปีที่แล้ว +533

    3:50
    "At the battle of the bands, the loser is always the audience"
    - _Demetri Martin_

  • @alanwalker4318
    @alanwalker4318 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1659

    I was in a backing band for Big J Mcnealy for one night in London in the eighties. after the show the guitarist commented that it "sounded like a zoo on fire"

    • @brainrunnethout
      @brainrunnethout 3 ปีที่แล้ว +30

      This comment needs way more love.

    • @billyalarie929
      @billyalarie929 3 ปีที่แล้ว +36

      i can't even tell if that's a good thing or not
      what i'm saying is all zoos should have the animals loosed, and then be set on fire

    • @JULIETALLAWAY100
      @JULIETALLAWAY100 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@billyalarie929 That is so funny!!!

    • @dafinsrock379
      @dafinsrock379 3 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      That's so badass lol. Congrats. Sounds like you've had an exciting life

    • @jessicamingin9618
      @jessicamingin9618 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      That's friggin amazing. Legit cool story.... bro! 😍

  • @DanMcGown
    @DanMcGown 2 ปีที่แล้ว +70

    My favorite one-note composition is a completely different genre: "Not getting married today" from Company by Stephen Sondheim. It's actually three interwoven songs in three different styles. The groom's part is a ballad that is intentionally overly dramatic, the narrator's part is in an operatic style that is humorously acerbic, but the bride's part for which the piece is named, is a brilliant one-note piece. It is fast and it is frenetic but it only works because it speeds along on one note.

    • @tjenadonn6158
      @tjenadonn6158 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      It's also my go-to piece to counter people who think the Major-General's song is the greatest patter song of all time.

    • @Nalsii
      @Nalsii 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Hi, the idea of a one-note part contrasted with balladic and operatic parts was intriguing and I was curious what such one-note part would sound like. But from what I've found here on TH-cam, the bride's part has a multiple-note melody so it doesn't seem to be one-note, unless I'm missing something. Could you explain to me how it is one-note?

  • @ulbi
    @ulbi ปีที่แล้ว +67

    This is so good. It reminds me on the mind-boggling (kind of) one-note guitar solo in King Crimsons "Starless", which isn't an improvisation but a fully notated instrumental part of this wonderful piece of music. Your video gives me new ways to hear it or rather to eventully unterstand it.
    So far I always thought of the solo in Starless as a piece of experimental art , where the composer swaps the traditional roles of the rhythmic and the harmonic section of the band. While the normally melodic or harmonically leading guitar plays the same note over and over again, as a bass (or the drummer) sometimes does (without us caring about it), here the bass and the drums are allowed to to the more interesting things. But the monotonous guitar is so disturbing to my ears! It's so hard to ignore it. I'm always glad, when they swap back to their usual roles at the end of the song.

    • @skyhigh6089
      @skyhigh6089 11 หลายเดือนก่อน

      They didn't invent anything. Jobim had done the exact same thing in One Note Samba. While the singer - lead melody stays in the same note, the harmony runs across five different chords.

    • @Huehuecoyote
      @Huehuecoyote 6 หลายเดือนก่อน

      ​@@skyhigh6089this has nothing to do with the original comment

  • @vifizz9497
    @vifizz9497 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1291

    This is saxophone djent and you cannot convince me otherwise.

  • @DB-bc1tg
    @DB-bc1tg 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1280

    A lot of solos have this moment at the beginning where it's like the musician is walking around outside a house, knocking on doors, turning different doorknobs and testing all the windows to try to find a way inside. Sometimes they only manage to get into the garage, rather than the core of the house. In this case it seems more like he was at the wrong address.

    • @fie1917
      @fie1917 3 ปีที่แล้ว +40

      This comment is so underrated

    • @quackslikeaduck
      @quackslikeaduck 3 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      What a goodylicious comment it is. #lipsmacking

    • @ProfMarkQ
      @ProfMarkQ 3 ปีที่แล้ว +41

      Holy shit did this comment make me laugh my ass off. The being at the wrong address comment is perfect, I've played with people who I have genuinely question, on an abstract level, just exactly where the hell they were going with their solo.

    • @BHHartman
      @BHHartman 3 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      Exactly. Great analogy.

    • @catholicdad
      @catholicdad 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      That's a great analysis!

  • @BenKuyt64
    @BenKuyt64 2 ปีที่แล้ว +24

    My music teacher told me one of the best pieces of soloing advice ever. "It doesn't matter what you do, it doesn't matter what you play; as long as it is loud. LOUUUDDD! It can be one note, but make it LOUD!"

  • @darrylchallenger7311
    @darrylchallenger7311 2 ปีที่แล้ว +29

    Great vid! I once saw Branford Marsalis and Sonny Rollins at Carnegie Hall. They played together for a short time and naturally, a battle ensued. They went back and forth, getting hotter and hotter on each round. Branford killed with an amazing solo and even in Carnegie Hall, the crowd was nuts. The Rollins played a one note solo. Marsalis just put his hands on his hips and watched. He knew he was defeated by a master and that he had probably been goaded into it. One note solos can kill in the right context!

  • @jeffgray7494
    @jeffgray7494 4 ปีที่แล้ว +630

    Curiosity Stream: "So, how are you going to spend the additional budget we're giving you? You can't just sit in your living room the whole time."
    Adam: "Um, I could drive to New Haven and stand in front of a church?"
    Curiosity Stream: [signs check]

    • @jamjox9922
      @jamjox9922 4 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Neely would make a terrible reporter. Whole time he was standing in front of a church, talking about recordings in a church, didn't mention the church behind him.

    • @mdmajunge
      @mdmajunge 4 ปีที่แล้ว +29

      Jam Jox yes he did?

    • @elliotlangford824
      @elliotlangford824 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Haha was trying to figure out at first if it was green screened

    • @user-dj9iu2et3r
      @user-dj9iu2et3r 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@elliotlangford824 it sure looked like it lol

  • @elliottlee5262
    @elliottlee5262 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3628

    Adam: "Even though repetition..."
    Me: "Legitimizes."
    Adam: "... does serve to reinforce musical ideas."
    I've never been baited so hard

  • @sl0m0_
    @sl0m0_ ปีที่แล้ว +5

    As part of my high school's trip to the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, a few of us went to a clinic called "How to Solo With Only One Note", and it was fascinating! Listening to the instructor play and him getting us to play just made something click in my brain and unlocked something in my brain to get so much more tonality and variety out of my trumpet. If you're in a school band, I'd highly recommend getting your teacher/prof to check it out for a trip. I went 4 times during high school, and a few of my buddies and I are planning to go next year, 4 years graduated.

  • @karolstenzel1526
    @karolstenzel1526 2 ปีที่แล้ว +23

    One note example? Guitar solo from "Audioslave - Show me how to live". I love that song!
    I'm impressed, how many various tiny details have been utilized to enrich this video with information. The research have been enormous, I recon so. Pleasure to watch. Great work, Adam! :)

    • @jerroneous8549
      @jerroneous8549 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Tom Morello can get hella mileage outta one note!

    • @HadalStreetlights
      @HadalStreetlights ปีที่แล้ว +1

      ​@@jerroneous8549 Morello isnt a guitarist. He's a fucking wizard.

  • @lavkian
    @lavkian 4 ปีที่แล้ว +504

    "i love not the man who has played 10,000 notes once, but i love the man who has played one note 10,000 times." - adam neely, probably

    • @TallSilentGuy
      @TallSilentGuy 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Bruce Lee said something similar about practicing kicks!

    • @humanperson7198
      @humanperson7198 4 ปีที่แล้ว +27

      @@TallSilentGuy that.... thats the joke.....

    • @tobiassiagian2562
      @tobiassiagian2562 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@humanperson7198 you didnt get the joke?

    • @spectrfox7661
      @spectrfox7661 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@tobiassiagian2562 I both don't know if human person didn't get the joke but neither do I know why he thought that Simon would have needed the joke being pointed out by another person. Confusion at it's finest

    • @ihaveaplan.ijustneedmoney.9777
      @ihaveaplan.ijustneedmoney.9777 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      I don't laugh at a man that misses a thousand jokes a single time, I laugh at a man that misses a single joke a thousand times.

  • @jasonfieler
    @jasonfieler 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2998

    This is by far the best analysis of this exact horrible jazz solo that I've seen today

  • @acidset
    @acidset ปีที่แล้ว

    What's the outro song at 28:00? Sounds like a math rock piece I've heard a bunch but I forget the name

  • @MatthiasOfEvangelismos
    @MatthiasOfEvangelismos ปีที่แล้ว +4

    In his 80s, Big Jay McNeely was still pulling sold out crowds and playing that big note. I can attest to it first hand. At my first rehearsal with him, first time I met him, he was quiet. Slowly unpacking his sax from its case, no words spoken, but the band chatting, getting set up. the first note Jay played made me jump from my seat. tbf I'm one to get jump scares anyway, but... the sound was huge. Rehearsal had started. He lived for the live shows to the very end. His energy was reserved for the sold out crowds. He would be out int he crowd and honking in people's faces. He was in his eighties! He told me to play the snare hard. like really hard. Think rimshots as hard as I could possibly sustain, all night long. I got sore hands playing with him. I think he relied on the snare for timing, perhaps a lot less of the band was really gonna cut through for him while he was lost in among the crowds which he walked through, while I would be stuck on stage trying to catch glimpses of him issuing the occasional ending cue/etc. Rest in peace, Big J

  • @cliftonsbiehl
    @cliftonsbiehl 4 ปีที่แล้ว +225

    "I play one note for 5 hours straight" video incoming.

    • @don4476
      @don4476 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Hook us up you crazy cat.

    • @dkomo2
      @dkomo2 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Kenny G played a sustained note for about 45 minutes one time. If he played that note six more times, for the same duration, he'd have made this video already.

  • @cabal3747
    @cabal3747 3 ปีที่แล้ว +724

    "Play excruciatingly" at 5:33 has to be one of the best pieces of musical notation ever. Not a lot of ambiguity there.

    • @benthemusicalchemist
      @benthemusicalchemist 2 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      I'm so glad you pointed that out haha I missed it. Got a good belly laugh in

    • @theparalexview785
      @theparalexview785 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Smile away horribly now.

    • @maxdriever7668
      @maxdriever7668 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Another good piece of notation would have to be “initiate rotation”

    • @gazeboist4535
      @gazeboist4535 2 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      "Exit, pursued by bear"

    • @daeryxaqueryx
      @daeryxaqueryx 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      "TURN YOUR SAXOPHONE UP TO 11"

  • @allaris_the_one
    @allaris_the_one ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Great video! Your pronunciation of "Györgyi" was adorable by the way :D The easiest way to pronounce the sound "gy" in Hungarian is it's basically the same as the sound "d" in the word "duke". And "ö" is close to the sound "u" in "hurt".

    • @irishjet2687
      @irishjet2687 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      So..."duhrg-yee"?

    • @allaris_the_one
      @allaris_the_one ปีที่แล้ว

      @@irishjet2687 Well... I guess!

    • @jonasHM
      @jonasHM 11 หลายเดือนก่อน

      ​@@irishjet2687dyurdy

  • @lancerettberg2071
    @lancerettberg2071 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Great content Adam! I.can't seem to find "The Jazz Loft..." on Curiosity Stream after signing up - taken down?

  • @Metaphist
    @Metaphist 4 ปีที่แล้ว +596

    The listening book: "Use one note"
    "Instructions unclear, accidently made a djent EP"

    • @pbonney
      @pbonney 4 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      A Cat Do you play the keyboard?

    • @Sean-Ax
      @Sean-Ax 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      As soon as he quoted Ornette Coleman saying something about "the biggest saxophone sound", I immediately though djent.
      DJENT
      DJENT!
      DDJJEENNTT!!

    • @onedarthyear726
      @onedarthyear726 4 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      A Cat hey you’re a cat!

    • @marcinszotrowski6413
      @marcinszotrowski6413 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Wouldn't the book say: "Use the G note only"? XD

    • @bremsnix
      @bremsnix 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Actually I was thinking of the bass riff in Periphery's Absolomb during the entire video

  • @jugger-nog4698
    @jugger-nog4698 4 ปีที่แล้ว +475

    I suddenly feel really passionate about playing the triangle.

    • @judahfecher2770
      @judahfecher2770 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Look up Stevie T playing on the triangle

    • @gregoryheidt1851
      @gregoryheidt1851 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Jazz triangle union will want their dues

    • @mikesimpson3207
      @mikesimpson3207 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Alvin Lucier wrote a piece of music that consists of a string of even pulses on a triangle. There aren't even dynamics. All that happens is the player messes around with overtones by hitting the triangle differently, sliding a finger along one side, etc. Basically you end up dissecting the timbre of the triangle because you have nothing else to pay attention to for like 6 minutes. It's called "Silver Streetcar for the Orchestra".

    • @hargisP2
      @hargisP2 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      There is three sides to every note.

    • @ef-tee
      @ef-tee 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      As a percussionist, I truly do feel like the triangle is too underrated. In an orchestra composition, it can be really important for accent, sound and atmosphere in both calm sections (small accents) and energetic sections (e.g. with triangle rolls). It's one of the instruments one doesn't really notice, until it's missing one time.
      Also, hit it in the wrong general pause too loud, and you ruin the whole performance (which might be greatly exaggerated, but I did that once anyway xD you can imagine the jokes afterwards about not even being able to play the triangle)
      And yeah, you can do crazy stuff with it...

  • @asdfghyter
    @asdfghyter 2 ปีที่แล้ว +11

    I think one of the main conclusions is that intentionality and confidence are extremely important. As long as it *sounds like* you did something intentionally, you can do *almost* anything you want.

  • @Jaqueli9er
    @Jaqueli9er 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    this "Woodchopper's Ball" song part you showed reminded me so much of a Duke Ellington song and it's driving me crazy because I can't remember its name... I think I'll need to look for the song before I continue your video, because it's consuming my thoughts!
    edit: it's called "One O'Clock Jump" (composed by Count Basie, performed by Duke Ellington Orchestra on 1954-01-02). Phew, what a relief (now back to your video)

  • @richardpictures
    @richardpictures 4 ปีที่แล้ว +368

    When he didn’t say “repetition legitimizes”

    • @mattrutkowski5305
      @mattrutkowski5305 4 ปีที่แล้ว +34

      The climax of the video. The suspense. And then the horror.

    • @richardpictures
      @richardpictures 4 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      Matt Rutkowski I was on the edge of my seat

    • @harrylane4
      @harrylane4 4 ปีที่แล้ว +18

      How could Adam do this I'm literally shaking and crying right now

    • @garbijcan181
      @garbijcan181 4 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      Pat S *_u n l e g i t i m i z e d_*

    • @brentlareaux8419
      @brentlareaux8419 4 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      When he didn’t say “repetition legitimizes”

  • @FrictionFive
    @FrictionFive 4 ปีที่แล้ว +604

    The first installment of Adam’s new series: “How TO Suck at Music”

    • @JUNKO____
      @JUNKO____ 4 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      You mean "How To Make Money As A Musician"

    • @Orphen01
      @Orphen01 4 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      "What makes this song bad?" with Radam Bealy.

    • @lucalapaglia3941
      @lucalapaglia3941 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      There's no such thing as bad music

    • @JUNKO____
      @JUNKO____ 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@lucalapaglia3941 But, there is. This seems like an impossibility because a lot of bad music is profitable and money = good.

    • @FrictionFive
      @FrictionFive 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      EctoRekt I kinda doubt that the sax player made any money from this, besides maybe 50 bucks for the session.

  • @finnicol-taylor2976
    @finnicol-taylor2976 20 วันที่ผ่านมา

    Please, please, please does anyone know where I can listen to Adam's tune at 25:38 with the Zack Zinger sax solo on it?

  • @peterkelu6875
    @peterkelu6875 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    I can't begin to imagine the amount of time and effort that goes into your videos, how you are able to research so deeply, meanwhile maintaining your musical skills, relationships with other musos both online and off, doing all this video recording and editing, and still manage to eat and sleep, I assume, somewhere in between it all. I take my hat off to you, video after video. Amazing! And I must say, you share in such a way that even without a particular interest in this area, you easily held (and hold with other videos) my attention for the entire 28 min. I love the goat, by the way, it cracked me up every time, and the little "whop" sound when the elephant disappeared, nice little touches. Keep it up!

  • @rorybrooks1969
    @rorybrooks1969 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1975

    Petition for Adam to refer to himself as “Big A Neely”

    • @AnodyneHipsterInfluencer
      @AnodyneHipsterInfluencer 4 ปีที่แล้ว +74

      "Little D McNeely" has a better ring to it tho... just sayin.

    • @asomafw
      @asomafw 4 ปีที่แล้ว +55

      Big ABCDBGAdam Neely

    • @stueyapstuey4235
      @stueyapstuey4235 4 ปีที่แล้ว +18

      If you buy him a burger, you introduce yourself with 'Hey, Big Mac Neely?'

    • @pxltr
      @pxltr 4 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      @@asomafw underrated comment

    • @ejb7969
      @ejb7969 4 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      You sure you want to admire someone by calling him "Big A"?

  • @uberchops
    @uberchops 4 ปีที่แล้ว +285

    When I was first taught to solo we were only allowed to play one note until we were actually making choices with that note. Then we'd get another note. Then a pentatonic scale, etc. The director always said if we got in over our head to just scale back until we were in control again. Some of the lazier kids in band never got past that one note but that process was extremely valuable to me and really let me build up confidence and intentionality.

    • @PGmodat
      @PGmodat 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      C JAM Blues Baby!!!

    • @TheYuukosan
      @TheYuukosan 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      It's a great process!

    • @oz_jones
      @oz_jones 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Oh man, that sounds actually pretty great.

  • @zTeaTheCoffee
    @zTeaTheCoffee 7 หลายเดือนก่อน +7

    You know, one of my favorite one-note solos is from Black Country, New Road's 'Sunglasses', where in the second half, the guitarist only plays one chord for a pretty long time. It really contributes to the anxious feeling of the song

    • @zepear4848
      @zepear4848 7 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Facts

    • @youtub-fj8mu
      @youtub-fj8mu 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

      that solo its more than adequate

  • @timmccreight5499
    @timmccreight5499 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    Thoroughly enjoyed this. Once, in the 1980s, I saw NRBQ and the piano player, Terry Adamas, who I think has a Monk fetish, invited anyone to come up on stage and outplay him. One brave soul did and played a cool barrel-house blues solo. Adams clownishly hip-checked him off the bench and played a one-note solo for about 32 bars. Pretty amazing.
    Jimmie Vaughan does this all the time, too. "Mty Girl," on T-Birdy Rhythm is a great example.

  • @blastehrcomposes
    @blastehrcomposes 4 ปีที่แล้ว +96

    Petition to only ever refer to Adam as 'Big A McNeely' from now on

  • @emilylynen1423
    @emilylynen1423 3 ปีที่แล้ว +406

    you're talking about all this stuff but now I just really want a glow-in-the-dark sax

    • @NootalieWalf
      @NootalieWalf 3 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      I need more information on if that was radium paint because it sure looks like radium to me ☢️

    • @ffggddss
      @ffggddss 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@NootalieWalf With some zinc salt I've forgotten, acting as scintillation medium.
      Fred

    • @NootalieWalf
      @NootalieWalf 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      ffggddss Thanks! Good to know!

    • @ffggddss
      @ffggddss 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@NootalieWalf Welcome! The zinc compound for this seems to be ZnS (zinc sulfide), according to Wikipedia's article on phosphors, and the best of my memory.
      Fred

    • @pigpiggig
      @pigpiggig 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @Fliszt Thats actually a thing lol

  • @cheerijessie
    @cheerijessie 2 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    Mazetta's Solo sounds so much happier with the new harmony at the end, it's amazing

  • @phil-o-phobic8608
    @phil-o-phobic8608 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    I love how you turned Mazetta's solo into a early 2000s sitcom theme song.

  • @spiciestspeckofdust7844
    @spiciestspeckofdust7844 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1483

    everyone: “ITS JUST ONE NOTE!!!”
    snare drummers: “...pathetic”

    • @yesterdaytech9569
      @yesterdaytech9569 3 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      Ha! Checkmate! snare drummers!

    • @ifidisagreewithyouyourewro602
      @ifidisagreewithyouyourewro602 3 ปีที่แล้ว +49

      @@yesterdaytech9569 Snare drummers play great one note solos with every solo they play. Checkmate anyone who plays notes!

    • @KaitouKaiju
      @KaitouKaiju 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Snare drums are like a chord of noise

    • @zagyex
      @zagyex 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      you can many tones on a snare tho

    • @Omlet221
      @Omlet221 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      I dont think snare drums really have a "note" but yeah

  • @ArthurSchoppenweghauer
    @ArthurSchoppenweghauer 4 ปีที่แล้ว +104

    When you just want to chug the low e string but you only have a saxophone and the 1950s

    • @gxtmfa
      @gxtmfa 4 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      Exactly where my mind went. This was their repetitive, aggressive thrashing music.

  • @mannacler
    @mannacler ปีที่แล้ว +9

    Harold Budd was history's premier one-note musician.

  • @adamcatscratch8854
    @adamcatscratch8854 2 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    "The Race" by YELLO is a great example of how effectively one note can be used for the majority of an entire composition. It's literally 3 minutes 20 seconds of the bass, guitar, vocals, and half the brass section playing only the tonic, with synth pads occasionally changing the chord and a few riffs thrown in by a few other saxophones. It is some of the most fun one can have in under 4 minutes.

    • @emax333
      @emax333 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      to give another example of how to use (basically) just one note in a song, bmbmbm by black midi. the one note repetition sounds almost like a methodic, focused marching forward, which together with the frantic, borderline schizophrenic rambling of the vocals and the interspersion of insanely fast riffs works to create a really intimidating sound

    • @McBehrer
      @McBehrer 6 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      I went and watched that video, because I had never heard of it, and you're right, it completely slaps

  • @tillyhossain1049
    @tillyhossain1049 4 ปีที่แล้ว +879

    The worst jazz solo ever
    Me: challenge accepted

    • @AfferbeckBeats
      @AfferbeckBeats 4 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      I think Jon Benjamin might have you beat

    • @tommyvega7948
      @tommyvega7948 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      You have fierce competition, trust me! ;)

    • @omnijack
      @omnijack 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I too, came here fiercely triggered by the title

    • @darklordthomaspie6293
      @darklordthomaspie6293 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      The "repetition legitimizes" has became so meta, I love it. The "repetition legitimizes" has became so meta, I love it. The "repetition legitimizes" has became so meta, I love it. The "repetition legitimizes" has became so meta, I love it. The "repetition legitimizes" has became so meta, I love it. The "repetition legitimizes" has became so meta, I love it. The "repeti The "repeti The "repeti The "repeti The "repeti The "repeti The "repeti The "repeti The "repeti The "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetivThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repeti TTTTTTTTTTTTT The "repetition legitimizes" has became so meta, I love it. The "repetition legitimizes" has became so meta, I love it. The "repetition legitimizes" has became so meta, I love it. The "repetition legitimizes" has became so meta, I love it. The "repetition legitimizes" has became so meta, I love it. The "repetition legitimizes" has became so meta, I love it. The "repeti The "repeti The "repeti The "repeti The "repeti The "repeti The "repeti The "repeti The "repeti The "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetivThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repeti TTTTTTTTTTTTTThe "repetition legitimizes" has became so meta, I love it. The "repetition legitimizes" has became so meta, I love it. The "repetition legitimizes" has became so meta, I love it. The "repetition legitimizes" has became so meta, I love it. The "repetition legitimizes" has became so meta, I love it. The "repetition legitimizes" has became so meta, I love it. The "repeti The "repeti The "repeti The "repeti The "repeti The "repeti The "repeti The "repeti The "repeti The "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetivThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repeti TTTTTTTTTTTTTThe "repetition legitimizes" has became so meta, I love it. The "repetition legitimizes" has became so meta, I love it. The "repetition legitimizes" has became so meta, I love it. The "repetition legitimizes" has became so meta, I love it. The "repetition legitimizes" has became so meta, I love it. The "repetition legitimizes" has became so meta, I love it. The "repeti The "repeti The "repeti The "repeti The "repeti The "repeti The "repeti The "repeti The "repeti The "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetivThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repeti TTTTTTTTTTTTTThe "repetition legitimizes" has became so meta, I love it. The "repetition legitimizes" has became so meta, I love it. The "repetition legitimizes" has became so meta, I love it. The "repetition legitimizes" has became so meta, I love it. The "repetition legitimizes" has became so meta, I love it. The "repetition legitimizes" has became so meta, I love it. The "repeti The "repeti The "repeti The "repeti The "repeti The "repeti The "repeti The "repeti The "repeti The "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetivThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repetiThe "repeti TTTTTTTTTTTTT

  • @Mijonju
    @Mijonju 4 ปีที่แล้ว +420

    "You can play a shoestring if you're sincere." - John Coltrane

    • @choimdachoim9491
      @choimdachoim9491 4 ปีที่แล้ว +46

      I pulled a thread out of my shirt and wrapped one end around the end of my thumb and the other end around the end of my index finger, held it up by my ear and played music for hours in jail one night by pulling the thread tighter or looser; it was all rhythm and tune but it was great. I got out the next morning. There's no end to how we can make "music."

    • @LanceWillMakeIt
      @LanceWillMakeIt 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@choimdachoim9491 Wow, that's quite an interesting story 🤔

    • @oz_jones
      @oz_jones 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@choimdachoim9491 Must have been one helluva concert, man. Idk, I feel like I should try to say something profound but all I can muster is that I am glad that you got to experience that.

    • @Satellite_Of_Love
      @Satellite_Of_Love 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      🎶 A shoelace supreme, a shoelace supreme... 🎶

  • @davemclellan4019
    @davemclellan4019 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    This is a great one. So entertaining and so insightful, and I am so glad that you also have a good understanding of classical repertoire and use it in these enlightening lessons.

  • @Jakanddaxter1999
    @Jakanddaxter1999 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    This reminds me of when I was at a jam once sloshed as, I preceded to solo and ended up playing the most glorious bar of jazz imaginable. Unfortunately because I was drunk and no one recorded I have no idea what it was I played, all I can remember is how I felt when I heard it…

  • @mertgultekin444
    @mertgultekin444 4 ปีที่แล้ว +327

    Lionel Hampton: plays D whole song...
    Djent musicians: Write that down, write that down.

    • @dishwasherdetergent3366
      @dishwasherdetergent3366 4 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      proceeds to play Q note for whole song

    • @Leeqzombie
      @Leeqzombie 4 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      I was watching this with my boyfriend and he just yelled "it's the djent of jazz!"

    • @BlondPanda
      @BlondPanda 4 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Came down into the comments for the Djent jokes and I was left not disappointed

    • @JRCGuitarist
      @JRCGuitarist 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Honestly, I can handle Lionel, Mcneely and Djent, I don’t understand the solo that is being discussed, whoa that was questionable. Goes to show that it’s isn’t what you do but how you do it.

    • @OzanYerli
      @OzanYerli 4 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      Tune it down. A little bit more.. More. Yes! Now palm mute it. Yes YES *YES, IT'S PERFECT!* (starts to proggy headbangs)

  • @CrestfallenLizard
    @CrestfallenLizard 2 ปีที่แล้ว +747

    honestly, i'm too dumb for art, so most of it goes over my head and i don't know what they're going for most of the time. but i *feel* this guy's panic. i relate to it, way more than a lot of music, because i've felt that "oh no oh fuck" feeling of panic and totally dropped the ball before.

    • @KaoXoni
      @KaoXoni 2 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      Your comment is probably the most underrated one on this video.

    • @SirFerrickWanderer
      @SirFerrickWanderer ปีที่แล้ว +55

      You're not too dumb for art man, you've articulated a really good point about the solo in a clear and concise way, which is hard to do. Art is about conveying meaning or emotion or something, and while this solo fails at it's intended purpose it IS interesting as art for your exact reason.

    • @j.mauricerojas3650
      @j.mauricerojas3650 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Congratulations!: You've actually found a way in which this solo is good!

    • @impermanence4300
      @impermanence4300 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      I guess, if that was the vibe the good was going for he really hit it. It starts off confident, starts to lose it, you get the panicked over playing then the defeated silence. Followed by a meek attempt at capturing the initial swagger. The problem is he didn't mean to do that.

    • @Matt_bechillin
      @Matt_bechillin ปีที่แล้ว +7

      For someone who says they’re dumb for art, you articulated this concept perfectly,

  • @mroonk_
    @mroonk_ 11 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Can you explain the solo from "entrapment" of meshuggah?

  • @AndyEdwardsDrummer
    @AndyEdwardsDrummer 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Check out the opening of Sonny's solo on this th-cam.com/video/1KW-dAAT2cQ/w-d-xo.html

  • @SamJohnsonVoice
    @SamJohnsonVoice 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1282

    This video is real great

    • @youngwang97
      @youngwang97 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      I think you're great

    • @sunfish9341
      @sunfish9341 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      69th like

    • @jakobbruhspenning
      @jakobbruhspenning 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      This video is real great, unlike that solo.

    • @yefremjr
      @yefremjr 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Real Crazy Cool, I'd say

    • @RabbiPorkchop
      @RabbiPorkchop 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      I think all y'all are real great

  • @nothingmuchado
    @nothingmuchado 4 ปีที่แล้ว +287

    King Crimson, "Starless", the entire middle section has one-note riffs that ascend and increase in intensity. A very effective use of the concept.

    • @Leo-pw3kf
      @Leo-pw3kf 4 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      Yeeees, I was waiting for Adam to mention it. That 5 minute tension build-up before the explosion into a jazzy solo is so good.

    • @youtuberjoe4729
      @youtuberjoe4729 4 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Finally, a King Crimson mention!

    • @theonatsis3126
      @theonatsis3126 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Such a good song

    • @regolithia
      @regolithia 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Fripp bends a note a whole step and synchronously hits the same note on a different string for a solid minute or so hahah

    • @thekiwiclipper1113
      @thekiwiclipper1113 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I love Prog rock and king crimson!

  • @greasedog
    @greasedog 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    This vid & the analysis therein was absolutely wonderful, uniquely entertaining and informative. Thank you! I thoroughly enjoyed it.

  • @jimmytexas5496
    @jimmytexas5496 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Anyone knows the song in background on 28:00?

  • @CaLLe4Life
    @CaLLe4Life 4 ปีที่แล้ว +206

    "Pick a single note on your instrument and make a short piece using only that note."
    Ah, the seeds of djent have been planted.

    • @annother3350
      @annother3350 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      That's nothing. When Kenny G made his finale for the Phuket Jazz Festival he hit the highest note on a soprano sax and held it for about two minutes (circular breathing) while the band stopped playing. Just a single ear-splitting note..

  • @coolebio
    @coolebio 4 ปีที่แล้ว +428

    Whys bens voice sound like the parody “sped up” voice adam does whenever hes making fun of the other argument this is killing me

    • @NZsaltz
      @NZsaltz 4 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      omg you're right

    • @QuantumJump451
      @QuantumJump451 4 ปีที่แล้ว +66

      Because nobody ridicules Ben Shapiro as badly as he ridicules himself

    • @mcbrodz1663
      @mcbrodz1663 4 ปีที่แล้ว +64

      Quantum Jump let’s take for example, your feet, and let’s say hypothetically you were to take photos of them. Now at this point you would have piqued my interest into buying said feet photographs so I would, naturally, offer you money for said feet photographs

    • @sneasalmaster
      @sneasalmaster 4 ปีที่แล้ว +22

      Ben speaks very quickly to make you think he's smart, even though his actual thoughts are simple and juvenile

    • @bobatea5406
      @bobatea5406 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I also just realised how much they look alike. Or is it just me?

  • @coosoorlog
    @coosoorlog 7 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    No no no, there are actually a lot of notes on that solo, they just happen to be the same note repeated over and over again. What we're really looking for is a sax solo with literally only ONE note without another one, repeated or not. That's the grail.

  • @Necropheliac
    @Necropheliac 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Remember that non musical people don’t care about technique or theory. They only care about how they feel while your music is playing.

  • @JohnnyCashavetes
    @JohnnyCashavetes 4 ปีที่แล้ว +183

    When asked about his one-note solo on Cinnamon Girl, Neil Young replied, "It’s not [the same note]! Everyone says that, but there’s about a hundred notes in there. And every one of them is different. Every single one. They just happen to have the same name." King.

    • @freddyheadbite3084
      @freddyheadbite3084 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I know what you mean. But he has the finger on the same fret through out the solo. And at the very end of the solo there is actually two notes extra 😊. I really love that song though.

    • @justinrensel8518
      @justinrensel8518 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      fuckin great song

    • @SRHMusic012
      @SRHMusic012 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@justinrensel8518 Cinnamon Girl is in double-dropped D, so the high 'drone' note is the open high D string. The chords keep changing under it so, yeah, it's a different thing over each chord. :)

    • @freddyheadbite3084
      @freddyheadbite3084 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@SRHMusic012 I know. It's fun to play that song also. I seldom care much about lyrics. But this song is so good in every field. 👍👍👍

  • @lukasrydelius6174
    @lukasrydelius6174 4 ปีที่แล้ว +485

    The concept of playing a simple solo in contrast to complicated solos sounds like a very punk thing to do.

    • @corpseplayground1949
      @corpseplayground1949 4 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      ex. 138 by misfits

    • @depressedfrogpenis
      @depressedfrogpenis 4 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      Another example "I wanna be sedated" Ramones

    • @davedotLKTV
      @davedotLKTV 4 ปีที่แล้ว +30

      That's kind of my take on it. It sounds bad on a record that you listen to at home, but when you are in a smoky cellar and the crowd is going crazy, doing a stupid repetition out of tune is the equivalent of smashing the guitar on stage that will make people go nuts.

    • @jpabcede5016
      @jpabcede5016 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Finally, someone close to my heart.

    • @superbroadcaster
      @superbroadcaster 4 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      I think punk is simply the 70s and 80s manifesting of the rebellious young spirit to feel freely and without restraint. If anything, punk has borrowed from Rock and Roll, who has in turn borrowed from Jazz.
      The one note solos and wild carefree attitude of bebop jazz were just as polarizing as dubstep was or punk was. It's expressing the same emotions with a different toolbox

  • @haroldoakland3480
    @haroldoakland3480 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    I like the example Adam showed us on his bass, where there is a same note played in different ways (particularly different strings). To me, this example, which could perhaps be applied to most of the rest of this amazing series of theses in the video, is perhaps a study of overtones.
    You've a large and interested mind and soul Adam, please continue analysis like this!

  • @MikeBracewell
    @MikeBracewell ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I've just stumbled across this 3 years(!) after it was made: what a waste of three years? Absolutely superb tutorial: entertaining, informative, thought-provoking, funny, & very well edited. I'll never think of a goat in the same way. Thank you.

  • @dacoconutnut9503
    @dacoconutnut9503 4 ปีที่แล้ว +619

    Adam: "check out the worst jazz solo"
    Me playing random notes on my guitar: "are you sure about that?"

    • @axllow3914
      @axllow3914 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      lmao same

    • @MichaelTurner856
      @MichaelTurner856 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      lmao same

    • @LogsfromtheAkhasic
      @LogsfromtheAkhasic 4 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      yeah you're playing the epitome of jazz

    • @elcucumber2847
      @elcucumber2847 4 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      *_f r e e j a z z_*

    • @minimoogle3335
      @minimoogle3335 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Adam: This is the worst jazz solo
      You: *playing 0-0-0-0-0-0-0 in the guitar while watching the video

  • @brningpyre
    @brningpyre 4 ปีที่แล้ว +199

    "Yes, that is a glow-in-the-dark saxophone, and I want one."
    Given how that was done back in that time (radioactive paint), you really, REALLY don't.

    • @salwoyciesjes9182
      @salwoyciesjes9182 4 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Big Adam McNeely is gonna get cancer

    • @fidur2
      @fidur2 4 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Now with 35% less Cesium!

    • @rawovunlapin8201
      @rawovunlapin8201 4 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      You've got it the wrong way 'round - now I _definitely_ want one

    • @DickEnchilada
      @DickEnchilada 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      That just makes me want one even more

    • @ad.cab.3485
      @ad.cab.3485 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      So you’re saying I can get a glow in the dark saxophone AND get cancer and die ? I’m in.

  • @danpequeno9233
    @danpequeno9233 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I Thank You for this musically intellectual video that I completely understood thanks to years of private music lessons and Music Theory in College. I have saved this video into my TH-cam Library for another future watch. I first started listening to music when I was 3 in 1953 when music from The Big Band era was on the radio just before rock n roll came along in 1954. I appreciated learning from you!

  • @catholicdad
    @catholicdad ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I don't gush, you are a genius on so many levels. I only watch your videos occasionally, but it's the BEST content on the internet, and sadly, your audience is limited, and always will be.
    If I had the faculty, I'd nominate you for a Nobel prize in education.
    That said, 3/4 of the way in--I'm waiting for One Note--wait--you're doing it now. Whew!

  • @brunoserio4234
    @brunoserio4234 4 ปีที่แล้ว +278

    "Solo means I only have to play one note, right?" is the 2020 equivalent of "PROTIP: Make sure that the synth and the vocals are in THE SAME KEY".

    • @rmshredz
      @rmshredz 4 ปีที่แล้ว +31

      “Make sure the sax solo and the rest of the band are in THE SAME TUNING FREQUENCY”

    • @deep_fried_analysis
      @deep_fried_analysis 4 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      @@rmshredz "it's played through bad frequencies"

    • @clown134
      @clown134 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      it's amazing how many modern day hobbyist producers have zero knowledge of music theory

  • @tommyvega7948
    @tommyvega7948 4 ปีที่แล้ว +515

    Adam's repeating "one note" hundreds of time for twenty minutes before mentioning "one note samba", is a perfect example of one note solos creating a tension that screams to be resolved.

    • @asmunddahlin1603
      @asmunddahlin1603 4 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      Dang son youre right

    • @peterjurgens5968
      @peterjurgens5968 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Kinda like the analogy!

    • @Khayyam-vg9fw
      @Khayyam-vg9fw 4 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      "One Note Samba" had momentarily slipped my mind; I was expecting Adam to cite the Allegretto from Beethoven 7.

    • @alexandreenkerli9361
      @alexandreenkerli9361 4 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      I knowwwww! When he finally mentioned it, I actually screamed “YES!”. With nobody around to connect with. So thanks for making me feel a bit less isolated. Crazy, not alone.

    • @reaowens2712
      @reaowens2712 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      You know, this analogy, it, it kinda good

  • @deborahprager3605
    @deborahprager3605 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    One thing that I became aware of quite young, is how the notes supporting the one-note influence how that note is heard. I don't remember what I was listening to (something Classical), but I realized that the note I thought was moving really wasn't moving. I was hearing it as being bent by the harmonies of the other voices. So. One thing about the Worst Solo, is that I heard nothing supporting that note. Makes things quite boring.

  • @tiaanuys2790
    @tiaanuys2790 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    this is one of your best your content you've created. can i reference you in my academic essay?

  • @andreygregocosta9858
    @andreygregocosta9858 4 ปีที่แล้ว +273

    The lyrics of "One note samba" talk about exactly what the musician is doing while playing/singing:
    "Eis aqui este sambinha
    Feito numa nota só
    Outras notas vão entrar,
    Mas a base é uma só.
    Esta outra é consequência
    Do que acabo de dizer
    Como eu sou a consequência
    Inevitável de você!"
    In English:
    "This is just a little samba
    Built upon a single note
    Other notes are bound to follow
    But the root is still that note.
    Now this new note is the consequence
    Of the one we've just been through
    As I'm bound to be
    The unavoidable consequence of you!"
    Pure metalanguage!

    • @josephinelee9270
      @josephinelee9270 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      the song is actually awesome though, so the self awareness works great

    • @mellomendoncacaio
      @mellomendoncacaio 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      boa traduçao hein

    • @MacXpert74
      @MacXpert74 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Yes, and then after the one note part the sax plays through the whole scale :D

    •  4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      isso é coisa de brasileiro, eu amo

    • @andreygregocosta9858
      @andreygregocosta9858 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@mellomendoncacaio Na verdade eu peguei a versão em inglês do próprio Jobim (a versão em português é de Newton Mendonça).

  • @LolliPop2000
    @LolliPop2000 3 ปีที่แล้ว +292

    Pete Townsend's solo on "I can see for miles" is one note. The trick in the song is that the bass is playing the main theme, and the "guitar solo" is just one note, to satirize the "guitar god" craze of the time.

    • @bobjones2041
      @bobjones2041 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      its a totally shite "song"

    • @NotDingse
      @NotDingse 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      @@bobjones2041 …not 👨🏻‍🦱

    • @ballhawk387
      @ballhawk387 2 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      It's really not so much a guitar solo as an instrumental break with a one-note guitar part. The drums really carry it, but they're not playing a solo, either.

    • @LolliPop2000
      @LolliPop2000 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@ballhawk387 Fair point. But I think Townsend's intent was to create a song that reversed the usual setup, with the bass and drums, as you say, "carrying" it. That could be why it wasn't a hit!

    • @fisheatsyourhead
      @fisheatsyourhead 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@bobjones2041 how tf is there an adam neely viewer that puts song in quotation marks and just dismisses a song as "shite" without any justification, lol

  • @LilyJaneH
    @LilyJaneH ปีที่แล้ว

    As a clarinet player in middle school, the first time I encountered split notes was when I overblew to the point of splitting my reed. It was getting old, and it was within three months of starting to learn.

  • @melineeluna
    @melineeluna ปีที่แล้ว +3

    The most moving jazz trombone solo I've heard live was a 16 bar long F. Following a very vibrant piano solo, and a guitar solo that sounded somewhere between jazz and prog metal, those 16 bars just made the flow of the chord progression a wonderful wind down back to the main melody. It was such a great demonstration of how a solo is still an interplay between musicians, and how a single color note can really change the feel of a chord progression. Not to mention the confidence it took to unmovingly and resolutely hold a single note for way longer than was possible on any of the other instruments in the ensemble.
    Sometimes you can say a lot with very little.

  • @willowsparks4576
    @willowsparks4576 4 ปีที่แล้ว +153

    are we all forgetting the Ramones song 'I Wanna Be Sedated' has a solo that is also literally one note that everyone loves?

    • @BubbleManxx
      @BubbleManxx 4 ปีที่แล้ว +21

      *laughs in Cinnamon Girl*

    • @lllULTIMATEMASTERlll
      @lllULTIMATEMASTERlll 4 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      It suits the song so well. Don’t think much else could’ve been better in its place.

    • @nthgth
      @nthgth 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Yeah that always bugged me too. Like if you don't want to bother playing a real solo, don't pretend to

    • @nthgth
      @nthgth 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@lllULTIMATEMASTERlll "Punk Rock God" by Stevie T shows what might have gone better than the fake solo

    • @lllULTIMATEMASTERlll
      @lllULTIMATEMASTERlll 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@nthgth I mean it sounds good, but I don't think it fits with the Ramone's aesthetic as well as the one note solo. It's all just opinions though.

  • @fetoruma123
    @fetoruma123 4 ปีที่แล้ว +353

    You know it's jazz if you can talk about one note for 30 minutes

    • @TheMmvukici
      @TheMmvukici 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      😂😂👍

    • @igloo_igloo
      @igloo_igloo 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I didb't notice it was that long wtf lmao

    • @redgrey1453
      @redgrey1453 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Seems to me that's the very definition of monotonous.

    • @JCM-LedZeppelin-Stories
      @JCM-LedZeppelin-Stories 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Hahahahahahahhhahahahahhhahhahqhahjajajajajjajaja

    • @9UaYXxB
      @9UaYXxB 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      How long have they been talking about "Smells like teen spirit", or "Money"?..... jazz doesn't have to hand it's head about pretension, popular music can so much more easily wear that label.

  • @rodstench
    @rodstench ปีที่แล้ว

    fantastic video - excited to watch more of your stuff

  • @thisismxoxo
    @thisismxoxo ปีที่แล้ว +2

    "Now the Great Bear and Pleiades" from Benjamin Britten's opera, Peter Grimes, is a (nearly) one-note aria written for Britten's partner, Peter Pears, in response to a critical reviewer who claimed Pears only sang one note well. A devastatingly beautiful inside joke.

    • @rhubarbdude3347
      @rhubarbdude3347 9 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Yes! That aria is beautiful. Didn't know the story behind it